Courtesy of my brother, who's helping out this week at BON.
*Both Colt and Jevan looked good on the first day of practice, but if you had to give the upper hand to one of them, it would be Colt. Snead did display his highly touted cannon of an arm, but it was Colt who ran the offense more confidently and seamlessly. Offensive coordinator Greg Davis was certainly impressed:
"I was really impressed with Colt tonight," Davis replied. "We signaled plays from the sideline at the end of the practice (during 11-on-11 drills) and we had no snafus in that situation. Just the overall running of the football team I thought was smoother than it was through 15 practices in the spring."
*The highlight of the night (at least in the sizeable crowd's mind) was a perfectly thrown ball from Colt to Jordan Shipley. Go Jordan! King of meaningless moments! For all the hesitancy to celebrate him on BON, we can all agree that he's got great hands. Colt dropped a deep ball behind Michael Griffin perfectly, and Shipely held on.
*Henry Melton showed some aptitude catching balls out of the backfield, and in my opinion, is poised to have a monster year. It's obvious that McCoy or Snead won't be running as much as Young did, and since we all know Greg Davis is pretty uncreative in the perimeter passing game, we may see more screens this year. Just imagine Melton out in the flat taking on a scrawny ass DB. I think Melton may turn out to be like LenDale White. He may be overshadowed by the more spectacular Jamaal Charles, but in the end, he may approach Ricky Williams type numbers in touchdowns.
*True freshman WR Josh Marshall is a monster. He's definitely grown since signing day, and now stands at 6'4", 207 lbs. The WR position is loaded, so don't expect Marshall to see too much action this year, but if injuries chip away at the receivers, don't count out Marshall.
*We're all going to miss David Thomas at tight end. Remember how clutch he was during the Rose Bowl? Attribute some of Vince's gaudy passing numbers in that game to his incredible catches. Redshirt freshman Jermichael Finely will be asked to fill his giant shoes this year. There's not too many LBs in the Big 12 who are going to be able to handle this guy. He's different than Thomas in that he's probably more explosive and physical, but there's no guarantee he'll be as adept at getting open as Thomas was. If he can use his size and athleticism to find some open space, look out. He certainly can help the freshmen quarterbacks by having a big year.
--MB--