Army Daily Rewind: Loaded line
SAN ANTONIO – Rivals.com looks at the top five news items from the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio in the Daily Rewind. Each day Rivals.com will breakdown the biggest news, player injuries and updated recruiting news in a compact and easy to digest format. The game will be played at 1 p.m. EST on Jan. 5 and broadcasted live on NBC. Player practices began on Monday and will continue throughout the week.
1) INJURIES
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It's expected there will be some bumps and dings during the first day of practice, but both teams suffered some pretty serious setbacks on Monday. The West looks like it suffered the biggest loss when Bryce Givens suffered what looks like a broken right hand. Then on the East squad T.J. Bryant and Jonas Gray went down with ankle injuries. Both Bryant and Gray are expected to return, but don't be surprised if the West looks to replace Givens now that he's injured.
2) WEST OFFENSIVE LINE
There have been some great offensive linemen to play in the game over the years, but the West line is absolutely loaded this season. Headlined by five-stars Matt Kalil, Tyron Smith and Stephen Good the group is about as impressive as it gets. But on Monday, other West offensive line prospects like Trevor Robinson and Ben Habern also dominated. If this is any indication of things to come, look for big numbers on Sunday.
3) FORSTON DOMINATES
Marcus Forston from Miami Northwestern has always dominated against competition in South Florida. On Monday, he took his game national and once again, he dominated. "He was great in the one-on-ones in the morning," Rivals.com analyst Mike Farrell said. "He showed an array of pass rush moves, great quickness and great explosion off the ball." Forston didn't do one-on-ones in the afternoon because of a turf toe injury, but it still didn't take away how good he was on Monday.
4) ADAMS IS THE REAL DEAL
Dublin (Ohio) Coffman offensive tackle Mike Adams has been in and out of the Rivals100 for months, but after Monday, there's little doubt that he's there to stay and might in fact deserve to move up even more. "The way he anchors the line is amazing," Farrell said. "They tried to bulrush him, but it didn't work. They tried to get around him, but they couldn't. He has some of the smoothest feet that we've seen."
5) GOOD AS GOLD
Robert Golden of Fresno (Calif.) Edison was the star of the morning practice for the West. He first made a leaping interception on a fly route and then a few plays later he picked off another pass and took it to the house for a touchdown. Golden, an Arizona pledge, definitely looked like the next great cornerback for Mike Stoops.
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