The University of Virginia Fall 2010 practice session is just three practices old. Here’s some news and some notes:
-Marc Verica looks good early. Only one of the practices has been in shoulder pads and helmets, but Verica, who is the unquestioned starter at this point, has performed well in almost all aspects of his game. His leadership, and throwing mechanics are much improved this summer over last season.
-Ross Metheny has a slight leg up to back-up Verica at the quarterback position. Freshman Michael Strauss should be the third option at QB, unless freshman Michael Rocco keeps up his strong play in camp and London decides not to redshirt him. Most quarterbacks are redshirted under London’s system.
-Morgan Moses, the highly recruited offensive lineman, is not going to redshirt. He will crack the two deep lineup sooner as opposed to later. He needs to work on his technique and footwork a bit, but at 6-6, 350+ pounds he is a giant force on the line. Another freshman, tailback K.P Parks, could forgo a redshirt season and play right away as well.
-The battle for the starting field-goal kicker has been a tough one so far. Junior Chris Hinkebein has a very strong leg, but has not been quite as accurate as Robert Randolph. Special teams coach Anthony Poindexter made a crack at media day that all kickers have to do is kick the dang ball and they struggle so much with that one task. Other players have many other tasks they have to memorize and take care of.
-Virginia only has twelve receivers on the entire roster. Several of those candidates are walk-ons, or former walk-ons, and there is only one senior receiver on the ball club. Not a lot of back-up potential if there are multiple injuries, or if the Hoos want to run a lot of four and five wide-out sets. Kris Burd, and Tim Smith have looked very strong at wideout. Watch out for redshirt freshman Bobby Smith out there to break into the rotation early. He’s going to be a very good player for UVA.
Go Hoos, beat the Hokies. And no one loses to Duke three years in a row. Right?