The first day of practice for the Kansas University football team meant the first chance to get a look at the newcomers and made-over faces who make up this year’s roster.
For some reason, I always find myself drawn to the offensive linemen during these deals. Could be because they’re the closest unit to the gate, but I’m not really a lazy person. I think the more likely reason is that they’ve always been a group of such question marks and this year is no different.
More on that in a minute, but, first thing’s first: newcomers Larry Mazyck and Devon Williams are a couple of huge dudes.
Both appear to have plenty of work ahead of them to crack the starting lineup, but the size is there. Now it’s about picking up the offense, getting in better shape and fine-tuning things like quick feet, perfect fundamentals and whatever other instructions line coach and offensive coordinator John Reagan wants to throw at them.
Here’s a quick look at some other things that caught my eye at Friday’s practice. Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty more of these this month. It was a little overwhelming out there today with so many new and exciting faces and places to watch. Remember, we’re only invited in for the first 20 minutes, so these blogs won’t have a ton of details about position battles or X’s and O’s.
**• It was absolutely no surprise, but the first line of the stretching and sprinting drills** was made up of some of the team’s strongest leaders. Keon Stowers, Ben Heeney, Cassius Sendish, JaCorey Shepherd, Jake Love, Tre’ Parmalee, Ben Goodman, Ngalu Fusimalohi, Pat Lewandowski, Nick Harwell, Brandon Bourbon and even punter Trevor Pardula, stretched across the field and were the first to lead the team into the 2014 season.
**• One of the newcomers who jumped out at me** (OK, OK, mostly because I couldn’t wait to get a look at him) was freshman running back Corey Avery. The Dallas native who stands 5-foot-10, 170 pounds looks bigger than I would’ve expected and seems to be pretty well put together. I can see why there’s talk of him getting on the field right away.
**• Back to the linemen for a second…** I wrote the other day about John Reagan’s coaching style and it was pretty much the same. Hands-on, specific details, engaged in the action. One difference, though. In the spring, Reagan looked a little more patient. Today, you can tell that the switch has been flipped to in-season mode. Mistakes were less tolerated and not paying attention was severely frowned upon. Makes sense to me. That’s the only way to see who gets it and who doesn’t.
**• As for some more specifics about the position,** I love watching Joe Gibson work. He’s got great feet and incredible work ethic. I can tell why everyone thinks he’s going to be a player. And props to him for not pulling back now that he’s a scholarship dude. If anything, he appears to be going harder to prove that he’s worthy of it. Fusimalohi and Smithburg look like the seasoned veterans they are (even though Smithburg told me this spring that it’s crazy that people see him as one of the experienced ones); Pat Lewandowksi looks a little stronger and there was some real emphasis being put on powering their way five yards down the field.
**• I forgot that former Jayhawk Darius Willis is now on the coaching staff.** Great to see him out there. He’s a GA for defense and he’s always been a guy who knows how to light up a room.
**• Because he’s the quarterback** and because it’s required, I took a couple of peeks Montell Cozart’s way today. Didn’t see a whole lot but what I did see stood out. His confidence is very evident. The guy believes he’s right where he belongs and carries himself like a player who’s ready for what’s ahead.
**• Another newcomer who stood out** was East St. Louis, Ill., linebacker Kyron Watson. He’s a load (6-0, 220). He fills out his No. 6 jersey and uniform very well but still looks light on his feet and shows good instincts. Wild that the two newcomers who jumped out at me today both wear No. 6. And, no, they weren’t next to each other, they were on opposite fields. Just a coincidence, I guess.
**• As for the drills we were able to see,** the defense appears to be dying for the season to get here. A lot of energy on that side of the ball, and when there’s not, they do it again to make sure they’re at max hype. After one drill, defensive coordinator Clint Bowen called the first-string D back over to the sideline to make them take the field again because it looked like he didn’t think they did it with enough fire the first time. It’s that kind of attention to detail that has to be there for this talented group to achieve its goal of being the best in the Big 12.
**• One last thing that caught my eye** (technically as I was leaving practice) was the first look at the new decorative fence being put around the south end at Memorial Stadium. Here’s a crude photo of the progress. The chain link fence will eventually be gone. It looks pretty sharp in person.
More nuggets from practice tomorrow, so be sure to check out KUsports.com throughout the month for blogs like this, videos from Benton Smith and podcasts from Tom Keegan and me.
Oh, yeah. One more thing. Coach Weis does still get the second song of the day and today it was Who Says You Can’t Go Home by Bon Jovi.
Also, be sure to check out Benton Smith’s videos from Day 1 and the leaders of KU’s secondary…
http://www2.kusports.com/videos/2014/aug/08/35928/
http://www2.kusports.com/videos/2014/aug/08/35927/
