Post-Practice Update

* UCLA’s first day in pads was one of its best in a while, with a pretty crisp offensive performance in 11-on-11 drills and a lively Okie drill featuring mainly freshmen and backups. Highlights of the Oklahoma drill: Uche Amajoyi v. Jacob Brendel and Devin Lucien v. Anthony Thompson.

* Devin Lucien had a fantastic practice, as did Shaquelle Evans, both with several catches. Lucien had a beautiful long touchdown catch from Kevin Prince, adjusting to an underthrown ball to make the grab between Aaron Hester and Sheldon Price. Lucien’s grab was all the more impressive coming directly after a dropped long bomb from Richard Brehaut to Nelson Rosario. Evans was consistently working the outside of the field, and their performance certainly stood out.

* The offense as a whole was a lot crisper, setting the tone well from the beginning in 9-on-7 drills.

* In 11-on-11 drills, Ricky Marvray had a nice diving catch and Joseph Fauria had a handful of good blocks – something he’s improved much at – along with a fluke touchdown catch on a ball that popped into the air. I swear I heard the Joker cackle over the loudspeakers.

* If the coaches really are going to play guys at wideout based on camp performance, Lucien really has a shot at some major time.

* Malcolm Jones, about whom I’m writing today, continues to impress so far, and there’s some deserved optimism about the four running backs.

* Speaking of RBs, Jordon James has looked pretty good the last couple days at F-back with Anthony Barr and Damien Thigpen down. James has had a number of nice catch-and-runs out of the backfield.

* Linebacker Jordan Zumwalt was sidelined by a concussion and is going through the protocol.
Tony Dye (groin), Taylor Embree (calf), Barr (hamstring), Thigpen (hamstring) and Aaron Wallace missed practice.