Nobody, and I mean nobody, can cover Von Pearson. This is looking less and less like a knock on the secondary and more of a reflection of just how good Pearson is. Every time Pearson caught a ball on Tuesday it was an explosive play that left me and Jayson Swain in awe of his ability. After every play Von made, Swain would scream at me and give me the Swain-face
Needless to say, we think Von Pearson is the real deal.
Josh Malone scored at least three touchdowns in team periods on long explosive plays. He touched the ball on screens, go-routes, as well as short passes and made big yards after the catch all day. He is really starting to come along. Josh is a great example of someone who took the time off during Spring Break to get better. *Sidenote* When Malone scored his first long touchdown, Marquez North sprinted the length of the field to celebrate with him and screamed, Its about time you scored one, Josh. These guys are pushing each other and cheering for each other on every play.
Daniel Helm made another one-handed catch with a defender draped all over him. He has a lot to learn, but he continues to show the ability to make plays in this league.
Early in practice, during drills, Justin Coleman hit North so hard that the Helmet-Cam that Marquez was wearing broke off and went flying across the field. North had a good day, but Coleman and his defensive teammates reminded him throughout practice about the hit the sophomore took from Coleman.
If I had to pick one player on offense to watch out for that nobody has been talking about much this spring, its Devrin Young. He had a few more explosive plays on Tuesday and it seems that nobody on the team can get him on the ground. Including A.J. Johnson in one-on-one tackling drills. Devrin has had a great attitude this spring and has really made his case to get touches in the fall.
The first team defense did very well during 11-on-11 work bringing pressure on third down. The offense really struggled to move the ball against them. It may have been the worst offensive performance of the spring, but there are a lot of black stripes on the offense right now. The second team defense has a long way to go and will rely on the freshman who get here in the summer to provide instant depth.
The new offensive line really struggled picking up blitz pressure..which isnt surprising at this point, but they are definitely not where they need to be and have a long way to go. They struggled to communicate the protections to each other and left the quarterbacks to fend for themselves on too many plays.
