The overall effort from the offense was much improved from Tuesday. What needs to be taken into account though is that it was a non-tackle day. We'll know more if the offense has made some necessary improvements after tomorrow's practice but with that said here is what and who stood out today:
1) A lot of time was spent on situational football today (2 minute drills, 5 minute drills and goal line situations). I thought the offense executed these much, much better than they did last year. There was less time spent figuring out where everyone needed to line up, getting there, and executing. (One of the many benefits of having the same system/lingo two years in a row despite the different faces running it.) I couldn't help but notice how hands on A-Rod was during these drills. If there was any tweaking that needed to be done he was very good about bringing it up with the players and explaining why.
2) As for the quarterbacks I thought Wilson probably had his worst day so far of spring. It just felt like he was missing guys a lot by either over or under throwing them. Having watched Manning a little I have to wonder if his problem isn't that he tries too hard on occation. There are times it feels like he makes unnecessary throws that really aren't there or are far too risky. Just an interesting thought I had. While still far from perfect and needing a lot of work yet Hansen was impressive from the standpoint that he slowly seems to be building his game one layer at a time. He threw the ball more than he has all spring and I thought he was making good decisions. What he still needs to work on (and understandably so) is his timing and accuracy with his receivers. His thought processes were pretty spot on though.
3) Evan Moeai was looking very, very good out there today. He was making several good catches and really stepped up his game. Wallace Gonzalez also had a decent day. Didn't see too much of Harrison Handley today and I thought Siale Fakailoatonga struggled to catch the ball. It's something he's been good at before now, but for whatever reason some of the others have been more impressive so far this spring.
4) Bubba Poole continued to have a really good day in his new hybrid position (he now wears 8 instead of 34). He had a really nice one handed snag from a Hansen pass later in practice. I'm really excited to see how Poole does in actual games. He's proving to be a very steady and reliable commodity no matter where the Utes place him on the field.
5) About half way through practice I noticed Kendal Thompson coaching up Harrison Handley after he ran the wrong route in a drill. The next go-around Thompson connected on a beautiful play by Handley. It was really nice seeing a quarterback telling his receiver/tightend/runningback exactly what he needed from him after a mistake and then excuting the play well on the next try. This is the kind of thing that needs to happen more with Utah's offense not only in spring and fall, but come game time. Whoever plays quarterback literally needs to lead his guys and make corrections when corrections need to be made.
***Bonus***
I thought it looked like the guys were not only working very hard today but having a lot of fun along the way. The offense and defense were chattering back and forth with each other after 11 on 11s, 7 on 7s and 1 on 1s. Even the offensive and defensive coaches were getting in on it. It was a very nice thing to see after some of the problems with the staff last year.
1) A lot of time was spent on situational football today (2 minute drills, 5 minute drills and goal line situations). I thought the offense executed these much, much better than they did last year. There was less time spent figuring out where everyone needed to line up, getting there, and executing. (One of the many benefits of having the same system/lingo two years in a row despite the different faces running it.) I couldn't help but notice how hands on A-Rod was during these drills. If there was any tweaking that needed to be done he was very good about bringing it up with the players and explaining why.
2) As for the quarterbacks I thought Wilson probably had his worst day so far of spring. It just felt like he was missing guys a lot by either over or under throwing them. Having watched Manning a little I have to wonder if his problem isn't that he tries too hard on occation. There are times it feels like he makes unnecessary throws that really aren't there or are far too risky. Just an interesting thought I had. While still far from perfect and needing a lot of work yet Hansen was impressive from the standpoint that he slowly seems to be building his game one layer at a time. He threw the ball more than he has all spring and I thought he was making good decisions. What he still needs to work on (and understandably so) is his timing and accuracy with his receivers. His thought processes were pretty spot on though.
3) Evan Moeai was looking very, very good out there today. He was making several good catches and really stepped up his game. Wallace Gonzalez also had a decent day. Didn't see too much of Harrison Handley today and I thought Siale Fakailoatonga struggled to catch the ball. It's something he's been good at before now, but for whatever reason some of the others have been more impressive so far this spring.
4) Bubba Poole continued to have a really good day in his new hybrid position (he now wears 8 instead of 34). He had a really nice one handed snag from a Hansen pass later in practice. I'm really excited to see how Poole does in actual games. He's proving to be a very steady and reliable commodity no matter where the Utes place him on the field.
5) About half way through practice I noticed Kendal Thompson coaching up Harrison Handley after he ran the wrong route in a drill. The next go-around Thompson connected on a beautiful play by Handley. It was really nice seeing a quarterback telling his receiver/tightend/runningback exactly what he needed from him after a mistake and then excuting the play well on the next try. This is the kind of thing that needs to happen more with Utah's offense not only in spring and fall, but come game time. Whoever plays quarterback literally needs to lead his guys and make corrections when corrections need to be made.
***Bonus***
I thought it looked like the guys were not only working very hard today but having a lot of fun along the way. The offense and defense were chattering back and forth with each other after 11 on 11s, 7 on 7s and 1 on 1s. Even the offensive and defensive coaches were getting in on it. It was a very nice thing to see after some of the problems with the staff last year.
