I had the opportunity to attend the full practice today and came away with a few thoughts.
Wade is the real deal, had a great diving pick against McSorely, only interception of the day that I remember. It was much more a great play by Wade than an errant pass by Trace. Wade flat out competes with anyone, didn't look like he made any positioning mistakes, and was close to a couple more interceptions.
Mike G. is going to be used more this year than last. They were installing a couple of new plays, and Mike was the 1st option on both that I saw. He didn't drop anything that came near him, the other TE's all dropped at least one (lots of reps, not saying they had terrible hands).
The only time Barkley got any reps were during the install, didn't take any hits at all, which I'm sure we all assumed, just nice to see he's not getting any wear and tear.
PSU is clearly expecting a big year from Juwan Johnson. He ran exclusively with the first team and during the install was the second option behind Mike. JJ made several nice catches on out routes and didn't seem to struggle with confidence either with route running or making catches. Haley was on him and it was a complete mismatch because of JJ's size.
With the 1st team O-line McGovern was the center the whole time. Limegrover was on him a couple times to be more vocal with the calls, but otherwise didn't seem to have a problem.
Didn't work much on punt return, but Hamler, McPhearson, Thompkins and Wade took the reps.
*UPDATE* other things I noticed. Jarvis Miller and Monroe are noticeably bigger than last year, not sure about the weights, but just in looks.
Shaka Toney looked pretty quick on the edge, again not going against the #1 tackles but looked like they were using him in an Aaron Maybin role (not comparing the two players, I mean like a 3rd down pass rush off the edge type role).
Shareef Miller also looks bigger and seemed to give trouble to whichever tackle was attempting to block him.
T.J. Johnson is extremely long. He also seems to have a really good nose for the ball, was always involved in the play. I have no idea if he'll redshirt or not, but definitely has no fear and has the attributes to cause big receivers problems.
Jabari Butler can definitely compete at the Div. 1 level. Special teams seems to be a perfect fit for him in 2018. Not sure he'll see the field on defense, but is definitely quick.
Wade is the real deal, had a great diving pick against McSorely, only interception of the day that I remember. It was much more a great play by Wade than an errant pass by Trace. Wade flat out competes with anyone, didn't look like he made any positioning mistakes, and was close to a couple more interceptions.
Mike G. is going to be used more this year than last. They were installing a couple of new plays, and Mike was the 1st option on both that I saw. He didn't drop anything that came near him, the other TE's all dropped at least one (lots of reps, not saying they had terrible hands).
The only time Barkley got any reps were during the install, didn't take any hits at all, which I'm sure we all assumed, just nice to see he's not getting any wear and tear.
PSU is clearly expecting a big year from Juwan Johnson. He ran exclusively with the first team and during the install was the second option behind Mike. JJ made several nice catches on out routes and didn't seem to struggle with confidence either with route running or making catches. Haley was on him and it was a complete mismatch because of JJ's size.
With the 1st team O-line McGovern was the center the whole time. Limegrover was on him a couple times to be more vocal with the calls, but otherwise didn't seem to have a problem.
Didn't work much on punt return, but Hamler, McPhearson, Thompkins and Wade took the reps.
*UPDATE* other things I noticed. Jarvis Miller and Monroe are noticeably bigger than last year, not sure about the weights, but just in looks.
Shaka Toney looked pretty quick on the edge, again not going against the #1 tackles but looked like they were using him in an Aaron Maybin role (not comparing the two players, I mean like a 3rd down pass rush off the edge type role).
Shareef Miller also looks bigger and seemed to give trouble to whichever tackle was attempting to block him.
T.J. Johnson is extremely long. He also seems to have a really good nose for the ball, was always involved in the play. I have no idea if he'll redshirt or not, but definitely has no fear and has the attributes to cause big receivers problems.
Jabari Butler can definitely compete at the Div. 1 level. Special teams seems to be a perfect fit for him in 2018. Not sure he'll see the field on defense, but is definitely quick.
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