How EWU football shapes up after spring ball
As if he didn’t see enough different looks last season, Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams saw a few more this spring: quicker receivers, a thicker playbook and teammates looking for him to lead – all while coping with high winds that whipped Roos Field every time Eastern Washington took the practice field.
Asked about his progress in the past year, he likened the Vernon Adams of a year ago to a “chicken with its head cut off – always looking to run.
“Now I know my reads and feel a lot more comfortable,” Adams said. “We’re going to be all right.”
The coaches already knew that – on both sides of the ball. Unlike the previous spring, tweaks during spring ball had more to do with formations than body parts.
That included new offensive looks, including the read option out of a pistol formation, to take advantage of Adams’ speed.
“He throws well on the move,” head coach Beau Baldwin said. “It allows him to get into a rhythm, it allows you to take advantage of his skill set, and even when he’s not carrying the ball, the threat of that can open up things elsewhere.”
This was nothing new for Baldwin, who called more bootlegs and sprintouts last season when Adams was in the lineup. Now the coaches have four months until the season opener at Oregon State to “re-evaluate, to add some of the things you like and cut back on what you didn’t,” Baldwin said.
“But then, I’ve never come out of spring and had my exact package,” he added.
With spring camp concluded, the Eagles’ biggest challenges appear to be:
- Improving timing in the passing game even while honing new schemes, including the zone read.
- Developing a more consistent running game, regardless of the defense.
- Utilizing a physical, experienced group of tight ends in the passing game.
- Devising schemes that minimize the lack of depth at linebacker while making the most of a deep and talented secondary.
- Filling several positions on special teams.