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Wes Mitchell
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South Carolina kicked off Spring Practice 2k20 Wednesday morning with a two-hour workout that the media was allowed to watch for the stretch portion and first three periods for about 20 minutes total.
(Marshawn Lloyd | Photo by Katie Dugan)
** The majority of the time that we were able to watch was used on special teams and individual position drill work, as is common during the early portion of practices. Just to confirm what we've heard and reported since MarShawn Lloyd arrived in January, he looks the part physically off the hoof though we didn't get to see any actual scrimmaging and the players weren't in pads.
Ditto for Luke Doty. Doty had dropped some weight prior to moving in at South Carolina due to his injury limiting his workouts. He was all the way down to the 190-pound range but had started to gain that muscle back prior to arriving and has now put on almost 15 pounds since enrolling and is up to the 205-pound range. Doty is physically well put together for a freshman, particularly in his lower body. As I reported previously, Doty has been sprinting with the skill position groups in winter workouts and was keeping up with those guys, which is pretty impressive.
(Luke Doty | Photo by Katie Dugan)
** Ryan Hilinski, Jay Urich and Doty were the three scholarship quarterbacks working with that group with Dakereon Joyner making the full-time move to wide receiver and Collin Hill out for the spring. Even in the portion of the practice where they were just warming up their arms, new coach Mike Bobo seemed to be heavily involved and talking through mechanics with each player with what appeared to be a focus on footwork. Neither Hilinski or Doty appeared to be favoring the areas that were injured last season.
** At wide receiver, OrTre Smith appears noticeably more slim to me but he's been able to hang on to his muscle definition too. I thought Smith looked slimmer last season too but it's probably gone to another level now. His health and potential production is a huge factor for a receiving corps that needs guys to go make plays this season.
(OrTre Smith | Photo by Katie Dugan)
** Redshirt freshman Joseph Anderson caught my attention in that he also looks a bit slimmer. Anderson was thought to be someone who could potentially even grow into a defensive tackle in his career (and he still could), but he was working with the BUCKs and defensive ends, same as he did last year. Given the unknowns at the BUCK position and that he played it a lot in practice last year, I wouldn't be shocked to see Anderson get a look at that position this year, though he's certainly capable of playing the more traditional end spot as well.
** The first phrase that pops in my head when watching Tracy Rocker work is "hands on" and that's no surprise for a coach who's known as a developer and a teacher. Frankly, I think he's exactly what South Carolina needs at that position. There's young talent already on the roster and there's always defensive line talent in the Carolinas (look at the prospects Carolina has added to the program just in the last few years from just those two states). At one point, Rocker was down on the ground in a three-point stance and showing his guys exactly how he wanted the sled hit during the drill.
(Marshawn Lloyd | Photo by Katie Dugan)
** The majority of the time that we were able to watch was used on special teams and individual position drill work, as is common during the early portion of practices. Just to confirm what we've heard and reported since MarShawn Lloyd arrived in January, he looks the part physically off the hoof though we didn't get to see any actual scrimmaging and the players weren't in pads.
Ditto for Luke Doty. Doty had dropped some weight prior to moving in at South Carolina due to his injury limiting his workouts. He was all the way down to the 190-pound range but had started to gain that muscle back prior to arriving and has now put on almost 15 pounds since enrolling and is up to the 205-pound range. Doty is physically well put together for a freshman, particularly in his lower body. As I reported previously, Doty has been sprinting with the skill position groups in winter workouts and was keeping up with those guys, which is pretty impressive.
(Luke Doty | Photo by Katie Dugan)
** Ryan Hilinski, Jay Urich and Doty were the three scholarship quarterbacks working with that group with Dakereon Joyner making the full-time move to wide receiver and Collin Hill out for the spring. Even in the portion of the practice where they were just warming up their arms, new coach Mike Bobo seemed to be heavily involved and talking through mechanics with each player with what appeared to be a focus on footwork. Neither Hilinski or Doty appeared to be favoring the areas that were injured last season.
** At wide receiver, OrTre Smith appears noticeably more slim to me but he's been able to hang on to his muscle definition too. I thought Smith looked slimmer last season too but it's probably gone to another level now. His health and potential production is a huge factor for a receiving corps that needs guys to go make plays this season.
(OrTre Smith | Photo by Katie Dugan)
** Redshirt freshman Joseph Anderson caught my attention in that he also looks a bit slimmer. Anderson was thought to be someone who could potentially even grow into a defensive tackle in his career (and he still could), but he was working with the BUCKs and defensive ends, same as he did last year. Given the unknowns at the BUCK position and that he played it a lot in practice last year, I wouldn't be shocked to see Anderson get a look at that position this year, though he's certainly capable of playing the more traditional end spot as well.
** The first phrase that pops in my head when watching Tracy Rocker work is "hands on" and that's no surprise for a coach who's known as a developer and a teacher. Frankly, I think he's exactly what South Carolina needs at that position. There's young talent already on the roster and there's always defensive line talent in the Carolinas (look at the prospects Carolina has added to the program just in the last few years from just those two states). At one point, Rocker was down on the ground in a three-point stance and showing his guys exactly how he wanted the sled hit during the drill.
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