Thurs. PM practice observations + freshmen nuggets
Clemson allowed media to watch the opening 40 minutes or so of practice Thursday morning.A few thoughts, nuggets and observations:
**** As is custom, practice moved over to Jervey Meadows as players transition to their first live work in pads of the preseason.
Not quite as romantic as Major League Baseball fielding an actual game in the Field of Dreams. But a neat change of pace.
Last night, Dabo Swinney called redshirt sophomore tackle Ruke Orhorhoro and sophomore end Kevin Swint the two most improved defensive players since spring.
We covered Orhorhoro yesterday. Let's delve a bit into Swint.
Clemson recruited Swint as a linebacker, and he spent the fall there before giving end a try in the spring.
You might recall we projected Swint to be an edge-player in his college career, similar to Justin Foster, Logan Rudolph and Chris Register before him.
Tre Lamar might have been the only 240-pounder Clemson has brought in at linebacker who stayed an inside linebacker.
The writing appeared on the wall to us for Swint, who now carries 255 pounds at almost 6-foot-3.
Based on what we've seen, Swint is going to be the No. 6 defensive end behind veterans Myles Murphy, Foster, K.J. Henry, Xavier Thomas and Justin Mascoll. He has gotten more time at left end, where we've seen Foster and Murphy log the lead reps.
Those first five stand to be the guys this season during relevant action. But Swint did get some walk-through reps with the 2s Thursday when Foster took a back seat.
**** As Larry pointed out this morning, we have directed much of our freshman offensive line attention toward Marcus Tate and Dietrick Pennington, in that order. Tate might be both mentally and physically ready to contribute, while Pennington more just the latter.
Tate's case is more the exception to the rule regardless of recruiting rankings for prospects coming out of high school.
But also want to be careful to avoid that coming across as an indictment on Tristan Leigh.
Plenty of decorated offensive line recruits are tasked with reshaping their bodies, and quite a few look a lot different after a couple of years in a college strength and conditioning program.
Leigh reminds this observer a bit of Chris Hairston in body structure upon arrival. He's relatively top heavy and should redistribute that over time. But he's thinner in his lower legs and ankles, retaining the flexibility desired for tackle footwork and agility.
In other words, yes, there's work to be done. Such is the standard offensive lineman building project. But we see no reason for alarm, just to be clear.
**** In case you missed the message board post, Pennington had a boot on his left foot and a wrap that extended almost up to the knee.
DeMonte Capehart (knee) wasn't dressed out and spent rehab time with the strength staff, while Nolan Turner, Will Spiers and B.T. Potter weren't dressed but mingled among teammates.
Freshmen receivers Beaux Collins and Troy Stellato were upgraded from yellow to green jerseys and participated in most action.
Freshman defensive end Cade Denhoff was in yellow and conditioned on the side along with linebacker Jake Venables.
**** Linebackers went through a simple line drill where they flow to one side, then angle backward to play a fade throw.
You really see the range in ball skills and a reason why some are defenders, haha.
Nonetheless, freshman Barrett Carter subtly plucked another one-hander out of the air while we were watching.
Carter might not be a safety. But you see why he has more than linebacker coverage abilities.
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