Your Daily Fix, 7/29
Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you know what I've been up to today. I'm at Auburn working on a story about your two favorite quarterbacks.
I'll just get straight to the points:
Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.
I'll just get straight to the points:
- Kodi Burns has added about 10 pounds. I'd say most of it is muscle. His upper arms and shoulders look much thicker than I remember. He said he's bulking up to handle the punishment this fall.
- Burns said his top priority now is footwork. You all remember how Burns took a big step forward during the final week of spring? That's around the time Burns said Tony Franklin's ideas (edicts) about footwork began to take hold.
- Chris Todd said his shoulder is "feeling really good," but stopped short of saying it was ideal. He said a summer of therapy and rest has given him some needed peace of mind. ``The real question is how it reacts out there throwing all day everyday."
- Franklin had this to say about Burns: "It's simple with him. If he uses his feet, he's good. If he doesn't use his feet, he's not. Most guys with strong arms -- and Kodi certainly has a strong arm -- grow up with that and don't pay attention to their footwork. They don't have to."
- Franklin said former UK quarterback Jared Lorenzen was like that. Another pair of former UK guys, Tim Couch and Dusty Bonner, came into college with more appreciation for footwork. The tradeoff? "Their arms were pretty average."
Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.
posted by Jay G. Tate at
4:33 PM
31 Comments:
JGT..Nice report. Was Todd asked if his shoulder is "100%" or "how's it feel?". Less than 100% may not work against the best of the SEC. Maybe he is being cautious.
I don't remember how I phrased that question, to be honest. I'll go back and check that ...
Jay it sounds like you are beginning to believe that Kodi could be the starter and succeed. Great reporting by the way!
If Fall Kodi is like Last Week Of Spring Kodi, he absolutely can be a good starter immediately.
Totally off subject but is there still no word on Reggie Hunt being cleared? If not, is there a deadline that they have to let him/us know by?
Not really. There is no deadline that Tuberville knows about.
The Clearinghouse, as of this year, is under the NCAA's umbrella. It formerly was a parallel organization that was basically independent from the NCAA. Now it's all one family, so to speak, and the hope (from the coach/player perspective) is that judgments will be made more quickly than before.
Well thank god the NCAA is involved, it should be no time now....snicker snicker.
The NCAA is known for its customer service. That's what Ron Polk told me.
Nice piece today Jay. The article that is. (didnt want anyone to think anything different)
JGT, do you think all of the talk from Tuberville that leans towards Burns is because CTT recruited Burns and Franklin brought Todd in to the fold?
Just wondering...
That's a reasonable conclusion, though I don't think that's the real reason.
Tuberville took an unusually keen interest in Burns during his junior high-school season. He just likes the kid a lot and strongly believes Burns is going to be a franchise-type player. Some guys get closer to Tuberville than others.
Other examples of guys like that ... Junior Rosegreen, Travaris Robinson, Adlai Trone, Karlos Dansby, Marcus McNeill, DeMarco McNeil, Will Herring.
Okay. Makes sense. I've heard that before. Was Brandon Cox one of those guys? Just curious. Thanks for the answer.
BTW, you weren't kidding about the fragging on COD4...I've retreated to single player mode until I figure what the heck I'm doing. Haven't played NCAA 09 on it yet but I hear it's good.
Also, do you know anything about a former Troy WR who may be a new GA coach at Auburn? Name's Gary Banks. If you get a chance to meet him, you'll like him. He's a class guy all the way.
No, I don't think Brandon was in that circle. Tommy liked him, though.
I'll keep an eye out for Banks.
Also ... as a follow-up to Hoopie's question yesterday:
My question to Todd went like this:
``You were having problems with the shoulder during the spring. Has it progressed a lot since then?"
His answer:
```I like the way my shoulder has reacted during the summer," he said. ``We've been working on a lot of rehab. The big part has been getting me to a point where I can do my usual workout. I've been throwing more lately and it's feeling really good."
Hey Jay I hear Tana Patrick was on campus today with his mother and HS coach. Any news worthy tidbits from his visit?
I'm not into recruiting quite that much.
Banks is with the San Diego Chargers right now. If something doesn't happen with that, he may work with Auburn. But right now, he's working hard to make the league.
san diego PADRES?
Dear Lord,
If my son happens to be a talented athlete, please don't let me be as stupid as Michele Wie's parents.
Amen
By the way Chris Todd answered that question, sounds like Franklin will have to scale down Todd's throws during two a days. Which goes against every philosphy Tony Franklin has about football. I guess we will see the degree of "bromance" franklin has for todd.
What makes us think that Todd's shoulder will last any longer than it did during spring again?
why as Chris Slaughter fallen of the radar in the WR talks? I remember you being real high on him last year Jay. He was under weight last year but they still burnt a year on him an he recieved hardly no playing time. Whats the deal?
The quote I read said he was cutting back to "150 to 200 throws a day." Is that cutting back?
I think the anonymous people have a thing for chris slaughter. I find it humorous. "He has fallen off the radar".... practice hasn't started yet. Rivals didn't tell you that he became a potential Biletnikoff candidate by lifting weights over the summer? They must have run out of time.
To phred: the way people claim that franklin practices I think that would be cutting back. Granted I hope they do cut it back, the dead arm version of chris todd will be pretty useless when LSU comes to town.
It just will be interesting to see who wins "The Tony Franklin System" (http://thesystemclinics.com/) or his favorite pupil.
My qb "prediction". If TOdd's hsoulder is 100%, the Todd will start and play more at the beginning of the season. Todd knows and "runs" the offense and probably has a little more experience reading defenses. It looked that way in the spring game against our generic defense. Kodi will be able to come in and continue to operate the offense in the same manner, or if we are struggling as a spark (running, etc.)
If we can start the season "running the offense" instead of "running Kodi", we will develop and keep our offensive options open to be able to adjust to injury, defenses, etc. If Kodi progresses and becomes the starter, we should still play CTodd enough to ensure a good backup. The chance for qb injury in this offense is great.
I'm with Ron ... Chris Slaughter is no less anonymous now than he was 10 months ago.
For whatever reason, I think he'll be an outstanding college player someday. I have no evidence to support that claim.
I also believe Todd still is struggling with some degree of weakness in that shoulder. Just a hunch.
What makes me happy: Seeing pictures of AU football players on the front page of the sports section with Jay G's name somewhere close by. It's here! I feel like Jim Fyffe I am so excited! That's either because I feel like we are going to have a very good year, or my world is really starting to shrink. I think it might be the latter.
For no apparent reason, I have concluded that Kodi is the man, and that Todd is the "Kodi needs a breather" guy. Trotter is the "get some game experience" third man.
That Jim Fyffe reference is weird.
Phred's a weird cat.
Why is that weird?
and ... Who said that?
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