Saturday's Spring Practice Report

This was by far the most recruits that have been on hand too, with prospects, families and coaches from programs all over the country (spotted one from Ohio at one point) all packing the sidelines. If you've ever been to one of the Boston championship parades where sidewalks are jammed like 5-6 people deep, that's what it was on Saturday inside Fish. You couldn't move on the sideline closest to the entrance.

The team put on a good show for everyone there too, with the offense and defense making plays over the course of the nearly 2.5-hour session.

Here's everything I got (2 pages of notes so hope you've got some time to read this one)

-Got in a little bit late after spending the morning at Harvard's spring practice, but did see two unbelievable throws from both QB's with some ridiculous catches doing 7-on-7 early. Harris went up and got one deep down the right sideline from Lonergan. VJ Wilkins won a jump ball from James deep too. Couldn't see who they were against. Ironically, Wilkins is this year's Harris in terms of making a big impact in spring ball. Harris was one of my favorite players coming out of April last year and his performance in the spring game was a sign of things to come. Don't be surprised when Wilkins is on the field a lot if he keeps making plays. Harris could be a star in the making in my opinion too. He had some highly skilled catches throughout the day in different situations whether it was deep, over the middle or on the sideline.

-The Eagles probably ran 150+ plays in all sorts of scenarios. Charted them as best I could. First team period was coming out of their own territory...

Lonergan: Incomplete to Bond (high), quick gain for Turbo, (missed next play), Q Hutchins and others stuff a run, Skeete with a fantastic jump ball grab deep down the right sideline over McShane, run by Turbo (X2), Omar Thornton blows up a W screen, short catch for Jeremiah Franklin, Liam Connor boots 45-yard field goal.

James: Short run for Broom, run stuff by redshirt freshman Jaylen Flint (who is starting to make plays regularly), PBU on the sideline for Isaiah Farris, punt.

James: Sack for Merrimack transfer Favor Bate off the edge (he was very active on Saturday), Max Tucker blows up a screen, deep incomplete pass down the right sideline, punt.

Lonergan: run stuff, deep centerfield-type interception for redshirt freshman Charlie Comella (Wellesley, shown up a few times this spring).

Reisig: Short run for Anthony Ferrucci (X2), Datrell Jones reels in a great throw with a phenomenal catch down the right sideline, three runs for Ferrucci (big hit in the hole on the 2nd one, Steele maybe?), hard run for redshirt junior Hunter Clark, run Ferrucci, PBU on a slant by Syair Torrence (might not be talking about him enough), Liam Connor 35-ish yard field goal.

-Ball moved to midfield-ish. Might as well get to this now too...throughout the team settings, there was also full kickoff and punt work as there would be with a normal change of possession. It's tough to really know who's 'winning' the punting competition when balls hit the ceiling, but hit FEELS like it might be Andy Quinn. Who knows though, it's a guessing game until training camp. Kicking is interesting with both Connor and Lombardo knocking down their opportunities. Quinn did not attempt any competitive field goals.

Lonergan: Incompletion, short sideline to Franklin, nice run by Lonergan, Kolenge chases down a RB with a great athletic play (couldn't see who, maybe McDonald?), incompletion deep, Lombardo 45-yard field goal.

James: Great sideline grab by Harris on a nice ball, (missed next play), incompletion, Sedarius McConnell batted ball, (missed final snap shaking hands with a couple people).

-Reset and new chance for the offense, roughly the same ball spot.

Lonergan: Few nice runs for Broome (he's cutting really well), Torrence blows up a screen, Wilkins hauls in a 25-30ish yard touchdown (he was wide ass open).

James: Quick hitter for Moore, run for Turbo, nice back shoulder hookup on the right sideline to Ismael Zamor, short run for Turbo (buried someone with his shoulder finishing), McDonald 7-yard TD run. Sam Stone kicks the PAT.

-Back to the 50, but mostly all run game work with Reisig in, although redshirt freshman DB James Magerko and redshirt freshman DL Caden Bowling had sacks.

-Back inside their own territory going out...

James: Incomplete middle, dump to Turbo (might've been a sack for Flint though), crosser for Bond, incomplete to the sideline, but McShane was air tight on Harris.

Lonergan: Diving catch for Wilkins along the sideline on a comeback, pressure from Ty Clemons and Bate force an incompletion, quick pass for Broome, batted ball by Clemons.

Reisig: Scramble, Onye Nwosisi flushes him out to force a scramble, PBU on the sideline for freshman Ashton Cunningham vs. Zamor, crosser to Wilkins with Clive Wilson forcing pressure.

-Ball at or right around the 10 going in, maybe just inside it? I was around midfield...

Lonergan: Roll out and short pass to Turbo, scramble TD for Lonergan, TD pass to a wide open Ty Lockwood, incomplete jump ball in the back left corner for Harris.

James: Run stuff on the edge for Bate, two short passes to redshirt freshman Brady Clough (stopped just short of the GL), TD pass to Broome.

Reisig: TD run for Ferrucci (X2), almost a TD for Wilkins on a run, TD on a slant to freshman Nedrick Boldin Jr.

-Ball placed inside the 5...tough to see everything...

James: (couldn't see), McDonald stopped at the GL, Turbo punches it in.

Lonergan: (couldn't see the first 2 snaps), short TD for Broome.

-Offense now backed up coming out...

Lonergan: Steele sticks McDonald in the hole, nice completion to Bond, another fantastic grab by Skeete on a. ball slightly behind him.

James: Run stuff, incompletion left (pressure), great grab by Clough on the right sideline.

-Pretty ugly two minute drill period for all 3 QB's. Highlight was an Omar Thornton pick of James underneath. Reed Harris did have a loud-as-hell truck stick after a quick grab too and probably could have gone for like an 80-yard TD if the whistle hadn't blown. Other than that, incompletions and PBU's.

-End of game situation. 30 seconds left, opponent's 30, no timeouts, FG wins it down by 2...both James and Lonergan completed a pass and the FG unit hurried onto the field. Connor and Lombardo each hit their field goals with plenty of time to spare.

-Sideline-to-sideline sprints to wrap things up.

Guys like Bate and Wilkins contributing is a really good sign for the depth of this team. There's a lot of depth in a lot of important places and I think this was the first day we really saw it across the board. The secondary might be underrated and LB's still have key bodies like Crouch and McGowan working their way back. Offensively, I can't keep preaching about the WR and RB depth enough. As far as QB, I may have been wrong and this might be a lot tighter than I originally thought.

Eagles are back at it Tuesday morning.