Campin' on Day 2

Let's start with the scout team (since those guys are first to hit the field in the mornings during split squads).

True freshman running back Robbie Rouse is flat out agile. Think Clifton Smith's body type...but shorter. And he's wearing No. 8 (what's up with that David Carr)? If anyone should get to don the 8, it should be Derek Carr.

Redshirt freshman receiver A.J. Johnson is good. He'll be the next relative unknown to emerge at receiver, but the corps might be too crowded for an emergence this year. No doubt though, the kid has legit speed and route-running ability. He's a guy to get excited about.

Redshirt freshman QB Ebahn Feathers is still workin' scout team reps, and not really spending time running the ball for now. Passing wise, he's been picked off by true freshmen each of the first two days -- J.B. Dock got him yesterday on a pass into double coverage and Erik Brown got him today, smothering a walk-on receiver on a short route and just snatching the ball away. Don't get too hard on Feathers though, the pick came in a drill with just one receiver and one corner, so it's not like he could look the guy off and throw elsewhere.

O-line coach Derek Frazier seems to be happy with Buchanan's Lars Bramer's effort in drills, but was on Sanger's Nikko Motta early for a lack of effort as Motta half-heartedly jogged through a rep.

As for the veterans:
Interesting to note newcomers Matt Hunt (offensive guard) and L.J. Jones (cornerback) are already working with the vets.

Tons of praise being shouted out for receiver Jamel Hamler today. Hamler was forced to sit out last season (academics) but is talented enough to be the No. 1 receiver.

Highlight of the day: the team worked 11-on-11 drills briefly (in shells, not pads) and a gaping hole was opened by the O-line, allowing Anthony Harding to burst one up the gut and go the distance.

A heck of a battle is unfolding for the starting free safety spot between junior Lorne Bell and redshirt freshman Phillip Thomas. Both seem to have passed Marvin Haynes on the depth chart.

Should be interesting to see if Logan Harrell and Chase McEntee hang on to the starting defensive tackle spots, considering last year's starters (Mark Roberts and Cornell Banks) also return, as does former starter Wilson Ramos.

McDonald picked interesting way to rep his city

I wasn't aware Edison High's T.J. McDonald (aka Tim McDonald Jr.), the son of former 49er/Cardinal Tim McDonald, was interested in representing his city. But according to this quote in The Fresno Bee about the annual City-County football game, he is:

"It's a big deal to me. You play for four years, you have to represent your
city," said T.J. McDonald, also a defensive back. "Now it's my turn and I didn't
want to miss it."

But McDonald chose a strange way to represent Fresno -- by signing on the dotted line to represent Los Angeles.

McDonald signed a national letter of intent to follow in his father's footsteps and play at USC. And then news broke that his younger brother Tevin McDonald is headed to UCLA. For those keeping score at home, that makes three very gift McDonalds, none of which truly represented their hometown in college.

Fresno isn't some small town with no one who's ever made it to big-time sports fame -- it's loaded with well-known athletes. And Fresno State's not some football program no one's heard of -- it's nationally known and is 1-1 all-time with USC (including the '05 cardiac arrest loss at the LA Coliseum when the Trojans were thought to be the greatest team ever assembled). If you're a high school star, you don't have to leave the Valley to "represent" your city. You do it by actually giving back to the place you came from.

When are more Valley kids going to be like Clovis West's Travis Brown, Bakersfield Christian's Derek Carr, Edison's Nat Harrison, Buchanan's Lars Bramer and Sanger's Nikko Motta? The latest Bulldogs recruiting class showed more local kids dream of becoming Bulldogs, but what about the elite talents still drifting away like the McDonalds, Edison's Cliff Harris and Clovis West's Nate Fellner? Be the hometown hero. Give back. Or go to some college outside the area if you'd like -- just don't claim to be "representing" your city if you're not.