Pac-12 Rookies Playing Catch-Up

After a “very crisp practice,” as Mike Zimmer described it on Thursday from inside the low-ceilinged Winter Park fieldhouse, 13 Vikings alumni gathered around the squad and helped Zimmer bid the team farewell for the next five weeks.

For several rookies, the 48-hour mini-camp whirlwind of three walk-throughs and three practices was over too quickly. First-round pick Anthony Barr and third-round pick Scott Crichton made their first appearances on Tuesday since debuting at rookie mini-camp, and fifth-round selection David Yankey only caught the tail end of last week’s OTAs before being joined by his fellow rookies during this week’s session.

These draftees have one thing in common that kept them away for so long, and it’s not that they struggle with punctuality or laziness. They were all members of Pac-12 schools: Barr with UCLA, Crichton with Oregon State and Yankey with Stanford.

Pac-12 regulations mandate that players must complete their school years before joining their respective teams. Give a thumbs-up to the Pac-12 for promoting education, but nobody in the Vikings’ organization appreciated having to integrate rookies over the phone.

Crichton, a defensive end, spoke with 105TheTicket.com following Thursday’s practice.

“I missed too much time,” said Crichton. “All these plays are just coming at me – it’s just crazy.”

It’s one thing to study a playbook when football is one’s sole focus, but for Barr, Crichton and Yankey, their football studies had to be stacked on top of a full school work load. Crichton, a human development major, said he was in frequent contact with his two defensive line coaches, Robb Akey and Andre Patterson, in the weeks leading up to his final exams.

“I always talked to them every week,” said Crichton. “Both coaches, my D-line coaches, Coach Akey and Patterson, they’d always text me, ‘How are you doing on your stuff?’ That’s how we kind of communicated.”

Both Zimmer and defensive coordinator George Edwards painted a positive picture about the Pac-12 trio. Granted, it wouldn’t be fair to throw them under the bus, considering the circumstances.

“I think they did a nice job,” said Zimmer on Thursday. “Obviously, they were a little behind on some things, but as far as catching up and getting the techniques down, they did a nice job. It’s a good group.”

Edwards oversees two of the three rookies – Crichton and Barr – on his defense.

“They’ve come back in, and they’ve got a good grasp of what we’re doing,” said Edwards on Wednesday. “We’ve just got to keep working on the fundamentals and the techniques of what we’re trying to get accomplished and keep getting them comfortable within the system.”

Barr, the No. 9 pick in the draft, has been used in a number of different roles in his short time on the practice field. It’s hard to believe, but Barr only played two years of linebacker for UCLA after transitioning from running back. While the Vikings would never consider putting Barr on the opposite side of the ball again, they are putting many “different hats” on him to see where he fits best.

“Right now we’re kind of just working him at different skill sets, different positions, kind of fitting him where his skill sets go,” said Edwards. “Systematically, we were flexible enough that we could take his skill set and put him in positions where it helps us whether it’s rushing the passer, whether it’s dropping in coverage; all those things that he’s able to bring to the table.”

Rookie players rarely get to dictate their own actions. Coaches and teammates tell them to jump, and their only response should be “How high?” That includes Barr being tossed around in different scenarios, Crichton being put on a kick-off coverage team – where he never played in college – or Crichton being, ahem, encouraged by Linval Joseph to carry his helmet and gloves to the locker room for him.

Crichton and Barr have each other to commiserate with, however.

“I’m roommates with Barr, so we talk about that,” said Crichton. “We’re all tired, and we’ll get to the hotel and go, ‘That was a good practice, we needed that, we needed that, we’ve been too long away from the game,’ so it’s kind of neat to be back.”

The Pac-12 rookie in the best position might be Yankey. He was able to catch a late flight on June 10 to be at Winter Park for the June 11 OTA. He also played in a pro-style offense under Stanford head coach David Shaw.

“He’s a big guy – a guard and a tackle,” said Zimmer of the versatile 6-foot-6, 315-pound lineman. “Obviously, he’s a smart guy. In a Stanford offense there’s a lot of pro-style stuff. But the thing I was impressed with is that he took the red eye and got here [in time for the June 11 practice], so we like those kind of things.”

Barr, Crichton and Yankey are all going to be contributors this year. Barr may have a more prominent role as a top-10 draft pick, but Crichton and Yankey will provide critical depth.

All three have established veterans at their respective positions to help them along. Barr can look to nine-year vet Chad Greenway, Crichton has an eighth-year player to look to in Brian Robison and Yankey is joining an O-line that has 24 combined seasons of experience.

Crichton, not too off-put by his new job as Linval Joseph’s Helmet Carrier, appreciates his new teammates’ attitude towards the rookie class.

“It’s a great opportunity to be with this group of guys because all of them aren’t the hazing type,” said Crichton. “They’re just like, ‘We want to win, too. We’ve got the same goals, so we’re gathering all hands on deck.’”

Next stop for the Pac-12ers is the rookie symposium and then a month or so of workouts and playbook studies.

Coach Zimmer would have preferred having them around since Day 1, but he knows an uncontrollable situation when he sees one. Instead, the 58-year-old rookie head coach knows that his 22-year-old rookies have ample time to adjust.

“We’ll have plenty of time in training camp,” said Zimmer. “I said the other day it was 20 practices and 20 walk-throughs until the first pre-season game, so we’ll be alright.”