First, I was there the first hour and forty-five minutes. I didn't see any of the 11-on-11 stuff. But otherwise, I'll just jump around because there's a lot of stuff going on at the same time. Plus, it's first day and hard to tell much.
RBs
Elliot has bulked up, no doubt. He looks like an SEC running back.
Montrell is a specimen.
Perkins and Ballard look like they'll be good backs. Perkins looks smooth.
Overall, I'd say I feel better about the new backs after seeing them today. Looks like the first four could make some plays in the spread.
WRs
Sanders is quick as hell. Heavens seemed a lot faster than I noticed last year. Bumphis is Bumphis. They all looked a little bigger. Leon Berry looks a helluva lot more comfortable with everything that's going on and I wouldn't be surprised if he had a pretty good year with somebody to throw it to him.
DL
Carmon is a freakin' beast. I kinda doubted that he was down to 345 but he looks nothing like the fat boy in his recruiting pics last year. When you look at McPhee, Boyd, Cox, and Carmon, that's a pretty serious sized four dudes. Ferguson was out there but relegated to the last team. McKenzie looks like he's ready to play.
OL
All appeared in pretty good shape and moved around well.
DBs
Zach was back. Nickoe Whitley and Zach were second team safeties for now. Couldn't tell much else. Banks has put on a few pounds and Damien Anderson seemed pretty into it.
QBs
They're big. Russell and Relf look like SEC QBs, which is strange considering what we're accustomed to. When Relf throws the ball well, it looks like it's on a line. Just a strong, nice throw. But sometimes it ain't where it's supposed to be, no surprise. But he looked comfortable. Russell has some tools. Throws a nice, nicepass. This is the first time I've seen him as I never make it in from the Junction until about two minutes before kick. Stegall has a weird motion and not that strong an arm. Not today anyway.
Other stuff
I like Manny Diaz. It's like somebody lit his hair on fire. He constantly talks about a running motor and everybody getting there and so forth and he drops F bombs that could easily be heard from 80 yards away, which will make him a message board anti-christ somewhere any minute now. I get the feeling he and Wilson will be good moves.
There were some new formation wrinkles in the option game and also more use of the WRs in the option game.
For some reason, we still wear those ugly ***, cutoff maroon pants from the Croom era, which makes me want to puke. Can't adidas buck up and get us some new practice gear?
And lastly, by far the biggest thing I noticed today was Mullen. Last year, every practice, he was very vocal, very hands on, doing a lot of teaching, hustling from unit to unit. His voice was always heard. Today, much different. He let the coaches do the coaching. He moved around, more observant, stopping here and there to teach, but mainly acting like a head coach versus an assistant coach. Which made me realize that last year was probably a big curve for the assistants and not just the players as everyone had to figure out how it was going to be done. The mood, pace, and so forth, was much more efficient and crisp than anything I saw last year, which is to be expected, but nice to see nonetheless.
ETA: For the first time since God knows when, I couldn't find a position on the field where we really have to hope that the freshmen can come and contribute immediately. Looks like they could all probably redshirt if need be.
RBs
Elliot has bulked up, no doubt. He looks like an SEC running back.
Montrell is a specimen.
Perkins and Ballard look like they'll be good backs. Perkins looks smooth.
Overall, I'd say I feel better about the new backs after seeing them today. Looks like the first four could make some plays in the spread.
WRs
Sanders is quick as hell. Heavens seemed a lot faster than I noticed last year. Bumphis is Bumphis. They all looked a little bigger. Leon Berry looks a helluva lot more comfortable with everything that's going on and I wouldn't be surprised if he had a pretty good year with somebody to throw it to him.
DL
Carmon is a freakin' beast. I kinda doubted that he was down to 345 but he looks nothing like the fat boy in his recruiting pics last year. When you look at McPhee, Boyd, Cox, and Carmon, that's a pretty serious sized four dudes. Ferguson was out there but relegated to the last team. McKenzie looks like he's ready to play.
OL
All appeared in pretty good shape and moved around well.
DBs
Zach was back. Nickoe Whitley and Zach were second team safeties for now. Couldn't tell much else. Banks has put on a few pounds and Damien Anderson seemed pretty into it.
QBs
They're big. Russell and Relf look like SEC QBs, which is strange considering what we're accustomed to. When Relf throws the ball well, it looks like it's on a line. Just a strong, nice throw. But sometimes it ain't where it's supposed to be, no surprise. But he looked comfortable. Russell has some tools. Throws a nice, nicepass. This is the first time I've seen him as I never make it in from the Junction until about two minutes before kick. Stegall has a weird motion and not that strong an arm. Not today anyway.
Other stuff
I like Manny Diaz. It's like somebody lit his hair on fire. He constantly talks about a running motor and everybody getting there and so forth and he drops F bombs that could easily be heard from 80 yards away, which will make him a message board anti-christ somewhere any minute now. I get the feeling he and Wilson will be good moves.
There were some new formation wrinkles in the option game and also more use of the WRs in the option game.
For some reason, we still wear those ugly ***, cutoff maroon pants from the Croom era, which makes me want to puke. Can't adidas buck up and get us some new practice gear?
And lastly, by far the biggest thing I noticed today was Mullen. Last year, every practice, he was very vocal, very hands on, doing a lot of teaching, hustling from unit to unit. His voice was always heard. Today, much different. He let the coaches do the coaching. He moved around, more observant, stopping here and there to teach, but mainly acting like a head coach versus an assistant coach. Which made me realize that last year was probably a big curve for the assistants and not just the players as everyone had to figure out how it was going to be done. The mood, pace, and so forth, was much more efficient and crisp than anything I saw last year, which is to be expected, but nice to see nonetheless.
ETA: For the first time since God knows when, I couldn't find a position on the field where we really have to hope that the freshmen can come and contribute immediately. Looks like they could all probably redshirt if need be.
