College football coaches know there can be a big difference between an athlete being fast and playing fast.
With one week remaining in Colorado’s spring football drills, second-year coach Jon Embree said his team is finally playing fast. The team has much more experience than a year ago, and that has translated into attaining a certain comfort level with the system. Players on both sides of the ball are reacting much more instinctively than a year ago.
Embree pointed to junior-to-be Derrick Webb as evidence of the progress being made this spring. Webb, a 6-foot, 220-pounder from Memphis, Tenn., arrived at CU in 2009 with the reputation of being fast for an inside linebacker.
He had a good season last fall as a sophomore with 54 tackles, including four tackles for a loss. But Buffs coaches expect bigger things to come from arguably the hardest hitter on the team. Webb is showing those signs this spring.
“(Webb) is starting to play like a man,” Embree said. “He’s always been able to run but hasn’t always been able to play fast. His mind has been freed up. He seems to be using his speed a lot better than he has in the past because I don’t think he’s thinking as much.”
Embree added that throughout the roster “guys are playing faster. Guys are more comfortable because last year, as coaches, we were like a foreign language to them. It’s good to see they are understanding what we’re saying.”
If Webb’s game-to-game performances could rise to the levels of returning seniors Jon Major and Doug Rippy, Colorado may well have one of the top linebacker groups in the Pac-12. Webb caused a buzz during Thursday’s 41-play scrimmage with a big hit on tailback Tony Jones at the goal line.
“I feel, as a group, we are more comfortable with the defense,” Webb said. “This defense is pretty complicated. There are pre-snap reads and reads during the play. There’s so much information to grasp. When you’re a young player, you think you understand it on paper. But when you get on the field, you realize you need to play so much faster.”
For the defense, playing fast and instinctively has resulted in better tackling this spring, Embree said.
“If we get more bodies to the ball, we’re going to be more effective,” Webb said. “You do that by playing faster. When you’re young, you learn plays. Now, we’re learning concepts to the defense. That’s when you really start improving.”
Beginning each play by looking into the eyes of the quarterback, Webb is a good one to ask for an assessment of Connor Wood, the 6-3, 225-pound sophomore transfer from Texas.
Webb gives Wood a thumbs-up. Wood had to sit out last season per NCAA transfer rules. Prior to spring drills, coaches had Wood and injured sophomore Nick Hirschman as the top candidates for the 2012 starting job.
“I like Connor Wood a lot; he has a lot of skill,” Webb said. “For his first spring, he has a lot on his hands. But you have to notice his work ethic. Because of that, he’s getting better and better each time out. I think he has unlimited potential.”
Footnotes. Hirschman (offseason foot surgery) has been in a protective boot and has not practiced. … In addition to Webb and Wood, other players cited by Embree as turning in good performances this past week included tight end Nick Kasa, safety Terrel Smith (who had an interception against Wood), tailback Jones, linebackers Major and Brady Daigh, safety Ray Polk, safety Kyle Washington, defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe, wide receiver Nelson Spruce and the entire offensive line. … Practices are closed, but the public can look forward to Saturday’s 5 p.m. spring game at Folsom Field. It will be preceded by a CU football alumni flag football game at 3:30. … Former LSU quarterback T.C. McCartney has joined the program as a graduate assistant. He is a grandson of legendary Buffs coach Bill McCartney.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
