Saturday Practice Report

The Tigers went through the first full pads workout of spring camp on Saturday morning. Throughout the morning, PowerMizzou.com has kept you up to date on all the visitors and even a couple of new commitments. But the action wasn't all on the recruiting trail. Here is the report from today's workout:

*I've been watching the field goal kickers the last couple of days. They're making everything, but I haven't seen anyone kick from further than 30 yards out, so I'm not drawing conclusions.

*Former offensive coordinator Dave Christensen was at practice with his family. Wyoming is on spring break, so Christensen came back to be with his wife and kids, who are living in Columbia through the school year. He spent a lot of time talking with Cornell Ford after practice and had a conversation with many of the other assistants as well.

*Injury report: Derrick Washington was walking around with ice on his knee. Gilbert Moye has a very slight hamstring injury according to Gary Pinkel. He will miss at least the two practices prior to spring break. Pinkel sounded very excited about Moye's prospects at running back and I'll have more in a story next week after I talk with Gilbert.

*Some notes from line drills:

Tim Barnes has really impressed me. I talked to his dad and he told me Tim had a cyst on his tailbone that was causing a lot of pain in the offseason. But everything is fixed and Barnes has been a standout.

The offensive line as a whole looked much better to me today. Elvis Fisher won a matchup with Aldon Smith and Jayson Palmgren was impressive against George White.

*I think it's simply a matter of inexperience with the quarterbacks, but almost every throw I'm seeing is very, very short right now. I know Blaine Gabbert has said the offense is very simplified right now, but I haven't gotten much of a read because none of the quarterbacks are throwing it downfield much right now.

*Notes from seven-on-seven:

Andrew Gachkar made a nice play when he ran outside to hit Jerrell Jackson just as the ball arrived. Gachkar knocked the pass loose. Great reaction.

Jeff Gettys got a nice interception as a pass was thrown just behind Michael Egnew. The ball went off Egnew's hands and popped up in the air to the linebacker.

Andrew Jones has very, very good hands. He's not Chase Coffman, but he's very sure-handed.

Speaking of Gabbert, he can run. He's not Brad Smith, but he's far from a statue back there. He broke off a nice run on an option play to the left side.

*With pads come hits. There were a few of them that stood out. One was legal, one not so much. Marcus Malbrough absolutely lit up Egnew on a pass over the middle. Later, there was some extra-curricular action after the play and Sean Weatherspoon took a swing at Jerrell Jackson. It wasn't a big fight, but right now, we're looking for anything that involves hard contact.

*Speaking of Jackson, the kid's got great speed. He took a reverse down the left sideline for about 35 yards. He picked up great blocks along the way from Jones and Wes Kemp. Kemp looks like a different player than the one I saw last fall, and I mean that in a positive way.

*Play of the Day: Speaking of quarterbacks that can run, Blaine Dalton showed off some serious mobility. Dalton started running right, cut back and picked up about 30 yards by my count. He put a nice move on Munir Prince downfield. Prince, who ran a 4.34 last week according to teammates, had to do some serious work to chase down Dalton on the sideline.

The Tigers return to practice on Tuesday at 3:30 and PowerMizzou.com will be there with full coverage once again.

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