FSU football's Fentrell Cypress leads strong defensive showing on day 1 of fall camp | Nolebook
Florida State football opened preseason practice Wednesday at the Arthur J. Dunlap Athletic Training Facility.
With kickoff against Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland just a month away, the Seminoles are ramping up preparations after summer conditioning.
FSU head coach Mike Norvell was pleased with his team's energy on day one of camp and he wants to use the first week of practice to get everyone up to speed.
"I thought today was a good first day," Norvell said. "We haven't been able to work with guys against each other, but a lot of things operationally that is what I was looking for. I wanted to see communication, I wanted to see alignment, see guys being able to work to execute with tempo within the offensive and defensive schemes and take some of the lessons we taught throughout the summer and see them applied today, and I did."
"I felt like we had good speed and I thought the guys moved around with confidence for a first day."
The Seminoles' defense stole the show during portions of practice, with the front seven looking strong in 11 vs. 11 drills. Red-shirt senior defensive back Fentrell Cypress impressed throughout practice, reading plays well and exploding into position, leading a strong defensive showing for the Seminoles.
Cypress and junior defensive back Azareye’h Thomas were confident and looked sharp during practice. The duo are expected to be key contributions in what could be another strong defensive season for FSU.
Quarterbacks DJ Uiagalelei and Brock Glenn both showed flashes of what the offense can do and had some good moments, with Glenn having a strong showing throughout practice and Uiagalelei having room for improvement. Norvell was pleased with how both quarterbacks moved through their progressions and their willingness to look for a pass in the middle of the field.
"The reads, the looks and sometimes just going through a progression, I thought both guys did a nice job," Norvell said. "Taking the opportunity in the middle of the field are big, obviously because you usually got more bodies in there. So you got to be very certain in what you see and the timing of it is so important."
Here are the observations and standout players/moments from the Democrat writers in attendance.
Observations from day one of FSU football fall practice
During a passing drill, Uiagalelei connected with red-shirt senior wide receiver Kentron Poitier on a nice pass and catch in the middle of the field
Red-shirt senior wide receiver Ja'Khi Douglas made a nice adjustment to catch a ball thrown by Uiagalelei on the sidelines, shifted his body to adjust to the ball flight and kept his feet in bounds. Norvell clapped the move up.
Some strong route running from freshman wide receiver BJ Gibson resulted in a nice catch on a throw from freshman quarterback Luke Kromenhoek. Norvell was happy with the action and screamed at his freshman receiver "Good job BJ" before pulling him aside.
Freshman kicker Jake Weinberg hit a field goal from about 30 yards out
Weinberg connected on about a 40-yard field goal.
Freshman wide receiver Elijah Moore showcased good speed and some quick feet in his route running, made some nice grabs and looks like a promising freshman who could make an impact this season.
During some sideline passing drills, Poitier made multiple nice catches over the top of defenders, with one throw and catch drawing a first bump out of Norvell.
Cypress was strong in coverage against his receiver matchups in 1 vs. 1 drills.
In the 7 vs. 7 session, redshirt senior wide receiver Darion Williamson made a nice catch on a ball thrown behind his head by Glenn. Worked the middle of the field and reached back to grab the ball and advance the play.
Glenn connected on an impressive throw and catch with sophomore wide receiver Hykeem Williams over the middle of the field.
Glenn showcased impressive throw speed throughout the practice, getting passes off quickly and mostly accurately.
Red-shirt senior tight end Kyle Morlock looked strong while receiving the football. He and Uiagalelei showcased a strong connection during practice, with the quarterback looking his way a few times in 7 vs. 7 and 11 vs. 11 work.
Morlock scored on a nice throw from Uiagalelei in 11 vs. 11 work. He worked the middle of the field and the score hyped up Norvell.
During 7 vs. 7, Cypress jumped a pass from Uiagalelei, high-pointing it in the air and swatting it away. The defense surrounded Cypress in celebration following the play.
Red-shirt junior defensive end Patrick Payton recorded a "sack" on Uiagalelei, the play was called dead as quarterbacks are not live players in practice. Payton forced a couple of quick throws from Uiagalelei will in 11 vs. 11 work.
Uiagalelei looked for red-shirt senior running back Lawrance Toafili a few times with passes out of the backfield in 11 vs. 11 work.
Toafili and senior running back Roydell Williams had some good carries in 11 vs. 11 work.
Cypress and Thomas were lockdown in coverage when against receivers in practice. Both had good coverage in 7 vs. 7 and 11 vs. 11 work and showed good leadership throughout the day.
The Seminoles' front seven looked strong during 11 vs. 11 work, worked quickly to the running backs, and put pressure on the quarterbacks when dropping back to pass.
Jaylin Lucas capped off a strong practice with a "touchdown" run in 11 vs. 11. Cut through the defensive line and was shifty in escaping the secondary pressure, Norvell whistled the play dead but ran him into the endzone.
The freshman duo of Kromenhoek and Moore was one of the highlights of 7 vs. 7 and 11 vs. 11 work. Moore scored a "touchdown" on a nice throw from Kromenhoek, Norvell ran the freshman receiver into the end zone and gave him a fist bump at the end of the play.
Liam Rooney covers preps sports for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State football: Notes from Day 1 of fall practice
