Day One Texas Practice Report
By Sigmund Bloom
While the Nation was finishing up their practice, the Texas squad was warming up in the south end zone. A practice more intense than just about any I saw in the last three weeks of college all-star games was brewing. The Texas boys have come to play and the coaches are just as fired up as the players. The enthusiasm is contagious and the hitting is hard. The volume was turned up to 11 as the Sun Bowl lived up to its name - The left side of my face is sunburned to prove it. Here are my observations from the practice:
Josh Swogger, QB, Montana – Nice consistent zip on short/intermediate passes, pretty trajectory on deep ball, doesn’t force the ball when nothing is there, nice play and pump fakes
Dalton Bell, QB, West Texas A&M – Visibly throws hard, like a baseball closer. Throws a big lollipop of a deep ball that had little to no accuracy
Andy Collins, QB, Occidental – Smooth motion, little accuracy on deep ball, lowest performing of the three QBs, so-so arm strength
Quentin Smith, RB, Rice – Naturally gets low when running
Paul Mosley, RB, Baylor – Runs with forward lean, miscast as outside runner
D.D. Terry, RB, Sam Houston State – Outstanding vision and burst through traffic on two runs that would have been long TDs
Ramonce Taylor, RB, Texas College – Burst, quickness, moves, vision, home run ability still apparent
Marcus Mason, RB, Youngstown St – Made the sickest cut of the whole practice leaving a defender grasping at air, very compactly built, allows him to easily get lower than defender
Chad Schroeder, WR, Texas A&M – Natural hands catcher
Robert Johnson, WR, Texas Tech – Very natural receiver at full extension, natural hands – surprising for a QB convert
Vincent Marshall, WR, Houston – Changes direction with ease, soft hands, but sometimes uses them to stop the ball in the air and then grabs it, instead of just catching naturally
Mike Jefferson, WR, Montana St – Surprising burst on deep route to separate, gathered to change direction
James Finley, WR, Oregon – Decent ball tracking over the shoulder, gathers to change direction, doesn’t burst off the line, unnecessarily jumped when catching once, terrific hands and instincts to pluck ball out of the air, especially on a bullet from Swogger
Kendrick Dozier, WR, Langston – Struggled with hands at first, but came on as practice went on, athletic potential is there
Daniel Robinson, WR, UTEP – One great catch when he was about to get creamed
Justin Carter, TE, Texas College – Fights the ball, didn’t look natural receiving
Allen Barbre, OT, Missouri Southern – Played LT, redirects defender well,
Renardo Foster, OT, Louisville – Good footwork, worthy of LT
Kurt Quarterman, OL, Louisville – Good killer instinct as blocker
Nick Smith, C, San Diego State – Generally neutralized his guy, even handled Walter Thomas
Stephen McDonald, FB, Syracuse – Sealed corner well as a lead blocker
Darius Sanders, DE, Oregon – Rushed with great determination, good first step, defeated double team with motor
Travis Leitko, DE, Notre Dame – Good push for a lanky DE, but displays few pass rush moves
Justin Rogers, DE, SMU – Seemed out of his league against Barbre
Walter Thomas, DT, NW Mississippi CC – Unstoppable when he got a good push, showed a good spin move (!) and was astoundingly nimble for a guy his size (think Gabe Watson at his best during Senior Bowl practices last year – dancing bear). Seemed to tire, and then get second wind. Didn’t excel on every play but was dominant when he did. Got lots of individual coaching and encouragement. Talk of the scouts in the stands. Jags practically drooling on him
Brent Curvey, DT, Iowa State – Great push, played with 100% effort throughout
Marcus Bacon, LB, Missouri – Stuck with RB in coverage
Courtney Bryan, CB, New Mexico State – Struggled at first, but came on
Bryant Tisdale, CB, UTEP – didn’t bite on the fake, made a terrific INT by wrestling 50/50 ball away from WR
Stephen McCoy, CB, Texas A&M-Kingsville – Had scintillating pass breakup that got coaches fired up, good coverage but didn’t react to “BALL” call by teammates
Dathon Brown, CB, Texas College – Had scintillating pass breakup that got coaches fired up
T.J. Wright, CB, Ohio – Didn’t plant and burst well on ball, committed two blatant penalties
Joe Sturdivant, S, SMU – Quality, smart work in coverage
Top 5 Players
1) Walter Thomas, DT, NW Mississippi JC
2) Josh Swogger, QB, Montana
3) Nick Smith, C, Fresno State
4) Brent Curvey, DT, Iowa State
5) Stephen McCoy, CB, Texas A&M-Kingsville
For more information, go to http://texasvsthenation.cstv.com/ . The game will be telecast Friday February 2 on CSTV at 10 pm EST/7 pm PST.
By Sigmund Bloom
While the Nation was finishing up their practice, the Texas squad was warming up in the south end zone. A practice more intense than just about any I saw in the last three weeks of college all-star games was brewing. The Texas boys have come to play and the coaches are just as fired up as the players. The enthusiasm is contagious and the hitting is hard. The volume was turned up to 11 as the Sun Bowl lived up to its name - The left side of my face is sunburned to prove it. Here are my observations from the practice:
Josh Swogger, QB, Montana – Nice consistent zip on short/intermediate passes, pretty trajectory on deep ball, doesn’t force the ball when nothing is there, nice play and pump fakes
Dalton Bell, QB, West Texas A&M – Visibly throws hard, like a baseball closer. Throws a big lollipop of a deep ball that had little to no accuracy
Andy Collins, QB, Occidental – Smooth motion, little accuracy on deep ball, lowest performing of the three QBs, so-so arm strength
Quentin Smith, RB, Rice – Naturally gets low when running
Paul Mosley, RB, Baylor – Runs with forward lean, miscast as outside runner
D.D. Terry, RB, Sam Houston State – Outstanding vision and burst through traffic on two runs that would have been long TDs
Ramonce Taylor, RB, Texas College – Burst, quickness, moves, vision, home run ability still apparent
Marcus Mason, RB, Youngstown St – Made the sickest cut of the whole practice leaving a defender grasping at air, very compactly built, allows him to easily get lower than defender
Chad Schroeder, WR, Texas A&M – Natural hands catcher
Robert Johnson, WR, Texas Tech – Very natural receiver at full extension, natural hands – surprising for a QB convert
Vincent Marshall, WR, Houston – Changes direction with ease, soft hands, but sometimes uses them to stop the ball in the air and then grabs it, instead of just catching naturally
Mike Jefferson, WR, Montana St – Surprising burst on deep route to separate, gathered to change direction
James Finley, WR, Oregon – Decent ball tracking over the shoulder, gathers to change direction, doesn’t burst off the line, unnecessarily jumped when catching once, terrific hands and instincts to pluck ball out of the air, especially on a bullet from Swogger
Kendrick Dozier, WR, Langston – Struggled with hands at first, but came on as practice went on, athletic potential is there
Daniel Robinson, WR, UTEP – One great catch when he was about to get creamed
Justin Carter, TE, Texas College – Fights the ball, didn’t look natural receiving
Allen Barbre, OT, Missouri Southern – Played LT, redirects defender well,
Renardo Foster, OT, Louisville – Good footwork, worthy of LT
Kurt Quarterman, OL, Louisville – Good killer instinct as blocker
Nick Smith, C, San Diego State – Generally neutralized his guy, even handled Walter Thomas
Stephen McDonald, FB, Syracuse – Sealed corner well as a lead blocker
Darius Sanders, DE, Oregon – Rushed with great determination, good first step, defeated double team with motor
Travis Leitko, DE, Notre Dame – Good push for a lanky DE, but displays few pass rush moves
Justin Rogers, DE, SMU – Seemed out of his league against Barbre
Walter Thomas, DT, NW Mississippi CC – Unstoppable when he got a good push, showed a good spin move (!) and was astoundingly nimble for a guy his size (think Gabe Watson at his best during Senior Bowl practices last year – dancing bear). Seemed to tire, and then get second wind. Didn’t excel on every play but was dominant when he did. Got lots of individual coaching and encouragement. Talk of the scouts in the stands. Jags practically drooling on him
Brent Curvey, DT, Iowa State – Great push, played with 100% effort throughout
Marcus Bacon, LB, Missouri – Stuck with RB in coverage
Courtney Bryan, CB, New Mexico State – Struggled at first, but came on
Bryant Tisdale, CB, UTEP – didn’t bite on the fake, made a terrific INT by wrestling 50/50 ball away from WR
Stephen McCoy, CB, Texas A&M-Kingsville – Had scintillating pass breakup that got coaches fired up, good coverage but didn’t react to “BALL” call by teammates
Dathon Brown, CB, Texas College – Had scintillating pass breakup that got coaches fired up
T.J. Wright, CB, Ohio – Didn’t plant and burst well on ball, committed two blatant penalties
Joe Sturdivant, S, SMU – Quality, smart work in coverage
Top 5 Players
1) Walter Thomas, DT, NW Mississippi JC
2) Josh Swogger, QB, Montana
3) Nick Smith, C, Fresno State
4) Brent Curvey, DT, Iowa State
5) Stephen McCoy, CB, Texas A&M-Kingsville
For more information, go to http://texasvsthenation.cstv.com/ . The game will be telecast Friday February 2 on CSTV at 10 pm EST/7 pm PST.
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Eric Swann was the comparison.'Cept Roderkus was psycho. 
Eric Swann was the comparison.'Cept Roderkus was psycho. 
Once bitten twice shy?
plays. I got to talk to him yesterday, check the audible later this week for the interview.
at RT. Some things never change, I guess. Incredibly talented kid who will do amazing things on the football field and some "interesting" things off of it. If he ever gets his focus just right, he'll star at the next level. We shall see.
