Practice Observations, 8/7/07

So you thought the massive rains and thunder from this morning would cool off South Bend, huh? Wrong. Day 2 of the 2007 season proved just as hot as Day 1, so the Irish moved inside the still-stuffy Loftus Center for practice.

• Your daily quarterback update: The media still hasn't seen any of the quarterbacks throw a pass since the Blue-Gold game, although linebackers coach Brian Polian continues to improve his arm strength. When stretching, Evan Sharpley and Demetrius Jones work together, as do Jimmy Clausen and Darrin Bragg, who has returned to the team as a quarterback after leaving during the spring while at wide receiver.
• Speaking of quarterbacks, they worked on handoff footwork and play-action footwork during their individual position session. When they lined up for high-step lines, the order went Sharpley, Jones, Clausen.
• I know we've mentioned it already, but Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis looks noticeably slimmer this season. During his press conference this morning, he said he really feels great.
• Quarterbacks coach Ron Powlus spent much of the stretching session chatting with Clausen.
• Charlie Weis' kid, Charlie, was in attendance.
• In wide receiver land, D.J. Hord and Brandon Erickson stretch together, as do David Grimes and Barry Gallup, Jr.
• Walk-on sophomore punter Xavier Burton looks really tall -- he's 6-foot-4 -- and he's really, really thin. Cool fact about him: He's from Sydney, Australia.
• The players worked out in shorts without shells. Weis said earlier today that the team wouldn't go into full pads until Friday and were not allowed to work out in shells either Monday or today.
• Freshman running back Armando Allen is really, really agile. During a cutting drill, his legs moved noticeably faster than any of the other running backs and he was really able to crouch low to the ground.
• As for wide receiver groupings -- during running drills the first group was Grimes, George West and Robby Parris. Second group was Gallup, Hord and Richard Jackson. Third group was Erickson, Kristopher Patterson and Nick Possley (the walk-ons). Fourth group had Sam Vos, Golden Tate and Duval Kamara.
• During a cut-and-catch drill, West bobbled one of the balls a few times before losing it. Gallup had a good wingspan and decent hands.
• Hord struggled and appeared to be catching the ball more with his body than with his hands. On his last ball, it hit his hands, he dropped it and then clapped his hands together in frustration.
• Kamara is impressive to look at. He runs smoothly. He catches the ball in stride with his hands instead of letting the ball reach his body and has good size. He looked a lot like Maurice Stovall while running the drills.
• Another person who impressed us with his build was Jackson, who is 6-foot-3. It could be, though, that the rest of the receivers except for Kamara are just that short.

As a reminder, got any questions for us or want us to watch certain players, leave a comment below or drop us an e-mail at mrothstein@jg.net. We'll have mailbags during the season posted on Insights as well as a full report from Saturday's open practice.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Comments

[marcus]

i'm curious to see how stewart looks and if it seems like he might end up as a starter on the o-line -- same thing for ian williams at nose tackle

[Bill V]

From seeing the drills last year- when I was very taken by Sharpley's mobility (better than Quinn's) and hearing Weis' monday comments about how Sharpley's skills fall moderately between Jones' and Clausen's . . . and with Weis spring comment that Sharpley knows the offense the best- I think we can expect to see all three play with Sharpley leading the way.