Beardown said:
I'm hoping to hear some feedback from 303 or anyone else who made it this morning.
Sorry haven't had a chance to get you an update until now. I did make it up for the scrimmage this morning and my first impression is that it looked like their first scrimmage. Still have a long ways to go. Overall, I thought they looked pretty good though. I believe they ran somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 plays. Mainly 1s vs. 1s and 2s vs 2s. However, the defense seems to be the most short handed right now so the number 2 offense was often running against a mixed defensive group.
Rubes seems to be settling down and had a pretty strong day throwing and running the ball. He still looks a little unsettled in the pocket at times and forced a couple of throws that he shouldn't have, but he also hit a number of long and intermediate passes. Right now it looks like his favorite target is Miller. He did spread the ball around quite a bit with passes to Vandy, Stimphil, Monson and others. When the pocket broke down he was pretty good at making a play with his feet. Which seemed to happen more than it should.
Both of the offensive lines need a lot of work still. The 1s did show flashes of quality play at times, particularly in the running game. The pass blocking though tended to break down or be non existent on occasion. Rubes was sacked a number of times, which really means a defender tapped him on the shoulder. The 2s looked like 2s. They really struggled to open holes for the running game and to protect the younger Berglund on the pass plays.
Holland, Graham, and Cartagena all ran the ball well. Definitely 3 different styles of play. It looks like Holland is running at 1a and Graham at 1b with Cartagena being more of you change of pace guy. I have to say I really like Graham a lot. He looks like he has the whole package. Had some very impressive runs today where he looked like he had been stopped dead in his tracks or stood up and the next thing you know he had picked up another 5 yards. Holland is more of the quick slasher and will make the defenders miss.
Had a hard time keeping track of the WRs other than Miller and Stimphil. I believe Malcolm Whye had a TD catch. Marcell Peoples did not play. Freshman receiver Samad Hinds certainly passes the eye test with his size and speed, but he looked lost at times.
The TEs looked pretty good. Looks like Vandy is running primarily at the H and Monson is running as the #1 Y right now. Vandy is definitely more of a receiving TE while Monson is more of a blocking TE. Both had some catches today. The other TE, Backes, looked pretty good as well. Played primarily at the Y. Had some great blocks and a couple of catches. One went for 20+ yards and was an impressive grab up high. The other freshman TE, Drage, still needs some development. Had one decent catch over the middle but also had a couple drops and is not a strong blocker yet.
I didn't watch the defense quite as closely today. My overall impression was that they appeared to be a lot more aggressive and physical. They were swarming to the ball and getting a good push up the middle. The DB's were definitely more aggressive and were generally covering a lot tighter than I saw all of last year, but I think it is still early to tell if they have really improved. There were at least 2 impact players not playing today. Willingham and Chapple were in street clothes.
The field goal kicking is still inconsistent and atrocious. Might have made 50% of the kicks today. The kid they signed to come in this fall may turn out to be their most important pick up this off season.
One final note- Berglund was still in street clothes. Was told that he is still waiting to be cleared.
Hope that wasn't too much info. Would love to hear if anybody else made it up today and has some observations or differing opinions on what they saw.
hno:
