Buffs Camp Notes: Mekhi Blackmon is the star of open practice

 

BOULDER, Colo. — Saturday was the first and only open practice of Buffs camp.

There were stars. There were duds. There were a whole lot of fans.

It was only Day 3 of camp, so there’s still rust to dust off, plays to install and pads haven’t been worn yet. Everything we saw, may not have meant as much as it seemed to.

But still, this is our only look at the Colorado Buffaloes football team before it heads to Denver to take on the Colorado State Rams on Aug. 30, so we have to run with the information we have.

(Saturday was also Buffs Media Day, so stay tuned to BSN Denver to hear the key takeaways from Buffs media day tomorrow.)

Here’s what we saw:

Mekhi Blackmon is the star

Delrick Abrams is the Buffs’ number one corner, but that may be the only role in the secondary that has already been decided. The second cornerback job is up for grabs and Chris Miller had the lead, according to the final depth chart of spring ball.

On Saturday, junior Mekhi Blackmon took the field with the ones and Miller played with the twos in the first drill of open practice. Blackmon took the majority of the first-team reps throughout the day.

And not only did Blackmon start, he shined.

In one-on-one drills, which typically favor wide receivers heavily, Blackmon locked his opponent down every time through.

He shadowed Jaylon Jackson on a drag route and broke up the pass. On his next rep, he forced the receiver outside on the fly route, stuck a half-step behind him, then when the ball was thrown, closed the gap with a burst of speed and knocked the ball away. Blackmon looked totally in control.

In team drills, Blackmon notched the only two interceptions of the day. First, he picked off Steven Montez on a tipped pass. The second came on a route combo that saw one receiver run to the flat and another run a 10-yard out. Blackmon baited Montez by stepping down toward the receiver in the flat before taking two steps back to pick the ball off when Montez through to the receiver waiting on the sideline 10 yards downfield.

It was a smart play.

Who knows if Blackmon or Miller will hold down the starting job a month from now, but after Blackmon’s big day, it isn’t hard to give him the edge.

Quarterbacks struggle

The bad news about Blackmon’s performance is that it came at the cost of the offense. That’s just how football practice works though.

You know Montez threw the two interceptions, but those weren’t the only flaws in what was largely a disappointing performance. Early in practice, Montez made a couple of nice throws downfield, but there weren’t many highlights in team drills.

Montez struggled to hit his targets, consistently leaving passes behind receivers or overthrowing them. He appeared to make the right read more often than not, but the reads came a half-second too late.

The same can be said of the other Buffs quarterbacks as well. Junior Sam Noyer, sophomore Tyler Lytle and redshirst freshman Blake Stenstrom split time with the second-team and none of them found consistent success. Like Montez, the reads seemed correct, just late.

Hopefully, the slow decision-making can be attributed to learning a new offensive system.

We finally saw the offense

What exactly the Buffs’ offense will look like in 2019 has been a mystery since Mel Tucker was hired to be head coach in December.

On Saturday, we got a look.

It’s still early, and Colorado is still implementing its schemes, but here are a few things we noticed:

• The offense lined up in the pistol. It wasn’t every down but we did see it. With versatile guys like Laviska Shenault, K.D. Nixon and Jarek Broussard who can line up in the backfield or out wide, the pistol set gives the Buffs some versatility and lets them hide their intentions in the huddle.
• There was motion before the snap. The Buffs had receivers moving from one side of the line to the other, running backs switching sides of the quarterback and tight ends stepping back to play H-back. One particularly common action was swinging a halfback behind the receivers to catch a screen pass, or fake one while receivers ran downfield.
• INTERMEDIATE ROUTES! The Buffs ran plenty of route concepts designed to get guys open 10-15 yards downfield. Some built off of fake screen action, other were more pro style designs. Either way, it was a good sign.

Mangham takes first-team reps

True freshman running back Jaren Mangham was the star of the Spring Game, but he finished spring camp fourth on the depth chart.

He seems to have taken a leap.

Mangham was the first-team running back today and looked solid in the position. It’s tough to gauge running backs until they put on full pads, but he flashed the athleticism that makes him a threat at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds.

Sophomore Alex Fontenot, who finished the spring at the top of the depth chart, took mostly second-team reps, followed by Deion Smith and Jarek Broussard.

Joe Davis (6-0, 210) also flashed, though he played primarily against fellow true freshmen.

Offensive line still in flux

By all accounts, the Buffs’ offensive line is poised for a leap forward in 2019 after being one of the weakest in the Pac-12 a year ago, but we still don’t know exactly what the line will look like.

Transfer senior Arlington Hambright appears to be the Buffs’ left tackle with William Sherman locking down the right end of the line. Between them, there are question marks.

The biggest question is whether senior Tim Lynott or sophomore Colby Pursell will start at center. On Saturday, Pursell played center while Lynott lined up at right guard. This spring, they were in the other positions.

Tony Brown in lead for third receiver job

After receiving praise from Mel Tucker on Friday, senior receiver Tony Brown showed why at Folsom on Saturday.

Brown lined up with the starters ahead of redshirt freshman Dimitri Stanley, who is also vying for the third receiver job, and looked solid. He found some separation and caught the ball when it was thrown to him. In short, he looked like a veteran.

Stanley looked raw. He couldn’t always separate from cornerbacks despite his speed and he dropped a pass, but the skillset is obvious. Stanley has remarkable wiggle at the top of his routes, which should play well in the slot over the next few years. At one point in team drills, he also reached back with one hand on a drag route to pull in a Montez bullet thrown behind him. Special stuff.

Six-foot-four, 205-pound sophomore Daniel Arias also flashed consistently.

The future of Buffs receivers is in good hands.

Receivers catching punts

The Buffs’ receivers were also the only ones to catch punts on Saturday. Mel Tucker didn’t tip his hand special teams-wise much, but this could mean something.

Laviska Shenault, K.D. Nixon, Dimitri Stanley and Tony Brown all caught punts in punt coverage drills on Saturday. These drills are designed to give reps to the punt team, so this group of receivers could just be the free hands who aren’t on punt coverage.

Or it could be an early look at the Buffs’ potential returners.

Tucker didn’t list any returners on the depth chart this spring and 2018 return specialist Ronnie Blackmon transferred. The job is wide open.

Tucker spending time with DBs

For better or for worse, new head coaches are often struggle to stay away from the position groups they’ve worked with in the past.

On Saturday, Mel Tucker spent a lot of the time working with the secondary, especially cornerbacks. Tucker played cornerback in college then coached the secondary after he retired, so this isn’t a surprise.

During his Media Day press conference, Tucker said he intentionally tries to be hands-on with defensive backs. This is because college programs have significantly fewer coaches than NFL staffs, so he feels the need for an all-hands-on-deck approach.