Dave Aranda
On both sides of the ball, I thought the execution was good. I think the energy kind of lagged at times. Energy-wise probably not our best day, but I thought they were able to persevere. There were highlights in the throwing game. I thought both Blake and Kyron put some balls on point and we made the contested catches. I think the protection is still improving. I think the run game in terms of one cut and get downhill and fall forward and all that has a ways to go. I think the blocking on the perimeter with our receivers still has a ways to go. Defensively, the ability to kind of manage the selection of calls we have and to get in out of things on shifts and motions and communicate and stay on the same page is way impressive. I thought they were able to hustle around and make plays. I thought they were able to make timely plays, so there was a lot of good there. For them to kind of go through hard situations and have the maturity to not have self-inflicted wounds is still a big area for growth as we go into the season.
(Blake’s progress) Blake with the math that we kind of keep up with in the throw game has been impressive. His completion percentage and the ball getting out of his hand and all the metrics are good. But there are times when he got out of that and made that throw and got it where he needed to get it with velocity, so there’s some of those moments that are cool to see. The thing I’m most proud of is his leadership and the art of when to say something and how to say it and being authentic with everything you’ve got.
(How much does a full-speed scrimmage help) We had a lot of plays, about 125, I think. You can feel the difference when there’s no cloud cover, and when the clouds roll in and all that. I told them at the end we don’t control the clouds. We have to control our own actions and attitudes and all that. I think all of it’s good. We’ve talked about it before, to get to where you’re going you’ve got to start where you are. I think this is a good reminder of kind of where everything’s at, and I think for us to get to the level of it’s a tight game, it’s on the road, it’s in a storm and you can’t see north from south, and you can’t hear from left to right. In order to get where you need to be and what you have to do, we have a ways to go.
(Walcott from cornerback to star position) Some of Al’s strengths are going to be his instincts. He is a ballhawk and is always around it. Good fortune generally follows. I think there’s a great amount of physicality with him. Last year as a corner, he was one of our better blitzers. We would bring the corner quite a bit. His transformation to that star position was an easy one.
(Lorando Johnson now playing cornerback) Lorando just has such great speed and athleticism. He was bringing physicality for sure from the start, but there was this need for skill and speed on the perimeter, and he’s doing well there.
(Walcott wrist injury) We’re expecting Al to be back next week.
(Running game) There’s been a good rotation. Winning at every level is the thing, and I think that winning in the meeting room is important, and getting all this information and connecting these dots, and can you put it in your own language and can you teach it. There’s winning at that level, there’s winning at the walk-through, paying attention. If you’re not taking the rep, your eyes are on the guy who is. Winning at the Tuesday practice, that second team period in whatever the heat you’re in, and finishing strong is the thing. Saturday scrimmage is yet another thing. I think some of those previous stages we’ve been able to win them, and we did not today in this setup. So we’ve got another shot at it. You’re on the path, you’re off the path, get back on it. It’s as simple and as hard as that.
(Plans at running back) Whatever gives us the best opportunity to win. There’s talent there for sure, but there has to be a consistency and an aggressiveness that has to come together.
(Wide receiver competition) The more you can throw it, the more you can work those combinations. We’ve had Blake move around with different groups to see if there’s a matchup that’s better than others.
(Safeties) There’s a fair amount of talent there. Devin Lemear made some plays today. Mike Harris has really shown up. We’re still trying to get Mike on the straight and narrow off of football. There’s some positive things. I think the ability to fully find a home in the sub-packages. There’s a wide variety of guys and skill and talent, I think we’re still looking for roles. The hope is by next scrimmage we have that.
(Doyle’s leadership) Dillon makes time to make his own cuts (in the film room) and studies it. You get all this information and connect the dots and put it together, he does that. What a valuable lesson for some of our younger guys.
(Tyquan and Jalen Pitre) Anytime our guys are doing well, I reach out to them. I reached out to them at the start of camp. I’m just very proud of them. For some of them, they dreamed about it, but I don’t know if they really thought it was a realistic thing. If you asked them, they probably said yes. That Pro Day, I could see it in their faces, this is real dude. You find out who you are and live it out. It’s just so cool to see Ty block, catch, and do all of it.
(Baylor receivers connection with Blake) They have. In terms of making contested catches, in terms of route running and getting off the press and their competitiveness that relates to catching, I think they’ve done an outstanding job. They’re playing hard. Offensively, there’s a fair amount of formation variety and a fair amount of shifts and motions, and they’re working their way through that. You’re at that point of camp where the water gets a little bit muddy, how can we get out of it and be a whole new player and a whole new team, and I’m excited about that.
(Offensive and defensive lines) The O-line and D-line, the talent there is real. There’s a great scouting report on the other side. You take any O-lineman and they can give you a rundown of their counterpart on the other side. Their base move, their counter move, the play-action pass what they like to do, a bootleg. All of that and they know it. You’re playing best on best, you’re playing fastball pitcher vs. fastball pitcher, so you can’t help but get better. We’re getting some of that in the secondary as well with young guys, freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores on the outside, so it’s good to see.
