FSU spring practice No. 4 report: Offense shines, defense responds late
By: Curt Weller - The OsceolaEven though it feels like spring football just began at Florida State, we're already approaching the first scrimmage of spring camp for the Seminoles.
FSU is set to hold its first scrimmage Thursday afternoon. As a final tune-up of sorts, FSU held its final practice before the scrimmage Tuesday afternoon, the fourth practice of spring and the second straight full-pads practice for the Seminoles.
Although this was not yet a true scrimmage, it felt very much like a stepping stone towards that milestone. It was a practice that both started and ended with situational red-zone work and saw some third-down work in the middle as well.
Here are the Osceola staff observations from Tuesday's practice:
Jerry Kutz and Patrick Burnham contributed to this practice report.
OFFENSE
Through the first three practices, there were moments where one side of the ball looked better than the other, but the practices as a whole were pretty back and forth.
Much of Tuesday's practice was a one-sided affair by the offense, which had its most productive practice of spring by a pretty wide margin.
In the early goal-line period, the offense scored touchdowns on six of the seven plays that were contested. The only play the offense didn't score, coincidentally the very first play, was a drop in the end zone.
DJ Uiagalelei had a dime of a tight-window throw to Hykeem Williams in the back of the end zone, threw a beautiful arching pass to Deuce Spann, who made a one-handed catch in the back corner of the end zone and also scored a rushing touchdown on a play-action keeper where he unleashed a pretty nasty cut upfield to make linebacker Shawn Murphy miss.
Brock Glenn had a few nice throws on the run to Ja'Khi Douglas and Malik Benson. Even Luke Kromenhoek had a great rep where he picked up an errant snap that was way high and bounced off his hand and threw a great pass to Kyle Morlock in the back of the end zone.
The offense also started off the final 11-on-11 period near the end of practice with back-to-back explosive plays. First, Uiagalelei threw a perfectly-called slip screen to Jaylin Lucas, who caught the ball and did the rest himself, taking off untouched for a 60-ish-yard touchdown catch.
The very next play, Caziah Holmes broke off a 50-ish-yard touchdown run through the middle of the defensive line.
The defense closed the practice out strong (we'll get to it in a bit) but it was certainly encouraging to see an offense that is replacing so many pieces have such a strong day early this spring.
Uiagalelei broke out that same upfield cut while running towards the sideline later in the practice, breaking off a run of 25-ish yards. Like we have said, speed isn't his biggest asset but he moves pretty well for a guy who weighs over 250 pounds.
Glenn also had a long run in the middle 11-on-11 portion, going for 30 or more yards and was given time to deliver a beautiful ball over the middle of the field to Benson late in 11-on-11 work.
Running back Sam Singleton had a great run where he got to the edge and made a linebacker miss in space, turning a nice run into a likely touchdown given his speed which continues to flash when he gets in the open field.
This was probably Camden Frier's best practice of his young FSU tenure. He ran a great comeback route and caught a pass from Kromenhoek, which drew a lot of praise from Mike Norvell and got even more a short time later for a strong rep as a punt-return blocker during special teams work.
Speaking of special teams, Malik Benson spent the break in the middle of practice snagging some extra reps as a punt returner. Feels noteworthy to mention both for his work ethic and how hard he's working to try and claim that role as well.
In 7-on-7 pass skelly, Hykeem Williams had three catches in quick succession while Lawayne McCoy climbed the ladder for an impressive leaping catch in tight coverage. Douglas also added a great touchdown catch in pass-skelly red zone work.
In 1-on-1s, Lucas and Destyn Hill were the the standout wide receivers.
Tuesday's practice was perhaps the most active of the preseason for the tight ends. Morlock had his early touchdown in goal-line work and added a few more catches in team periods. It was also a fairly impactful day for Brian Courtney, with a few catches near the end of practice as he looks to carve out a role on the depth chart.
On the offensive line, Julian Armella, TJ Ferguson, Andre' Otto, Bryson Estes and Maurice Smith stood out during the half-line, inside run-blocking drill FSU worked on in the middle of practice.
Ferguson is very strong and had a few reps in run-blocking drills where he had his way with the opposing defensive lineman, pushing them back out of the play. Armella's move to guard continues to look like a mutual benefit for both him and FSU.
The word that comes to mind when watching Otto is tenacious. He's persistent in his effort and executes to the very end of reps, taking players to the ground if that's what is required. He definitely made the most of last year's redshirt and looks the part of a future starter. In pass-blocking 1-on-1s, Otto stifled Dante Anderson and then forced Lamont Green Jr. behind the pocket, winning his reps.
Jaylen Early also had a few very solid pass-block 1-on-1s, including one in which he shut down Jaden Jones despite a spin move.
Lucas Simmons also had a few very nice reps. In 1-on-1s, he got pushed back off the line initially but recovered exceptionally well and stayed in front of the defender to win the rep and another in 2-on-2 stunt work where he got switched onto Darrell Jackson but held his own against the standout defensive tackle and stonewalled him.
DEFENSE
While it wasn't the most consistent day for the defense, the unit responded well to adversity by closing out the practice well with a very strong showing in situational red-zone work.
That began from the very first play, where Marvin Jones Jr. hit Glenn's arm as he was delivering a pass, lofting a duck of a pass into the air that ended up being right to Blake Nichelson, who came away with as easy of an interception as you'll see. Jones also had perhaps the single-best 1-on-1 pass-rush rep earlier in the practice, uncorking a filthy spin move to beat an offensive tackle for an easy win.
There were also a few pass breakups in this period, Darrell Jackson had a sack, Aaron Hester had a sack as well as a few run-stuffs and KJ Sampson had a really strong rep where he jumped the snap count and got immediate penetration, blowing up a run in the backfield right as the handoff was finished.
Ashlynd Barker ended the day with an interception in the back corner of the end zone on a pass intended for Landen Thomas.
It was a day overall to forget for the defense in terms of its performance in team-drill periods, but a memorable final few periods to end on a good note.
On the defensive-line side of the half-line inside drill, Jackson was dominant and Grady Kelly, Byron Turner Jr. and Sampson all performed well as well.
Tomiwa Durojaiye's impressive size-speed mix was evident throughout 1-on-1 pass-rush work Tuesday. He's capable of using a quick burst to beat his man and get into the backfield and equally capable of powering his way into a pass-rush win by overpowering the blocker and pushing them into the backfield.
Sione Lolohea isn't the fastest FSU edge-rusher, but he had a nice speed-rush win Tuesday in 1-on-1s. He talked about coming to FSU out of desire to round out his game and you're seeing some of those strides early in his time here.
Grady Kelly showed off a few tricks in his bag Tuesday. Matching up frequently with Maurice Smith, he beat Smith once with an awesome bull-rush and beat him again later with a surprising swim move.
While it was a good day for Ferguson, Daniel Lyons did get him once with a strong rush that knocked him back into the backfield.
In what proved to be a bit of a takeaway day for the linebackers, Justin Cryer also had a pick in 7-on-7, jumping a pass thrown by Uiagalelei after keeping tight coverage down the field and running it back a long way.
Shawn Murphy had a really nice play in 11-on third-down work where he got out near the sideline after identifying a slow-developing screen and broke up the pass. How well he moves in space continues to impress on a daily basis at practice.
DJ Lundy had one of the more physical plays of the day in 7-on-7, properly reading a swing pass to Jaylin Lucas and getting over there in time to deliver a big hit right as the ball got there to deny a catch.
Walk-on linebacker AJ Cottrill also had a few nice plays Tuesday, breaking up a pass in the red zone and filling a hole very well in third-down work to deliver a big hit and a stop.
Edwin Joseph had a PBU in 7-on-7 and Azareye'h Thomas stacked another very solid day at cornerback.
