Let's do this ...
1. Spoke with the father of freshman LB Jacob Wahlberg at practice today. He said Michigan State made a hard push for his son in December, but the Spartans--Jacob Wahlberg's dream school--wanted him as a "Leo" linebacker. Wahlberg wants to play MIKE linebacker. And he'll get that chance at Purdue. Eric Wahlberg played football at Grand Valley State for Brian Kelly back in the day.
2. I was surprised to see CB coach Greg Brown juggling three tennis balls before practice. The guy has talent. He said he likes to have his DBs learn to juggle while walking backward. Helps with coordination.
3. Milton Wright said there is nothing magical about the No. 1 jersey he is wearing, and it wasn't part of a lure in the recruiting process. In fact, he said he was gonna be No. 3 at first. David Bell is wearing No. 3. Wright will rotate at outside WR with Bell. Wright has looked good in many facets, especially on jet sweeps. The 6-3, 195-pound Wright is a soft-spoken person who has picked up things quickly. Keep an eye on No. 1.
4. Always fun to watch the pass-block/pass-rush drills, with each matchup featuring three reps. Today, by my count, the offensive line had a 7-3 edge in the 10 matchups--but some were very close. My scoreboard:
McCann > Karlaftis
Washington > Sullivan
Beach < Watts
Criddle < Faucheux
Hermanns > Higgins
Bramel < Deen
Roland > Stokes
Garvin > Johnson
McKenna > Kpaka
Miller > Hunter
5. Special shout out to frosh DE Dontay Hunter, who knocked down redshirt freshman OT Eric Miller on his final rep. I still think Hunter is a guy to watch.
6. WR coach JaMarcus Shephard made a point of mentioning the blocking acumen of freshman WR TJ Sheffield. The 5-11, 180-pounder may already be one of the better blocking wideouts on the perimeter, even to the point where Shephard thinks Rondale Moore could learn from him.
7. Speaking of Shephard ... we will give him the "Yell of the Day" when he loudly "encouraged" redshirt freshman WR Jordan Bonner to play better. It motivated me just watching.
8. Chris Barclay had just three RBs to work with today: Tario Fuller, Zander Horvath and King Doerue. No Alfred Armour and no Da'Joun Hewitt.
9. I know it's early--there have been just four practices with the first full-pad workout coming on Tuesday--but it looks like the defense has a slight edge on the offense. The defense is getting some consistent pressure. Jeff Brohm seemed to like what he has seen so far from the defense.
"I see a lot of improvement to this point in our defense," he said. "We have more capable guys who can help us get a pass rush, make some plays, be some difference-makers. That has been encouraging to see. The offense is kind of what we thought. We just have to get better up front."
10. The great Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune was at practice today along with the incomparable Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star.
Thanks for reading.
