Louisville Football Open Practice Report: Practice Four

UofL held its fourth open practice Friday afternoon. Below are some considerations and considerations.

VIOLATION

• The quarterback had a good day today as Jack Plummer and Evan Conley stood out. Plummer continues to show his accuracy with one throw that stands out to me. At the goal line, Plummer threw to Francis Sherman in the corner, which fell right over the defender and into Sherman’s hands.
• Conley made a couple throws today that really jumped out at me with his best throw being to Jahwar Jordan. Conley moved his feet in the pocket as the play developed and put the ball between two defenders. Conley also left two guys wide open today, but it was nice to see him still complete the pass to the pick target on first downs. You’d like him to see those open players, but he still hit other open options.
• I think the runner had the best day as a group. Maurice Turner ran wild all day with two long touchdowns where he showed off his speed. On his second Run, he navigated through the defense before using his speed to get past two defensive backs while using a stiff arm to break free from the other.
• Jordan also had a long touchdown today as well as a couple of other long plays. Jordan has been the first guy in terms of practice reps, and he looks to pick up where he left off. Jordan has been a mostly straight guy since he’s been here, but he makes people miss in small spaces, which is good to see.
• The practice started with the receivers dropping a lot of passes during drills. Jarmari Thrash got two of those drops himself. However, he followed up the downs by scoring two touchdowns on the next scrimmage. It was great to see him recover and finish strong. The best players don’t have bad practices.
• Chance Morrow made two plays today that I hadn’t seen from him yet. He caught the pass in the corner of the end zone, where his size allowed him to tower over the defender. Plummer put it on the ropes and Morrow contorted his body to get around fast enough to get a good handhold and he got a leg down. Later, he caught a pass over the middle and then ran from a defender for about 10 yards. Nice to see from a young man.
• Jimmy Calloway scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive, where he showed off his speed and agility. He cut left and right on the run to find open space, then latched on tightly in the end zone. He and others have started to show some nice things that will help the depth during the season.
• Another tight end was dropped because they didn’t know the play or lined up wrong. It happened at least once every open practice, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t at least weird at this point. This is the third week of practice and things like this should be sorted out by now. Especially with a group that has plenty of college experience.
• Jamari Johnson had a touchdown catch that was separated from the goal line. He ran a quick turn route, where he basically nudged the defender with his massive frame and got a quick pass to the goal. Jeff Brohm has the potential to be very creative with Johnson.
• There were some changes on the offensive line today, with Austin Collins playing some center with the first group and Bryan Hudson sliding to guard. this happened a few times in the beginning but not sure if it continued after that.
• Luke Burgess and Madden Sanker continued in the same group, but they were third in a row this week after being with the pair last week. Izaiah Reed was the other left tackle.
• The line held its own in a one-on-one matchup against the defensive line. They also did well in run blocking throughout practice, leading to some nice runs past the backs.

DEFENSE

• I’m gaining more and more confidence in the defensive line as we see more of them. Ashton Gillote is completely unstoppable so far and I think he can make the most of the new system. He can play inside the tackle and be successful, and he can slide out to the outside shoulder of the tackle and get around the edge. Should be a big year for him.
• The interior gets me a little excited about the line and the defense as a whole. Dez Tell, Ramon Puryear, Jermayne Lole, Tawfiq Thomas and Jared Dawson are all guys who rotate and battle on the inside, and they’ve all looked good so far.
• The success of the interior line affects how the linebackers play. If they can be kept clean and allowed to run more freely, they can play fast and play more. Jackson Hamilton and KJ Cloyd have had a handful of games this spring where they’ve gone untouched en route to TFLs.
• Hamilton stood out from the linebacker group as he was all over the field and did a good job of securing the Tackles when he got there. The staff seems to mix up the lineups a lot, as the first team tandem was different during the fourth straight open practice.
• The second set was led today by Trey Franklin, who continued to look like he was playing aggressively and hard. He had two straight pass interceptions late in practice where he undershot a route and got his hands to drop the ball down. UofL needs one more cornerback to step up, but right now they have a great opportunity to have a very good two-deep secondary.
• Antonio Watts is a young guy that I’m really excited about. He’s a big S/LB hybrid backing up Ben Perry at the nickel spot. Watts looks like a linebacker, but he spent the day running against the step with slot receivers. He almost picked off a pass when he undercut one of the slot receivers on a crossing route. The ball was not behind the receiver either. He just ran it down. I think he will provide the depth they need on defense.
• At one point, a nickel back slipped into the linebacker spot and they brought another defensive back. I think this looks like a dime package that will look great in the fall. That’s what I was hoping to see in Bryan Brown’s defense, with Card only moving to linebacker. Apparently it worked well, but this theoretically adds speed to the field.
• The defense looked good overall today, even though they gave up some big plays. They got constant pressure and had a handful of TFLs.

NOTES

• DAngelo Hutchinson (I believe. List not updated) went down with a knee injury late in practice. He tried to stop to make a tackle and went down clutching his knee or thigh area. Hopefully nothing serious as he has looked very good this spring. Josh Minkins and Devin Neal are also already injured.
• The training was again quite even, but it must be emphasized that Gillotte really gives attacking attacks. He just plays so hard and it’s good to see at least one guy who looks dominant. A few others will certainly have their moments, but Gillotte looks like a potential star.
• Both sides of the ball are much sharper when it comes to positioning and getting the plays right. I haven’t seen a single burst of coverage or a receiver getting earshots for running the wrong route. The offensive line has been missed, but it hasn’t happened since the second open practice. It seems like the coaches are doing a good job installing the new systems with minimal problems.