Events this week didn’t seem to be narrowing things down as Christian Haynes — who is competing with Anthony Bradford for the right guard spot — began playing center at times while Jalen Sundell — who is competing with Olu Oluwatimi at center — took some snaps at right guard.
Macdonald then said Haynes is “in the mix’’ at center, insisting the team is doing more than just getting him some work there.
McIntosh appeared the front-runner for the third running back role behind Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet. Now, rookie Damien Martinez and second-year player George Holani will battle for that spot.
Martinez might be considered to have the upper hand given his status as a seventh-round pick this year compared to Holani being a UDFA last year. But Holani’s brief experience last year and versatility can’t be discounted.
Brady Russell remains listed as a fullback on the roster. But after the release of Noah Fant, Russell has been back playing primarily tight end this week. That’s left the fullback duties primarily to rookie Robbie Ouzts.
During individual drills, Russell works with the tight ends and Ouzts with the running backs. That there is some crossover in the roles of tight end and fullback means each still appears at times to be playing the other spot.
a theme of the first four days has been the solid play of the two players who now figure to take most of the snaps at that spot — AJ Barner and Arroyo.
Could we grow tired of Milroe stories as we did RW?
Late in practice Milroe rolled to his right and spotted rookie receiver Ricky White III open on the sidelines about 25 yards downfield. Milroe threw a pass that White dived for and corralled.
That didn’t appear to be good enough for Milroe as he seemed miffed he hadn’t hit White in stride. So, Milroe immediately dropped and did about 10 pushups as apparent self-punishment.
That kind of accountability seems par for the course for a player Darnold said has made a good impression in the quarterback room.
Walker looking strong
“We’ve got to play sound football when K9 (Walker) is back there running that (football),’’ defensive lineman Jarran Reed said this week. “He can go anywhere, he can break a run out anywhere, as you all see. We’ve got to play real gap sound defense when we were playing against him. Who else better to practice against than that guy? He's one of the best in the league for a reason.”
