Some observations from Tuesday's open portion of practice.
It is only the second day, and they aren't in full pads yet, but an early name that might be worth keeping an eye on is tight end Jonathan Odom. He had his best two games in his three seasons on campus to end the season last year. As we posted Monday, he is in a non-contact jersey, but his body type looks much different, leaner and more muscular, and he looks like he is moving much better. I wouldn't be surprised if he challenges for the most playing time at the position because he can be both a blocker and a receiver.
Though Odom stood out to me these last two days, focusing a little more on the group today and Dante Zanders, Arlis Boardingham and Hayden Hansen all look like they are in the best shape of their Florida careers.
Speaking of the tight ends, to show you what a little injection of energy can do for a position, it was the position coach Russ Calloway who was leading the group from station to station today jogging in the front ahead of the pack.
As I posted above, I hate to read too much into 30 minutes worth of practices in shorts, but this could be a group to watch out for to greatly increase their contributions from last season to this season.
The offensive line was split into two groups with Rob Sale working with the tackles at one station while Darnell Stapleton worked with the guards and centers at another station. About halfway through the 15-minute period, the groups changed coaches/stations.
During these drills, Riley Simonds was working at center.
The running back rotation looked about like what you would expect with Montrell Johnson going first, Trevor Etienne second, Cam Carroll third, Treyaun Webb fourth and then Ja'Kobi Jackson before the walk-ons.
The players not participating in practice, but instead were in the Pit, were all receivers. Eugene Wilson, Thai Bowman and walk-on Brian Green Jr.
The receiver group rotation was pretty much the same as yesterday. Near the end of drills Marcus Burke earned a 'that-a-boy' from one of the support staff members for his crisp route running.
Yesterday, while I was watching at least, we saw mostly shorter and intermediate passes 'on air'. Today they ended the open portion of practice with the quarterbacks taking deep shots down the field. The best throw of the session I saw leaving was Jack Miller hitting Aidan Mizell.
It is only the second day, and they aren't in full pads yet, but an early name that might be worth keeping an eye on is tight end Jonathan Odom. He had his best two games in his three seasons on campus to end the season last year. As we posted Monday, he is in a non-contact jersey, but his body type looks much different, leaner and more muscular, and he looks like he is moving much better. I wouldn't be surprised if he challenges for the most playing time at the position because he can be both a blocker and a receiver.
Though Odom stood out to me these last two days, focusing a little more on the group today and Dante Zanders, Arlis Boardingham and Hayden Hansen all look like they are in the best shape of their Florida careers.
Speaking of the tight ends, to show you what a little injection of energy can do for a position, it was the position coach Russ Calloway who was leading the group from station to station today jogging in the front ahead of the pack.
As I posted above, I hate to read too much into 30 minutes worth of practices in shorts, but this could be a group to watch out for to greatly increase their contributions from last season to this season.
The offensive line was split into two groups with Rob Sale working with the tackles at one station while Darnell Stapleton worked with the guards and centers at another station. About halfway through the 15-minute period, the groups changed coaches/stations.
During these drills, Riley Simonds was working at center.
The running back rotation looked about like what you would expect with Montrell Johnson going first, Trevor Etienne second, Cam Carroll third, Treyaun Webb fourth and then Ja'Kobi Jackson before the walk-ons.
The players not participating in practice, but instead were in the Pit, were all receivers. Eugene Wilson, Thai Bowman and walk-on Brian Green Jr.
The receiver group rotation was pretty much the same as yesterday. Near the end of drills Marcus Burke earned a 'that-a-boy' from one of the support staff members for his crisp route running.
Yesterday, while I was watching at least, we saw mostly shorter and intermediate passes 'on air'. Today they ended the open portion of practice with the quarterbacks taking deep shots down the field. The best throw of the session I saw leaving was Jack Miller hitting Aidan Mizell.
