CHESTNUT HILL - Old friend (for most of you, I unfortunately never covered him) Harold Landry spoke down at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday, so I was only able to stick around for an hour of practice.
Good stuff in that hour though. Once again, the methodical. period-by-period, no wasted movement approach is just so evident in transitions from indy to team stuff. A lot of the teams I also cover around here for NEFJ also have great staffs and teams with phenomenal structure, but none of them are currently better than BC when it comes to efficient practices in my opinion.
Anyway, here's what I got for the hour or so...
-Good amount of recruits on hand for a Tuesday morning in April, always a good thing.
-Texas drill on one side, 1-v-1's on the other...
James: Skeete over the middle, PBU for Isaiah Farris on the right sideline.
Lonergan: Deep incompletion for Harris in the end zone, slant to Bond.
Reisig: No play, incompletion to Nedrick Boldin Jr. deep.
James: Slant to freshman WR Duke Brennan, drop in the bucket dime down the right sideline to McLaughlin.
Lonergan: Incompletion to the sideline, slant to McLaughlin.
Reisig: PBU by Farris on a deep ball to Harris, slant to Boldin Jr.
James: Deep dime down the left sideline for a TD to Wilkins.
Lonergan: Slant to Bond, sideline completion to Brennan, short pass to transfer redshirt sophomore Bryce Dopson.
Reisig: Comeback to Skeete on the sideline (great route), incompletion right.
James: Sideline ball for Harris, incompletion deep.
Lonergan: Incompletion to Wilkins (good coverage by Farris), incomplete to Bond (PBU for Cam Martinez).
Reisig: Dime deep down the right sideline to Wilkins. Big cheer from the team heading to the next period.
-Team period...
James: Run Turbo, possibly a 'sack' for Rooks, but completion to (I think) Bond on the sideline, broken play/almost a bad hand off, RIDICULOUS jump ball catch for Skeete in-between two defenders. Everyone in the building was stunned except for Skeete.
Lonergan: Run for Broome, deep out to Wilkins, run for McDonald, quick pass to McDonald.
(Chatting with a couple people and didn't get Shaker's series)
James: Big run for McDonald up the gut, incompletion out of bounds/throw away, run stuff (didn't see who), long run for Broome. Still can't get over how good he's looked all spring.
-Quick 7-v-7 series
James: Short to Franklin (I was talking with someone else and both agree he looks MUCH bigger), Bond drops a short pass right in his hands, short pass to Zeke Moore, nice PBU underneath by Pemberton. Might have the next Joe Marinaro type of guy on our hands if they need him to legitimately play there.
Lonergan: Crosser to Wilkins, PBU by Ashton Cunningham, crosser to Zamor, sideline to McLaughlin (tight window/coverage), deep out completed to Chudzinski. Chudzinski's shown up quite a bit lately, TE room could be the best it's been in years.
At this point, it's important for guys to finish strong and fight through any mental fatigue that might be there with the monotony of spring ball. For older guys, knowing the end of school is almost there has to play a little part as well. Practice (at least while I was there) was clean and again, plays are being made on both sides of the ball.
Secondary continues to stand out across the board, but a healthy Jaden Skeete completely changes this offense. He had that electric play Tuesday morning and just leaves defenders guessing at times when he runs his routes. If he draws attention, that leaves more opportunities for Bond and Harris, Lockwood and so many others.
Heading into this final week I'd say my confidence is a B+ to A- range in terms of where they're at. Linebacker in the portal couldn't hurt and maybe (small M) another pass rusher? But overall, I genuinely believe there's depth almost everywhere, especially receiver, running back and tight end, and of course the secondary. That hasn't changed from the first week or so of camp.
Back at it at 9:15 on Thursday morning, final one Saturday set for 10:15.
