Hey Guys..Day 2 TXK notes - bball, QB's & RB's

WOW what a day, sorry it took another day LoL had a late night at Coleman last night but it was SO worth it to see Coach Grant and the bball team really finally being able to celebrate after such an awesome season especially UNDEFEATED at home for the 1st time in Ttown. I remember not too long ago when Coach Gottfried's Bama teams were the easiest SEC road game for other teams & that is FAR from the case today. I've said for a few weeks now that CAG signing Trevor Lacey would be as big maybe bigger than when former CMG signed Gerald Wallace & it's crazy how it works out that a SNUB from the NCAA allowing us to play 3 games at home in the NIT and allowing Lacey to visit, might have given us the leg up on landing the top SG in the nation. ROLL TIDE!!!

Anyway to yesterday's practice

We made A LOT of progress in the last 2 days with A LOT of guys. I'll just go through each position by position

1st though, Dorial Green-Beckham came to practice today as did Julio and Javy, Julio & DGB looked to be having a good time together, DGB is at least a few inches taller than Julio and a little heavier he's a BIG guy, not sure how good of a shot we have since he is out of state & like Clowney (who really wanted to go to Bama, but Momma Clowney wouldn't let him) that distance is usually too far to overcome

Ok now to positions:

QB - Both guys still battling, Sims had a couple good looking deep bombs over Bell's shoulder & over DeAndrew White's shoulder & I'm talkin off just a 3 step drop not even a deep drop, his arm strength/deep throw accuracy is ridiculous, if he wins the job, we're gonna HAVE TO use that deep throw at least 5 - 6 times a game (WISH WISH WISH Brad Sylve was an EE to see him in action on a couple deep routes). Vlachos was helping both guys as well & working with Sims a good bit today with exchanges, Sims is a little bit faster off snaps in release, something Will isn't really use to, Sims likes to drop & fire or read & then fire, but doesn't want to waste any time, very methodical but like I said Drew Brees-esque meaning if a guy comes open or a WR on the routes hits his mark it's out of there QUICK, again like I said before the intangibles are DEFINITELY there & if he wins the job I have high expectations for how good he can be this year. McCarron was run through the gamut today of a bunch of routes & making reads with multiple WR's on routes. He also worked a lot more on footwork which is something he is a little less polished on, he's definitely more mobile but sometimes that can be a hindrance. Coach JMac also worked with AJ on keeping his head on a swivel and making reads, both guys worked with Coach Mac on that, but Sims is a bit better & reads through progression & to me it's a little like AJ wants to force the ball into tight spaces even with guys covered, they really worked with him in the film room with this as well, also a little on Blake Sims, he fits in well at QB & wouldn't be with the group if he wasn't a threat to throw the ball down field but he's just so much of an athlete, footwork still needs a lot of work if his home is gonna be at QB but I can guarantee we see him in some formations just because of his athleticism. Ely was working a good bit on progressions, he's very good with reads and head is on a swivel, also really impressive watching film I've heard from CJM, a lot to work on with him, he's ferther along than McElroy was as a TF, but still a bit raw.

RB - 1st off it should be noted that we are absolutely LOADED, deeper than most NFL teams, anyway, Eddie Lacy is making great progress to be a back-up, he's trimmed down a bit and got faster thanks to it, said Trent asked him to get lighter to be faster and an extension like him & Mark were (thought that was interesting because it shows how large of a leadership role he has taken). Lacy & CBB worked on his explosiveness a good bit yesterday getting in the line & through the hole, there were times Lacy seemed to dance a bit till a hole opened and at other times when he exploded through he had better success breaking off long TD runs, so the key for BB he feels like this Spring with Lacy is to turn EVERY handoff into that explosion through the hole, if he can do that he feels like he can turn him into another MONSTER Tide RB. Corey Grant has added a good bit of weight up to 195, very similar now to Terry Grant a little bit bigger though, expect to see him out of the backfield utilized like Upchurch a bit this year. Jalston Fowler will also have an expanded role & he HASN'T LOST ANY WEIGHT LoL, still at 245 & still very quick for that size, expect to see more receiving chances for him (elite hands) out of different sets & as a FB, he's a BB fav, they are really close and he's also a team favorite of a lot of players and coaches because how smart he is, he'll be a coach one day NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. BB is also working on him exploding, he was a bit upright as a runner and bashed into OL's backends at times because of his running style, but for him the knowledge of the plays wasn't there last year, and so he's really been putting in extra time learning so that won't be a problem this year and that will probably help him to earn more PT since he's already such a punishing blocker. Finally I'll say this about Dee Hart, I am SO GLAD he came in early & was able to get cleared to enroll early because of his size, putting on weight (which he plans to do, wants to be up to 205 by the time the season starts) and he is such an awesome talent at RB, the only thing missing is his weight from being a major contributor this year out of the backfield in many different ways, he's just as good a catcher as any WR on the roster and feet and routes as well as all the intangibles, just as explosive as any RB we have, just needs some size, if he can add that WOW he'll be a huge contributor this year and add even more talent to an already stacked backfield. He was working on footwork & technique blocking and that's really all BB needs to add to his arsenal to earn PT this year as a TF and he's really working on it, he wants to play, that same fire Trent had as a TF is in his eyes.

I'll be back in a min with a few more positions for y'all