Under Armour; A.M. Observations

Here are some observations from the first practice of the Under Armour All-America practice.

Team Red
Both teams took the field on Monday morning under gray skies and light ran. For the Red team, cornerback Joe Adams (North Little Rock, Ark.), cornerback Charles Whitlock (Chester, S.C.) and defensive tackle Omar Hunter (Buford, Ga.) all had standout performances. Adams and Whitlock showed great cover skills against some of the nation’s premier wide outs like Julio Jones (Foley, Ala.) and Darryl Stonum (Sugar Land, Texas). In fact, Adams had great success in coverage against Jones and Whitlock did well who ever he lined up against. Adams jumped a route and had a nice interception when they went seven on seven. Whitlock had a nice interception in the a.m. as well. The Red offense tried to test cornerback Janoris Jenkins deep (with Stonum and Martin Bayless, Jr.) and he knocked he ball down twice to break up the plays. He also looked good breaking on the ball all morning.

Red receiver Josh Jarboe (Ellenwood, Ga.) was the surprise at receiver for this squad, often getting open and making some great grabs. He caught one long pass where he laid out for a beautiful catch. Also looking good at times were Stonum and Jones. Safety Spencer Adams (Matthews, N.C.) got beat by Jarboe on one play and then jumped a slant route on the next for a nice interception.

Running back Jermie Calhoun (Van, Texas) showed some nice explosion. Linebacker Jerrell Harris (Gadsden, Ala.) showed great athleticism. He has great speed and really gets to the football in a hurry.

Kicker Caleb Sturgis (St. Augustine, Fla.) kicked three 57-yard field goals during practice. One would have been good from at least 65 yards out. He also missed two attempts from the same spot and had one blocked.

Defensive tackle Omar Hunter (Buford, Ga.) was dominating all morning. On many plays he beat whoever was in front of him and had to hold up when going after the quarterback. On one play he blasted through the line of scrimmage and had a big hit against running Darius Willis (Indianapolis, In.).

Team Silver
Although I spent more time watching the Team Red, here are some thoughts and observations from watching Team Silver. First, quarterback E.J. Manuel (Virginia Beach, Va.) is as good as advertised. His arm is very strong and he throws a nice, tight spiral. Manuel also showed some quickness and shiftiness in the pocket. Considering how big he really is that was impressive. Nick Crissman (Huntington, Calif.) and Kyle Parker (Jacksonville, Fla.) don’t have the arm that Manuel has but they certainly throw with very good accuracy.

Wide receivers Aldarius Johnson (Miami, Fla.) and A.J. Green (Summerville, S.C.) were hot and cold but when they were hot they were hot, making some nice grabs. Running back Jamie Harper (Jacksonville, Fla.) showed excellent speed getting to the edge. Perhaps the top player overall on the Silver was defensive end Daquan Bowers (Bamberg, S.C.) and Harris. He was constantly in the Silver backfield, showing great raw skills, especially speed and quickness. Harris had a couple of picks and break up against T.J. Lawrence (Lakeland, Fla.) and A.J. Green (Summervlle, S.C.).

The Silver defense clearly looked ahead on their offense. Other standouts were linebacker Andrew Sweat (Washington, Pa.), defensive tackle Rod Davis (Houston, Texas), and linebacker Nigel Carr (Jacksonville, Fla.). In fact, Sweat was all over the field, whether it was against the run or pass. He showed good vision and coverage ability against the pass. Harris look real good in coverage while Davis and Carr showed flashes of dominance.

Jeff Locke (Glendale, Az.) showed a big time leg punting the ball. The ball just explodes off of his foot.

On the offense line, center Braxton Cave (Mishawaka, In.) looked solid at center.

Player Injury Updates
Quarterback Taylor Cook (Altair, Texas), offensive guards Max Tuioti-Mariner (Corona, Calif.), Vaughn Dotsy (Ventura, Calif.), Michael Matt, and Riley Dodge (Southlake, Texas) will not participate this week due to injuries.

Position Updates
Many of the players in Saturday’s game are two-way standouts. For this week though they are mainly playing one position. On Monday Joe Adams (North Little Rock, Ark.) was playing cornerback, T.J. Lawrence (Lakeland, Fla.) was playing at wide receiver, Brandon Barnes (Bunn, N.C.) is playing running back, and Burton Scott (Prichard, Ala.) was playing cornerback.