Day 2 of Oregon St. Spring Practice Throws A Lot At the Wall To See If Anything Sticks

Oregon St.'s second spring practice session today threw a lot of different stuff at the team. There weren't a lot of reps for anyone at any given thing, because there were a lot of things being tried out, in the second day without full pads.

As such, its hard to read a lot into progress so far, other than that new Offensive Coordinator John Garrett is clearly going to be probably the most hands-on, involved member of the staff. The man is in the middle of everything to do with the offense.

Head coach Mike Riley, in contrast to his busy first day, seemed much more in the focused observer mode today, watching and making a lot of mental notes.

Continuing with the theme of looking for players who seem poised to have an impactful season, watch for fullback Tyler Anderson to make a difference in the relatively limited opportunities for the fullback position. Completely healthy, Anderson is a moving fire hydrant of a player, and looking surprisingly fast for someone whose' game is built on strength.

Riley is known to favor use of the fullback to a greater degree than most, and Anderson is just the kind of weapon Riley will love to spring on opponents.

At this point, it looks like the offense will take a turn even more towards the short to medium passing game, which is where the focus has been heavily so far. But that's not uncommon across football at all levels currently, with the focus on hitting the defense before it can make a read and react.

It could be Riley and Garrett's way of making the Oregon St. offense more of a quick-hitting attack without speeding up the pace between plays.

Defensively, I was happy to see Michael Doctor appearing to knock quite a bit of rust off compared to the first practice, though that's realistically about what everyone would expect. Jabral Johnson also appears to be picking up more of the subtleties of the middle linebacker position, though there's sure to be some revelations to come when Mannion and Oregon St.'s legion of tight ends are full unleashed.

Friday will be the first day in full pads, and is sure to bring some new perspectives on things.

All of the Monday-Wednesday-Friday spring practice sessions begin at 10 AM, and are open to the public.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com