I have been to a couple practices so far, and really like what I see. I'll give a few thoughts and try to get into position battles a bit.
First, I have to admit that I left Thursdays practice a little pessimistic towards our offense. We were throwing interceptions everywhere, Michael Rose was destroying our offense, and no one could block Maleik Collins. I was really worried that our passing game was going to be a big problem for our season. That's until I saw our scrimmage Saturday, where we had a pretty good passing performance, and Armstrong looked as good as I've seen him. I am still skeptical at the QB position, but it was great to see a step forward and progress made. My conclusion after seeing the two practices is that in the scrimmage where Langsdorf could use the run to set up better passing opportunities for Armstrong, he was exponentially better. I would caution anyone reading tweets after one practice on what we will or won't do, on who is doing well or not doing well, that it could be something as simple as we are working on third and long packages so we ran the ball once. I felt like a 12 year old girl with my mood swings from Thursday to Saturday.
- Quarterbacks is Armstrong and then everyone else at this point. I thought Darlington had the best day Thursday but then Fyfe took a majority of the second string snaps on Saturday. AJ Bush seems to be battling with Darlington and at this point I can't tell much difference between the backups. Hopefully they continue to improve and I see no reason that wouldn't be the case. I will say I'm not as enamored with our zone read game. Last year, it bailed us out a bunch. This year, our running seemed to be a more straight forward pound it at you approach with zone read mixed in. Against the ones, we weren't really getting anywhere. Against the twos, our offense was breaking off some good runs and I believe Armstrong had a 50 yarder.
- Runningbacks are a strength of this team. Newby has it locked up and Wilbon shows great flashes that we are in good hands for the next four years. They absolutely love Stevenson who is out with a foot issue, but came in way out of shape. Also, if you read his twitter, somethings going on with him and I don't know if he's adjusting well to college life or being away from home. But I will say that the RB coach is in awe of JS's acceleration and that kid is going to get every opportunity to play. Ozigbo actually shows some pretty good balance and ability to do something with the rock, he's a pleasant surprise as I wasn't all that excited about his commitment. Cross and Taylor I feel just don't really fit into the offense with their downhill running style. They have their roles, but I just haven't seen a lot out of them in the practices compared to our other guys.
- We have an embarrassment of riches at WR. DPE and Westerkamp will be on the outside and Reilly will probably be in the slot. I will tell you the hype is real with Morgan as he had a few TD receptions in the scrimmage and is almost unguardable one on one. Reminds me of the hype behind Turner and DPE as freshmen. The kid is legit. Lavan Alston will be good in time but needs to put some weight on, he is explosive and can accelerate. I haven't seen enough out of Hovey, Burtch, and Allen unfortunately. But we are in good hands at WR with our players and coaching. We will have no issues here.
- Tightend is interesting. Cethan Carter is going to be a stud this year. I also think that Trey Foster may be our #2 TE right now, definitely having a strong fall camp and a kid I can see is benefiting from the new S&C regiment, moves much smoother this year. Cotton and Sutton are valuable veterans and backups that could also be that #2 guy. Matt Snyder also is having a strong camp so I wonder if they will play him instead of redshirt him? Either way, I like what I see.
- Fullbacks don't have much to be said but we have one of the best in the conference with Janovich. We get in Iform a bit and he is a valuable guy to lead block for us.
- Offensive line, this is going to be fun the next few years. Lewis and Kondolo are believed to have the spots locked up. I'll buy that with Lewis but I think Kondolo has some guys pushing him pretty hard. Kondolo and Utter are running with the 1s, but Farmer and Foster as redshirt freshmen sometimes have better days and one on one battles against VV, Collins and the rest of the DTs. Cavanaugh is a lucky guy there. At the other tackle spot I'd give the edge to Gates, as he has the most upside and has done the best the two times I've been there. Gates usually does well against fellow freshmen where Sterup seems to have issues from time to time with Freedom. At center you have Reeves and Thurston and both show flashes of being very good. Decker will be at center as well which is a perfect spot for him. Love it. Jalin Barnettt sometimes gets the better of Maurice or Stoltenberg, he will be a road grader as well. Gaylord will probably get the redshirt with Gates stepping up so well for us.
- Defensive line... who slipped a Viagra in my Gatorade? Collins and Valentine make it almost impossible for our ones to get anything done in practice at times. Williams is making a case for what he was saying being a number 1 guy, with Valentine out, we almost didn't miss a beat. Maurice gets lost in the shuffle but I truly feel he would start at half the other schools in our conference. I have been real impressed with Stoltenberg, his hip flexibility is awesome and is doing well with the added weight, and a motor that doesn't quit. Not seeing a ton out of Peyton Newell. The Davis twins struggle against our first team OL, but they destroy fellow true freshmen. They are explosive and I'm hoping we can redshirt them and let them slowly put on good weight. However, DE scares me. McMullen looks a little bigger and slower to me, which isn't an issue, he will still be a force for us. And Gangwish will be fine, but after that, we are in serious need of help. On Thursday I was not impressed with Freedom, but Saturday he showed flashes of being a very valuable backup on Saturdays. Natter and Keels just are still working and I'm not seeing a ton out of them, but the staff does love Dzuris and I would probably pencil him in as the number 2 right now. A name I didn't expect to be impressed with is Sedrick King, he had some impressive one on ones and I feel he moves really well, but may still be a little light. Daishon Neal has put on a good 30 pounds and looks good. He is struggling with the strength of the college game, but he will get there. I have to admit, Hughes was bullish on some backups and after Thursday I was like "why", but after Saturday I could see the potential that he sees.
- Linebackers.... Well, Rose is a stud, he will be all-conference. I also think he is the one that is suspended first game (opinion, not fact), so we are going to struggle. Banderas is good, he will be solid, but after that we have a bunch of unknowns. Newby is so good in the box but struggles when he has to decipher what routes and who to take. I almost think we may be better off having him practice against 1TE 2 RB or 2 TE sets and master that so that against Minnesota and Wisconsin we have a fresher guy that knows what he is doing. Maybe run a bit more nickel against South Alabama and Southern Miss as well as Miami. A couple true freshmen are going to have to play and Young will get the nod being here in the spring, but Ferguson impressed me a ton while I was there. Great demeanor, always running to the next drill, vocal, trying to get places quick and deliver a blow. He looks good. Talan needs to redshirt, but we will see. Gifford is still a little small but may be able to provide some depth.
- Secondary... Gerry is the leader, he's vocal and gets it. Cockrell is running with the 1s but Aaron Williams is making a push there. Kieron Williams also is more than serviceable there. Antonio Reed is a feisty guy that gets into it with people, love his attitude, but may not be ready yet. Charles Jackson is doing all he can, but I think he is definitely the second string level. Our safeties will have an easier job this year setting the edge rather than filling gaps. Corner is an embarrassment of riches. Kalu has basically locked up the corner spot opposite of Davie. JRose comes in during nickel and Kalu slides inside over the slot. But Mosley is pushing him. Eric Lee is close to breaking thru, but may need to redshirt. Anderson is a little buried on the depth chart now.
- I think Brown has the place kicking spot locked up, amazing what a better long snapper can do for timing to make you more accurate and even greater distance. Sutcliffe does have a very strong leg though. I will say I do feel Read struggles a bit with the bigger roster, I feel he'd rather have an NFL type roster where he just gets 46 guys to choose from rather than 100. He doesn't get the top flight guys as much on his special teams this way. However, we are deeper as a team than most so I feel he has good options.
Like I said earlier, I was really down after Thursday, but after Saturay I feel a lot better. Riley's honeymoon is almost over. He definitely says all the right things and we can fall in love with that, but he has to win on Saturdays. I think he will, and I think we will recruit a little above where we've been in the past. I'd also like to say that we will have some guys transfer out after the fall that probably won't have as favorable of things to say about the staff as we've been hearing. And that's ok. Whenever there is change and something different, it's going to rub some people the wrong way. Our staff is definitely taking a more professional approach with this, and it's tough on some guys. It is what it is, and not much to worry about.
In terms of our S&C, I could notice a bit of a difference in athleticism and movement. Really excited to see what happens when we get 2, 3, 4 years in the system. And not to jinx us, I have been extremely impressed with our lack of injuries this fall camp. We are starting to sit WRs out from overuse, but most of them were back for the scrimmage Saturday. Hopefully the signs stay positive for where we are going in that area, and we continue to get stronger and better. Our guys being able to push themselves past certain thresholds and limits are paying dividends on the scales, hopefully it will help on the field.
We were doing a ton of screen packages to get the ball in the hands of DPE, Morgan, Wilbon, and Newby. Even some TE screens. I also like it because it's easy throws for our QB to get in the groove of the game.
One thing, and I know this is hypocritical with what I just wrote even though I tried not to blow anyone up, but Nick Bahe had a great point that I agree with in terms of the media and practicing. There is almost too much stuff coming out. I know as fans, there can never be too much info on practices. But he made the statement "practice needs to be a safe place to fail." I completely agree. You have 5 guys from the OWH from every practice, 10 guys from the radio at every practice, 4 guys from LJS at every practice, and it's like a competition who can get the most detail out and the fastest. A freshman DL doesn't need to worry about getting owned in one on ones and having it tweeted out. As a fan, I want every practice open. But if I was Riley or even the players, I would only let media into a couple per week. And some of the questions are just dumb anyway. I heard one guy ask Banker "Michael Rose says he likes to play angry. Do you see that out of him?" That question right there lets me know that you have too much access and are just trying to find something to write about. Report from short side option on another board.
First, I have to admit that I left Thursdays practice a little pessimistic towards our offense. We were throwing interceptions everywhere, Michael Rose was destroying our offense, and no one could block Maleik Collins. I was really worried that our passing game was going to be a big problem for our season. That's until I saw our scrimmage Saturday, where we had a pretty good passing performance, and Armstrong looked as good as I've seen him. I am still skeptical at the QB position, but it was great to see a step forward and progress made. My conclusion after seeing the two practices is that in the scrimmage where Langsdorf could use the run to set up better passing opportunities for Armstrong, he was exponentially better. I would caution anyone reading tweets after one practice on what we will or won't do, on who is doing well or not doing well, that it could be something as simple as we are working on third and long packages so we ran the ball once. I felt like a 12 year old girl with my mood swings from Thursday to Saturday.
- Quarterbacks is Armstrong and then everyone else at this point. I thought Darlington had the best day Thursday but then Fyfe took a majority of the second string snaps on Saturday. AJ Bush seems to be battling with Darlington and at this point I can't tell much difference between the backups. Hopefully they continue to improve and I see no reason that wouldn't be the case. I will say I'm not as enamored with our zone read game. Last year, it bailed us out a bunch. This year, our running seemed to be a more straight forward pound it at you approach with zone read mixed in. Against the ones, we weren't really getting anywhere. Against the twos, our offense was breaking off some good runs and I believe Armstrong had a 50 yarder.
- Runningbacks are a strength of this team. Newby has it locked up and Wilbon shows great flashes that we are in good hands for the next four years. They absolutely love Stevenson who is out with a foot issue, but came in way out of shape. Also, if you read his twitter, somethings going on with him and I don't know if he's adjusting well to college life or being away from home. But I will say that the RB coach is in awe of JS's acceleration and that kid is going to get every opportunity to play. Ozigbo actually shows some pretty good balance and ability to do something with the rock, he's a pleasant surprise as I wasn't all that excited about his commitment. Cross and Taylor I feel just don't really fit into the offense with their downhill running style. They have their roles, but I just haven't seen a lot out of them in the practices compared to our other guys.
- We have an embarrassment of riches at WR. DPE and Westerkamp will be on the outside and Reilly will probably be in the slot. I will tell you the hype is real with Morgan as he had a few TD receptions in the scrimmage and is almost unguardable one on one. Reminds me of the hype behind Turner and DPE as freshmen. The kid is legit. Lavan Alston will be good in time but needs to put some weight on, he is explosive and can accelerate. I haven't seen enough out of Hovey, Burtch, and Allen unfortunately. But we are in good hands at WR with our players and coaching. We will have no issues here.
- Tightend is interesting. Cethan Carter is going to be a stud this year. I also think that Trey Foster may be our #2 TE right now, definitely having a strong fall camp and a kid I can see is benefiting from the new S&C regiment, moves much smoother this year. Cotton and Sutton are valuable veterans and backups that could also be that #2 guy. Matt Snyder also is having a strong camp so I wonder if they will play him instead of redshirt him? Either way, I like what I see.
- Fullbacks don't have much to be said but we have one of the best in the conference with Janovich. We get in Iform a bit and he is a valuable guy to lead block for us.
- Offensive line, this is going to be fun the next few years. Lewis and Kondolo are believed to have the spots locked up. I'll buy that with Lewis but I think Kondolo has some guys pushing him pretty hard. Kondolo and Utter are running with the 1s, but Farmer and Foster as redshirt freshmen sometimes have better days and one on one battles against VV, Collins and the rest of the DTs. Cavanaugh is a lucky guy there. At the other tackle spot I'd give the edge to Gates, as he has the most upside and has done the best the two times I've been there. Gates usually does well against fellow freshmen where Sterup seems to have issues from time to time with Freedom. At center you have Reeves and Thurston and both show flashes of being very good. Decker will be at center as well which is a perfect spot for him. Love it. Jalin Barnettt sometimes gets the better of Maurice or Stoltenberg, he will be a road grader as well. Gaylord will probably get the redshirt with Gates stepping up so well for us.
- Defensive line... who slipped a Viagra in my Gatorade? Collins and Valentine make it almost impossible for our ones to get anything done in practice at times. Williams is making a case for what he was saying being a number 1 guy, with Valentine out, we almost didn't miss a beat. Maurice gets lost in the shuffle but I truly feel he would start at half the other schools in our conference. I have been real impressed with Stoltenberg, his hip flexibility is awesome and is doing well with the added weight, and a motor that doesn't quit. Not seeing a ton out of Peyton Newell. The Davis twins struggle against our first team OL, but they destroy fellow true freshmen. They are explosive and I'm hoping we can redshirt them and let them slowly put on good weight. However, DE scares me. McMullen looks a little bigger and slower to me, which isn't an issue, he will still be a force for us. And Gangwish will be fine, but after that, we are in serious need of help. On Thursday I was not impressed with Freedom, but Saturday he showed flashes of being a very valuable backup on Saturdays. Natter and Keels just are still working and I'm not seeing a ton out of them, but the staff does love Dzuris and I would probably pencil him in as the number 2 right now. A name I didn't expect to be impressed with is Sedrick King, he had some impressive one on ones and I feel he moves really well, but may still be a little light. Daishon Neal has put on a good 30 pounds and looks good. He is struggling with the strength of the college game, but he will get there. I have to admit, Hughes was bullish on some backups and after Thursday I was like "why", but after Saturday I could see the potential that he sees.
- Linebackers.... Well, Rose is a stud, he will be all-conference. I also think he is the one that is suspended first game (opinion, not fact), so we are going to struggle. Banderas is good, he will be solid, but after that we have a bunch of unknowns. Newby is so good in the box but struggles when he has to decipher what routes and who to take. I almost think we may be better off having him practice against 1TE 2 RB or 2 TE sets and master that so that against Minnesota and Wisconsin we have a fresher guy that knows what he is doing. Maybe run a bit more nickel against South Alabama and Southern Miss as well as Miami. A couple true freshmen are going to have to play and Young will get the nod being here in the spring, but Ferguson impressed me a ton while I was there. Great demeanor, always running to the next drill, vocal, trying to get places quick and deliver a blow. He looks good. Talan needs to redshirt, but we will see. Gifford is still a little small but may be able to provide some depth.
- Secondary... Gerry is the leader, he's vocal and gets it. Cockrell is running with the 1s but Aaron Williams is making a push there. Kieron Williams also is more than serviceable there. Antonio Reed is a feisty guy that gets into it with people, love his attitude, but may not be ready yet. Charles Jackson is doing all he can, but I think he is definitely the second string level. Our safeties will have an easier job this year setting the edge rather than filling gaps. Corner is an embarrassment of riches. Kalu has basically locked up the corner spot opposite of Davie. JRose comes in during nickel and Kalu slides inside over the slot. But Mosley is pushing him. Eric Lee is close to breaking thru, but may need to redshirt. Anderson is a little buried on the depth chart now.
- I think Brown has the place kicking spot locked up, amazing what a better long snapper can do for timing to make you more accurate and even greater distance. Sutcliffe does have a very strong leg though. I will say I do feel Read struggles a bit with the bigger roster, I feel he'd rather have an NFL type roster where he just gets 46 guys to choose from rather than 100. He doesn't get the top flight guys as much on his special teams this way. However, we are deeper as a team than most so I feel he has good options.
Like I said earlier, I was really down after Thursday, but after Saturay I feel a lot better. Riley's honeymoon is almost over. He definitely says all the right things and we can fall in love with that, but he has to win on Saturdays. I think he will, and I think we will recruit a little above where we've been in the past. I'd also like to say that we will have some guys transfer out after the fall that probably won't have as favorable of things to say about the staff as we've been hearing. And that's ok. Whenever there is change and something different, it's going to rub some people the wrong way. Our staff is definitely taking a more professional approach with this, and it's tough on some guys. It is what it is, and not much to worry about.
In terms of our S&C, I could notice a bit of a difference in athleticism and movement. Really excited to see what happens when we get 2, 3, 4 years in the system. And not to jinx us, I have been extremely impressed with our lack of injuries this fall camp. We are starting to sit WRs out from overuse, but most of them were back for the scrimmage Saturday. Hopefully the signs stay positive for where we are going in that area, and we continue to get stronger and better. Our guys being able to push themselves past certain thresholds and limits are paying dividends on the scales, hopefully it will help on the field.
We were doing a ton of screen packages to get the ball in the hands of DPE, Morgan, Wilbon, and Newby. Even some TE screens. I also like it because it's easy throws for our QB to get in the groove of the game.
One thing, and I know this is hypocritical with what I just wrote even though I tried not to blow anyone up, but Nick Bahe had a great point that I agree with in terms of the media and practicing. There is almost too much stuff coming out. I know as fans, there can never be too much info on practices. But he made the statement "practice needs to be a safe place to fail." I completely agree. You have 5 guys from the OWH from every practice, 10 guys from the radio at every practice, 4 guys from LJS at every practice, and it's like a competition who can get the most detail out and the fastest. A freshman DL doesn't need to worry about getting owned in one on ones and having it tweeted out. As a fan, I want every practice open. But if I was Riley or even the players, I would only let media into a couple per week. And some of the questions are just dumb anyway. I heard one guy ask Banker "Michael Rose says he likes to play angry. Do you see that out of him?" That question right there lets me know that you have too much access and are just trying to find something to write about. Report from short side option on another board.
