Quick Hitters: Spring Football Practice 3-19-14

I attended the open football practice on Wednesday afternoon at the Trager Indoor Practice Facility. Like most spring practices without the full pads on, it is hard to tell too much from what you see. But since I did go and saw more than those who were not there, I can at least come up with some quick hitting notes, so this should be better than nothing for those who could not make it out there. If you want to see the full spring schedule, click here.

*Teddy Bridgewater is not walking through that door unfortunately.

*In all seriousness, I am fully confident that by the time practice starts in the fall, Bobby Petrino will have his quarterback groomed and ready to go. Things are just shaky right now. Will Gardner looks good at times, but then average at times. Kyle Bolin is usually Mr. Accuracy, but he wasn’t today. He also had a couple of fumbles. The overall quarterback play for me was average at best today.

*I watched a lot of the practice with Lloyd Spence, the host of Talkin Noiz on 1080 AM radio, and we are both curious to see how Reggie Bonnafon does when he gets here. I would say that right now the job is going to be Will Gardner’s to lose, but unless he starts to distance himself and make himself the clear cut favorite, he will just leave the door open for a fall camp competition.

*DeVante Parker is an NFL receiver that is playing college football this season. Wasn’t he pretty skinny at some point when he got here? He certainly isn’t now. That kid is now a full grown man and he will be a quarterback’s best friend this season. If you are going to make a bad pass, just make it in his direction and he will probably bail you out.

*I had this thought while I was there.

NCAA Tournament starts tomorrow and all I can think about right now is the combination of Dominique Brown and Michael Dyer. Wow

— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) March 19, 2014

I feel like I say this every year, but Dominique Brown looks even bigger this year. He looks like a linebacker, and the rosters they handed out have him at 233 pounds. On UofL’s website, which looks like it was updated after the 2013 season ended, it lists him at 216 pounds.

And to speak on Michael Dyer, if you kept up with this site when he first came to Louisville, you know how highly I spoke of Dyer’s abilities, and I am not backing off of that one bit. I said when he got here that he was automatically the best running back on the roster, and I still say that. He was hampered by injuries last season along with joining the team right before the season started and he never got into a rhythm. I think that changes this year. It would not shock me at all to see both of these running backs get 1,000 yards. They both have that ability. (Plus if this whole QB thing isn’t solid, those running backs will get A LOT of carries!)

*It is awesome to see Eli Rogers and Michaelee Harris out there. It feels like these guys have been here forever and they are sometimes overlooked. We are definitely still stacked at the receiver position.

*James Quick looked good. I think his first season was a tough adjustment but he will shine under Bobby Petrino.

*I saw a screen play and it reminded me that we didn’t see many of those in the last 4 seasons.

@JRVille25 you will get plenty of them…esp if he uses Brown and Dyer like he did Bush and Kolby

— kyle alvey (@kyle_alvey) March 19, 2014

*Bobby Petrino is right back in Petrino football mode. He yelled at a ball boy because the ball was in the wrong spot on the field. When the quarterbacks were taking turns under center, Kyle Bolin didn’t get right to the line of scrimmage in a hurry, and Petrino’s “LET’S GO!” echoed through the Trager Center. He looked right into the eyes of Andrew Johnson and told him to “GET OFF THE DA** FIELD!”  The intensity is there folks, and 2014 opponents will feel the wrath. Of course it looks like our players will too.

*Gerald Christian made an awesome diving catch about 30 yards down field. He also caught just about everything thrown his way. We expected big things out of him last season, but I think you will definitely see it this season. He is another one who will benefit immensely from having Bobby Petrino calling the shots.

*Nick Dawson intercepted a Kyle Bolin pass and would have easily had a touchdown in a real game. The impressive part was that Dawson was at the line of scrimmage and this was a bullet pass that normally you would just see knocked down at the line. Dawson was able to catch it and he was off to the races.

*Jamaine Brooks seems to be healthy, which is big. And so is he. With Todd Grantham’s 3-4 style of defense, having a big man in the middle gets everything going. And at 330 pounds, Brooks should be that big man.

*I spent most of today watching offensive guys obviously. Hopefully this at least brings you a little something if you did not make it out to the Trager Center.

*Todd Grantham and James Burgess spoke to the media when practice was over. Check out what they had to say.