The first day of training camp was filled with story lines headlined by the unavailable of left tackle Raymond Pulido for the upcoming 2024 season. Day 2 of camp was different in a sense that all the story lines came from on the field action instead of who wasn't at practice.
Although the energy was good on the first day, it seemed to jump another level on Thursday with everyone from players to coach getting more comfortable with one another as they work to get ready for the 2024 season in the new Big 12 conference and embarking upon the Brent Brennan area of UA football.
In the second day of training camp we saw players that were sidelined get some time on the field in defensive lineman Kevon Darton and nickel back Treydan Stukes. However, there were others like Tacario Davis that were still sidelined for another day.
In this three-point stance, we will be covering the backup quarterback job, the energy Brennan is bringing to practice and an update at the center position. Plus, we will go over the player of the practice, and much more.
Three observations
What we've seen behind Noah Fifita
One of the clear areas that Brennan and his staff needed to address following the end of spring practice was the backup quarterback job with who it was going to be and the depth on the roster.
Brennan went out during the offseason and added two quarterbacks to the group in transfers Anthony Garcia (San Jose State) and Adam Damante (NAU) to go along with returners Brayden Dorman and Cole Tannenbaum.
During spring ball, Dorman and Tannenbaum had good moments but didn't do enough to clearly secure the backup quarterback role behind Noah Fifita. And all though we are only two days into camp, there has been some progress at that position.
During Day 1 of camp, Dorman got the nod as the No. 2 QB and had his moments where he was finding guys down field and making plays in the passing game. However, he has some issues readying the field and holds onto the ball a little too long.
It seems that most of his issues come on the shorter routes where he has to make quicker decisions with the football. Dorman has a canon for an arm, but doesn't have a fast release and to fix some of those issues, scanning the field more efficiently would help the situation.
On Thursday, Tannenbaum got his chance to work with the second-unit offense and had moments where he was connecting on passes down field and giving the defense problems. Still when under pressure, everything goes wrong.
Tannenbaum has a hard time handling pressure and isn't mobile enough to extend the play leading to easy sacks in the backfield for the defense.
It seems that each QB is going to get their chance with the second-unit offense showing what they can do to the coaching staff.
The one guy to keep an eye on is Garcia, who has looked really solid in drills and has been able to hit the open man when the team goes into 7-on-7 in the red zone.
