In lieu of my regular practice breakdown I thought it would be an important time to take a closer look at some of the important ones to watch during Friday's scrimmage since that will be the last time for the media to see the 'Cats in action for some time while the summer plays out.
Rich Rodriguez has already mentioned that the Wildcats will run about 80-90 plays and that you won't see a lot of the key starters for very long, but there will be opportunities for some of the other players to leave the spring on a good note. A few of those players could really set themselves up well going into the summer and then fall camp with a good performance Friday.
A few of the those players were talked about Wednesday and I spoke with a couple of them as well. Here's a closer look at what a few of those players had to say and what Rodriguez had to say about them.
DaVonte' Neal: One player I'm sure a lot of fans are interested to watch and will be one to keep an eye on this Friday night is the former receiver now turned cornerback. As I have been mentioning all spring the transition has been a good one for Neal and at this point it would really not be surprising to see him with the first unit by the time the season rolls around. He has played with the 1s in spots, but he has not fully taken over the job yet.
Rodriguez has had positive things to say about the move all spring and that continued Wednesday.
"He's been more and more comfortable every day," Rodriguez said. "I saw him make a couple plays today where he wasn't hesitant and he knew what he was doing. I think the move has been good and it looks like it will be permanent. ... We haven't picked a starting unit and we won't until a week before the first game, but he's in the mix to be a starter. That's why I think the move was good for him and us."
Neal has been productive in the scrimmages Arizona has had this spring, and Friday night will be a good indication of where things could be headed.
Jerrard Randall: Another interesting development this spring has been the improvement of Arizona's senior back-up quarterback. Randall has been putting in hours of extra work outside of practice every day trying to improve his accuracy and passing in general. Now as spring practice gets close to coming to an end the progress has been much more noticeable. He isn't overthrowing as many receivers and a lot of the passes that were errant before have become a lot more dialed in. Now, Anu Solomon has also improved this spring so his job is not in any danger going into the summer but Randall's progress is something for Arizona to be happy about.
Friday will be a chance, while he won't be hit, for Randall to showcase that improvement to his staff and the fans as well. It will be an important day for the senior and he knows it.
"I'm the back-up," he told me yesterday. "Any back-up is going to want to take any frontrunner's job. So, like Brandon Dawkins he's trying to take my job because he's the back-up behind me. So I'm not saying that I want to take his job or anything like that, but I'm coming out here to perform at a high level. The competition the level has to be higher with this competition. I'm going to give him a run for his money, that's all I can say.
"It's a friendly competition and he knows he we're still friends at the end of the day. We still hang out and everything."
Rodriguez wants to see how much progress Randall and Dawkins have made this spring during Friday's spring game.
"Jerrard Randall and Brandon Dawkins were two guys that had to take another step mentally as far as understanding not just what we do but understanding defenses," Rodriguez said. "And it was a good spring from that standpoint, and we won't really have to add a whole lot more from the spring to fall camp. ... Brandon needs to get a lot of reps too, so all three of those guys and probably Zach Werlinger will get some reps too (on Friday)."
Brandon Dawkins: The last scholarship member of the quarterback group has been running with the third group this spring and he too has made some nice strides, but it is no secret that Friday is a big day for him too. He will not have a red (no-contact) jersey on so he will be able to get hit by the defense and that makes it most like a true game for him. Dawkins told me after practice he purposely did not want to dress out last season in full pads as a personal preference so he's excited to get in front of a crowd again and get back into what it feels like to be in a game again.
He too knows the importance of Friday's game for his own future going into the summer and fall camp.
"Sitting out there and going through the playbook can only do so much for me," he said. "I need to actually be out there getting the reps and that's what helps me the best to retain more and understand it more. ... Friday's going to be really important. It's going to be the first time showcase my actual talents and show everybody what I can actually do out there. And then just prove that the spring that I took it really serious and got a lot better."
Rodriguez is looking forward to Dawkins being in a more game-like setting as well.
"He probably hopes he doesn't (get tackled), but inevitably he'll probably get hit at some point," Rodriguez said. "... We've gotta see Brandon Dawkins in that kind of situation and Jerrard as well."
Arizona will play its spring game tomorrow night at 6 p.m. inside Arizona Stadium. Continue to look for coverage going into the game as well as plenty more afterward.
Rich Rodriguez has already mentioned that the Wildcats will run about 80-90 plays and that you won't see a lot of the key starters for very long, but there will be opportunities for some of the other players to leave the spring on a good note. A few of those players could really set themselves up well going into the summer and then fall camp with a good performance Friday.
A few of the those players were talked about Wednesday and I spoke with a couple of them as well. Here's a closer look at what a few of those players had to say and what Rodriguez had to say about them.
DaVonte' Neal: One player I'm sure a lot of fans are interested to watch and will be one to keep an eye on this Friday night is the former receiver now turned cornerback. As I have been mentioning all spring the transition has been a good one for Neal and at this point it would really not be surprising to see him with the first unit by the time the season rolls around. He has played with the 1s in spots, but he has not fully taken over the job yet.
Rodriguez has had positive things to say about the move all spring and that continued Wednesday.
"He's been more and more comfortable every day," Rodriguez said. "I saw him make a couple plays today where he wasn't hesitant and he knew what he was doing. I think the move has been good and it looks like it will be permanent. ... We haven't picked a starting unit and we won't until a week before the first game, but he's in the mix to be a starter. That's why I think the move was good for him and us."
Neal has been productive in the scrimmages Arizona has had this spring, and Friday night will be a good indication of where things could be headed.
Jerrard Randall: Another interesting development this spring has been the improvement of Arizona's senior back-up quarterback. Randall has been putting in hours of extra work outside of practice every day trying to improve his accuracy and passing in general. Now as spring practice gets close to coming to an end the progress has been much more noticeable. He isn't overthrowing as many receivers and a lot of the passes that were errant before have become a lot more dialed in. Now, Anu Solomon has also improved this spring so his job is not in any danger going into the summer but Randall's progress is something for Arizona to be happy about.
Friday will be a chance, while he won't be hit, for Randall to showcase that improvement to his staff and the fans as well. It will be an important day for the senior and he knows it.
"I'm the back-up," he told me yesterday. "Any back-up is going to want to take any frontrunner's job. So, like Brandon Dawkins he's trying to take my job because he's the back-up behind me. So I'm not saying that I want to take his job or anything like that, but I'm coming out here to perform at a high level. The competition the level has to be higher with this competition. I'm going to give him a run for his money, that's all I can say.
"It's a friendly competition and he knows he we're still friends at the end of the day. We still hang out and everything."
Rodriguez wants to see how much progress Randall and Dawkins have made this spring during Friday's spring game.
"Jerrard Randall and Brandon Dawkins were two guys that had to take another step mentally as far as understanding not just what we do but understanding defenses," Rodriguez said. "And it was a good spring from that standpoint, and we won't really have to add a whole lot more from the spring to fall camp. ... Brandon needs to get a lot of reps too, so all three of those guys and probably Zach Werlinger will get some reps too (on Friday)."
Brandon Dawkins: The last scholarship member of the quarterback group has been running with the third group this spring and he too has made some nice strides, but it is no secret that Friday is a big day for him too. He will not have a red (no-contact) jersey on so he will be able to get hit by the defense and that makes it most like a true game for him. Dawkins told me after practice he purposely did not want to dress out last season in full pads as a personal preference so he's excited to get in front of a crowd again and get back into what it feels like to be in a game again.
He too knows the importance of Friday's game for his own future going into the summer and fall camp.
"Sitting out there and going through the playbook can only do so much for me," he said. "I need to actually be out there getting the reps and that's what helps me the best to retain more and understand it more. ... Friday's going to be really important. It's going to be the first time showcase my actual talents and show everybody what I can actually do out there. And then just prove that the spring that I took it really serious and got a lot better."
Rodriguez is looking forward to Dawkins being in a more game-like setting as well.
"He probably hopes he doesn't (get tackled), but inevitably he'll probably get hit at some point," Rodriguez said. "... We've gotta see Brandon Dawkins in that kind of situation and Jerrard as well."
Arizona will play its spring game tomorrow night at 6 p.m. inside Arizona Stadium. Continue to look for coverage going into the game as well as plenty more afterward.
