Here is our report from the second day of Polynesian Bowl practices:
The second day of practice is when the coaches start to really implement their schemes and plays. This was a little bit more speed and there was a lot more seven-on-seven drills today than there were yesterday.
Every Duck signee was on the field today and we spent a lot of time watching the drills, one-on-ones, seven-on-sevens and everything that these players did today.
So here are the takeaways from today.
- Justin Flowe is the most competitive dude you are ever going to see on a football field. He is very, very self-critical and hates to make even a small mistake. He had a couple of plays where he got beat in coverage and he was not happy about it. I spoke with him about it and he just wanted to get back and fix those mistakes. He has a great mind for the game and is a leader out there on the defense.
I spoke with former San Francisco 49er OL Jesse Sapolu about Flowe; he recognized that without pads it is difficult to surmise much, but he is really impressed with the manner in which Flowe approaches the game.
- Noah Sewell had a really good day. In drills, you could see that he really has all of the tools as an athlete. In individual drills he shows really good hands. He could easily fill a tight end or running back role and more than hold his own.
He showed well in coverage drills and was another leader for the defense on the other side of the field.
- I got my first chance to watch Luke Hill and Dontae Manning today and I can say that they both really look good in coverage. Both are exceptional at their hip turn and Manning shows a really good break toward the ball once it is in the air. I spoke with both today and they are really looking forward to getting to Eugene and learning from Deommodore Lenoir and Thomas Graham next season.
- I though Kris Hutson had an up-and-down day to some extent; he missed a couple of catches that he normally makes, but near the end he made a really nice catch, in traffic, during redzone drills. Though there were no pads today, there were still some solid hits; he made the redzone catch despite a pretty solid hit on an inside slant route.
- I spoke with Jack Yary today and will have the full interview tomorrow morning. Oregon is still in it for the tight end, so we will find out a little bit more in the next week to ten days.
- Another player who will be visiting Oregon next weekend is Leanord Manuel. The 6-5, 200-pound receiver is currently committed to Florida but did not sign with the Gators during the early signing period. He is the No. 114 overall player in the nation and would be a really good pick up at wide receiver. We plan on getting more detail from him tomorrow.
- Maceal Afaese had a good day as well and it was capped with a special visit from his mother with a birthday cake! Today was his 18th birthday and the staff surprised him with the visit. He does not talk a lot, but showed a lot of promise in drills today.
- Tomorrow we will be talking with legendary coaches Steve Spurrier and Frank Beamer and getting their thoughts on some of the Duck signees and how they have been performing. I met Steve Spurrier’s wife and she is like an encyclopedia of information as it relates to his career. Very nice and loves what the Polynesian Bowl represents.
We should also have the opportunity to speak with some others like Haloti Ngata tomorrow. Will be at practice again tomorrow with a couple more interviews to get done as well as another practice report.
For what it is worth, we should be able to have all 8 Oregon commits interviewed by the end of practice tomorrow.
The second day of practice is when the coaches start to really implement their schemes and plays. This was a little bit more speed and there was a lot more seven-on-seven drills today than there were yesterday.
Every Duck signee was on the field today and we spent a lot of time watching the drills, one-on-ones, seven-on-sevens and everything that these players did today.
So here are the takeaways from today.
- Justin Flowe is the most competitive dude you are ever going to see on a football field. He is very, very self-critical and hates to make even a small mistake. He had a couple of plays where he got beat in coverage and he was not happy about it. I spoke with him about it and he just wanted to get back and fix those mistakes. He has a great mind for the game and is a leader out there on the defense.
I spoke with former San Francisco 49er OL Jesse Sapolu about Flowe; he recognized that without pads it is difficult to surmise much, but he is really impressed with the manner in which Flowe approaches the game.
- Noah Sewell had a really good day. In drills, you could see that he really has all of the tools as an athlete. In individual drills he shows really good hands. He could easily fill a tight end or running back role and more than hold his own.
He showed well in coverage drills and was another leader for the defense on the other side of the field.
- I got my first chance to watch Luke Hill and Dontae Manning today and I can say that they both really look good in coverage. Both are exceptional at their hip turn and Manning shows a really good break toward the ball once it is in the air. I spoke with both today and they are really looking forward to getting to Eugene and learning from Deommodore Lenoir and Thomas Graham next season.
- I though Kris Hutson had an up-and-down day to some extent; he missed a couple of catches that he normally makes, but near the end he made a really nice catch, in traffic, during redzone drills. Though there were no pads today, there were still some solid hits; he made the redzone catch despite a pretty solid hit on an inside slant route.
- I spoke with Jack Yary today and will have the full interview tomorrow morning. Oregon is still in it for the tight end, so we will find out a little bit more in the next week to ten days.
- Another player who will be visiting Oregon next weekend is Leanord Manuel. The 6-5, 200-pound receiver is currently committed to Florida but did not sign with the Gators during the early signing period. He is the No. 114 overall player in the nation and would be a really good pick up at wide receiver. We plan on getting more detail from him tomorrow.
- Maceal Afaese had a good day as well and it was capped with a special visit from his mother with a birthday cake! Today was his 18th birthday and the staff surprised him with the visit. He does not talk a lot, but showed a lot of promise in drills today.
- Tomorrow we will be talking with legendary coaches Steve Spurrier and Frank Beamer and getting their thoughts on some of the Duck signees and how they have been performing. I met Steve Spurrier’s wife and she is like an encyclopedia of information as it relates to his career. Very nice and loves what the Polynesian Bowl represents.
We should also have the opportunity to speak with some others like Haloti Ngata tomorrow. Will be at practice again tomorrow with a couple more interviews to get done as well as another practice report.
For what it is worth, we should be able to have all 8 Oregon commits interviewed by the end of practice tomorrow.
