(UW Athletics release)
LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Wyoming Cowboys and their coaching staff have been pushing themselves hard in fall camp as they prepare for the start of the 2018 season in 11 days. Following Tuesday morning’s practice, head coach Craig Bohl had one major announcement, telling media that sophomore running back Trey Woods was moving to defensive end. Bohl also talked about how his team is a little bit fatigued after completing their 16th practice of fall camp on Tuesday.
“We’re pretty leg weary right now, but that comes with the territory at this stage of fall camp” said Bohl. “We’ll watch the tape this afternoon, but I think we need to get a bounce back in our step. One thing I’ve learned through the years is practice is never as good as you think and is never as bad as you think, it’s usually somewhere in the middle after you watch the tape.
“Some things of note, we’re going to take a look at Trey Woods at defensive end. We think he’s got some really good athleticism. I think that is where he’ll end up staying, but we want to give him a good hard look as we go through the rest of camp.
“I think our defensive guys continue to improve. We’re building some depth there. On the offensive line, we’re a little bit short right now with a couple players out with injuries, so we’re having some young players get some reps. There is of course a learning curve there and that curve is going to need to speed up a little bit.”
Bohl said that part of the decision to move Woods was the development of some good depth at running back combined with the desire to best utilize Woods’ skills. As a freshman last season, Woods began his Wyoming career as a linebacker before being move to running back in fall camp.
“I think we are finding some good running backs. We’re pleased about that,” said Bohl. “We think Trey (Woods) has great promise as a defensive player. He’s more of an outside linebacker, and a lot of times that is what we play with there (at defensive end). Sometimes they will have their hand in the dirt, and sometimes they’ll stand up. I thought he edge rushed well today.
“Also, as I mentioned I think part of this decision is an indication of some depth we’ve developed at running back. Trey is a really good athlete. I think he is about 218 pounds right now, and he’s going to get bigger. We play with athletic defensive ends, and I thought he did some good things today.
“Jevon (Bigelow) had a good day today at running back. He made a couple nice cuts. There is real promise with him. He’s got good quickness and good vision. He’s got good size. I think he’s about 215 right now, and those are the type of tailbacks we like.
“Kellen (Overstreet) has missed so much time (due to injury), but we’re certainly giving him some looks. We like where that whole group of guys is at (at running back). When you go through the list, we’ve got four guys who are all going to be in the mix.
“Nico Evans has had a great offseason and it’s showing. We’ve seen some good things from him in scrimmages when he’s had the ball in his hands, and he does a nice job in pass protection.”
The fourth running back who has gotten a lot of reps this fall has been redshirt freshman Xazavian Valladay.
The Cowboys have four more practices this week prior to entering the first game week of the regular season, starting next Monday.
