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Okay, so folks were critical of what I said after watching practice last Saturday. I'd like to revise some of my statements.

- In general, the defense looked a lot better today.
- Lots of different looks and packages out of the 3-4, lots more pressure on the QB. Really was exciting to watch.
- first team D went against second team O and absolutely dominated. Which you would expect, but hasn't happened for a few years.

- I am much more encouraged about the CB situation. Last year, Castro was number 3 CB at the spring. Now he is number 5. Bennie Thomas is at number 4, and looks decent and had a nice hit today. Keith Robinson is number 3, and I liked him. Not as smooth as McCann or Bell, who are good corners, but Robinson can pl;ay. I thnk he and Thomas give us legit depth.

- I feel much better about OLB. Ellison and Flemming looked good out there. We know Yenga will be good. Flemming actually looked really fluid for a tall guy and had great strength on a bull rush. He could be a player.

- Parham at Nose Tackle surprised me with how well he played. He and Huahulu give us two decent players at that spot. So I feel better there.

In short, because of the influx at saftey of the next class, I think our weakness on D is really narrowed down to MLB and DE. Not as deep at corner as I would like to be, but better than I thought we were.

I still don't think we are going to be worldbeaters on defense this season, too many holes in the middle of the zone because of lack of fluid players at MLB and not enough corners to play a ton of nickel. But I can see us taking a decent step up from last season.

The most dominant player on the field today was Taylor Thompson. Bradley Haynes also impressed.

Bo may be the real deal.

guys...it's an "inter squad" game...a scrimage..a "practice on steroids"....chill, Chris Schenkel..

ontheedgeofmyseat wrote:guys...it's an "inter squad" game...a scrimage..a "practice on steroids"....chill, Chris Schenkel..

Who needs to chill? I didn't see any crazy over the top predictions here. "We suck less than last year" isn't saying a lot.

I agree about Thompson, that guy's going to be something special before he leaves the hilltop.

-CoS

"Bo may be the real deal" is a crazy over-the-top prediction after the season he had last year.

That's about as crazy as saying SMU will win 8 games this year.

ontheedgeofmyseat wrote:guys...it's an "inter squad" game...a scrimage..a "practice on steroids"....chill, Chris Schenkel..

True but we looked better the we did last year. Thompson looked like a beast. Haynes looked like he could become a number one WR in the future, I loved how the linebacker corps was clicking, Robinson looked like great, and finally Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team

jason54858 wrote:

ontheedgeofmyseat wrote:guys...it's an "inter squad" game...a scrimage..a "practice on steroids"....chill, Chris Schenkel..

True but we looked better the we did last year. Thompson looked like a beast. Haynes looked like he could become a number one WR in the future, I loved how the linebacker corps was clicking, Robinson looked like great, and finally Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team

Of course Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team...his competition is Braden Smith, whom most are figuring will be third-string IF Padron has a big fall practice. In other words, we are in trouble with QB depth.

CalallenStang wrote:

jason54858 wrote:

ontheedgeofmyseat wrote:guys...it's an "inter squad" game...a scrimage..a "practice on steroids"....chill, Chris Schenkel..

True but we looked better the we did last year. Thompson looked like a beast. Haynes looked like he could become a number one WR in the future, I loved how the linebacker corps was clicking, Robinson looked like great, and finally Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team

Of course Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team...his competition is Braden Smith, whom most are figuring will be third-string IF Padron has a big fall practice. In other words, we are in trouble with QB depth.

BLM is our man

SMU21TCU10 wrote:

CalallenStang wrote:

jason54858 wrote:

ontheedgeofmyseat wrote:guys...it's an "inter squad" game...a scrimage..a "practice on steroids"....chill, Chris Schenkel..

True but we looked better the we did last year. Thompson looked like a beast. Haynes looked like he could become a number one WR in the future, I loved how the linebacker corps was clicking, Robinson looked like great, and finally Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team

Of course Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team...his competition is Braden Smith, whom most are figuring will be third-string IF Padron has a big fall practice. In other words, we are in trouble with QB depth.

BLM is our man

I'll believe that if he can get through this season with less than 10 INT.

CalallenStang wrote:

SMU21TCU10 wrote:

CalallenStang wrote:

jason54858 wrote:

ontheedgeofmyseat wrote:guys...it's an "inter squad" game...a scrimage..a "practice on steroids"....chill, Chris Schenkel..

True but we looked better the we did last year. Thompson looked like a beast. Haynes looked like he could become a number one WR in the future, I loved how the linebacker corps was clicking, Robinson looked like great, and finally Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team

Of course Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team...his competition is Braden Smith, whom most are figuring will be third-string IF Padron has a big fall practice. In other words, we are in trouble with QB depth.

BLM is our man

I'll believe that if he can get through this season with less than 10 INT.

Good luck with that cause that may never happen. He is going to throw the ball about 50 times a game, give the guy a break

jason54858 wrote:

CalallenStang wrote:

SMU21TCU10 wrote:

CalallenStang wrote:

jason54858 wrote:

ontheedgeofmyseat wrote:guys...it's an "inter squad" game...a scrimage..a "practice on steroids"....chill, Chris Schenkel..

True but we looked better the we did last year. Thompson looked like a beast. Haynes looked like he could become a number one WR in the future, I loved how the linebacker corps was clicking, Robinson looked like great, and finally Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team

Of course Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team...his competition is Braden Smith, whom most are figuring will be third-string IF Padron has a big fall practice. In other words, we are in trouble with QB depth.

BLM is our man

I'll believe that if he can get through this season with less than 10 INT.

Good luck with that cause that may never happen. He is going to throw the ball about 50 times a game, give the guy a break

Point taken. I'll revise it to 15 INT or less.

CalallenStang wrote:

jason54858 wrote:

CalallenStang wrote:

SMU21TCU10 wrote:

CalallenStang wrote:

jason54858 wrote:

ontheedgeofmyseat wrote:guys...it's an "inter squad" game...a scrimage..a "practice on steroids"....chill, Chris Schenkel..

True but we looked better the we did last year. Thompson looked like a beast. Haynes looked like he could become a number one WR in the future, I loved how the linebacker corps was clicking, Robinson looked like great, and finally Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team

Of course Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team...his competition is Braden Smith, whom most are figuring will be third-string IF Padron has a big fall practice. In other words, we are in trouble with QB depth.

BLM is our man

I'll believe that if he can get through this season with less than 10 INT.

Good luck with that cause that may never happen. He is going to throw the ball about 50 times a game, give the guy a break

Point taken. I'll revise it to 15 INT or less.

Actaully, thats more like it

Colt Brennan had 17,12,13 INT's

Harrell had 9,14,11

So i think 15 would be fair

CalallenStang wrote:Of course Bo looks like the best QB to lead this team...his competition is Braden Smith, whom most are figuring will be third-string IF Padron has a big fall practice. In other words, we are in trouble with QB depth.

Bo's going to be the starter, of course — he has a year of experience running the offense, and looks much better than he did even at the end of the season.

But dismissing Braden Smith as an afterthought is a mistake, in my opinion. I was pleasantly surprised. He has a quick release and a stronger arm than I realized, and his accuracy was good.

Bradley Haynes looked very good. A lot of catches, and he snagged the ball with his hands more than last year, when it looked like he let too many hit him in the gut.

Best catch was Josh Bryant's diving, one-handed grab of a screen pass — I didn't know he could make that kind of grab.

Margus Hunt looked OK — lost, as should be expected, but he looked like he's starting to grasp a few of the basics — he'll be fun to watch as he develops. I'd love to see him flip to the right side, so he and Taylor Thompson could be huge bookend DEs, and where he could use his discus-throwing right hand to shove tackles to the side as he comes around the corner.

I agree with JasonB about Fleming and Ellison. Very encouraging. Same with Robinson in the secondary.

Good to see the great Jerry LeVias and Keylon Kincade today.

I wasn't overly impressed by any QB today but that's probably because it was pretty conservative. What was the longest pass completed today? All 3 QBs averaged 8-9 yards per completion-wow. It ranks with among the most boring spring games in modern SMU Football. It think that's probably how Jones prefers it.