I attened my first Fall Practice of the season this morning in Corvallis. Here were my thoughts on all of the happenings. Feel free to ask any questions.
- As was stated by Andy earlier today, James Rodgers ran his first routes with people covering him. He did look a little tentative at first, but once he got into the swing of things he looked great. He also had a great diving catch that pleased everyone in the crowd.
- One of my goals going into practice was to see who would be the third quarterback behind Ryan Katz and Cody Vaz. I thought that the most impressive QB behind those two was a relative unknown, freshman Richie Harrington. Harrington was the most accurate on the 8-14 yard pass drill, and he just looks great in the pocket. He could be a very good QB as he gets more experience.
- I've only seen one practice so I'm probably not the best to judge, but if the season started tomorrow I would have Ryan McCants as our starting running back, with Malcolm Agnew right behind him. McCants looked solid, running through holes very nicely. He also runs downhill, which is something I love in a back.
- Malcolm Agnew looks like the next Jacquizz, which is exactly what I thought he would be when he signed back in February. He catches balls out of the backfield perfectly, his cutbacks were great, and he also has a nice spin move that reminds me of Ken Simonton. I think there's a good chance that he's our starter next year.
- The other guy I was most impressed with was freshman Brandin Cooks. He caught everything in sight and reminded me of Sammie Stroughter. His routes and cuts were very sharp as well. If Rodgers isn't able to return kicks and punts, which it sounds like he won't, I think Cooks would be a great replacement at that spot.
- Sticking with the freshman receivers, Tyler Trosin also looked great. He made a couple of great catches. The only problem is, I don't see how he is going to get any playing time behind guys like Jordan Bishop, Cooks, Obum Gwacham, Rodgers, and Markus Wheaton.
If you haven't made it out to a practice yet, I would defintiely recommend it. It gives you a good taste of college football if you are looking for an offseason fix.
Go Beavers!