Practice Players of the Week
These are the players that were voted as Practice Players of the Week by their peers. The players they went up against in practice chose these players as the most outstanding during the three days of practice:
East Team
Kyle McCord, QB, Syracuse
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Arizona
Isaiah Neyor, WR, Nebraska
Oronde Gadsden II, TE, Syracuse
Esa Pole, OT, Washington State
Joshua Gray, IOL, Oregon State
Payton Page, IDL, Clemson
Tyler Baron, Edge, Miami
Chris Paul Jr., LB, Ole Miss
Cobee Bryant, CB, Kansas
RJ Mickens, S, Clemson
Andres Borregales, ST, Miami
West Team
Max Brosmer, QB, Minnesota
Tahj Brooks, RB, Texas Tech
Juice Wells, WR, Ole Miss
Jalin Conyers, TE, Texas Tech
Hollin Pierce, OT, Rutgers
Tim McKay, IOL, NC State
Jordan Phillips, IDL, Maryland
Ahmed Hassanein, Edge, Boise State
Teddye Buchanan, LB, Cal
Nohl Williams, CB, Cal
Shamari Simmons, S, Arizona State
Ben Sauls, ST, Pittsburgh
100th Anniversary of the East West Shrine Game
In the game itself, I was very disappointed in the number of players that opted out of playing in the game. I listed 10 players that didn’t participate in the game itself. Among those were Sheddur Sanders QB Colorado, Kyle McCord the Syracuse QB, Hollin Pierce the huge LT from Rutgers, Cobee Bryant the CB from Kansas, Antwuan Powell- Ryland Edge from Virginia Tech, Oronde Gadsen TE Syracuse, Ben Yurosek TE Georgis, Raheim Sanders RB South Carolina and CJ West NT Indiana.
The Offensive MVP was RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt of Arizona with several big runs and 2 TDs. This was a big opportunity for Croskey-Merritt since his final year at Arizona was cut off after one game because of an eligibility issue. In that one game he ran for over 100 yards and he used this week at the East West shrine game as a way to get some video of his ability and he shown brightly. His ability to get to the edge with speed was impressive. Croskey-Merritt had 74 yards on 8 carries in the 1st half.
On the Defensive side the MVP was O’Donnell Fortune a Safety from South Carolina. He is listed as a CB and he had a pick six to propel the East Defense to the 25 – 0 shutout. The Defense was coached by Patriots LB coach Drew Wilkins. This was the first shutout in the game since 1969. The coaches and players took a lot of pride in accomplishing this task. It doesn’t look like Wilkins will be back with the team, but no official word has been said about his return.
Assistant Offensive Line coach Robert Kugler coached the East Offensive line. The future of either coach is up in the air as neither coach has announced they were leaving nor did anyone report they are staying with the team. Their inputs from the week of practice would be very valuable.
Players that Stood Out
I was very impressed by diminutive wideout Efton Chism. He was fearless out there, catching balls over the middle in traffic. His Punt Return ability was special too. He took a punt inside the 10-yard line and returned it just 7 yards but he was surrounded by coverage players and didn’t call for the fair catch. He also had another big return called back by a penalty. The 5’10” 195-pound receiver broke all of Cooper Kupp’s receiving records at Eastern Washington. His performance this week was remarkable since he was a late add to the roster.
Tonka Hemingway a stout Defensive Tackle from South Carolina had two Pass Knockdowns at the Line of Scrimmage and big sack that forced a long Field Goal attempt that went wide. That sack preserved the shutout.
Shamari Simmons a Free Safet out of Arizona State impressed me with his open field tackling ability. He made three open field tackles as he quickly diagnosed plays and came up from his secondary position and took the proper angles to make the stops.
JJ Peuges the DT from Mississippi had an Interception and was mobbed by his teammates as he came off the field. Peuges scored two rushing TDs for Ole Miss this season.
Thomas Perry the D3 player from Middlebury looked overwhelmed at Center and had a bad shotgun snap and a fumbled snap. However, he was one for one on pass receptions as he reported in as an eligible receiver on a 2pt conversion attempt. He made the catch but was blown up in the backfield.
Johnny Walker of Missouri had two sacks in the game. He was the most effective Edge player.
DT Jordan Phillips had a great week of practice and was named one of the Practice Players of the Week, but he was invisible in the game.
Patriots Coaching Staff Continues to come together
Mike Reiss is reporting that Ben McAdoo is staying with the team, but his position is unclear. That is another coach with Head Coaching experience. McAdoo was also involved in the coaching of Drake Maye and Joe Milton.
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Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.
