Fall practice day two
PROVO — The second day of practice saw better precision and overall execution on both sides of the ball. According to defensive back Mike Hague it’s largely what they expect of themselves.
“We just communicate really well with each other out there,” said Hague. “We’re used to playing with each other and we’re very tight as a group. We all know our assignments, so we’re feeling a lot better as a group coming out this year.”
Indeed field corner Jordan Johnson is the only expected starter without a wealth of experience. Nevertheless, he’s been in the program for two years and has logged game reps..
“A big key is just being patient with each other,” said Hague. “When you see guys putting forth the effort you’re more than willing to be patient with them and I’m seeing that with pretty much everyone. Jordan Johnson is doing great and he’ll be very good this year for us.”
Hague will likely take the role of the utility defensive back this season. Since switching over from running back he’s been on the fast track learning what can be a complicated defensive system.
He currently feels comfortable playing at boundary corner, Kat safety and at free safety and is quickly learning the nickel back position.
“I don’t know if I could play field corner, but that’s okay — Jordan Johnson is doing great there,” said Hague. “I love the role I have on the team this year and I think we’re all the same way. We support each other, we communicate well and I think we have the chance to be really good.”
Practice notes
-The team did situational work during team drills with Riley Nelson completing seven of ten passes for 63 yards and an interception unofficially. Safety Daniel Sorensen picked off an attempted sideline pass that was slightly overthrown.
-James Lark went 1-3 for 10 yards, Taysom Hill went 2-2 for 23 yards and Ammon Olsen went 1-2 for 15 yards.
-Most of the passes went to the running back with true freshman Jamaal Williams hauling in a pass that may have gone the distance without quick whistles. Williams showed very good burst on the play.
-Joe Sampson and Cody Hoffman were held out of practice due to disciplinary reasons, but are expected to return tomorrow.
-Oregon linebacker recruit Johnny Ragin was in attendance sporting a BYU golf shirt.
-Offensive lineman Brock Stringham sat out practice with a sprained ankle with no timetable for his return. Stringham saw reps at right tackle with the first team offense the first day.
Has the offense been able to incorporate its new up-tempo pace yet?
They’re working on it to be certain…offense has looked sharp coming out — probably better than you’d expect given that the defense is almost always ahead of the offense at this stage and also because the Cougar defense should be very good.
Okay, Gman…a couple of questions:
- What’s the deal with Hine? Don’t hear much about him…how does he look?
- We don’t have a lot of depth at corner, so I’m interested in hearing how Skye PoVey and Adam Hogan look.
It’s impossible to sort out which RBs are looking good and who should be backing up Alisa at this stage. I’m certain that Pritchard will see a lot of time, but Hine just hasn’t seen enough reps to indicate anything yet…thought Hine looked capable in spring, but not as someone who would definitely being seeing PT this fall
Povey is a very solid and capable practice performer and I need to see more of Hogan. I have watched him in 1-on-1 drills and he does look capable. I think there’s quite a dropoff from the second to first string DBs currently, however unless that second-string guy is Mike Hague…please note that I think the first-team DBs are all very good this season.
Coach Mendenhall didn’t mention Adam Hine yesterday among the running backs that would be seeing more time with Juice gone. How has he been doing?
Taysom 2-2, 23 yards: How’d his passes look? In high school videos I’ve seen he tends to throw behind his receiver.
Hill sure doesn’t seem to have that problem now. Most of the incompletions I’ve seen from him are overthrown. He looked very good today in limited work. I expect both Hill and Olsen to be marginally better this fall than they were in the spring. Hill should be a very good one if he keeps progressing.
What’s the latest on the Judson players? They seemed to enjoy Junior day.
I personally think it’s going to be tough for BYU to land Flowers. He’s obviously interested, but BYU doesn’t have much success with athletes that leave campus without committing. The good news for Y fans is he’s due to take another unofficial visit here soon, so we’ll see. He’s very good and is bound to see a lot more offers here soon.
Williams would likely commit to BYU if it offered.
Its gotta be asked. Do the players look any better coming into practice this year. And yes, I’m especially looking at you O-Line.
The OL looks as trim and as fit as any OL I’ve ever seen at BYU. I do not anticipate the mass belly-aching from fans about how fat BYU’s OL is this season. I think they’ll benefit quite a bit from being noticeably more fit as a group.
how is jamaal williams doing? i have heard he is doing pretty well but i havent heard too much about him
He looks very good from what I’ve seen. he definitely has a burst that few players at BYU posses and has good size. Jeff Call told me today that he looks like Ronney Jenkins with his body-type. He’d obviously be hard-pressed to be as fast as Jenkins, but he’s definitely passed the eye-ball test through two days. Anxious to see more of him and I’ll be sure to note whatever progress he makes during camp.
What do you think BYU’s chances are at landing Johnny Ragin? From what little I’ve seen, he looks like a young KVN…
As with most non-LDS recruits, it will largely depend on what other offers he’s able to land. I’ll be following up with him to learn how his visit went. It’s key for BYU to get kids to commit while on official or unofficial visits. BYU doesn’t have good history committing players went they’re not on campus.
Which player from the past would you compare Jordan Johnson to?
He has similar skills to that of Justin Robinson, but has about 3 inches in J-5. I think he could be very, very good. He’s looked very solid through two practices. Athletically I think he has the potential to be the best field corner to play in Bronco’s defense. He’s a legit 5-10 and has legit sub 4.5 speed.
My biggest worry is O-linemen going down to serious injuries. 2 practices, 2 down – so far not inspiring. How serious are these ankle sprains?
Injuries are always a big worry in any practice session. I’m not sure if Stringham’s is a high or a low ankle sprain…if it’s a high sprain then that could be serious, but we’ll try to find out more on that
Brandon, it seems like we are throwing to the RBs a lot, any success downfield?
Oh, it’s just the aspect they practiced yesterday…every day sees a different emphasis from the offense and yesterday saw them practicing passes to the flats a lot…it changes every day