By Josh Stowers
Just 92 days ago the Herd was taking the field in Boca Raton, and today they opened the 2015 edition of spring football. There are plenty of questions surrounding the upcoming season with graduations of players such as Rakeem Cato, Tommy Shuler, Chris Jasperse, and Darryl Roberts. One person who is optimistic about the 2015 version of the Thundering Herd is Head Coach Doc Holliday. "To actually come and watch them put things together is fun. I think we're able to evaluate skill sets early on and you can see we have quite a few athletes out here" Holliday said.
The biggest questions surrounding spring practice are Cato's replacement, the defensive line rotation, and cornerback depth. All three positions suffered the loss of their most productive players to graduation. Not only is their production going to be missed, but their leadership may be missed even more. "It's time for somebody else to step and take the place of the guys who are gone now," Holliday added.
Quarterbacks
For the first time in four years Marshall enters spring practice without knowing who its starting quarterback will be. It's an odd feeling looking out there and not seeing a red number twelve jersey on the field, but the uncertainty makes for an exciting spring. "Bottom line is when you put them in there for the scrimmage situations, do they make plays. Do they have that it factor? The most important thing for that position is to have the intangibles and leadership skills, but all four of these kids definitely have skills," Holliday said of his four candidates.
Redshirt junior Gunnar Holcombe took the field first and showed noticeable zip on his passes. Holcombe looked very confident and made a couple nice throws, but also threw two interceptions (both by linebacker Chase Hancock). "If I go out there and try to fill somebody else's shoes then I'm going to choke. I just try to go out there and have fun, work hard, and help the other guys," Holcombe said.
Redshirt junior Michael Birdsong took his first meaningful snaps in a Thundering Herd jersey today, and showed the same arm strength he displayed in the fall of 2014. The biggest thing I noticed with Birdsong was that he took some velocity off his short to intermediate passes to help with accuracy. Birdsong connected with Davonte Allen across the middle on a sliding catch that was placed where only Allen could make a play. He also connected twice with redshirt sophomore Deon-Tay McManus on two big plays. McManus beat a blown coverage for a 45 yard touchdown on one play and made a nice adjustment securing the ball over top of Keith Baxter for a gain of 35 yards.
Redshirt freshman Cole Garvin had the best day of the quarterbacks without question. Garvin connected multiple times with redshirt freshman Emanuel Beal for big plays. Beal, who looks like he's dropped some weight from last season, looked like the best receiver on the field today. "He's a good player and if he can stay healthy and continue to develop he's going to be a good player for us," Holliday said of Beal. Garvin connected with Beal on four different occasions that drew "who was that" from the press box. Beal made adjustments on deeps balls over top of defenders and went across the middle snatching passes out of the air.
One of the more highly anticipated players for Herd fans is freshman Chase Litton. Litton comes to Marshall with plenty of accolades and expectations. The two things you notice first about Litton when watching him is his size (6 foot 5 inches) and his ultra-quick release. He's able to hold the ball a little longer due to his release. You could tell there were some nerves in Litton's play today as he threw a couple of balls high, but the potential is there. He hit junior tight end Emanuel Byrd across the middle that caused Herald-Dispatch writer Grant Traylor and myself so say "wow."
Newcomers
The thing I'm always most interested in are the new players to the Herd roster. Chris Williams-Hall, Chase Litton, Raylen Elzy, Emanuel Byrd, Marquis Couch, Damien Dozier, Malik Thompson, and Jason Smith all went through their first spring practice in a Herd uniform today. The first thing you'll notice about the mid-year enrollees is how physically ready they all look. Elzy is an absolute HUGE target, Byrd looks terrific at his listed 6-3, 228 pounds, Couch looks like a second or third year player, Dozier looks like power forward (extremely athletic and great frame), Thompson looks like Jarquez Samuel 2.0, and Smith (#98 not listed on the roster) looks like a tank out there. Byrd and Smith had the biggest contributions to the day in terms of the newcomers. Byrd made nice adjustment across the middle and showed extremely strong hands wrestling the ball away from the defender. "Byrd is very similar to Ryan Yurachek. If you look at him you can tell he has some skill," Holliday said of his JUCO tight end. Smith recovered a fumbled handoff and returned it for 10-15 yards.
Coach Sinclair's Work
As Herd fans have grown accustomed to in his time here, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Scott Sinclair made his mark this off-season on a few players. The most noticeable transformations were that of Stew Butler, Emanuel Beal, Blake Keller, and Jordan Dowrey. Butler, who finished last season at 177 pounds, is now listed at 192 pounds and you can see it in his upper body. I already mentioned Beal's weight loss and how it increased his production today. Keller is noticeably larger now being listed at 229 pounds and Dowrey looks like an absolute road grader at 295 pounds. Other players who have slimmed down/toned up are Clint Van Horn, Michael Selby, and Tomell One. Van Horn looks to be in the best shape he's ever been. Selby and One have both lost all their baby fat. One flashed all day in individual and team drills. One player that needs to eat, drink, and sleep Sinclair's workouts this summer is Jerome Dews. Dews shows plenty of athletic ability, but lacks the needed size to be productive on the defensive line. He could easily add 25-30 pounds this summer and not be hindered.
Returning Players Update
A couple players from last season have made position changes. Josh Knight is now working out at the slot receiver position. Kaare Vedvik (as reported earlier) will work out solely as a punter this spring. Kaleb Harris moved to tight end last fall, but it wasn't really talked about too much.
Kickoff specialist Amoreto Curraj returned to kicking today for the first time in almost a year and didn't disappoint. Curraj showed no ill effects from his back injury that kept him from kicking last season. He blasted numerous kicks today as the back-up place kicker. He only missed from 47 yards out when he hooked it left.
Overall it was a great first day of practice. It's hard to get much out of players running around in shorts and helmets, but you can see the fruits of Holliday's and his staff's recruiting efforts. Marshall will return to the practice field Thursday (likely inside the IAF due to forecasted rain) at 3:30pm.
Just 92 days ago the Herd was taking the field in Boca Raton, and today they opened the 2015 edition of spring football. There are plenty of questions surrounding the upcoming season with graduations of players such as Rakeem Cato, Tommy Shuler, Chris Jasperse, and Darryl Roberts. One person who is optimistic about the 2015 version of the Thundering Herd is Head Coach Doc Holliday. "To actually come and watch them put things together is fun. I think we're able to evaluate skill sets early on and you can see we have quite a few athletes out here" Holliday said.
The biggest questions surrounding spring practice are Cato's replacement, the defensive line rotation, and cornerback depth. All three positions suffered the loss of their most productive players to graduation. Not only is their production going to be missed, but their leadership may be missed even more. "It's time for somebody else to step and take the place of the guys who are gone now," Holliday added.
Quarterbacks
For the first time in four years Marshall enters spring practice without knowing who its starting quarterback will be. It's an odd feeling looking out there and not seeing a red number twelve jersey on the field, but the uncertainty makes for an exciting spring. "Bottom line is when you put them in there for the scrimmage situations, do they make plays. Do they have that it factor? The most important thing for that position is to have the intangibles and leadership skills, but all four of these kids definitely have skills," Holliday said of his four candidates.
Redshirt junior Gunnar Holcombe took the field first and showed noticeable zip on his passes. Holcombe looked very confident and made a couple nice throws, but also threw two interceptions (both by linebacker Chase Hancock). "If I go out there and try to fill somebody else's shoes then I'm going to choke. I just try to go out there and have fun, work hard, and help the other guys," Holcombe said.
Redshirt junior Michael Birdsong took his first meaningful snaps in a Thundering Herd jersey today, and showed the same arm strength he displayed in the fall of 2014. The biggest thing I noticed with Birdsong was that he took some velocity off his short to intermediate passes to help with accuracy. Birdsong connected with Davonte Allen across the middle on a sliding catch that was placed where only Allen could make a play. He also connected twice with redshirt sophomore Deon-Tay McManus on two big plays. McManus beat a blown coverage for a 45 yard touchdown on one play and made a nice adjustment securing the ball over top of Keith Baxter for a gain of 35 yards.
Redshirt freshman Cole Garvin had the best day of the quarterbacks without question. Garvin connected multiple times with redshirt freshman Emanuel Beal for big plays. Beal, who looks like he's dropped some weight from last season, looked like the best receiver on the field today. "He's a good player and if he can stay healthy and continue to develop he's going to be a good player for us," Holliday said of Beal. Garvin connected with Beal on four different occasions that drew "who was that" from the press box. Beal made adjustments on deeps balls over top of defenders and went across the middle snatching passes out of the air.
One of the more highly anticipated players for Herd fans is freshman Chase Litton. Litton comes to Marshall with plenty of accolades and expectations. The two things you notice first about Litton when watching him is his size (6 foot 5 inches) and his ultra-quick release. He's able to hold the ball a little longer due to his release. You could tell there were some nerves in Litton's play today as he threw a couple of balls high, but the potential is there. He hit junior tight end Emanuel Byrd across the middle that caused Herald-Dispatch writer Grant Traylor and myself so say "wow."
Newcomers
The thing I'm always most interested in are the new players to the Herd roster. Chris Williams-Hall, Chase Litton, Raylen Elzy, Emanuel Byrd, Marquis Couch, Damien Dozier, Malik Thompson, and Jason Smith all went through their first spring practice in a Herd uniform today. The first thing you'll notice about the mid-year enrollees is how physically ready they all look. Elzy is an absolute HUGE target, Byrd looks terrific at his listed 6-3, 228 pounds, Couch looks like a second or third year player, Dozier looks like power forward (extremely athletic and great frame), Thompson looks like Jarquez Samuel 2.0, and Smith (#98 not listed on the roster) looks like a tank out there. Byrd and Smith had the biggest contributions to the day in terms of the newcomers. Byrd made nice adjustment across the middle and showed extremely strong hands wrestling the ball away from the defender. "Byrd is very similar to Ryan Yurachek. If you look at him you can tell he has some skill," Holliday said of his JUCO tight end. Smith recovered a fumbled handoff and returned it for 10-15 yards.
Coach Sinclair's Work
As Herd fans have grown accustomed to in his time here, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Scott Sinclair made his mark this off-season on a few players. The most noticeable transformations were that of Stew Butler, Emanuel Beal, Blake Keller, and Jordan Dowrey. Butler, who finished last season at 177 pounds, is now listed at 192 pounds and you can see it in his upper body. I already mentioned Beal's weight loss and how it increased his production today. Keller is noticeably larger now being listed at 229 pounds and Dowrey looks like an absolute road grader at 295 pounds. Other players who have slimmed down/toned up are Clint Van Horn, Michael Selby, and Tomell One. Van Horn looks to be in the best shape he's ever been. Selby and One have both lost all their baby fat. One flashed all day in individual and team drills. One player that needs to eat, drink, and sleep Sinclair's workouts this summer is Jerome Dews. Dews shows plenty of athletic ability, but lacks the needed size to be productive on the defensive line. He could easily add 25-30 pounds this summer and not be hindered.
Returning Players Update
A couple players from last season have made position changes. Josh Knight is now working out at the slot receiver position. Kaare Vedvik (as reported earlier) will work out solely as a punter this spring. Kaleb Harris moved to tight end last fall, but it wasn't really talked about too much.
Kickoff specialist Amoreto Curraj returned to kicking today for the first time in almost a year and didn't disappoint. Curraj showed no ill effects from his back injury that kept him from kicking last season. He blasted numerous kicks today as the back-up place kicker. He only missed from 47 yards out when he hooked it left.
Overall it was a great first day of practice. It's hard to get much out of players running around in shorts and helmets, but you can see the fruits of Holliday's and his staff's recruiting efforts. Marshall will return to the practice field Thursday (likely inside the IAF due to forecasted rain) at 3:30pm.
