Here are some thoughts/observations from this morning's open practice. Feel free to chime in below (or to start a separate thread) if you were there, as well.
Stanford held its first open practice of the spring this morning. The program's run of holding open practices that coincide with terrific weather ended - there were periods of rain and even some hail at the very end. As a result, there was a rather sparse crowd in attendance - maybe 100 or so at most.
The biggest on-field story was probably the depleted defensive line corps. Aziz Shitu is moving around quite well in his individual rehab drills, but he's out for the entire spring. Solomon Thomas suffered some sort of a toe injury earlier this week and he was out today as well. Stanford hopes Thomas will return sometime in the second session of spring. With Alex Yazdi opting to conclude his football career rather than returning to The Farm for a fifth year, Stanford had all of three - yes, three - healthy defensive linemen: Jordan Watkins, Nate Lohn and Harrison Phillips (Luke Kaumatule worked primarily at OLB from what I saw.)
The practice opened with some position drills and a relatively brief Oklahoma drill session. Then they moved on to some OL vs. DL (pass rush)+ QB/WR/RB vs. DB type stuff.
I focused primarily on the linemen during that period - the OL generally had the edge, as one might suspect given the available personnel. Josh Garnett was terrific - he was rarely beat in in the pass rush drills after faring well in the Oklahoma drill earlier. Kyle Murphy, Brandon Fanaika and Casey Tucker also won more than they lost. Harrison Phillips was easily the most productive of the three defensive linemen during the OL/DL pass rush stuff. Peter Kalambayi got the upper hand on his man several times as well. None of the other DL/OLB's had consistent success.
Then it was on to 9-on-7 rushing drills and 7-on-7 passing. Christian McCaffrey does look a bit thicker than last year but does not appear any less explosive. He broke several long runs, including one where he outran Kodi Whitfield and Dallas Lloyd (despite it appearing that Lloyd had an angle). Neither Barry Sanders nor Pat McFadden had a ton of success in 7-on-7; Sanders did fumble once as well. (Blake Martinez stripped another back earlier in the 9-on-7 - I think it was McFadden but I didn't quite catch who it was.)
A special teams period followed the 7-on-7. Conrad Ukropina kicked about 8-10 field goals from 38 yards. Dallas Lloyd and Alex Robinson worked as the holders. From our angle (on the sidelines) it was difficult to tell how many he made (there were no officials signalling), but Conrad had much better pop on his kicks than I recall. Each had plenty of height and distance and most looked like they split the uprights but, again, really hard to know for sure.
Next up was a full 11-on-11 scrimmage. There was a lot of rotation by series and a number of players worked with both the first and second teams, but here's a very rough rundown of who worked where.
First Team Offense:
Kyle Murphy (LT), Josh Garnett (LG), Graham Shuler (C), Dave Bright (RG), Nick Davidson (RT)
Kevin Hogan (QB), Daniel Marx (FB), Barry Sanders/McCaffrey (FB), Cajuste/Rector/ Owusu (WR), Hooper/Cotton/Taboada (TE)
First Team Defense
Harrison Phillips (nose tackle), Jordan Watkins, Nate Lohn (DL), Luke Kaumatule (OLB), Peter Kalambayi (OLB), Blake Martinez (ILB), Bobby Okereke (ILB), Ra'Chard Pippens (CB), Taijuan Thomas (CB), Kodi Whitfield (S), Dallas Lloyd (S)
-Terrence Alexander came in to play corner during a nickel package on the first series, which pushed Thomas to nickel.
Second Team Offense
Nick Davidson (LT), Austin Hall (LG), Johnny Caspers (C), Brandon Fanika (RG), Casey Tucker (RT)
Keller Chryst/Kevin Hogan (QB), Dontonio Jordan/Conner Crane/Rollins Stallworth (WR), Dalton Schultz (TE)
Second Team Defense
Harrison Phillips (nose), Watkins, Lohn, Sam Shober (OLB), Mike Tyler (OLB), Kevin Palma (ILB), Noor Davis (ILB), Brandon Simmons (S), Denzel Franklin (S), Terrence Alexander (CB), Ra'Chard Pippens (CB)
Craig Jones and Jordan Perez (ILB) and Alameen Murphy and Alijah Holder (CB) rotated in on the third series. Walk-on OL Lucas Hinds was the second-team left tackle during the 9-on-7 and position drill work, but he did not participate in the scrimmage. OLB Joey Alfieri rotated in during the later series. WR Rollins Stallworth rotated in on the second series. Ryan Gaertner and Calvin Chandler also took reps in the defensive backfield.
-Stanford ran five drives (19 plays) over a 20 or so minute scrimmage. The most explosive offensive play was a very long (maybe 60+ yards) Barry Sanders run over the left side. He found a big hole and nearly took it the distance.
-Other 10+ yards plays: Michael Rector on a reverse (gained about 15), Kevin Hogan to Devon Cajuste on I believe a curl route (gained about 17).
-Top defensive plays from the scrimmage: Dallas Lloyd burst through into the backfield to tackle Christian McCaffrey for a two-yard loss; Taijuan Thomas stepped in front of a Kevin Hogan pass (intended for Austin Hooper) and very nearly (and really should have) recorded the interception. Jordan Watkins batted down a ball at the line of scrimmage. Kodi Whitfield recorded a coverage sack.
Whitfield led the defense with five tackles, Kevin Palma two stops. Lloyd and Phillips each had a TFL.
Kevin Hogan completed 4-5 passes for 34 yards. Barry Sanders rushed six times for 79 yards, the majority of which obviously came on his long run.
##########
-Obviously the development of the two young quarterbacks will be a major storyline this spring. Small sample size today, of course, but I didn't think either really hard the upper hand on the other. Both guys made some very impressive throws, both also had some bad misses. Would be interested to heard what others think, but I didn't think there was much separation between the two today.
-The sloppy weather led to several drops and a number of players slipping. Bearing that in mind, I thought Austin Hooper was just terrific over the course of the practice - he was constantly open and consistently made plays.
-In addition to the seven visiting recruits and Trent Irwin, several other familiar faces were in attendance: David Yankey, Jordan Richards, Geep Chryst, former walk-on WR Gautam Krishnamurthi and I believe a few other players who were standing a bit too far away for me to identify.
-Not sure what to make of it yet, but as an observant CSR poster noted, Dalton Schultz sure looks like he's added a lot of size in the offseason.
-There was a minor dustup between Kyle Murphy and one of the defensive linemen (I believe Nate Lohn) during the Oklahoma drill. Nothing serious, but some post-whistle pushing and shoving that got some of the other players riled up.
-Lane Veach was in pads and did participate in some of the drills, though I'm not sure he did the full scrimmage stuff.
Injured Players
Jesse Burkett (illness)
Kevin Anderson (hand)
Ronnie Harris (unspecified)
Patrick Skov (knee)
Brendon Austin (unspecified)
Solomon Thomas (toe)
Aziz Shittu (knee)
Sam Yules (unspecified)
Thomas Oser (knee)
This post was edited on 2/28 3:26 PM by Andy Drukarev
Stanford held its first open practice of the spring this morning. The program's run of holding open practices that coincide with terrific weather ended - there were periods of rain and even some hail at the very end. As a result, there was a rather sparse crowd in attendance - maybe 100 or so at most.
The biggest on-field story was probably the depleted defensive line corps. Aziz Shitu is moving around quite well in his individual rehab drills, but he's out for the entire spring. Solomon Thomas suffered some sort of a toe injury earlier this week and he was out today as well. Stanford hopes Thomas will return sometime in the second session of spring. With Alex Yazdi opting to conclude his football career rather than returning to The Farm for a fifth year, Stanford had all of three - yes, three - healthy defensive linemen: Jordan Watkins, Nate Lohn and Harrison Phillips (Luke Kaumatule worked primarily at OLB from what I saw.)
The practice opened with some position drills and a relatively brief Oklahoma drill session. Then they moved on to some OL vs. DL (pass rush)+ QB/WR/RB vs. DB type stuff.
I focused primarily on the linemen during that period - the OL generally had the edge, as one might suspect given the available personnel. Josh Garnett was terrific - he was rarely beat in in the pass rush drills after faring well in the Oklahoma drill earlier. Kyle Murphy, Brandon Fanaika and Casey Tucker also won more than they lost. Harrison Phillips was easily the most productive of the three defensive linemen during the OL/DL pass rush stuff. Peter Kalambayi got the upper hand on his man several times as well. None of the other DL/OLB's had consistent success.
Then it was on to 9-on-7 rushing drills and 7-on-7 passing. Christian McCaffrey does look a bit thicker than last year but does not appear any less explosive. He broke several long runs, including one where he outran Kodi Whitfield and Dallas Lloyd (despite it appearing that Lloyd had an angle). Neither Barry Sanders nor Pat McFadden had a ton of success in 7-on-7; Sanders did fumble once as well. (Blake Martinez stripped another back earlier in the 9-on-7 - I think it was McFadden but I didn't quite catch who it was.)
A special teams period followed the 7-on-7. Conrad Ukropina kicked about 8-10 field goals from 38 yards. Dallas Lloyd and Alex Robinson worked as the holders. From our angle (on the sidelines) it was difficult to tell how many he made (there were no officials signalling), but Conrad had much better pop on his kicks than I recall. Each had plenty of height and distance and most looked like they split the uprights but, again, really hard to know for sure.
Next up was a full 11-on-11 scrimmage. There was a lot of rotation by series and a number of players worked with both the first and second teams, but here's a very rough rundown of who worked where.
First Team Offense:
Kyle Murphy (LT), Josh Garnett (LG), Graham Shuler (C), Dave Bright (RG), Nick Davidson (RT)
Kevin Hogan (QB), Daniel Marx (FB), Barry Sanders/McCaffrey (FB), Cajuste/Rector/ Owusu (WR), Hooper/Cotton/Taboada (TE)
First Team Defense
Harrison Phillips (nose tackle), Jordan Watkins, Nate Lohn (DL), Luke Kaumatule (OLB), Peter Kalambayi (OLB), Blake Martinez (ILB), Bobby Okereke (ILB), Ra'Chard Pippens (CB), Taijuan Thomas (CB), Kodi Whitfield (S), Dallas Lloyd (S)
-Terrence Alexander came in to play corner during a nickel package on the first series, which pushed Thomas to nickel.
Second Team Offense
Nick Davidson (LT), Austin Hall (LG), Johnny Caspers (C), Brandon Fanika (RG), Casey Tucker (RT)
Keller Chryst/Kevin Hogan (QB), Dontonio Jordan/Conner Crane/Rollins Stallworth (WR), Dalton Schultz (TE)
Second Team Defense
Harrison Phillips (nose), Watkins, Lohn, Sam Shober (OLB), Mike Tyler (OLB), Kevin Palma (ILB), Noor Davis (ILB), Brandon Simmons (S), Denzel Franklin (S), Terrence Alexander (CB), Ra'Chard Pippens (CB)
Craig Jones and Jordan Perez (ILB) and Alameen Murphy and Alijah Holder (CB) rotated in on the third series. Walk-on OL Lucas Hinds was the second-team left tackle during the 9-on-7 and position drill work, but he did not participate in the scrimmage. OLB Joey Alfieri rotated in during the later series. WR Rollins Stallworth rotated in on the second series. Ryan Gaertner and Calvin Chandler also took reps in the defensive backfield.
-Stanford ran five drives (19 plays) over a 20 or so minute scrimmage. The most explosive offensive play was a very long (maybe 60+ yards) Barry Sanders run over the left side. He found a big hole and nearly took it the distance.
-Other 10+ yards plays: Michael Rector on a reverse (gained about 15), Kevin Hogan to Devon Cajuste on I believe a curl route (gained about 17).
-Top defensive plays from the scrimmage: Dallas Lloyd burst through into the backfield to tackle Christian McCaffrey for a two-yard loss; Taijuan Thomas stepped in front of a Kevin Hogan pass (intended for Austin Hooper) and very nearly (and really should have) recorded the interception. Jordan Watkins batted down a ball at the line of scrimmage. Kodi Whitfield recorded a coverage sack.
Whitfield led the defense with five tackles, Kevin Palma two stops. Lloyd and Phillips each had a TFL.
Kevin Hogan completed 4-5 passes for 34 yards. Barry Sanders rushed six times for 79 yards, the majority of which obviously came on his long run.
##########
-Obviously the development of the two young quarterbacks will be a major storyline this spring. Small sample size today, of course, but I didn't think either really hard the upper hand on the other. Both guys made some very impressive throws, both also had some bad misses. Would be interested to heard what others think, but I didn't think there was much separation between the two today.
-The sloppy weather led to several drops and a number of players slipping. Bearing that in mind, I thought Austin Hooper was just terrific over the course of the practice - he was constantly open and consistently made plays.
-In addition to the seven visiting recruits and Trent Irwin, several other familiar faces were in attendance: David Yankey, Jordan Richards, Geep Chryst, former walk-on WR Gautam Krishnamurthi and I believe a few other players who were standing a bit too far away for me to identify.
-Not sure what to make of it yet, but as an observant CSR poster noted, Dalton Schultz sure looks like he's added a lot of size in the offseason.
-There was a minor dustup between Kyle Murphy and one of the defensive linemen (I believe Nate Lohn) during the Oklahoma drill. Nothing serious, but some post-whistle pushing and shoving that got some of the other players riled up.
-Lane Veach was in pads and did participate in some of the drills, though I'm not sure he did the full scrimmage stuff.
Injured Players
Jesse Burkett (illness)
Kevin Anderson (hand)
Ronnie Harris (unspecified)
Patrick Skov (knee)
Brendon Austin (unspecified)
Solomon Thomas (toe)
Aziz Shittu (knee)
Sam Yules (unspecified)
Thomas Oser (knee)
This post was edited on 2/28 3:26 PM by Andy Drukarev
