The Football Brainiacs

Image via OU Football Facebook

In case you missed it, we posted a few initial notes from yesterday’s practice here. Fortunately, I was able to track down a few more notes of interest:

– Firstly, I was told that for a first practice things were “very intense and very detailed.” This definitely didn’t sound like a ‘we are easing into things’ type of practice.

– As I mentioned in yesterday’s notes, Trevor Knight and Cody Thomas took the most QB reps but Baker Mayfield’s reps did gradually increase throughout the day. Was told that all of the quarterbacks look better, but one source I spoke to said that Cody Thomas seems to have made the biggest improvement.

Admittedly, however, it was just the first day, so it’s important to keep not only this but everything here in the proper context.

– Was told the biggest weapons on the field yesterday were Joe Mixon, Samaje Perine and Dede Westbrook. A source told me those three were even more dangerous than Sterling Shepard (bear in mind this is a person’s opinion AND just one practice).

– I wasn’t able to get a clear picture of the offensive line rotation because there seemed to be, well, quite a bit of rotation taking place. “They are looking to develop some depth,” was what one source mentioned. But the overall impression I got regarding the OL was positive.

– It does sound like, for the most part, the defense was running more of a 4-man front alignment with 1-tech, a 3-tech and a 5-tech DE with hands in the dirt and then a stand-up Jack LB/DE.

– As I mentioned in yesterday’s notes, Dwayne Orso was in the starting rotation at the 3-tech. But one source did mention that both he and Charles Walker shared reps pretty evenly at that spot.

– Was also told, to no one’s surprise, both Eric Striker and Devante Bond are playing that stand up DE position and sharing reps at the position. Also unsurprisingly, both are apparently very impressive. Was told that Striker appears even more explosive off the edge than he was in the past couple years. And we’ve heard Bond’s praises sung for a while, so no surprise that he’s looking good as well.

– Jordan Evans and Dom Alexander seem to be running with the 1’s the most at the two LB positions thus far, but Frank Shannon is also rotating in quite a bit. It’s too early to say at this point, but I got the sense from talking to folks that of the three experienced LBs, Evans is probably the most likely to start.

– Was also told that the defense was running mostly nickel with Steven Parker manning the nickel position.

– Again it seems Kahlil Haughton and PJ Mbanasor stood out. Was told they have both “stunned” some people. Haughton is running behind Ahmad Thomas at strong safety.

– I’m told Charles Tapper looks better than ever and didn’t seem to have any fatigue issues.

– Was also told that Ricky Deberry looked very good. He’s playing the stand up DE position, however, so one would think it is going to be next to impossible for him to see the field if they keep him in that spot with both Striker and Bond ahead of him on the depth chart. But it’s obviously still encouraging to hear he looks good early on.

– Also of note, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo has moved to strong side defensive end behind Tapper. Though if you’ve seen any pictures of him lately it might not come as that big a surprise. He has put on some considerable good weight and already flashed at times last year with an ability to get to the quarterback.

– It sounds like overall it was a quality opening practice and the energy is very high. I know right now it’s tough for some fans to be optimistic, but I say throw last season out the window and get excited. There’s plenty of time to complain, but this is supposed to be a fun time of the year full of hope and potential 🙂