a. Orange Jerseys: Rucks, Clark, Anderson, Conner Smith, Gill, Battle, R. Johnson, T Jordan, Roberson, Cole, Jeske, Roach, Bacher, Arrington, Simpson, Hahn. Others like Mims, Mitchell, Yarbrough were riding the bike, however, Mitchell did see action. This list may be inaccurate since I could not see the numbers on the helmets. I obtained the list by eliminating the numbered jerseys that I saw. I apologize if I mistakingly put a player on this list that wasn't oranged.
Not sure about all the injuries but IMO, most don't look bad at all since I only saw one guy with a boot on. Mims will probably be a go this evening or tomorrow is my guess, Jeske is still out so dunno if we can reasonably count on him being an immediate contributor. Bacher will probably be back this evening or tomorrow is my guess. Cole ran his own sprints with his trademark sweats on and his legs seemed absolutely fine.
b. I left Mims picture on the top of this page for one reason. I know they had him listed at 260 last year but he even looked smaller than that. Well, folks, this year he is a solid 280 and just looks huge out there. He didn't practice today but I have a feeling that his name is going to get a ton of recognition this year as his contributions to the team will mount. And FWIW: some of the times/lifts that got reported to me also raised an eyebrow towards Mims. I remember his times coming into NU was something like 4.88 in the 40 at 255lbs. This year only him, Koehn, Gill, Keenan I believe ran under 5.0. Mims time was actually 4.8, his best ever, and at about 25lbs heavier.
c. Board Results: The following is a brute strength 'man on man' drill between two players. The results for the Wednesday am practice are as follows:
K. Kennedy won and was impressive over D Taylor
Citizen Koehn was extremely impressive in his win against BigD74
Dinard and Woodsum were basically a tie but the edge to Dinard
Richart won against Herbert
K Thompson won against Woodsum
Belding won with ease against M Thomas
Shanks won against Ryan Black
Hunter was impressive in his win against Sam 'if you can't beat'm' Cheatham
TJ Jones won against David O
Conteh was very impressive against Q Davie
Abernathy won against Lane rather easily
The Alaskan King Crum won against Highlen
Hunter won solidly against Herbert
Ngene won in a battle of brute against Diaz
Cobb just plowed against Dinard
Frymire won against Dious
Mattes was solid against Corbin Bryant
Item 2 : General Unit Breakdowns
QB: CJ didn't participate although I anticipate him practicing possibly as early as tomorrow. Kafka looked the best. In fact, Kafka had one heckuva practice IMO. His touch on the ball, strength, etc has put his passing over and above the other QB's. Kafka also had one solid run. If this first Kenosha practice is a sign of things then Kafka is doing a good job of separating himself from the other QB's and his own spring performance.
Turk favorite Onward Andrew Brewer's passes weren't as crisp as Kafka's in the mostly passing offense. Brew's going to see the field but he'll have to get more relaxed passing than what I saw today.
Mauro, like many of the true freshmen didn't play a down I believe. He did do drills with the other QB's but didn't run the offense against the D from what I saw.
RB: Last year Sutton fumbled some in Kenosha however this am there was only one fumble [shanks].
Sutton. It's easy to see what we will be doing this year. We'll put things on TD Sutton's shoulders. TD had a great practice and looked even better than last year.
Roberson: Not participating
Jordan: Not participating
Conteh: Looked alot quicker and determined.
Shanks: Buried in the depth. A real load though and should at least be a special teams standout this year.
OL
Needs a rythym. I liked the middle of the line in Tripodi, Rees, and Keenan before this week however throw that out since Keenan has been moved for the 3rd time. IMO, I would have left Keenan at guard but what do I know. With Compton not attending classes this summer, Tommy B now at ND, Matthews apparently leaving the team for good, and Rucks not practicing....who else can play tackle unless we go to a redshirt or true freshman?
Did the offensive line open holes? Yes. Will they be a strength this year barring anymore casualties? Yes. But much work to do to get Nsync.
The Offense and Defense lined up 2 yards from the goalline and did 4 plays where it was either ruled a TD or a stop. The D won 3 of them as the DL plugged some holes and allowed Malleo, Dinard, Black to fill in nicely for the stops.
WR:
THompson looked absolutely solid. Mitchell made a great catch on the opening pass. Everyone from Herbert to Frymire looks like they can play in this league and they are all HEALTHY and practicing.
Special Teams
Howells looked solid. Demos looked to be exclusive to kicking as I didn't see him puntin. Smith was returning however he did drop one. Ward, Yarbough, and Colemen looked as if they were under the punts as well. The punting looked good but I lost track of exactly which punter it was. I got #17 as the snapper for the FG and my media guide sez that's Phillips. Don't think it was Phillips so it was either another number 17 I guess or wrong number I copied. Both Herbert and Larshield held for FG's.
DL
Hard to tell. Wooten is full contact. Hahn, Mims, Gill didn't participate.
LB: Kadela & Eaton only starters that saw action today. Simpson, Roach are sidelined. Not much to report.
DB: Nothing really to report. Both Battle and Cole didn't participate. Play of the day went to McManis as he had a nice pick
*****Turk's Redbird Awards For August 9 am practice********
Turk throws out a redbird to the wildcat player who had the most impressive practice
Turk Redbird Tosses: Kim Thompson, Kafka
Freshman: McManis
The Daddy Redbird Award Goes to: Mike Kafka