By Rob Moseley

Editor, GoDucks.com

Venue: Outdoor practice fields

Format: Helmets only

Mark Helfrich said following a “decent” day one of preseason camp Monday that he wanted to see improvement each day, and on Tuesday the Ducks obliged.

Most notably, 11-on-11 drills were much crisper. The new guys had a better sense of when to be on the field and where to line up, and reps were conducted much more seamlessly.

“I like where we're headed,” Helfrich said in the post-practice huddle. “I like where we're headed.”

This was the second of two days in which, by rule, the Ducks were in helmets, jerseys and shorts. Shoulder pads don't come on until Wednesday, and full pads have to wait for Friday – but that hasn't stopped the linemen on both sides from getting after it.

Nobody jumped out today more than defensive end Tui Talia, who was dominant in the first period of team drills Tuesday. He had a couple of tackles for loss on run plays, at least one quarterback hurry and completely blew up an option play by penetrating into the backfield.

“Coaches want us to go full-go even though we don't have pads,” Talia said afterward. “And obviously Arik Armstead left, and that spot's open for grabs, and that's really motivating me.”

Talia was a depth guy last year behind the starting trio of DeForest Buckner, Alex Balducci and Armstead, a first-round draft pick this spring. Early on, Talia looks like a leading candidate to replace Armstead in the top trio, although Henry Mondeaux, T.J. Daniel and – Talia said – perhaps even freshman Canton Kaumatule will challenge for that spot.

But Talia clearly wants the job, as his practice effort Tuesday showed. “I'm trying to let it motivate me a lot, as much as possible,” he said. “That spot's open for anyone to grab. Me, Henry, T.J., Canton, everybody's doing good right now, so it's going to be a lot of competition on the D line.”

Other highlights: Tony Brooks-James started the day with a long breakaway run in the tone-setting tempo drill, and had another in one of the final periods. Easing concerns about the absence of Thomas Tyner with every step. … There were a few more turnovers today, or at least I noticed a few more. Fotu Leiato picked off a pass when Jeff Lockie led Royce Freeman a hair too much, and on the next play Khalil Oliver intercepted Morgan Mahalak. Later, in 7-on-7, Torrodney Prevot jumped a route and picked one off. …

Darren Carrington had another highlight-reel catch in position drills, going up between two defenders and bringing the ball down. But later, new walk-on Sean Killpatrick ran with Carrington and broke up a jump ball, a rare time Carrington didn't win one of those battles. … Also in 3-on-2, chemistry built up in summer workouts was demonstrated when Jalen Brown beat a defender off the line and waved his arm as if to say, “Just put it out there, I'll make the play.” Lockie saw what had developed and obliged, lofting a ball over the secondary that Brown hauled in at the back of the end zone.

Other observations: At the end of practice, Helfrich lined the Ducks up along the goal line for extra conditioning – then gave placekickers Aidan Schneider and Matt Wogan the chance to make a kick and end practice then and there. Both converted. … Dylan Kane looks like a guy who can ensure Charles Nelson can safely be kept on offense, by providing depth at corner behind the likes of Chris Seisay and Arrion Springs. Kane is a long, physical player who also has good speed. He popped Dwayne Stanford the moment a ball arrived to break up a pass, although later in 7-on, Chris Tewhill got free behind him. Tewhill goes about 5-foot-8, while Kane is a legit 6-3, so Mahalak had to put some air under it, which he did to complete the pass. …

The freshman class of offensive linemen is really advanced. For one thing, they all look the part physically; none looks like he needs to put on too very much weight, nor take off many excess pounds. Also, just two days in, Calvin Throckmorton, Brady Aiello, Jake Hanson and Shane Lemieux all have played both guard and tackle. It's not often linemen can be cross-trained this early, so credit them for learning assignments this offseason, and position coaches Steve Greatwood and Joe Bernardi for grooming them quickly. … At one point all five freshmen – those four plus spring enrollee Zach Okun – were on the field together. Left to right, they went Aiello, Hanson, Okun, Throckmorton, Lemieux.