Sping Practice #4 Recap

This mornings practice was the first in full pads. Gerry Dinardo and Howard Griffith were in attendance from the big ten network. They did a lot more hitting and tackling drills today which let some physical players stand out. On the injury front, Demarlo Belcher was limited most of the day. I am not sure as to the extent of the injury but he spent most of the practice riding the bike. Jarrell Drane also hurt his left knee while back peddling during a position drill. They wrapped it up but it doesn't look to serious.

Now onto the practice:

Today I will start out discussing the defense. During the tackling drills Jeff Thomas did a pretty good job. Just like on his highlight tapes, he is a good tackler and hits pretty hard. Surprisingly, I thought Yatta Kiles did a pretty good job on the tackling drills as well, delivering some decent hits. Even Peter St. Fort came up with a big hit during one of the competitive drills. Fred Jones did a good job getting to the QB and Adam Replogle and Deonte Mack both had some good tackles in the backfield. In the secondary, Adrian Burks had a few good plays in coverage and Finch had another good practice as well.

On the offensive side of the ball Ed Wright-Baker got to take reps with the 2nd team on a few occasions. At the beginning he struggled with his accuracy but picked it up a lot towards the end of practice. He also showed his ability to escape the pocket and make some good throws on the run. Dusty Kiel also had a good day throwing the ball. He tends to stare down receivers sometimes but still threads the needle. Chappell was his usual self making many good throws and hooking up with a variety of receivers. Darius Willis was his usual self and Nick Turner showed his speed while busting open a few runs.

The receiving core is going to be extremely good. It doesn't seem like anybody can keep up with Tandon Doss and the younger players are having great practices as well. Duwyce Wilson is making a ton of catches along with Jamonne Chester. Both of them seem to catch almost everything thrown their way. Even Charles Love had a few good catches from the tight end spot. Dre Muhammad seems to look very comfortable in the slot position and made some good plays with his speed.

Even though Justin Pagan hasn't been able to practice he is constantly one of the most vocal and encouraging players out there. Many of the drills were extremely competitive today and you can't help but notice Pagan's enthusiasm from the sidelines. The Hoosiers will be off for a few days and pick up again on Tuesday.