Today was a big day for practice nuggets from Brenden Slaughter. Good looking report on the QB's and Jordan Villamin was back in action.
"Mason is a competitor, and he is a young kid in that position who wants to battle," Andersen said. "He has handled (not getting reps) well on the outside, and I'm sure on the inside he wants more reps, and any young man that isn't getting reps is probably frustrated. He has a line of communication with coach McGiven and it's a tremendous relationship for all of the quarterbacks. He will continue to battle and fight, and he will want more, and if you didn't want more reps then he is in the wrong spot. Overall, he is handling the situation well."
Andersen on what Jason Phillips has brought to the practice field...
“Energy,” Andersen said with a smile. “From the minute he wakes up, he is always moving and going. He is a tremendous communicator, and the kids know he genuinely cares about them. After we walk off the practice field, he spends a lot of time with the young men off the field which is important. He has high expectations when he walks out here, he has energy, juice, excitement, and is always prepared.”
Andersen on defensive guys who have stood out in spring...
“With this many practices, I think it’s definitely worth singling out a few kids,” Andersen said. “(Andrzej) Hughes-Murray and (Doug) Taumaoelau have really given us some solid young players who aren’t playing young. Wesley Payne would be another one at the inside linebacker spot who has really grown. The core of the outside linebackers (Hamilcar) Rashed, and (Kee) Whetzel is really coming around, which we have to if we want to have 30 sacks and turnovers in a season and we were nowhere near that last season and the outside linebackers are going to be a big part of that.”
Andersen on offensive guys who stood out...
“On offense I would say (Tuli) Wily-Matagi has been good and made solid progress from last season to now and that’s repetition, growing up, and understanding division one football. Jaylynn Bailey has come in and been the third back all spring and has worked his tail off. (Jordan) Villamin looked good today, and that’s what we need out of Jordan. We need a great senior year out of him, and if we do we will be a much better football team.”
- Jake Luton was once again the first quarterback to take reps in the portion of practice open to the media. Luton’s highlight was standing tall in the pocket and hitting a heavily covered Andre Bodden over the middle for a nice 20 yard gain. Luton showed nice accuracy squeezing that ball to Bodden with Omar Hicks-Onu right on his hip.
- Darell Garretson perhaps had his best day of spring football so far. After looking out of sorts for most of spring ball, he looked much more calm and collected in the pocket. He valued every one of his reps, making smart decisions with most of them. His highlight was throwing a really nice fade route to Jaylynn Bailey that was a 25-30 yard completion.
- Luton still has the best pocket presence of all of the QB’s. During the completion to Bodden, I counted that Luton sidestepped two defenders and had 4-5 seconds to scan the field and go through his progressions.
- As we continue to talk about QB’s, I have to add that while Luton is more of a statue in the pocket, McMaryion is more elusive. Several times, McMaryion rolled out of the pocket and had to make throws either with or against his body. He didn’t have the same 4-5 seconds that Luton had. McMaryion had closer to 2-3.5 seconds.
- McMaryion’s highlight was hitting tight end Quinn Smith for a 20 yard gain on a post route. Smith so wide open, and the ball was so on the money I think I could have made that catch. It was a nice pitch and catch.
- The first team defensive line consisted on Kalani Vakameilalo and Elu Aydon. This is now the 3rd or 4th practice where I have seen OSU using only 2 down lineman, and bringing the outside linebackers as hybrid DE/LB’s.
- Jordan Villamin looked 100 percent today in practice. Villamin, who had been limited with a knee injury early in spring, was with the first unit today. I didn’t see him make a catch, but he looked a lot sharper and more precise in his route running and overall poise.
- Last note on the linebackers: Andrzej Hughes-Murray and Doug Taumaoelau continue to impress me from the inside LB position. Both guys were incredibly quick, and made plays in the middle of the field and the backfield. If OSU has a strength on defense this year it will most definitely be the depth that they have in the linebacker position, as they have a ton of guys that have the ability to compete and play immediately.
- As I mentioned earlier in the season, OSU has placed an emphasis on the passing game, and today was no different. Andersen mentioned he enjoys having three able quarterbacks because of the amount of passing reps that they want to execute in practice.
Quotable
Gary Andersen on Mason Moran...
"Mason is a competitor, and he is a young kid in that position who wants to battle," Andersen said. "He has handled (not getting reps) well on the outside, and I'm sure on the inside he wants more reps, and any young man that isn't getting reps is probably frustrated. He has a line of communication with coach McGiven and it's a tremendous relationship for all of the quarterbacks. He will continue to battle and fight, and he will want more, and if you didn't want more reps then he is in the wrong spot. Overall, he is handling the situation well."
Andersen on what Jason Phillips has brought to the practice field...
“Energy,” Andersen said with a smile. “From the minute he wakes up, he is always moving and going. He is a tremendous communicator, and the kids know he genuinely cares about them. After we walk off the practice field, he spends a lot of time with the young men off the field which is important. He has high expectations when he walks out here, he has energy, juice, excitement, and is always prepared.”
Andersen on defensive guys who have stood out in spring...
“With this many practices, I think it’s definitely worth singling out a few kids,” Andersen said. “(Andrzej) Hughes-Murray and (Doug) Taumaoelau have really given us some solid young players who aren’t playing young. Wesley Payne would be another one at the inside linebacker spot who has really grown. The core of the outside linebackers (Hamilcar) Rashed, and (Kee) Whetzel is really coming around, which we have to if we want to have 30 sacks and turnovers in a season and we were nowhere near that last season and the outside linebackers are going to be a big part of that.”
Andersen on offensive guys who stood out...
“On offense I would say (Tuli) Wily-Matagi has been good and made solid progress from last season to now and that’s repetition, growing up, and understanding division one football. Jaylynn Bailey has come in and been the third back all spring and has worked his tail off. (Jordan) Villamin looked good today, and that’s what we need out of Jordan. We need a great senior year out of him, and if we do we will be a much better football team.”
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