Three-Point Stance: Early impressions from Day 1 of UA Game prep

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – It was a light first practice Friday night at the Under Armour Next All-America Game but there were still lots to see from both teams on both sides of the ball. Here’s the first Three-Point Stance of the week:

It’s Day 1 of practice which means it’s a guarantee the quarterbacks will struggle timing up with the receivers and that was the case for all four but Iowa State signee JJ Kohl and especially Oklahoma signee Jackson Arnold looked best.

The ball just comes off Arnold’s hand differently than the other quarterbacks, he spins it so well and even though not every ball connected with a receiver it looked pretty. Oklahoma’s offense is going to be in good hands with the five-star quarterback and I suspect as the week goes on Arnold is going to look better and better.

Kohl does not play with the same flash but he has all the substance. During drills to all the receivers and then during team install, the 6-foot-6, 225-pound four-star put the ball on the money time and time again, was consistent throughout the night workout and while he doesn’t zip every ball like Arnold it still gets there and looks good.

Florida signee Jaden Rashada and Kansas State signee Avery Johnson also worked out, while USC signee Malachi Nelson and Alabama signee Dylan Lonergan are out with injury.

Texas signee Johntay Cook is as explosive as anyone here – and that includes five-star USC signee Zachariah Branch, who also looked pretty good on the first night. Branch was trying to get a little cute with one-handed catches during drills but over time he’s shown the ability to make the toughest catches look easy so he’ll be fine as the week rolls on. We knew Cook was explosive and dynamic but in and out of his cuts he was on a different plane than many of the other receivers and really impressed during limited work.

Branch is Branch so we know what we’re getting there and then fellow USC signee Makai Lemon also had his moments. To think coach Lincoln Riley is going to have Branch and Lemon at his disposal is scary because they’re both so sudden and can make special things happen with the ball in their hands.

If the undersized receivers shined the most, one of the biggest pass-catchers here also looked good. Duce Robinson can play tight end, he can split out and play receiver and he showed off his fluidity and excellent hands in limited work. During a drill late where a machine “threw” a pass into the end zone to mimic a 50-50 ball, Robinson beat out Georgia signee Joenel Aguero on one of the nicest catches of the night.

Florida signee Will Norman is already ranked No. 103 in the 2023 class and the seventh-best defensive tackle so he’s well-respected already but he was so dominant during some team drills on Friday that he was destroying interior offensive linemen and living in the backfield. The Camden (N.J.) East Side standout used speed and power to his advantage and was relentless against multiple offensive linemen. He was very good – but not the only standout defensive tackle during night one.

There were a handful of other defensive linemen that stood out during limited action including Texas A&M signee David Hicks Jr., who is as powerful and fast as they come, Ohio State signee Jason Moore, who has all the physical tools to be the No. 1 defensive tackle in the country, Clemson signee Peter Woods, as we look to see if he can continue dominating like he did at the Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Game and Oklahoma signee Adepoju Adebawore, who plays with an aggressive style that separates him from the pack.

Neither team did one-on-ones in the first practice and that’s when the men are separated from the boys so we’ll see much more over the weekend and see if any offensive linemen can hold up. There should definitely be some.