Anthony Anyanwu

I'm not going to wax poetic on what I observed in the 15-20 minutes of pre-practice yesterday, but several things did stand out to me during that period. I spent much of my time with OL/DL/JACK and then used the rest of the time with STAR and FS. You can tell the amount of time Vic and staff are pouring into the playersThe team is bigger in bodies and size. Just a better roster for this Spring run and into the Fall compared to the last two years with 3 deep across all positionsMose Jeffery seems to be taking the 1st string guard opening as he led warmups and took reps with 1st teamMicah Mazzccua looks like he's back up Mose and this will be a battle to watchThe other OL piece I noticed, outside of new technique was Grant Miller runing smoe 1st team at CThe new techniques looked to be an added jab step for power blocking and a leverage technique Mateos was executing himself to teach the players what he wantedI asked David Kaye how accurate the weights were for the players and he said the staff doesn't care what they weigh in the Spring on paper. I joked that we'll take the brunt of that info not being right for him on the message boards. He's still handling Football and Basketball SID gigs, which used to be two people, so if you see him, tell him thanks for te hard work he does.Galvin looks like you'd expect.Tate Williams wasn't out there, but have heard not to worryHave heard Williams is still off on pass protection, but he's got a year more to learnOk, let's talk Jackie Marshall. There is no way, no way he's 235. His legs are bigger than Gabe Hall and he's pushing 270+ and fluid. During a pass tip drill he just plucked the ball out of the air for an INT instead of batting it away. I'm not sure he gets on the field in front of Randolph, Obi, or Anyanwu to start, but he's going to be trouble late in games if an opponent thinks there will be a dropoff.Anthony Anyanwu looks great as well and recovered from the broken leg last year right before the season. He was the starter before the injury, so that tells you his potential. He's a solid 250ish and the explosion is thereJordan Jenkins just looks different than the other backs and that takes nothing away from Taye McWilliams or Josh Fleeks, but the thud from the blocking pad hitting him is like hearing Bo Jackson hit a baseball and Dickie ThonMcWilliams looks good and is running 1st reps and has more home run hitting ability than Jenkins from a speed standpoint, but late in a game is where Jenkins is going to demoralize defenses just dragging them for yards. Fleeks and Squirrel are great changes of pace and the speed jumps a little when each gets the ballGetting both in space will be something the new offensive sets utilizes or from what I could observe as each ran some quick curl routes for the QBsDevin Neal looks good as did Devin Lemear STAR is loaded with Christian Morgan, Romario Noel Lorando Johnson, Jr. out there with physicalityCoach Aranda has a notebook/notepad he carries around with him taking notes of position groups. Not sure if he's curing cancer on that notepad or just jotting down quick notes to review later, but it was something new compared to last year.

I had some notes and wanted to put them in an article, but I'm still a bullet point guyConnor Galvin played well despite having a fingers taped together due to an injury against Texas Southern. If anyone has injured their hand and then has to use it in a week, there is pain, but the likely future NFL draftee showed his toughness and played without issue. Siaki Ika has been a lightning rod of sorts with some on the board not understanding the position and Apu hasn't done the best job early with his conditioning and play vs. Texas State and suspension for team rules violation against Texas Southern. Saturday started to show what he is capable of with some excellent disruption and controlling the middle. The issue isn't his talent, it is conditioning. Being far from home, he had gained bad weight and was closer to 400 against Texas State than his listed weight. He's dropped close to 30 pounds since then and you saw a difference in his play. Once he gets near the 330-340 range, the conditioning will be better as will his play. Garmon Randolph got his first run of the season and the 6-7 JACK was disruptive in his limited time on the field. He was the projected starter before an injury and this has forced Matt Jones to JACK despite having little time in Fall at the position. Anthony Anyanwu was starting at JACK before a fracture in his lower leg sidelined him after the last scrimmage. He's expected to return in 2-4 weeks and the defense will get another boost with his return.Raleigh Texada is lonely and I don't remember Kansas throwing his way in the game. AJ McCarty seemed to replace him when the subs came in, so it will be interesting if he has moved ahead of Mark Milton or the camera work was just ESPN+

Went down Saturday with the family and did not talk to any player or football coach. It was a time to let my kids meet the players while I stayed far back and just said hi to those I've interviewed over the years.As we all know, Garmon Randolph is in a boot and he walked without a limp and even jogged on it, so he should be ready. One that will not is Anthony Anyanwu as he looked to be in a soft cast. Siaki Ika is just massive in person and looked like he could eat my kid for a snack. Jalen Pitre is excited for his docuseries to come out and I got to see a preview today and it was great.Cole Maxwell was rocking some 70s sunglasses and in a fun form. Scott Drew signed my wife's hat and he's ready for the documentary to be out to the world. Mayer is sporting new tats.The entire WBB team was there and looked to be having a great time. They were not there in 2019 for long and only parts of the team. All the staff, except Collen were there. She'd gotten in from Mexico FIBA tournament and hit some jet lag. Cummings, Motta, and another were great with the kids and we got a chance to talk. Just an entirely different feel than the previous staff.