Practice Observations - August 9

[JasonB]

Had the chance to go watch the full practice today, and wanted to share some thoughts. I'll give my thoughts on individuals and position groups and then hit my conclusion at the end....

Overall, the depth is better than it has every been and the speed of the team is evident But it is important to note that we are still pretty early into Fall camp. I typically prefer to watch practice after things have settled down a bit, the frosh have gotten their feet wet, and the offense has time to catch up to the defense (usually defense wins early in camp and then things settle out later in camp). So, please keep that in mind as I walk through everything.

At QB, Jennings is clearly the dude. Hawkins will be great down the line, but certainly the offense would take a step back if he plays this season. Jennings has put on muscle, and you can see it in his arm strength, which has never been a problem, but is even stronger now. Showed it off on a great throw in scrimmage from the far hash where he threw across the field on a 20 yard out to Brinson. Changes arm angles with ease and precision on throws to find openings to throw through, which resulted in big plays. Showed improved touch on some passes into tight coverage in the middle of the field. Still needs to improve on his deep ball, but overall he looks really good. Hawkins has elite arm talent, and a more explosive runner than Jennings. Great arm strength. Was talking with someone at practice about how Jennings has really good straight line speed, but Hawkins can put his foot in the ground and cut it up field and go. Still holds the ball too long when looking at coverage, which is expected of a young QB. His ceiling might be higher than Jennings in the long run because of the physical tools.

I think the RB room is really good. But nobody is at a Brashard Smith level right now. There is a reason he is with the Chiefs right now. The depth of the room is certainly an upgrade over last season after the preseason injuries to Rooster and Camar. But we really relied on Brashard's explosive plays in both the run and pass game last season, and those missing pieces are going to have an impact on the offensive productivity. McFall has a nice burst, acceleration, shifty, patient when he needs to be. Looks like a starting running back, but he isn't at the Brashard Smith level yet in terms of explosiveness. For Hardin, this is early, because he was delayed by UCLA transcripts, but to me he is big and can run as a physical back, but he has more burst than LJ did last year. His combination of size and speed will allow him to push McFall for the starting spot as camp goes along. If you consider LJ our second string back last year, he is an upgrade over that. Chris Johnson is fast, but he is still trying to figure things out. You can see him hesitate to really hit the speed into overdrive on runs. He has good speed, but his acceleration and cutting aren't at that level. Least physical of any of the RBs. I think I have him 4th on my depth chart because... I was not expecting what I saw from Green. Way faster than I anticipated, but with a very strong build and a great center of balance. Ahead of where McFall was as a true freshman last year when everyone was raving about McFall in camp and we saw his burst in those games. IMHO, it will be impossible to keep him off the field this season. Good in the passing game as well. We will see if he hits that freshman wall in camp, but I think SMU hit it out of the park with him.

This is the best TE room in the conference, and potentially in the entire country. But it is really important to recognize how important RJ is to everything. His explosive play ability opens up the offense for everyone else, especially the running game. After he got injured last year, the effectiveness of the offense dropped considerably, because Daniels and Brashard were the only explosive players on offense. We didn't have a downfield threat. RJ is still a really critical piece to the team. Moore played a lot in the scrimmage. If he was 2 inches taller, I think he would be another RJ running around out there. That said, he certainly provides another potential explosive element in the TE room to RJ and while not as consistent or as good a blocker as Hibner, is more explosive. Riordan moves well and has nice hands. I think he is going to be a nice piece moving forward. Eby, as always, works hard, good blocker, tough player, and better hands than anyone gives him credit for.

As a group, I think we are going to be better at WR. Last year, Clemson played their frosh WR a ton, and by the end of the season, they were one of the most feared duos in the league. Cooper and Robertson have that potential to expand their impact as the season rolls along. Last year, we had a bunch of guys but no true number 1 (although Hudson had a stretch in the middle of the year before injury where he was starting to break out). This year, Hudson has taken that step forward, and even though we lost a lot of experience with Smith and Moochie on the outside and Daniels inside, I think Knight, Goffney, and the frosh make up for it. The only concern I have is if we can establish someone as a deep threat and really open up the offense. Last year, Moochie provided some of that (and even Smith at times) when RJ was injured. We need someone to step up in that role this season. Hudson has certainly stepped up his presence. Takes his reps seriously. Has a little more strength and explosion than last season. He is taking leadership, demanding the ball. He isn't Rashee though - Rashee was incredible and had strength and top end speed and was an explosive play monster. On the ACC roadshow, they compared Hudson to Dez, but I don't think that is correct either because Dez was an elite athlete who could jump so well it made him a deep threat even without the burner speed. But I do like the comparison from a strength perspective - throw the slant, and he is going to use his body and absorb contact and make a play. He is a legit WR now, but he isn't going to be the stretch the field guy. Brinson is the same player he has always been. When you watch him run a route, he won't get great separation a lot of time. But if you throw it near him, he has a nice catch radius and athleticism and he will pull the ball down. And then every once in a while, you see a play like a mentioned earlier with KJ, where he drives a guy hard down field, then makes an outstanding move to the outside to generate a ton of separation and gets one foot in on a brilliant throw from KJ. If we saw that every play, we are talking about a super stud WR opposite Hudson where the tandem gives teams a lot of problems. The problem is that we just don't see that quite enough. He isn't really a burner to stretch the field either. As for slot, Knight is a dude. The Junior replacement. Probably a better route runner than Junior. very quick out of his cuts and great acceleration. Athletic. Is going to get a ton of work both in the slot and on punt return. Has the speed to beat people deep, but is very short and so KJ overthrew him once on a long play. But he is going to be like Junior where if the defense is looking at other things, he can generate explosives for you. Cooper has much quicker acceleration than I remember seeing from him in the spring. He is going to be a dude. Really polished route runner, good hands, and that acceleration allows him to get early separation. Not really the top end speed guy, but gets open a ton because of the cuts, precise routes, and burst. Speedy is a good corner, and he had him running the wrong way a couple of times early in practice. You can tell the QBs have lots of confidence in his ability to get open. Freshmen are going to screw up, but he is certainly ready to be in the rotation and make plays. His ability to separate and get open is like Rice had. Isaiah Robertson is again, another hit. Good acceleration, good hands, gets open, has the body to take a hit and hang on to the ball. Really, really impressive. He is going to play a lot. Brown is another hit in the recruiting class. Not as polished as Robertson and Cooper. Doesn't get the separation on routes yet. But his length and catch radius is a problem. He comes across in reports as a string bean, but he isn't. He is long and lean, but he is strong and he enjoys physicality. My first thought when I saw him muscle a corner off a route and make a contested catch on the sideline was Keyshawn or Irvin from a physicality and length perspective. He needs time to completely develop, but lots of potential here and will probably see game time. Link is next in the group of outside WR, this is an early report because he just started practicing, even further behind TJ. Long player, and you can see a little speed there. Would like to see more burst, and he isn't showing much right now, but his head is probably swimming and he is a week behind everyone else.

In the slot, Goffney looks really good. Still has the really nice hands he had the first time around, his body is built so he has a physical presence in the slot, but has the speed to separate. I think the combo of him and Knight in the slot can be equal to what Bailey and Daniels were supposed to be (before Bailey injuries). Singleton is also in the slot. Fast and athletic, but behind the other freshmen. It is important to remember that 1) he had the bad concussion in the spring and 2) in Spring he practiced on the outside and now he is having to learn the slot. So, while it is going to help him out in the long run, he is kind of starting over at a new position, and that is probably a lot to take in mentally. I'm not worried about him at all - he showed a ton in the spring. But that is why he is behind the others and why you probably aren't hearing his name as much.

The line is really, really deep. The OL is upgraded and deeper than last year, and should be able to provide more consistency in the running game, which will help us against the better teams in the league, as well as the red zone. Also, keep in mind that when you run tempo, if you have the ability to sub linemen in between series it really allows you to keep that tempo up - the linemen are who tend to slow things down. PJ looks great. Parr looks great. He hasn't had the chance to work out in the offseason the last couple of years and now that he has, looks stronger than ever. A very good guard. Nichols looks great at both guard and center. Very physical player. The only concern I have with him playing guard instead of center is that he doesn't really have the mobility to pull. That is why my opinion is that I would like to see him at center. But if they want to run more zone schemes instead of gap, I can see why they would do it. IMHO he is an upgrade over Clark or Osborne, regardless of where he ends up. Bates is the smallest player on the OL. When he plays center, the good thing is he controls the line really well. When the DL runs stunts, he does a great job of organizing passing players on and making sure there aren't any broken responsibilities. Technique is really good. When helping on a player he does a great job. He has the mobility to be able to chip a DT and then move up to the second level and take an LB. My hesitation with him is that when he is 1v1 versus a DT, he can be driven backwards a little into the pocket and collapse it. Not to the extreme of what we saw from Hickman, but still, there are some similarities. I don't think we are as dominant in the running game at the point of attack with him at center. But that is my opinion, and like I said, it is still really early in camp. We will see how things play out. Byrd I think looks really improved. Last year when watching camp, he would do well, but then when he missed on a play, he REALLY missed and the QB was done. He would make a fundamental mistake, get off balance, and just get killed. I don't see him doing that right now. He is much more consistent. When you hear Rhett in the interview talk about competition, it is because... Chamblee looks great. Way more mobile than he was last fall, and still has the nice frame. He didn't participate in the scrimmage today, but I saw him in warmups and I think he looks terrific. The LT job being open isn't a knock on Byrd, it is because Chamblee looks really good. Odoms didn't play a ton in the scrimmage, but I think he looks great as well. Really nice frame, moves well. Consistency is going to be an issue with any freshman, but I think he is going to be ready to be in the mix pretty quickly at tackle. He had a play early in practice against a third or 4th string defensive line, where he drove a player 20 yards down the field and planted the player on his back in the endzone. King Large I watched a bit with the second team at RT, and he looked good out there as well. Not a starter yet, but yet another player I wouldn't be afraid to throw out there for a few plays. For Zion Nelson, I watched some of the video from earlier practices and thought he looked really, really uncomfortable in basic drills. But he is starting to come around. He played a little at LT in the scrimmage and on one play turned his guy inside to seal the edge and just absolutely crushed him. I've been very doubtful that we ever see him on the field this season, but that play and comments from Lashlee afterwards made me think I might be wrong. It might take half the season to get the consistency down, but he might have something left in the tank after all. Uter is grown up and he looks very solid at center. Woods - I have always been high on his potential, and I think he looks great at LG. He and Uter next to each other would be fantastic today in the AAC. Those guys I think have a nice future. Honestly, IMHO, if we have a goal line situation I would line up Parr - Nichols - Woods and just power it in down the middle. Anderson is solid. Hoopli I didn't have the opportunity to focus on, but he looks the part. Patterson looks better. Mau is massive and stands out and moves better than Patterson did last year.

Overall on offense, I think it is just going to be different. The last two years of the AAC, we were overly reliant on explosive plays. The OL was solid, but couldn't consistently run the ball, and so we needed the Rashee's of the world to generate plays. Last year, we didn't have the deep threats in the passing game outside of RJ, which is part of the reason Preston struggled so much at the start of the season. When KJ came in, he could generate plays, Brashard, Daniels, and RJ could make plays, and there were just enough pieces around them to make it all happen. Productivity slowed when RJ went down, and because the offensive line wasn't dominant, we weren't as efficient as we needed to be in the red zone against BYU and Duke. This year, I think by the end of the season we will have a better WR corps, but still no major deep threat. We are deeper at RB and should be able to run more consistently, especially in the red zone, but with fewer explosive plays. Consistency could go up, but our points per game could drop because of the drop in explosives. Playmakers matter, and while we have a ton of talent, I don't know if we have enough players at an elite level right now. Next year, with maturing talent at RB and WR, things will be different. But right now, I think there is a bit of a gap.

At Defensive End, things are very different from last year. We had two NFL ends who were great against the run and pass. While Cam and Turbo are good players, they aren't at that same level for generating negative plays. Wilson, Walton, Lang - they are all good players. IF we can get the other team in long yardage situations, DJ Warner and Washington can be really dynamic pass rushers. But I don't think they are every-down players right now. We actually generated several coverage sacks during the scrimmage, and we will get to the secondary in a minute. But it was infrequent that the front four were able to immediately generate pressure on the QB or move the pocket significantly. We have really good OT, so it could be just the OL is good. But the elite pass rush guy who can collapse things on 1st or 2nd down isnt there yet. We have a lot of good players but not the elite guy. The group does seem to play the run well as a whole, which is good.

At Defensive Tackle, the group looks much better than they did in the spring. M'Ba in particular is has really stepped up. Both he and Webb seem to be playing together as a unit much better. Spencer looks like he is taking a step forward, Spears, Lewis, and Allen all provide good depth. Shivers even looks the part as a freshman. Burris made a big play today. This is going to sound like a broken record, but again I think we have a lot of depth here now that can play, and I don't think we are going to get run all over. But we don't have the elite JHH that terrorizes the other team from the inside. M'BA could continue to evolve and get to that point - he certainly has the physical characteristics to do it. But I think this is a unit that is going to hold its own, not necessarily generate negative plays.

For LB, I kind of thought heading into the season we might lose a little speed with Walker and Kobe graduating. But this group is all over the place. Kilgore and Barker are for real. And I think there is good depth here as well, maybe more playable depth than there was last year. Booker even had a sack in the scrimmage. I'm not worried about this spot at all.

Corner is a spot where I think we have taken a step forward. Smoke looks more consistent than he has previously. He had at least one nice breakup on a deep ball today. Deuce looks good. Barnes is the guy who really impressed me - reads the game well, good hips. Had a really nice pass breakup where he accelerated on a comeback route and blew up a pass play. Speedy I thought highly of last year as a true freshman, and he looks bigger. He isn't pushing for a starting spot, but he does provide depth. Holiday and Gentry both look the part and are going to push to get in the two deep by the end of the season.

Nickel is going to be interesting. Chambers, Spencer and JMJ are fighting it out for spots there. JMJ might have the best athleticism in the pass game, Spencer is the most balanced, and Chambers is long and good against the run while also making plays in the passing game. I think it is really underrated how good Sanders was last year. This could be a position where we struggle a little at in the start of the season until it clicks for one of the three, and then performance improves. They all have the talent athletically, but I don't think they are there yet. Knight and Goffney are really good WR, but they were able to get clean separation pretty frequently.

Safety is loaded. NWO and Moses are the best tandem in the league. But I spent time watching the group warm up, and then entire group can really move. Polley impressed me in the springs, but Muhammad, Reyes, and all of the NB, all of them can move. When you can watch the group as a whole and then walk away saying Chambers has the slowest reaction in the group, it tells you how athletic they are. Kadavion Dotson-Walker is someone I wanted to call out, because his athleticism, fluidity, speed, it all looks great to me. I think he is someone to really watch.

Just like the offense, the defense this year is going to be very different. Our defensive line was dominant in both the running and passing game, and that dominance covered up some shortcomings at corner. We won't have that dominant line this season. But on the other hand, the secondary is much faster and deeper than it was last year. I'm not sure how that turns out, and I'm sure Symons has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. But we might take a little step back this year from having the best defense in the league, and step forward again next season after the DL matures a little bit.

Overall, I've always expected that this season would be a transition season. We are switching our approach from being transfer heavy to recruiting top level HS recruits. And there was always going to be a year where our experience dropped in between, and we needed some times to catch up and mature. Do we have potential? Yes, we have a ton of talent, that is just inexperienced. But we lost an NFL RB and 4 NFL DL. I just don't think we have guys ready for the NFL at those positions right now. On offense, we have an NFL TE, and potential NFL QB, NFL RT coming back. But can one of our WR or RB to perform at an NFL level and replace what was lost? I'm not sure if we are there this season. On defense, we have two NFL S coming back. We will need 4 other players to perform at an NFL level to replace what was lost. Are they ready to play at that level yet? Don't get me wrong, I think we are a good football team. But Clemson and Miami are legit top 10 teams this year, and it is going to be incredibly difficult to get back into the CFP - you really need 6 NFL guys on both sides of the ball to get there (like we had on defense last season). I see us at 8-4 and then coming back and competing for the ACC title next year.

[ponyswim]

Thanks Jason.
I get on the NFL level of players with SMU and Clemson. I can also gain comfort that Clemson also had a lot more NFL players on their roster last year and we were right there with them. Clemson's guys are obviously a year older and I see articles that 4-6 may go in the first round. We are obviously not at that point this year, but we need people like Parr, M'Ba, Webb, Kilgore, Hibner and more to play like they belong in the NFL this year, in addition to the ones you mentioned. Hopefully that happens with multiple of our guys and we have way fewer than the 4 losses.

[PNW_Stang]

First, thank you so much. I have checked this site several times hoping for one of your writeups (and PonyPrideΓÇÖs too of course).

Is Bates clearly ahead of Uter, Anderson, and Woods, and with him playing is that our best five? Would they consider moving PJ or Byrd to guard, putting Chamblee in at tackle, and Addison at center? Good to hear Patterson has worked out well. Great that MaΓÇÖu looks good too. I remember seeing him look a little slow moving in the recruit video I watched.

It seems like we hit on a lot of our freshmen.

It also sounds like we have a deep team with many solid P4-level college players, but not many elite stars. Could probably beat anyone on the schedule, but probably not going to beat the elite teams?

How has Charlie Fiser looked? Is he far behind Hawkins? Worries me Luster transferred (wonder if he is even going to start at Texas State?).

I have been thinking 9-4 this year, so it sounds like we are on the same page with the prediction.

But, I do think our coaching staff is elite, and we have been lucky lately, so maybe we win 10 with a bowl.

[JasonB]

Thanks Jason.
I get on the NFL level of players with SMU and Clemson. I can also gain comfort that Clemson also had a lot more NFL players on their roster last year and we were right there with them. Clemson's guys are obviously a year older and I see articles that 4-6 may go in the first round. We are obviously not at that point this year, but we need people like Parr, M'Ba, Webb, Kilgore, Hibner and more to play like they belong in the NFL this year, in addition to the ones you mentioned. Hopefully that happens with multiple of our guys and we have way fewer than the 4 losses.

I hope so. There is always the upside of players developing - if our Freshman WR take off during the season like Clemson's did, we don't play Clemson, Miami, and Louisville until the back half of the season. It could be a perfect storm.

The thing that scares me is Louisville, for example, have elite players at WR, RB, and QB. Elite. If we can't pressure them consistently (and Symons is genius, he will come up with something probably), regardless of how improved the secondary is they are going to put up some points. If we develop some real playmakers on offense, we can keep up with them. But I am worried about our ability to keep up on offense in a shootout type of game. Same thing with TCU.

[JasonB]

First, thank you so much. I have checked this site several times hoping for one of your writeups (and PonyPrideΓÇÖs too of course).

Is Bates clearly ahead of Uter, Anderson, and Woods, and with him playing is that our best five? Would they consider moving PJ or Byrd to guard, putting Chamblee in at tackle, and Addison at center? Good to hear Patterson has worked out well. Great that MaΓÇÖu looks good too. I remember seeing him look a little slow moving in the recruit video I watched.

It seems like we hit on a lot of our freshmen.

It also sounds like we have a deep team with many solid P4-level college players, but not many elite stars. Could probably beat anyone on the schedule, but probably not going to beat the elite teams?

How has Charlie Fiser looked? Is he far behind Hawkins? Worries me Luster transferred (wonder if he is even going to start at Texas State?).

I have been thinking 9-4 this year, so it sounds like we are on the same page with the prediction.

But, I do think our coaching staff is elite, and we have been lucky lately, so maybe we win 10 with a bowl.

I agree about the coaching staff. They will figure some things out.

No knock on Fiser, but if he plays we are in trouble.

I agree, lots of depth, lots of quality, just not elite YET. Isaiah, Cooper, Green IMHO have a good shot to get there in there career. RJ is when healthy.

The OL can always change - we are still relatively early in camp, and last year we changed things completely after game 1. But PJ and Byrd are locked at tackle. Bates IMHO is ahead of Uter and Anderson. I am pretty confident that the front three will start out at Parr, Bates, and Nichols. I do think that Bates is probably better at center than at guard, so again my opinion but I think he is starting at center or Nichols is moved back and there is an open competition at guard. The good news is that if for some reason Bates struggles (and you never know, he could have had an injury yesterday that impacted him that he was gutting through. So please keep in mind it is early in camp and it was just one practice session), Woods is an option at guard if you move Nichols back to center and then it sounds like everyone expects Hoopii to be able to compete by mid season as well. So if things don't work, we have a bye after the TCU game and could change some things up with competition at guard between Bates, Woods, Anderson, and Hoopii.

The great news of all of this is that there are a ton of legitimate players there. It is just about finding the right one. It isn't a case of trying to find the one guy who won't get killed, it is about finding the one that will dominate. The competition is going to make all of them very good. And the improved depth at defensive tackle will make sure they are all getting reps against good players inside, which will also help them improve as the season moves along. Burris is probably the 7th DT on the team, and if you aren't ready for him, he is good enough to run you over.

Personally, I love to see mauling, and so I would love to see Nichols at center and Woods at RG. Just crush the other team in short yardage and goal line. But that is kind of old school and I know the staff wants a good mix of Zone and Gap and getting to the second level and all of that stuff .

[CA Mustang]

The thing that scares me is Louisville, for example, have elite players at WR, RB, and QB. Elite.

As a longtime USC fan, I wouldn't describe Miller Moss as an "elite" QB. Above average? Yes. Elite? No.

[JasonB]

The thing that scares me is Louisville, for example, have elite players at WR, RB, and QB. Elite.

As a longtime USC fan, I wouldn't describe Miller Moss as an "elite" QB. Above average? Yes. Elite? No.

I think people would have said the same about the Louisville QB from last year. Braum has his system rolling right now, and there are a lot of other issues surrounding USC. I won't be surprised to see Robinson light it up at FSU this year also.

But we will see, you have seen a lot more of him than I have .

[highlander]

I think people would have said the same about the Louisville QB from last year. Braum has his system rolling right now, and there are a lot of other issues surrounding USC. I won't be surprised to see Robinson light it up at FSU this year also.

But we will see, you have seen a lot more of him than I have .

Yeah Lincoln Riley is looking more and more like a snake oil salesman, with SC being the "mark".

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

8-4 sounds about right to me.

[well travelled pony]

Jason, thank you for your great updates. So great to have. Question though, I wonder in our WR group what has happened with Lavender? It doesn't seem like he has made it, though he seemed like a fairly good pick up for the Mustangs.