[Fuller/MGoBlog]

Where have you seen the biggest growth in your offense over the last couple of weeks?

“I just think that people understand the concepts. Really the passing game’s come along with the precision and timing. You know, making corrections. People understand what you’re trying to correct and they’re fixing it the next day you come out.”

Coach Harbaugh said that his quarterbacks were making ‘one big mistake’ per day right now. Is that still—I mean, what do you need to see from them this week and then going through the summer?

“I think just, you know, in terms of where they need to go with the ball, the progressions of their reads, when there’s no play to be made make a play. And that goes for any type of quarterback in any system. That’s not just this particular system here. That’s what you’re looking for.”

Have you seen a difference between John [O’Korn] being in his first year being in a competitive situation and the other two guys, Shane [Morris] and Wilton [Speight]?

“I think John’s a real competitor. I don’t think if he’s a redshirt it doesn’t matter to him. He’s a guy who comes out, wants to compete every day, and wants to be at his best.”

How do you distinguish between making a play when there isn’t one and trying to do too much? Where’s the line that gets drawn between those two?

“I think those guys just kind of naturally have it. They know when to make a play. They know when to step up and find a spot in the pocket. They know when to scramble. They know when to get rid of the ball not to take a sack. You know, I think it’s just kind of part of their DNA. It’s in there, you’ve just got to get it out of them.”

Was moving Mason [Cole] more about the importance of that center position or just getting the top five on the field?

“You know, you just really want to get the top five in however you do that. We’re still evaluating if that’s the best position for him. He’s done a very, very nice job this spring. That’s a hard thing to do is stand there with the ball in your hand and you’ve got a 300-pound guy breathing down your neck and you’ve got to snap it, you know. He’s really handled it beautifully. He’s done a really, really nice job with it.”

Do you guys feel like Newsome’s ready to start if need be?

“Yeah! When we played him last year as a true freshman we believed that he’s ready to do that if that’s how it all pans out.”

What’s different about him? You’ve talked about football lenses opening. Was his already a little more open than most?

“He’s very intelligent. He gets it. He can make a correction once [and] he can fix it. He understands what you’re talking about when you talk to him in the room. The screen doesn’t got fuzzy with him. He stays with you in a conversation.”

[After THE JUMP: Others in the OL rotation, Ty Isaac’s spring, and what Don Brown’s scheme does for the O-line]

Is Kugler doing a lot to impress you--

“Yeah! He’s doing a great job.”

--to make you think that if Cole’s not--

“Absolutely. Absolutely, yeah. He’s done a nice job. He’s done a nice job this spring and really pleased with his progress.”

So is it in a way Kugler versus Newsome as far as who that fifth guy is?

“You know, we got other guys joining us in the fall. This is the neat thing about spring ball is you can move the lineup around and you try to find the best five guys and you find your six and seven, like I mentioned before. Nothing’s stamped in cement saying, ‘Hey, this is what we’re gonna do’ but right now this is how we’re doing it and the nice thing about it is we’ve got the spring game Friday night but it’s not like we’re going to go play the University of Hawai’I in the first game on Saturday, so we’ve got some time to kind of mess with the lineup.”

We’ve been told that De’Veon is the clear lead guy as the starting running back. Is that how you feel?

“De’Veon’s had a nice spring.”

What’s after that? Is there an order?

“I think all those guys, it’s by committee in there. We’ve got to see—you know, in spring ball you do a little bit of live stuff but it’s not all live all the time. It’s a different deal when a guy’s ready to tackle you; you’ve got to find the soft shoulder and you kind of find what a guy’s made of when that happens.”

Who has stood out to you among those next guys?

“Ty [Isaac’s] done a nice job. Kareem [Walker] has done a nice job in there. Kingston Davis. I mean, they’ve all brought something to the table. It’s neat to see that and have some depth there, which makes it nice because you can rotate guys through.”

Kalis was saying that Ty seems ‘hungrier’—that was the word he used—coming into this season coming off of last. Do you see that?

“Yeah. I mean, he’s lost some weight. He’s got his weight down. You can see that it’s very, very important to him to be good. But I think maybe it’s just his growth as a football player and growth in this system and what we’re doing. As you get a year older the light kind of goes on a little bit brighter and you start to figure it out.”

How much is Jabrill practicing on offense?

“Right. Uh, he’s been…you know, we can use him on offense. He’s been primarily with the defense but there’s times that we could use him on offense.”

Does that mean you have used him in practice?

“At times. Not this spring, we have not. If that’s what you’re asking, not this spring.”

What kind of weapon can Wheatley be with his size and his athleticism? We saw his catch on Saturday.

“Very much a weapon. You saw him catch that ball down the middle of the field, got that big limb out there to catch it. I think just with the tight end running intermediate routes, to be able to box up on somebody. It’s a big weapon. I mean, that’s a big body and a big target. And it helps, too, in the run game to be able to cover up a guy and move your feet. It helps.”

With such an experienced O-line how have you been preparing differently this spring compared to this time last year?

“Nothing’s different. It’s the same thing every day in terms of how good you can be at your craft and be at the highest level. They do understand a little bit better just when you talk to them. I’ve mentioned that before, you talk to them and they kind of understand and they can fix problems in the room, which is really neat. And you can kind of see that build of the chemistry and leadership of wanting to be good.”

You’ve said that you’re going to see what happens in the fall. Would it be hard for someone else to crack that five given what those guys have done?

“It would not be hard.”

It wouldn’t be hard?

“It would not be hard. I mean, we’ve got other guys coming in, three other guys. We’ve got to kind of assess and see where we are with them. At a former employer one time we played three true freshmen. Competition. Put the best five guys on the field.”

Is that because you just want to see what they do or because the other guys have left the door open?

“We’re always trying to get better. It’s about competing every day at the highest level. That’s the same with my job, you know. I’ve got to be on point every day.”

Jim said this team is better athletically and in all ways from a year ago. Are you seeing that? How do you see that on offense? Where is this offense better?

“I think that with the running backs, the speed, the athleticism. Ahmir [Mitchell’s] doing a nice job at receiver. He’s a big target, can run fast. You kind of see it across the board and the five new receivers coming in, that’s going to help too. We’re getting better with our skill positions in every position across the board, and that’s part of the process of a second year going into it.”

Several players have said that they think the defense is more aggressive under Don Brown, a lot more blitzing. How does that help the offensive line in practice?

“I think it helps a lot because one of the hardest things to do as an offensive line is to block movement. Anybody can block somebody standing still, but when something moves you’ve got to be able to cover up, get your hat in the right spot, communicate with any type of pressures. So for us it’s been really good. When you’re facing a blitzing team a lot, that’s going to help us through the season.”

You want a clear-cut starter at quarterback this fall, right? You don’t want to do a platoon?

“I mean, that’s your whole goal as a coaching staff is to go try to name a starter at some point in time. Yeah, you’d like to do that.”

That’s not your style, right, a platoon? You’ve never--

“Um…no. Maybe a little bit at Stanford maybe we did. I would have to think back at times, but we like a pure starter. But we’ll do whatever it takes to win, too. Put guys in the most successful situations. That’s the most important thing.”

Do they have different skill sets? Those three guys.

“Yeah. I mean, all of them have different skill sets.”

What are the things that differentiate them from each other?

“I mean, some guy can scramble better than the others, some guys may have a stronger arm, some guy may throw the out route better. There’s a lot of things to that. You can’t sit here and just say, ‘Well, this, this, and this.’”