Spring Practice Week 1 Thoughts

Well technically, the first practice of Week 2 just wrapped up Monday evening, but for all intents and purposes, let's look at it by each week.

Here are a couple of quick thoughts and updates:

Don't Read Much Into QB Reps...For Now
True to his word, Coach Dykes has been rotating through all five scholarship quarterbacks quite a bit. Instead of always trying to give each QB the same number of reps in 11-11s in each practice, he's been giving 2-3 QBs the majority of reps in each practice, and giving the other 2-3 QBs those snaps in another practice.

You could drive yourself mad trying to read too much into these situations. Case in point: Zach Kline didn't get any reps until the end, and when he did come, his throwing time was limited. An obsessive fan might wonder whether Kline has fallen down the depth chart, yet another equally obsessive fan might simply presume that Kline has already proven what he can do, consequently not needing the reps.

Me? I'd like to think I'm a bit calmer, or more ignorant. It's just Week 2 of spring practice, and it's unfair to dwindle the down the candidates after 2 or 3 practices. With that said, I'd suspect that you're going to see just that by the end of this week or so. If I had to put money on it (based solely on the multiple practice reports I've been reading), I'd expect it to come down to Kline, Goff, and Hinder.

Ever Think About the Defense?
It's a bit humiliating to admit that I was just realizing how many freaking reps the defense is getting right now. We've been so hung up on the offense's pace, but you have to think that in turn, this is going to make the starting defense's conditioning and awareness that much better as well. By all accounts, it appears that the starting offense is playing against the starting defense, so you know you're getting the best level of competition possible in practice.

And that's a lot of invaluable practice for a secondary that was abused for much of last season. With two brand new corners, there opportunity is ripe when defending a Sonny Dykes/Tony Franklin offense.

Battle at Center
It looks like Matt Cochran is finally making a push for the center spot against fifth year senior Mark Brazinski. The time is now or never for Brazinski, as the #1 rated high school center coming into Cal has struggled to make a real push in the depth chart due to injuries and play, but he's going to have to really battle with the redshirt freshman Cochran nipping at his heels.

For what it's worth, Brazinski has reportedly had a few bad snaps the past few practices, which may have played a part along with Cochran's strong play with the second team, in Cochran getting a look.

Release the Kragen!
One name that might have gone under the radar a bit was DVC transfer Kyle Kragen. Kragen was expected to play right away in a supporting role, but his name has popped up time and time again as a pass rushing force in practices. Plain and simple, Kragen has been flat out unblockable at times.

Watch his highlight reel and don't tell me you don't see a little Zack Follett in him.


,br> The Bears pass rush (or lackthereof) was a huge issue last season, so it'd be nice if some new players and the switch to the 4-3 could see some of our ends be a greater force in applying pressure to opposing QBs. For More Details

Check out the nice writeups by Nam Le over at BearInsider.

CaliforniaGoldenBlogs has some nice analysis as well.