Practice Observations 8/23/10

I guess today I'll try to fill in for axe23 and qrsouther, neither of whom I saw.

 The Ducks were in full pads for the second half of today's double. Here are a few bullets from an 80 degree, clear sky practice.

• The offense wore black jerseys after losing Saturday's competition day and many of the players broke in the retro yellow helmets.
• Daryle Hawkins was used at the RB, WR/Tazer position (but still wearing the red QB no contact jersey) while Bryan Bennett took all of the 3rd string snaps. Because I've only seen this at one practice he could just be filling in for some tired legs. However, Hawkins was given a lot of reps (4th string D. Haines had some too at WR), so the coaches just may be considering him for a position change. Given that we have 3 talented QB's coming in next year it's something to think about.
  
• From what I saw, James and Barner only participated in about half of the 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills, though they both looked healthy and quick. Williams, Seastrunk and Hawkins split most of the other carries.
• Jackson Rice threw "punts" on a punt return drill that Barner and Harris fielded very well. Rice has a good arm.
• Both Beard and Maldonado were 50/50 on long field goals today, both missing way left from the left hash. I doubt we'll see any field goals longer than 50 yards to start the season.
• Chip Kelly was constantly in the offensive line's ear today, trying to get them to match the defensive lines intensity and play. Long runs were almost non-existent as the D-line sure has founds its rhythm.
• The talked-to-death-over-contemplated QB battle stayed even once again today. Some of the basic passing drills (4-on-3 and drills without DB's) were executed by only one quarterback throwing at a time (instead of all QB's throwing at the same time to different receivers). I think Chip changed things up so that he can get a better look at Thomas and Costa despite the drawback of getting in less reps.
  
• I don't think either Costa or Thomas threw a pick today. Costa had a few good robotic scampers down the field out of bounds and consistently found the short open receiver. Thomas took several ambitious runs with only a little success and like Costa, had no problem finding his check down.
  
• Most of the deep passes got swatted or were off target but neither QB made a lot of mistakes. Today wasn't either of the QB's best day but the minimal amount of negative plays was good. Thankfully the word is that Chip Kelly will announce his starter this Saturday.
  
• Bryan Bennett looked human throwing a bad INT to Cliff Harris but he also had I couple of nice throws. DJ Davis stood out making crisp moves and coming back to the ball with good hands.

I wish I had more to report but there is only so much that I could take in with my untrained (possibly erroneous) eyes. Although, If you have any questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them.