On a beautiful, crisp Spring Monday morning on Montlake, the sun shined down on the Washington Huskies for practice number 12.
Another day in full pads and the pads were popping and the sounds of claps, yelling, and a steady beat pulsated through the stadium.
On the practice field beside the stadium (The Zone) the punting unit boomed kicks high into the sky with the Cascade mountains as a backdrop.
The theme of the day was the fierce competition for starting dominance in the defensive backfield. While Elijah Jackson and Jabbar Mohammad spent most of their time running with the 1’s, JC transfer Thaddeus Dixon made the most of his opportunities, picking off Dylan Morris twice during practice. Dixon is running mostly with the 2’s right now, but he is definitely catching the attention of the team. After making a pick six interception on a deflected Morris pass about 10 yards down the field, he concluded the morning practice with another pass interception agains Morris dropping about 20 yards into coverage.
On both occasions, the entire defense was amped and Dixon highlighted his athletic ability after the pick 6 with a 360 windmill dunk of the football over the field goal posts.
Based on what the team showed in practice today, the starting defensive backfield would include the following players depending upon the scheme- Elijah Jackson and Jabbar Mohammad at Corner, Asa Turner and Dom Hampton (or Kamren Fabiculanan) at Safety, and Mishael Powell at Husky. Dixon and Jaivion Green appear to be the most ready DB’s to come onto the field when called upon.
Jabbar Mohammad might not be imposing in size, but he lacks no confidence and swagger. When asked about what it is like to cover big receivers like Rome Odunze in practice, Mohammad responded, “It helps all of us, and I am sure it helps him going against a guy like me. He is a national level guy, and I am a national level guy. It’s iron sharpening iron out there.”
He doesn’t think about size when on the field, “When you think about Budda Baker or Tyrann Mathieu, you don’t think about their size, I am trying to get to that place too.”
When asked about Dixon’s big day, Mohammad said, “It just grows our confidence, and when he gets hands on a ball, it makes me want to get hands on a ball.”
The defensive backs know that they are being targeted, but if Mohammad and Dixon showed anything today, they are clearly comfortable taking matters (and the football) into their own hands.
PRACTICE NOTES:
Heisman-candidate Michael Penix Jr dropped a 42 yard bomb to freshman up and comer Denzel Boston along the far left sideline. Back up, Dylan Morris and 3rd string Alex Johnson also fired the ball deep… effective, but with less than Heisman-level results.
Elijah Jackson lined up against Rome Odunze, lending insight as to what DB Coach Juice Brown thinks about the Sophomore CB who has been waiting in the wings. The defensive backfield is certainly under more scrutiny than most position groups, but there seems to be a greater level of confidence right now.
The collective chip on the DBs shoulder is decidedly large.
In one scrimmage play, DB Jaivion Green broke up a long pass play that was slightly underthrown by Morris.
In one drill that brought a lot of yelling and cheering, the DB’s were tested in a play that involved running backward, then transitioning to running sideways with a full speed receiver. One coach was overheard yelling, “Step on his toes!”
Coach Shepard- “Every rep HAS to count!”
On a running play, Sam Adam broke a 70 plus yard run through a hole on the left. The offense celebrated, but defensive coach William Inge was livid, yelling, “Quit making excuses!” to his defensive squad on the sideline.
Germie Bernard is a candidate to compete for Punt Return duties with Giles Jackson and Jalen McMillan.
47 yard bomb from Penix to McMillan up the middle of the field. Right back to McMillan for a short gain. Cam Davis takes the handoff right for a gain of about 6 before whistled down. Pass play with streaking Odunze to right, whistled down short of the goal line. Another hand off to Davis, for about 3. Penix with a sprint out to his left, throws the ball away. Penix slings one into a receiver over the middle for a TD. Lot’s of cheering from both teams as the offense pops up claiming a TD, while the defense popped up claiming an interception. The call goes to the offense.
Dylan Morris gets a pass deflected into the hands of a happy Thaddeus Dixon who ran the ball back into the end zone, celebrating with a 360 windmill dunk of the football over the goal posts. Morris is improved, and he has the arm strength, but on the intercepted pass he was throwing off of his back foot. Later in practice, on 3rd down, Morris stepped in and fired a missile to Taj Davis on the sidelines for about 22 yards and a first down. On the same drive, with pressure coming up the middle, Morris nailed an open Bernard for 18 yards to get the 2nd team unit into the red zone.
Interesting to see Ron McKeefry on the field during live scrimmage barking out instructions or commentary of some type.
Will Nixon is a weapon as the pass catching running back. Broke a nice tackle, to get the 2nd team unit within the 10.
Reading the body language of Giles Jackson, he has been very frustrated with Morris multiple times. Morris has thrown it away or thrown it into the ground when attempting to get to Giles.
Spring Position Battles continue with the defense in the spotlight.
Player Notes:
20 Asa Turner— Asa Turner appears to still be the number one option at Safety, running with the ones.
9 Thaddeus Dixon— Dixon is running mostly with the 2’s right now, but he is definitely catching the attention of the team. After making a pick six interception on a deflected Morris pass about 10 yards down the field, he concluded the morning practice with another pass interception agains Morris dropping about 20 yards into coverage.
1 Jabbar Mohammad— Mr. Feisty. Mohammed will not backdown or back away from bigger WR’s like Odunze or Boston. Appears to be very comfortable with the defense, pointing and backing out of a play before snap. The offense did catch Mohammad making the wrong read on a touchdown pass wide let to running back Cam Davis, who looked spry and healthy.
25 Elijah Jackson—Mr. Consistency. With Mohammad usually taking on Odunze, Jackson has been going against McMillan, Ja’Lynn Polk, Germie Bernard, Taj Davis, Giles Jackson.
3 Misheal Powell—Mr. Solid.
RealDawg.com will be at practice tomorrow, with full coverage.
