Practice observations from 3/13 & 3/15

Not going to pretend I know anything about anything but something is better than nothing, and when it comes to practice observations, we seem to get more nothing than anything else.

It’s hard to observe at ground level and from the sideline. You can only see the guys right in front of you and any plays to the other side of the field you can’t see. In addition, the team just barely put the pads on and even though it’s a “tackle” practice, it really isn’t.

Tying to watch line play is impossible, so I can’t tell you anything here. The only thing I noticed is that Amaama has been moved from oline to dline. I’m pretty sure he’s a walkon and last on the depth chart. The only reason I’m familiar with this guy is when the 3s and 4s were on the field last year he caught my eye and not in a good way. Huge guy, aka, fat and can’t move. Well, he’s a DT now and looked better there than he did on the oline. This year he caught my eye when I heard a loud thud/pad crack as he mowed over an olineman and pushed his way to the QB. He might see the field this year in certain situations, like goal line or something.

TJ Green is identical to McCormick. Same number and everything. If you didn’t know better you’d think you were watching McCormick.

Tyrone Smith is a beautiful specimen. Tall, fluid, big, fast, confident … I can see why Casey Hughes transferred. In case you don’t remember or know, Tyrone Smith switched from WR to CB two years ago and was injured before the 2017 season started. He’s back and I’m sure he’ll be rotated in among Blackmon and Johnson. Smith had the only pic of the day (Tues) that I recall.

Another McCormick clone, Batchlor Johnson was getting a lot of reps and making a lot of catches. he might turn out to be something.

Zach Moss has some incredible hands. Samson Nacua was catching balls out of the jugs, close range, high speed. Very impressive. It was right in front of me, set up along the chain link fence. Samson was maybe 15 feet away from it catching bullets. It was cool to be so close and hear how loud the impact was when the ball hit his hands. From the side, it was almost impossible to see the ball come out of the machine and hit Samson’s hands. Now Zach Moss steps in, much closer than Samson was by a couple of steps. There is no possible way an ordinary guy like me or you could catch these balls. They were right at his head (he had his helmet on) and he was catching it like it was nothing. Then he starts taking a step forward after each catch getting to the point where he is probably 8 or 9 feet away. When one slipped through his hands he just walked away like it was nothing. It left a huge impression on me. This was no joke. If I had tried this the first one would have slipped through my hands, hit me in the face and knocked me out. By the way, Zach Moss is HUGE.

Enough about that, I heard Josh Nurse’s name getting shouted out a lot by Coach Shah. Not in a bad way, he was getting a lot of reps and was all over the field. Now I can’t remember if he was playing safety or CB?

The offense, both days, pretty much lined up in the same formation the entire practice. Shotgun of course, 1 RB, 2 TEs, one tight and the other shallow in the backfield near the tackle and 2 WRs split out on each side.

I recall Jack Jackson getting open for a TD, deep rout along the side line.

Bronson Boyd is as advertised. This guy is going to make some big plays. I’m sure you’ve seen the twitter videos of some of the catches he’s been making this spring, if you haven’t, go find them.

I though Simpkins was going to get lost among all the new and emerging WR talent, but no. He’s right there in the thick of it. He’s carrying himself as a leader, like Moss and Huntley. These three are going to make some huge noise.

Now, for the main reason I made the effort to get to these practices. QBs!

OH. MY. GOD.

We’ve never had the luxury of even knowing what a true 4 star QB looks like. I had to keep pinching myself to make sure I was really here at a Utah practice and not USC or Ohio St. Long story short, Tuttle is out of the box ready. He is so much farther along than any QB who has ever touched our practice fields. Lightening fast release, big and powerful. He’s back there making throws like he’s been here for years. It’s mind blowing.

Shelley – not bad. Overshadowed by Tuttle. I keep wanting to see something out of Shelley that makes me think Tuttle will redshirt. It’s close but I just don’t think Shelley has enough to keep Tuttle off the field. I’m wanting Shelly to hold down the #2 spot but it’s going to be tough. There are still a lot more practices to watch so maybe we’ll know a little more later. If I had to call it now, I’d want Tuttle playing if Huntley went down.

Huntley – wow. He’s noticeably bigger. What’s weird is, I swear his arms are longer. His throws are … majestic? It’s amazing, his throwing motion is more fluid and stronger. It’s just jaw dropping to watch him move out there. There’s no question who our QB is.

Matt Gay looks like he’s dropped a few pounds. He no longer looks like a DT out there kicking. The FG unit made most of there FGs is a scrimmage like situation. They were either from 45 or 55 yards. They only missed a few. Johnston looked good too.

These practices are incredibly fast pace. It’s hard to see what’s going on.

If I think of anything more I’ll add it.