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My notes from the scrimmage

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My notes from the scrimmage

Postby JasonB » Mon Apr 18, 2016 12:19 pm

I'll break this down position by position...

QB - Obviously an off day. Inconsistent to poor. Hicks is interesting to watch. On plays where he holds onto the ball longer, he tends to not step into his throws with conviction, and the accuracy is way off - high, low, left, right - all over the place. When he makes a quick, early decision, almost pre-snap, he steps into the ball and throws it much more accurately. He hit some really nice passes in tight coverage and also had nice touch on the Sutton ball, and had a great long pass called back for a sack on a quick whistle. All early decisions (he made the decision to throw deep to Sutton immediately). The challenge is that he throws that pass with conviction whether there is 1 defender or 4. He threw several balls that a more reactive secondary would have picked off. He may be a 20-20 guy right now (20 TDs, 20 Picks). The ball also flutters when he throws it too hard, which makes it a hard ball to catch. Colbert, on the other hand... wow. As good as he was last Saturday, that was a struggle. Really disappointing. Then there is SImpson, who looked like he was playing the wrong position last practice, goes out and gets TDs on his first two drives. Davis, HIcks and Colbert all have good potential, but I came out of Spring thinking that we don't have an answer for consistant offense yet.

RB - I am going to use the term "loaded" here. Not Pony Express loaded, but the talent at this position is in the upper tier of the conference. Thomas ashowed again he is a good all-around back. Good balance and quick. Jones and West, we know they are good. Paden is the big surprise. He is very quick, makes the first guy miss almost every time. Showed it in both practices I saw. Legit 4 deep here.

WR - All 3 WR sets. Maybe some to not take advantage of the defense running a 4-3 and the injuries at corner (D only played 3 CBs). But something to keep in mind because you would think Gaines and the frosh are going to be on the field a lot at TE. Lots of rotation at WR. WIth three WR you are looking at Sutton/Thomas/Honey, Proche/Castille, Malone/Walker?Gulliard. Not a bad group. Proche is obviously being set up to be the "it" guy. He and Castille are battline for that spot, and I think he will win it (although they rotate so much it might not matter). Malone has real quickness, you saw it on the jet-sweep, but for some reason he just can't get open a lot. Same with Walker. Don't know if they don't break well or what, but with their speed they should be able to get open more. Gulliard didn't play Saturday, but I would look for him in the fall at that position. Regardless, the group is deep is the point, and good enough to win in conference. Honey was really inconsistent last weekend, but he was fantastic on Saturday - that, apparently, is what the hype is all about. The catch in the corner of the endzone for the TD was fantastic.

TE - Gaines had the really long catch and run for the TD. Was very strong last weekend as well. He looked really good last spring - hopefully he can be more consistent during the season. WIth him and frosh, again, I think SMU has winning talent here.

OL - This and QB are obviously the big questionmarks on offense. For the starters, I think that Pursley, Hyder, and Brown are "solid". They don't do anything spectacular, they don't dominate, but they don't get blown up either. Saena at RG doesn't do much for me yet, but he is really inexperienced, so there is a chance to grow. Briggs is inconsistent at RT. Solid on most plays, but then can have a letdown. For Morris's offense to really click, we need three dominant guys on the OL who can maul and two solids. We just aren't there yet. The backups struggled. Natour and Wilds were bested consistently by the Scott twins. Major difference between last week, when Hyder played first and second teams, and this week, when Fister played second team. Makes me think a little more of Hyder than I did before, because he was the only change and the second OL got blown up without him in there. McNeil at right guard was a guy. RG is the position of need I think from a starting perspective. I thought the transfer C was decent; I kind of wonder when Barns comes back if he and Barns fight it out for center and Brown moves back to guard to shore RG up. Then McCarty is the backup behind Hyder at LG and you have some depth inside. Wilds isn't where I thought he would be at this point, I don't think he will be taking the spot from Briggs, and it is kind of a warning sign to folks who think a frosh will come in and help the OL right away in the fall.

DL: I think the DL is closer than the OL to being able to compete. At DE, we know Lawler is good. Pruitt and Horton started at DE, and they are kind of just guys - don't get blown off the ball, but don't do anything spectacular. We need one of the Scotts to take the other DE spot. They caused all kinds of havoc with the scond team OL, and they will probably put on some more weight by Fall. Optimally in the fall it is Lawler-Scott-Scott-Frosh. If one of the twins wins the second starting spot, this can be an average to above average unit. If not, I don't think there is enough of a threat opposite Lawler to consistently make plays and trouble the other team. At DT, Gentry is solid. Minor didn't play, but has been running with the 1's. Counting on Minor is troublesome because he just doesn't stay healthy. Green is kind of a guy. Biggers hasn't put on enough weight to be successful yet. Somehow, the unit needs to be Gentry-New-Minor-Green-New. We need one new person to step in and play next to Gentry now, and another to provide depth because MInor is always hurt. Otherwise, the group isn't where it needs to be.

LB: Again, we played a straight 4-3. Not sure if it is short term for lack of personell or if it is long term for lack of personel. Carroll, Rhone, and McNew are certainly better than what they were, but nobody is all over the field making plays. Not quite enough here to make a play from the opposite side when the RB gets past the first level. Not having the two Mitchells and Williams hurts, but not sure if there is a dominant player there yet. Desperately need some frosh to help here.

CB: I am going to say something controvercial. I think might be close to "okay" at corner. I don't think Montgomery is ever going to be your number 1 corner - he is fast enough and has good size, but the top athleticism isn't quite there to make plays on the ball. So I don't think he will ever get a lot of picks, but I think if you have him as your second best corner, he is a good number 2 corner. Jeanlys has some potential. Very athletic player with good speed. He has the ability to turn quickly, stay with a guy, and make a play on the ball. He might end up being that number 1 corner. Wyatt I think is also decent. You throw Horace Richardson and K Johnson and Lancaster into that mix and I think you have 5 or 6 corners that are okay in conference. IF Jeanlys, K Johnson, or one of the frosh becomes a really good number 1 corner, I think the unit could be above average in conference. They just need that number one corner to step up and put them into the top tier.

S: This is another area we struggle in. Darrion (omitting the last name on purpose ;) ) really showed well on Saturday. Maybe he is finally going to play in games what he showed when he first stepped on campus? Otherwise, there are a lot of guys. In order for this group to excel, it needs to be Darrion-Clemons - Frosh-Frosh. Otherwise, there just isn't anyone who makes a ton of plays.

In short, without further development the offense will continue to be inconsistent because of QB and OL. And the frosh are going to have to come in and play on defense at DT, LB, and S or the spine of the team will struggle just as much as they did last season.
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Re: My notes from the scrimmage

Postby Digetydog » Mon Apr 18, 2016 1:43 pm

Huge Problem: If the WR/RB beats the first guy, he inevitably scores.
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Re: My notes from the scrimmage

Postby Donnell88 » Mon Apr 18, 2016 1:55 pm

Jason: Great stuff, as always. Thank you for posting.
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Re: My notes from the scrimmage

Postby ponyboy » Mon Apr 18, 2016 3:16 pm

JasonB wrote:...without further development the offense will continue to be inconsistent because of QB and OL


OL, that's not good to hear. But QB? I realize he didn't play, but what about Matt Davis? Knock on wood we won't have to rely on anyone else. Or is the foot worse than first thought?
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Re: My notes from the scrimmage

Postby smusic 00 » Mon Apr 18, 2016 4:04 pm

Foot will be fine.
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Re: My notes from the scrimmage

Postby Top Twenty » Mon Apr 18, 2016 4:16 pm

Jason, whoever you are, great work. As always.

Look for Kevin Johnson to start at safety, regardless of his size.
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Re: My notes from the scrimmage

Postby JasonB » Mon Apr 18, 2016 4:40 pm

ponyboy wrote:
JasonB wrote:...without further development the offense will continue to be inconsistent because of QB and OL


OL, that's not good to hear. But QB? I realize he didn't play, but what about Matt Davis? Knock on wood we won't have to rely on anyone else. Or is the foot worse than first thought?


I think Matt is a great guy, and an outstanding leader. Davis didn't play in the scrimmage, but when I watched last week, it was the QB from the second half of last season, not the first half. Maybe he was hurt and trying to play injured, but I just haven't seen anyone at the QB position this spring light it up.
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Re: My notes from the scrimmage

Postby Fresno Mustang » Mon Apr 18, 2016 9:00 pm

Using a 4-3 is interesting. I can't imagine that is a long term thing since we've recruited heavily to get athletes to play the star position in the 4-2-5
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Re: My notes from the scrimmage

Postby JasonB » Wed Apr 20, 2016 10:20 am

Fresno Mustang wrote:Using a 4-3 is interesting. I can't imagine that is a long term thing since we've recruited heavily to get athletes to play the star position in the 4-2-5


Not a long term thing. But I think a lot of us thought Jordan Williams would step in at star last year as a frosh. That didn't happen, even with a really struggling LB corp.

Considering the DL isn't ready yet and all the youth likely involed on the DL and LB, I wouldn't be surprised at one year of a 4-3 to avoid a repeat of last season.

Besides, if we are better/deeper than we were at corner, being able to run nickle packages with extra corners instead of a star might make sense as well.
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