Arizona finished up its regular practices for the week with a morning session Thursday. The Wildcats went shorts and helmets today so there wasn't very much contact, but Rich Rodriguez was at least a little more pleased with things it seemed today. The Beanie Bowl will be tomorrow at 6 p.m. and it's supposed to be about an hour. That is completely open to the public and while it won't be a live practice it will give an indication about where things are at this point in terms of depth chart.
Before that, though, here are the quick notes from today's practice.
* We'll start out with the quarterback position and for now it is down to four who will have a shot to get in there this year. We all know about Brandon Dawkins being the leader for the starting job and Khalil Tate being the backup, but now there is just two remaining guys vying for that third job and both are freshmen. Rodriguez said today that Donovan Tate and Rhett Rodriguez are the other two signal callers getting reps right now as the Wildcats look to make it a three-man group heading into the season. There is still some more figuring out to do with those two but K'Hari Lane is now on the scout team and looks to be headed for a redshirt year.
Rodriguez said all four of the quarterbacks will "probably" continue to get reps next week as well.
* The depth chart will finally be coming this weekend as the Wildcats start to narrow things down a bit more. Rodriguez said he wants to see how Friday goes first and then this weekend the staff will get things narrowed down from the position chart they have now to an actual depth chart. The UA head coach said there will be a lot of "and/ors" on the depth chart when it is officially released.
* I asked Rodriguez if he thinks he can expand on anything offensively or defensively with the team he has this year considering he has said the staff has installed more than it normally does this time of year. He said in particular on defense is where those changes will come.
Rodriguez said not only does the team have to prepare for teams that have seen it a number of times in conference play but because the coaches know all too well what could happen over the course of the season.
"You never know what's going to happen personnel wise with injuries," Rodriguez said. "You don't know how teams are going to defend you from week to week it's going to be a little different. You want to have enough that you can execute, of course, that's the most important but also enough that you can keep teams off balance."
* Senior running back Nick Wilson said he feels good health wise and made a joke that he has to "knock on wood" because he knows what the conversation is about him. He knows that when he's healthy he might be the best Arizona has on its roster but when he's not it takes that away from the team. Wilson said he's not going to change his running style any because he doesn't see a point since it would change who he is as a player, so for now it is more about taking the right precautions and then crossing his fingers that health will be with him this year.
Rodriguez said some of those precautions have come off the field more than they have on it.
"The biggest thing is for him to continue to get treatments and rehab and work the muscles even when he's not sore," Rodriguez said. "He's stayed healthy. We've limited his reps a little bit in camp – him and JJ (Taylor) both – but he's ready to go. He's done a good job of working himself into shape and he knows he has to continue to do all the things the training staff has and make sure he's as healthy as can be."
* Someone who will be on the depth chart in some fashion when it comes out is freshman Gary Brightwell who has continued to impress his teammates so far to start his career. He's going to play on special team and right now his primary job will be in the slot. Wilson was asked about Brightwell today and he couldn't help but rave about the freshman. Wilson said he has not seen a freshman pick things up so effortlessly and quickly as Brightwell has and he said the Baltimore natives explosion is something he likes. The way Brightwell's teammates have talked about him and the way Wilson spoke of him today reminds me of the things we heard last year about Taylor.
"He's actually sneaky impressive," Wilson said. "I don't think I've seen a freshman with ability like that just right out the gate. It's not even like the mental side because he seemed like he picked that up very quickly. He went from running back to receiver and didn't have no hiccups or issues. His athletic ability is pretty surprising.
"I'm looking at him now and surprised he wasn't recruited a lot more highly. It's kind of odd."
Before that, though, here are the quick notes from today's practice.
* We'll start out with the quarterback position and for now it is down to four who will have a shot to get in there this year. We all know about Brandon Dawkins being the leader for the starting job and Khalil Tate being the backup, but now there is just two remaining guys vying for that third job and both are freshmen. Rodriguez said today that Donovan Tate and Rhett Rodriguez are the other two signal callers getting reps right now as the Wildcats look to make it a three-man group heading into the season. There is still some more figuring out to do with those two but K'Hari Lane is now on the scout team and looks to be headed for a redshirt year.
Rodriguez said all four of the quarterbacks will "probably" continue to get reps next week as well.
* The depth chart will finally be coming this weekend as the Wildcats start to narrow things down a bit more. Rodriguez said he wants to see how Friday goes first and then this weekend the staff will get things narrowed down from the position chart they have now to an actual depth chart. The UA head coach said there will be a lot of "and/ors" on the depth chart when it is officially released.
* I asked Rodriguez if he thinks he can expand on anything offensively or defensively with the team he has this year considering he has said the staff has installed more than it normally does this time of year. He said in particular on defense is where those changes will come.
Rodriguez said not only does the team have to prepare for teams that have seen it a number of times in conference play but because the coaches know all too well what could happen over the course of the season.
"You never know what's going to happen personnel wise with injuries," Rodriguez said. "You don't know how teams are going to defend you from week to week it's going to be a little different. You want to have enough that you can execute, of course, that's the most important but also enough that you can keep teams off balance."
* Senior running back Nick Wilson said he feels good health wise and made a joke that he has to "knock on wood" because he knows what the conversation is about him. He knows that when he's healthy he might be the best Arizona has on its roster but when he's not it takes that away from the team. Wilson said he's not going to change his running style any because he doesn't see a point since it would change who he is as a player, so for now it is more about taking the right precautions and then crossing his fingers that health will be with him this year.
Rodriguez said some of those precautions have come off the field more than they have on it.
"The biggest thing is for him to continue to get treatments and rehab and work the muscles even when he's not sore," Rodriguez said. "He's stayed healthy. We've limited his reps a little bit in camp – him and JJ (Taylor) both – but he's ready to go. He's done a good job of working himself into shape and he knows he has to continue to do all the things the training staff has and make sure he's as healthy as can be."
* Someone who will be on the depth chart in some fashion when it comes out is freshman Gary Brightwell who has continued to impress his teammates so far to start his career. He's going to play on special team and right now his primary job will be in the slot. Wilson was asked about Brightwell today and he couldn't help but rave about the freshman. Wilson said he has not seen a freshman pick things up so effortlessly and quickly as Brightwell has and he said the Baltimore natives explosion is something he likes. The way Brightwell's teammates have talked about him and the way Wilson spoke of him today reminds me of the things we heard last year about Taylor.
"He's actually sneaky impressive," Wilson said. "I don't think I've seen a freshman with ability like that just right out the gate. It's not even like the mental side because he seemed like he picked that up very quickly. He went from running back to receiver and didn't have no hiccups or issues. His athletic ability is pretty surprising.
"I'm looking at him now and surprised he wasn't recruited a lot more highly. It's kind of odd."
