Notre Dame Spring Practice: Day One Observations
BlueandGold.com football analyst Vince DeDario watched Notre Dame’s first spring practice and has a lengthy report on what he took in.
Quarterbacks
There was some serious coaching going on for true freshman Drew Pyne. Both offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and senior Ian Book were stopping Pyne during drills and showing him the correct form. Book and Pyne were also paired up in partner drills so the senior could coach up the freshman.
Book looked like his usual self. He operated with swagger within his group all day. He was fitting the ball into some tight windows, which showed his rapport with his receivers, and was clearly the leader on the field.
Sophomore Brendan Clark looked a little hesitant at times today and tried to aim a lot of his throws. Maybe it was the pressure of being the No. 2 guy now or the fact that it is practice No. 1 of the spring. He was not displaying his normal velocity that we saw in fall camp last year.
Pyne looked the part all day. He was accurate on most of his throws and threw with a confidence that I was surprised about for a kid who is still supposed to be a senior in high school. He is the shortest of the quarterbacks on the roster at 5-11½, but he was playing above his height all day. I was really impressed by the young signal-caller.
Wide Receivers
I really liked what I saw from this group today. Fifth-year senior Ben Skowronek looked smooth and brings a big frame to the passing game. Junior Kevin Austin looked poised to take that spot as the alpha within the wide receiver group. He was slotted at the starting spot in Chase Claypool’s old position, while junior wideouts Lawrence Keys III and Braden Lenzy took up the other two starting spots. Both Keys and Lenzy look like they have not lost a step over the winter, and it is going to be fun to see what that combination looks like with more time on the field this season.
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