Figured I would just start a new thread for this. I was at practice today. Last availability before Saturday's spring showcase. I interviewed Bobby April, Sam Roush, and Joshua Karty. First of all, E.J. Smith was doing a lot of the drills and looks good. He's definitely making progress. Ari Patu and Ashton Daniels both seemed to be splitting reps at QB1. I'm assuming Patu will get the start with Daniels being used as a wildcat option, but we'll see. Both guys seemed to be throwing the ball well.
While he is listed as a tight end, I noticed CJ Hawkins was with the wide receivers today. I thought that was kind of interesting. He looked like he belonged. Just in terms of his speed/quickness.
One other thing I've noticed is Troy Taylor seems to be a lot more detail oriented than Shaw. And not just him, but wide receiver coach Tyler Osborne seems to be very detailed-oriented as well. They're constantly giving guys feedback like hey, you were a yard too deep, or make that cut off the block a bit crisper, that sort of thing. That's not to say Shaw wasn't detail-oriented at all, but it just seems to me that Taylor is much more oriented in that way. You can just kinda tell when watching them practice.
Sam Roush mentioned that Taylor is constantly drawing up new plays and tinkering with the offense. He seems to really enjoy having a coach that is so creative and fun at the same time. And then Roush also attested to the fact that practice is a lot more intense. I asked about that and he said he's coming off the field way more tired than before, but he likes it.
And then one thing April mentioned that I can remember off the top of my head is they are really just focused on the next play. Everyone is getting a clean slate. They're not too worried about what happened last year. Just really trying to put their best foot forward for this year.
More to come in the interviews and all, but I thought some of you would appreciate these insights. Guys do seem to be responding well to the new staff and having a lot of fun getting pushed as hard as they are. Definitely a different vibe. In a very good/healthy way.
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