5 Takeaways from SMU spring game

The SMU football roster was split into two teams for Friday night’s spring game and showed off some of the strengths and weaknesses of this year’s team so far.

Here are 5 Takeaways from this year’s game as the Mustangs move ahead into the spring portal opening, summer workouts and eventually fall camp.

1. Jake Bailey is still that dude

On a night when the defense mostly dominated, one offensive player really stood out in the form of Bailey. After making a key third-down catch, in which he had his facemask held and grabbed before still picking up more yards he came to the sideline yelling, ‘I’m still here.’

Yes he is. SMU’s leading receiver in terms of catches and yards from a year ago showed no signs of slowing down. He had at least two third-down catches and made several other plays to make a big impact for the Blue team’s offense.

Fellow slot receiver Roderick Daniels Jr. also had some nice catches in the middle of the field and Jordan Hudson made some plays. Romello Brinson got things started with a couple of catches early in the game.

2. Massive defensive line

You can forget how big Jonathan Jefferson is when he’s standing next to Tank Booker and Mike Lockhart, but he has size and knows how to use it. All three new additions in the middle showed up in a, pun slightly intended, big way on Friday.

Booker and Lockhart on the same team seemed unfair until Jefferson and Kori Roberson were also on the same team and you realized there wasn’t a ‘fair’ way to split them up. Even Mike Sandjo-Njiki and Kevin Allen were productive in their time on the field too.

David Abiara and Omai Abor made some plays off the edge, too, as the defensive line made things difficult for the offense to get much of anything going throughout the night.

3. Camar Wheaton can fly

I don’t know that this was ever in question, but it’s something we hadn’t necessarily seen. On3 columnist Kevin Lonnquist will go into more depth on Wheaton showed something he hasn’t in an SMU jersey. He made a cut to get to the sideline and then flat out out-ran everyone on his way into the end zone.

It was the offensive highlight of the night.

4. Offensive line promise, but not there yet

If there was one group that this year’s spring game format hurt it was the offensive line. The depth just wasn’t there to be split into two teams. As a No. 1 unit PJ Williams, Nate Anderson, Justin Osborne, Jakai Clark and Savion Byrd are a solid group. But, especially without Logan Parr and Ben Sparks, there wasn’t good enough depth to make up two No. 1 offensive line units.

Some of that will be addressed with the return of Sparks and Parr from injury and bringing in JUCO transfer commit Anfernee Crease. But it’s also an area that will be addressed further in the spring portal opening.

5. AJ Davis, starting CB?

Leading up to spring and even at the start of spring a lot of the conversation surrounded who between veteran Jahari Rogers, newcomer Deuce Harmon and the athletic Jaelyn Davis-Robinson would win the starting cornerback jobs. Meanwhile, Davis went to work and might be the front-runner for one of the jobs after the spring.

Davis had his position coach, defensive coordinator and head coach all speaking highly of his work. The other standout, another local signee, Abdul Muhammad put together a strong spring at safety. Muhammad had one of the interceptions on the night — joining Brandon Crossley in game play and Alex Kilgore in 7-on-7 work.

Honorable Mention

The safety room showed off its strength and veteran play on the night. Jonathan McGill looked really good when he came and brought pressure, getting at least one sack and forcing a fumble on a play that was blown dead early.

Crossley intercepted a pass in the end zone as the Black team tried to mount a late comeback. Cale Sanders Jr. was also big, tracking down Brashard Smith on one play that could have gone for a lot of yards otherwise. As mentioned above, Muhammad also made good use of his time on the field.

Kyron Chambers also had a big play, stripping the ball from Wheaton on a play that was overturned on the field by SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee.

That group will return Bryan Massey sometime this summer or in the fall after he had offseason surgery, getting even more deep with experience. It’s also a position that was mentioned as getting depth through the portal, too.