Practice notes from the BleedTechBlue.com staff

Quarterbacks

Steven Ensminger looked the most consistent out there last night. He missed a few guys deep, but for the most part the short and intermediate stuff was all on target.

Tarik Hakmi has wheels and a cannon. If he gets his accuracy down, this could be the guy Tony Franklin has been searching for.

Ross Jenkins made some nice throws. Right after throwing a beautiful ball 20 yards down field he would try and make the same throw and it would be 5 yards short. His short throws are accurate. The intermediate stuff is inconsistent.

I don't see Colby Cameron as being on the same level as those three.

Running Backs

Head coach Sonny Dykes said this of the running backs, "I thought Ray Holley was outstanding today. Myke Compton had a really good day in the backfield, so was Roosevelt Falls. I was really impressed with the way those guys competed."

That really summarizes my thoughts as well on the running backs. Lennon Creer and Tyrone Duplessis seemed to get a little banged up but did not look significant.

Dykes had a little more to add about running backs Holley, Compton, and Falls; "Those guys are just really good, solid, hard-nosed, tough football players. That's what the rest of these running backs have to do and we need to get our receivers to play a little more physical and compete at a higher level. We've said all along that they are talented guys, but we have to get them to compete at a higher level."

Another notable, was the attendance of Charcandrick West. I spoke with him and he said that Tech has made an appeal to the NCAA clearing house to try and get him on the team this season. If not, he will sit out the year while attending school and be here next season."

Wide Receivers

A surprise for me was seeing Gerard Shillow out there. I was under the impression he wouldn't be eligible. Shillow is big and athletic and made some incredible circus catches.

Dykes said this of the receivers, "Taulib Ikharo was a little silent. Gerard Shillow made a lot of plays and was competitive. He made a lot of plays; I don't think he knows what he's doing yet because he's a freshman but he can really catch the ball. We've got some other guys who really need to step it up a bit. I thought it was a decent first day."

This was my first chance to see Carey Fortson in person and he needs to get in the weight room and let strength coach Damon Harrington work with him. I was told he has already put on 14 pounds since being here.

Defense

I can't get over how much the defensive backfield has improved. Last season these guys wouldn't be able to have played to the level they played last night. Much of the credit has to go to cornerbacks coach Kevin Curtis.

The linebackers played well last night especially Jay Dudley.

It is hard to tell how well the defensive and offensive lines are playing, but my biggest question mark for next season lies on the defensive line.