Ehrmann Mans Haynes’ Position
With junior Hunter Haynes sidelined by a pulled hamstring, I was curious who would take his spot at weakside linebacker in today’s scrimmage at BB&T Field. The answer came right away when Joey Ehrmann, a redshirt freshman from Baltimore, ran onto the field with a first-team defense also consisting of Kyle Wilber and Tristan Dorty at ends, Boo Robinson and John Russell at tackles, Matt Woodlief and Jonathan Jones at linebacker, Brandon Ghee and Michael Williams at cornerback and Cyhl Quarles and Alex Frye at safeties.
Despite his less-than-imposing 6-1, 210-pound frame, Ehrmann at least looked like he belonged, making five tackles and twice hitting runners in the backfield. He’s the son of Joe Ehrmann, who played in the NFL for 13 seasons with the Baltimore Colts and Detroit Lions.
“He’s had a really good August,’’ Coach Jim Grobe said. “The one thing about Joey is he runs so well. He can really get around the football. For a young guy that’s pretty lean right now he’s a pretty physical guy. So he’s a guy that we needed to look at. Of course Hunter’s got the pulled hamstring, and we think he’ll be fine and ready to go by Baylor. But it’s nice to get a chance to look at those young ones.’‘
Grobe said he continues to be impressed with the intensity and energy of the defense, which yesterday dominated a far more experienced offense throughout the first hour of the scrimmage.
“When you have guys like Aaron Curry and Alphonso (Smith), sometimes the young guys just kind of stay out of their way,’’ Grobe said. “But we’ve got a little bit of bounce on the defensive side of the ball right now because everybody sees a chance to play. It’s fun right now because you’ve got so many guys that see a chance to play, and their energy level is like that. There’s a little buzz on defense right now because those guys are trying to earn snaps.’‘
Tripp Russell, a redshirt junior defensive tackle from Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, did not get on the field last season. He played today like he wanted to jumpstart his career, when he led the Deacons with eight tackles. Redshirt freshman Kenny Okoro and senior walkon Geoff Wissing both had six tackles and Ehrmann and Wilber both had five.