After Jahmir Johnson got the bulk of work at left tackle with the 1s in the second scrimmage of the spring Saturday, the former JUCO product was back at his main position in 2018 today, working exclusively at left guard in both individual and combo drills. The first-team OL had freshman Wanya Morris at left tackle, Johnson at left guard, Ryan Johnson at center, Riley Locklear at right guard and Marcus Tatum at right tackle. Jerome Carvin was working with the 2s at center. K’Rojhn Calbert, who’s been a regular with the 1s at right guard, wasn’t out for much of practice while the media was present.
The o-line did multiple drills focusing on leverage. Freshman Chris Akporoghene oozes potential but his rawness definitely shows up in those settings.
As has been the case for the last two weeks, Trey Smith and Brandon Kennedy continue to do light work on the side of the main group. Interestingly, Kennedy also went and worked on his snaps with the quarterbacks during routes on air.
Like the o-line, the tight ends spent two periods working on run-blocking leverage. Brian Niedermeyer emphatically clapped his hands in praise after Dominick Wood-Anderson had astrong rep following some tough coaching.
Head coach Jeremy Pruitt led a “chop and run” pass rush drill with both LBs and DBs today, as the two groups spent time working on blitzing off the edge and trying to force a sack-fumble. Newcomer Deangelo Gibbs looked the most natural during the drill among the DBs. Daniel Bituli held the same role with the LBs, showcasing tight fundamentals and explosiveness off the edge. Shanon Reid and Will Ignont also had solid reps. Conversely, Solon Page was chewed out for jumping offsides during his rep and Pruitt also got onto freshman Quavaris Crouch for a lazy rep, where he too jumped offsides.
The routes on air period still had too many balls hit the ground, but most of the drops were from walk-ons. Jauan Jennings and Jordan Murphy, both working in the slot today, did have a poor drop each. Jarrett Guarantano might’ve thrown just 1-2 bad balls the whole drill, firing several pretty passes, especially on a few designed tight throws up the seam. Similarly, JT Shrout was sharp today. He airmailed one right over the middle, but he mostly was clean with his accuracy and touch. Freshman Brian Maurer took a lot of reps, but the early enrollee continues to struggle with consistency. Among the receivers, Marquez Callaway was very smooth today but I thought Jacquez Jones might’ve had the best overall performance. He plucked two high, tough throws from Maurer over the middle and also caught a ball a bit behind him from Guarantano.
Greenback (Tenn.) defensive end Derrell Bailey visited today. The long in-state lineman (6-5, 225) was good at the Charlotte Rivals 3Stripe Camp, earning offers from Colorado and Georgia Tech. Bailey is Mack Wilson’s half-brother