Fall camp quotes and takeaways, Day 3
Head coach Matt Wells —
On adding shoulder pads to practice: “The pads were popping. There was some good stuff. The No. 1 offense did a really nice job in the red zone running the ball in and the receivers made some nice catches when we were throwing the ball in there. We can’t allow that on the No. 1 defense, though, so it always goes both ways. The No. 2 offense didn’t perform very well, but the No. 2 defense did a really nice job.”
On TE Wyatt Houston and WR Braelon Roberts: “Those are two players who stood out on offense. Defensively, Daniel Gray and Wesley Bailey are doing some good things on that side of the ball.”
On D-lineman Faimalo’s pick-six: “It was a poor decision by the quarterback, but a phenomenal play by the D-lineman,” Wells said. “That’s a D-lineman’s dream.”
Totally subjective takeaways —
— In years past, the Aggies have been blessed with a strong quarterback group, but this year behind Kent Myers the depth chart is anyone’s guess at this point in camp. Damion Hobbs looks to be solidifying himself as a solid backup option and seems steady enough. Cade Smith, Jordan Love and DJ Nelson each have had a rough start to camp. Between mishandled snaps, overthrows, underthrows, fumbles and interceptions, let’s just say there is work to be done.
— The two early darlings of camp, Dallin Leavitt and Rayshad Lewis, had quiet days. Lewis had a handful of drops both in individual and group 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills. Leavitt, on the other hand, continues to split time with the other six safeties on the roster vying for a starting job.
— The offensive line had a rough time opening up rushing lanes. A fair amount of plays featured the running back seeing more tackles than daylight. Even in jumbo packages, positive yards were hard to come by. Good chunk yardage on the ground could only found by turning the corner and forcing the ball outside. Devante “Weight Room” Mays did break open his own lanes on occasion and with good results. He had three touchdowns on the day.
— Drops continue to be an issue, and push-ups continue to be the solution.
— Bad. Freaking. Snaps. There were just too many of them.
— Myers and Hobbs let fly today and showed good touch on the deep ball with a medley of different receivers on the other end. Alex Byers, Zach Van Leeuwen, Andrew Rodriguez, Wyatt Houston and Brealon Roberts all got in on the fun and burned the defense on some long-ball touchdowns.
— Apart from the aforementioned touchdowns, the defense won the day today. Throughout the depth chart, the unit contested passes, smothered receivers, clogged rushing lanes, closed out on the ball and, for the most part, kept everything in front of them. Not perfect, but not bad either. Daniel Gray and Wesley Bailey were singled out by Wells as some top performers today.
— Turnovers were cut down drastically today, to just one.
Injury notes —
— Mason Tobeck went down early in practice with a non-contact knee injury.
— Labuan Hunt did not practice.