Not much to report from Saturday morning's session at La Cage Aux Chats.
On the offensive upside, even when cranking out plays at Xerox rate, there looked like only one case of obvious even-five-beers-in-Bob-could-see-it miscommunication. I thought the defense generally had the better of it, as it should be given all factors (early in real camp, everybody back, know the scheme, blah, blah, blah). But, again, no pads on yet, so it's like judging a building by its miniature model.
It's not real until somebody gets smacked in the mouth. Before that, this is more educational...
Among those who dropped by practice were Belen cornerback Xavier Hines, who verbally committed to FIU Thursday, and Carol City defensive back Simeon Thomas, who did so Saturday. Scout.com and Rivals.com rank Thomas as a three-star recruit.
Remember what I said about length on defense two days ago? Thomas is listed variously at 6-3 or 6-4. I'd go with 6-4. Either way, he's all arms and legs, the kind of defender who's a problem to get around so you have to go right at him. He looks like he'll fill out big enough to be a linebacker, but could also drop back and be a rangy safety. He allegedly ran a 4.6 at FIU's camp recently.
Hines said of choosing FIU, "I feel at home here. It's down the street from my school. It's in an area my mom and my family can watch me play (he lives 10 minutes away)."
Also, he said, he doesn't like cold weather.
"It wasn't that tough (to choose FIU)," Hines said. "Ever since the beginning, I had FIU in mind. My father just wanted me to try a lot of different places first before I gave a committment here."
