Coach Freeze’s opening statement

“Our team looks different from spring practice. I like it. We’re longer, we’re a little more athletic. It seems that Dom and his staff and the summer workouts accomplished what they anticipated happening. We had some kids gain some weight, really 3 kids out of the whole group that didn’t see the improvement in their body we wanted to. I think it will still happen, they’re young kids with the exception of one. I’m real pleased going into it, just the look of our team. We look faster, we look stronger, and with the addition of new recruits they have given us depth at some places we desperately needed.”

QB Battle

It’s what everyone wants to know about, the quarterback battle, especially now that Auburn transfer Malik WIllis has joined the fray.

“Malik has been a joy since he’s been here for July term,” Freeze said of the transfer. “He’s a gym rat. He studies the game. You have to run him out of the film room even in July. I think his attention to how he prepares can be contagious in that room. You put on the clips he had at Auburn or in high school and he’s just a superior athlete to most in a lot of ways.”

Willis has applied for a waiver to be able to play immediately. Liberty’s compliance department is currently compiling all of the information needed and plans to send it to the NCAA in the next week.

Malik Willis

During practice, Buckshot got all of the reps with the first string. True freshman Johnathan Bennett got all the reps with the second string. Redshirt-freshman Brandon Robinson and Willis went back and forth with the third string while the rest of the quarterbacks also got some work.

For a senior and 4th year starter, Calvert really struggled. He had a hard time connecting with receivers down the field. Screens and slants he was able to connect no problem. He was sacked a couple times and threw the ball into coverage on a number of occasions. It’s just one day of practice and it’s still early, but hopefully Buckshot will return to form quickly.

Bennett really stood out. He was slinging the ball all over the field and really showed command of the offense, especially for a true freshman. Watching him develop this season will be fun to watch. He really might push Coach Freeze for playing time each and every game.

“I’m very pleased with JB’s progression,” Freeze said of Bennett. “Obviously, coming in at mid-year, it changes what he is in fall camp. You can imagine if he had just shown up this summer and was trying to do some of those things. So, obviously spring really helped him. I thought he had a solid (first) two days and is certainly competing to earn that backup spot right now.”

Willis looked like he’s only been on campus for a few weeks. He’s obviously still getting acclimated to his surroundings, teammates, and the playbook. He struggled making any reads and throws down the field. On a couple of occasions he threw the ball to no one in particular. He obviously has talent or he wouldn’t have been at Auburn. We’ll just have to wait and see how long it takes him to learn the offense and settle in. And if his waiver doesn’t get approved, he’s got an entire year to learn it anyways.

We’ll have much more on the quarterback situation throughout camp. Stay tuned.

RB Battle

Another position that will be heavily competed for is running back. On Sunday, Frankie Hickson got first team reps and Peytton Pickett second team. Joshua Mack, Troy Henderson, Treon Sibley, and Frank Boyd all rotated in after Hickson and Pickett.

All of the running backs looked good. Henderson, Sibley, and Boyd each broke long runs to the joy of running backs coach Bruce Johnson.

DL depth much improved from spring

The biggest area of concern for the Flames coming out of spring practice was the lack of depth on the defensive line. Behind the first four, the numbers just weren’t there.

“There’s no doubt that Devonte (Lloyd), Elijah (James), TreShaun (Clark), Brayden Monday, they change the look of our team,” Freeze said. “They are certainly people we are excited about in the defensive line room. To add depth to us and competition, that’s something we didn’t have in the spring. I think competition just makes everyone better. It’s a bit early to see how everybody fits in there, but it changes the look of our team.”

Depth Chart

Here’s who was getting the reps with the first and second string at the beginning of practice, as practice went on there was much more rotation among the units.

1st team Offense:

LT Tristan Schultz LG Damian Bounds C Thomas Sargeant RG Dontae Duff RT Sam Isaacson
QB Buckshot RB Frankie Hickson WR AGG WR Noah Frith WR Damian King TE Johnny Huntley

2nd team Offense:

LT Jonathan Graham LG Jacob Bodden C John Kourtis RG Brendan Schlittler RT Cooper McCaw
QB Johnathan Bennett RB Peytton Pickett WR Khaleb Coleman WR Kevin Shaa WR DJ Stubbs TE Chris Barrett

1st team Defense:

DE Austin Lewis DT Ralfs Rusins DT Vincent Elefante DE Jessie Lemonier
LB Solomon Ajayi LB Amarii Jenkins
CB Jimmy Faulks CB Bejour Wilson ROVER Javon Scruggs S Isaac Steele  S Elijah Benton

2nd team Defense:

DE Jayod Sanders DT Devin Pearson DT Mason Wolk DE Thaddius Watson
LB Remington Green LB Tyren Dupree
CB Emanuel Dabney CB Isaiah Avery ROVER Marcellous Harris S Hunter Goetz S Benjamin Alexander