Oklahoma State University Athletics
Football Practice Report - March 30
March 30, 2012 | Cowboy Football
March 30, 2012
PHOTOS: Spring Practice #6 | 2012 OSU Spring Guide
STILLWATER, Okla. - The Oklahoma State football team held its longest practice of the spring on Friday, taking the grass practice fields for an approximately two-hour and 30-minute session dressed in full pads. After practice, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Glenn Spencer talked about what is likely the deepest position group on the roster:
On the three returning starters at linebacker:
"Shaun Lewis is playing like a veteran. He sees the big picture now. As a young player, you just kind of worry about your own little world, but the more you mature, the more you start to see the big picture - not only doing your job but also helping everybody else and communicating. That's where he's taking his game."
"Caleb Lavey is very solid. He's probably the best communicator out there. He gets guys lined up, he's aggressive in the box, scraping downhill and having a really good spring. We'll count on him for a lot of leadership. He's really being vocal out there."
"Alex Elkins is doing exactly what I thought. He's still making a few errors, but his effort and intensity overcomes those. Considering the amount of football that he's played, his ceiling is so much higher than everybody else because he plays with so much emotion. I love his intensity and he's picked up where he left off in the fall."
On how much Alex Elkins has developed from when he first arrived at OSU:
"He's still a way off and has a lot to learn. He makes some mistakes every day that I wish he wouldn't make, but he makes up for it by his effort. You can say he's come the farthest because he was the farthest removed from basic, fundamental football. He's had to pick it up quickly in order to compete at this level and he's done that."
On if a pecking order has been set between the ones and the twos:
"No, the ones are getting pushed. Lyndell Johnson and Joe Mitchell are pushing Shaun Lewis. They're both showing up. Lyndell is making some plays out there that are those `wow' kind of plays. You can see him move out in space. He's got some instincts that are going to make him a real good player. Ryan Simmons and DeMarcus Sherod are not far from a starting spot."
On Ryan Simmons as an individual and the twos as a group:
"It's a day-to-day process but he's out there competing. He's getting reps with the ones like they all are because there's not a lot of separation in those guys, there's really not. When they go out on the field every day, they know that there's somebody right on their heels that can do better than them that day if they don't bring their A game. It's unbelievable competition at all those spots right now. I've never been in a situation like this before where I've got three deep that can play."
On the competitiveness within the OSU linebackers:
"They all cheer for each other, which is a good thing. All those guys have run with the first unit because I'm trying to evaluate them against our best competition - when our offense puts its ones out there. A couple of the younger guys, when they miss something, it's usually something that will be overcome with repetition. Some of the guys that have had more snaps might not be making those same mistakes, but those young guys have you saying that in three or four more practices, they might be dead even.
"When I come out of spring, I might have an issue on my hands with three guys that can all play at each of the linebacker spots. Here's what that can bring you - in a 75-play game, you might have two or three guys playing 25-30 snaps. It's all-out. If you don't drop off talent-wise when the next guy comes in, then all of a sudden you've got a guy on the field for play 70 or play 75 that hasn't played but 30 reps and that's going to produce for you in the fourth quarter."
On Mike Gundy's previous comments that this is the best group of linebackers he's had at Oklahoma State:
"I don't agree with that until they earn it by performing on a Saturday. To me, everything else is speculation, which doesn't mean a thing. They haven't proven that to me at all."
