Photo by: GoDucks.com
Football Practice Report: March 15
03/15/19 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
The Ducks were in full pads for the first time this spring Friday, and senior Brenden Schooler led the way for the receiving corps.
Venue: Moshofsky Center
Format: Full pads
A key necessity for the Oregon football team this offseason is identifying a replacement for record-setting receiver Dillon Mitchell. On Friday, Brenden Schooler looked for at least one day like a candidate for the job.
Schooler, who had 21 catches as a junior last season, seemed like he had nearly that many in Friday's practice alone. That was a great sign for a receiver group whose returning veterans had an inconsistent 2018, which had seemed to bleed into the start of spring drills as well.
"I think Schooler is about as athletic as they come," UO quarterback Justin Herbert said. "He's spent this entire offseason working, and he's always asking me to go throw and do extra stuff. He's a guy I can lean on, and it showed out there today."
Herbert's trust in Schooler was notable Friday. In 7-on-7, he fired a pass toward the sideline that only Schooler could get, and only by leaping high into the air to snag it. The receiver did so, then deftly tapped a toe inbounds to complete the catch.
On the first play of a third-and-long period, Herbert connected with Schooler to move the chains. And then, in the final team period of the day, in the red zone, the two connected on an end-zone fade that again required Schooler to leap for the ball and tap a toe down inbounds.
On top of all that, Schooler also won a rep in the Oklahoma drill that UO coach Mario Cristobal scheduled to mark the first practice of this spring in full pads. Not a bad day, by any stretch.
"Schooler is a guy right now, he's very dependable for me," new UO receivers coach Jovon Bouknight said. "He's gonna be in the right spots. One of the things with him is the confidence factor. He can catch; he knows he can catch. His background was more defense, but he has it in him. Just understanding the confidence level, and having him see the ball in, he's going to be fine."
Bouknight said he was aware when taking over the UO receivers that his task would be development, building up the confidence of vets coming off an uneven 2018, and newcomers looking to push for playing time. That means teaching "day one stuff," he said, tiny details that are the foundation of performance — and thus confidence.
"You can harp on it, you can beat kids up, but at the end of the day you've got to install confidence," Bouknight said. "Obviously these kids play at an elite program — one of the best in the country — and they got here for a certain reason. Coaching habits, that's my part. I'm gonna coach them on the small, minute details. But you've got to install confidence. If a kid doesn't have confidence, he doesn't have a chance.
"I understand some of these kids were beat up a little bit last year; I'm just talking mentally. I'm going to build them up. I'm going to build their character up, and then I'm going to build their technique up."
Schooler said Bouknight has helped him in particular with his patience off the line, allowing him to set up defensive backs before making his move. And if Bouknight has stressed psychology to his players, Schooler seems to have gotten the message.
"He's like, we punch the clock every day," Schooler said. "If you had a good day yesterday, you might not have a good day today; if you had a bad day yesterday, you could have a great day today. Just keep building and building, practice after practice after practice, and prove to the coaches that you can make plays and that you are reliable."
Friday looked like a pretty good building block with which Schooler can start a new foundation.
Other highlights: The Oklahoma drill was predictably a very lively affair. Jordon Scott had a great rep, defeating a block and getting past the line for a tackle for loss. Jaylon Redd and Steven Jones served up pancakes along with Schooler, while starting corners Thomas Graham Jr. and Deommodore Lenoir each won reps early in the drill. … George Moore looked really good in pass rush drills, locking up D.J. Johnson pretty good and playing through the whistle to get the best of Sione Kava. Also in that period, Jones and Kayvon Thibodeaux continued what's been a spirited back-and-forth so far this spring between them. …
1-on-1 pass drills in the red zone yielded several touchdown plays for tight ends, with Herbert finding Jacob Breeland, Ryan Bay and Spencer Webb in the end zone. Brady Breeze had an interception to win a rep for the defense. … Dexter Myers jumped a route and nearly picked off a Tyler Shough pass in the first 11-on-11 period, and in 7-on-7 Myers slapped away a ball just as Justin Collins seemed to be securing it. …
Shough continues to show improved arm strength, zipping a pass between three or four defenders to Breeland for a reception in 7-on-7. … Freshman receiver Josh Delgado caught a sideline route from Herbert in 7-on-7, and then hauled in a tear-drop deep ball down the sideline from Oregon's starting quarterback in the third-and-long drill. … Shough had a couple nice completions on deep balls with help from receivers who turned to find the ball and haul it down, by Webb in 7-on-7 and Kyle Buckner in 11-on-11. …
Darrian Felix ran powerfully between the tackles in the red-zone period, scoring multiple touchdowns to show he's more than a make-you-miss, change-of-direction guy. After one of his touchdown runs, the defense overcommitted to stopping the same play, and Herbert found Bay open in the end zone has a result. … Isaac Slade-Matautia made sure the offense didn't enjoy a perfect day in the red zone, sacking Shough to blow one rep dead with the twos.
Other observations: The Oklahoma drill was run in four or five stations set up in a line, with reps going one by one down the line. After about four trips down the line, the horn blew to signal the next period but Cristobal said, in so many words, to heck with that, we're going another round. Players erupted, and the hitting continued. … Friday's practice was the first since receiver Demetri Burch announced his intention to transfer out of the program. … Redd wore jersey No. 13 to open camp, but has switched back to his familiar No. 30. … To account for the added hitting Friday, Cristobal scripted an extra "teach" period in practice to ease the toll on players' bodies.
Post-practice interviews:
Offensive line coach Alex Mirabal
Format: Full pads
A key necessity for the Oregon football team this offseason is identifying a replacement for record-setting receiver Dillon Mitchell. On Friday, Brenden Schooler looked for at least one day like a candidate for the job.
Schooler, who had 21 catches as a junior last season, seemed like he had nearly that many in Friday's practice alone. That was a great sign for a receiver group whose returning veterans had an inconsistent 2018, which had seemed to bleed into the start of spring drills as well.
"I think Schooler is about as athletic as they come," UO quarterback Justin Herbert said. "He's spent this entire offseason working, and he's always asking me to go throw and do extra stuff. He's a guy I can lean on, and it showed out there today."
Herbert's trust in Schooler was notable Friday. In 7-on-7, he fired a pass toward the sideline that only Schooler could get, and only by leaping high into the air to snag it. The receiver did so, then deftly tapped a toe inbounds to complete the catch.On the first play of a third-and-long period, Herbert connected with Schooler to move the chains. And then, in the final team period of the day, in the red zone, the two connected on an end-zone fade that again required Schooler to leap for the ball and tap a toe down inbounds.
On top of all that, Schooler also won a rep in the Oklahoma drill that UO coach Mario Cristobal scheduled to mark the first practice of this spring in full pads. Not a bad day, by any stretch.
"Schooler is a guy right now, he's very dependable for me," new UO receivers coach Jovon Bouknight said. "He's gonna be in the right spots. One of the things with him is the confidence factor. He can catch; he knows he can catch. His background was more defense, but he has it in him. Just understanding the confidence level, and having him see the ball in, he's going to be fine."
Bouknight said he was aware when taking over the UO receivers that his task would be development, building up the confidence of vets coming off an uneven 2018, and newcomers looking to push for playing time. That means teaching "day one stuff," he said, tiny details that are the foundation of performance — and thus confidence.
"You can harp on it, you can beat kids up, but at the end of the day you've got to install confidence," Bouknight said. "Obviously these kids play at an elite program — one of the best in the country — and they got here for a certain reason. Coaching habits, that's my part. I'm gonna coach them on the small, minute details. But you've got to install confidence. If a kid doesn't have confidence, he doesn't have a chance.
"I understand some of these kids were beat up a little bit last year; I'm just talking mentally. I'm going to build them up. I'm going to build their character up, and then I'm going to build their technique up."
Schooler said Bouknight has helped him in particular with his patience off the line, allowing him to set up defensive backs before making his move. And if Bouknight has stressed psychology to his players, Schooler seems to have gotten the message.
"He's like, we punch the clock every day," Schooler said. "If you had a good day yesterday, you might not have a good day today; if you had a bad day yesterday, you could have a great day today. Just keep building and building, practice after practice after practice, and prove to the coaches that you can make plays and that you are reliable."
Friday looked like a pretty good building block with which Schooler can start a new foundation.
Other highlights: The Oklahoma drill was predictably a very lively affair. Jordon Scott had a great rep, defeating a block and getting past the line for a tackle for loss. Jaylon Redd and Steven Jones served up pancakes along with Schooler, while starting corners Thomas Graham Jr. and Deommodore Lenoir each won reps early in the drill. … George Moore looked really good in pass rush drills, locking up D.J. Johnson pretty good and playing through the whistle to get the best of Sione Kava. Also in that period, Jones and Kayvon Thibodeaux continued what's been a spirited back-and-forth so far this spring between them. …
1-on-1 pass drills in the red zone yielded several touchdown plays for tight ends, with Herbert finding Jacob Breeland, Ryan Bay and Spencer Webb in the end zone. Brady Breeze had an interception to win a rep for the defense. … Dexter Myers jumped a route and nearly picked off a Tyler Shough pass in the first 11-on-11 period, and in 7-on-7 Myers slapped away a ball just as Justin Collins seemed to be securing it. …
Shough continues to show improved arm strength, zipping a pass between three or four defenders to Breeland for a reception in 7-on-7. … Freshman receiver Josh Delgado caught a sideline route from Herbert in 7-on-7, and then hauled in a tear-drop deep ball down the sideline from Oregon's starting quarterback in the third-and-long drill. … Shough had a couple nice completions on deep balls with help from receivers who turned to find the ball and haul it down, by Webb in 7-on-7 and Kyle Buckner in 11-on-11. …
Darrian Felix ran powerfully between the tackles in the red-zone period, scoring multiple touchdowns to show he's more than a make-you-miss, change-of-direction guy. After one of his touchdown runs, the defense overcommitted to stopping the same play, and Herbert found Bay open in the end zone has a result. … Isaac Slade-Matautia made sure the offense didn't enjoy a perfect day in the red zone, sacking Shough to blow one rep dead with the twos.
Other observations: The Oklahoma drill was run in four or five stations set up in a line, with reps going one by one down the line. After about four trips down the line, the horn blew to signal the next period but Cristobal said, in so many words, to heck with that, we're going another round. Players erupted, and the hitting continued. … Friday's practice was the first since receiver Demetri Burch announced his intention to transfer out of the program. … Redd wore jersey No. 13 to open camp, but has switched back to his familiar No. 30. … To account for the added hitting Friday, Cristobal scripted an extra "teach" period in practice to ease the toll on players' bodies.
Post-practice interviews:
Offensive line coach Alex Mirabal
