Receivers

[BCS STANG]

Thanks Fuller family

[JasonB]

I stated in a different thread that I expect to see some changes come down at WR before the TCU game, but I really don't think this is a coaching or talent evaluation issue. There are just holes right now in some of the younger players games. They may develop and become the complete package, but it takes a little time.

For those who haven't been at practice, here is a little insight to what goes on.

- Jones will instruct the offense on a particular formation to line up in and a basic scheme.
- Before they go to 7 v 7 or run against a scout team, Jones and Phillips will esentially position themselves like safeties or linebackers, and have players run routes off of their positioning.
- Then, when they go 7v7, Jones instructs the defense on how to line up, and the offense runs patterns against it.
- Same thing when they run against scout, Jones calls the defensive plays.

The whole purpose of this is to get the QB and WR to perform their adjustments over and over and over again until it becomes second nature. Reinbold used to talk about how players might be fast, but actually run things slow in practice because they are trying to figure things out. Then they move to the next level, and it is fast in practice, but the game speed might be slow. Then they are fast in practice and in games.

In fact, you can see this a lot in the first couple of days of practice. Players come out the first day, and the offense runs really basic stuff. You can see the speed and athleticism of a lot of the players. Come back a week later, and everyone is moving a lot slower, because they are asked to think and figure things out. Eventually, they will "get it". Sometimes, it looks like the drops in practice are because they are thinking so much about where to go and what to do, that they don't focus on catching the ball.

From what I watched in Fall practice, this is my assessment of some of the backup receivers:

- Ace - has a ton of skill. When you watch him move, it is effortless, he just glides, and has a natural reaction for catching the ball. There is a lot of potential there. He came into camp a little overweight, which is obviously a big deal because we don't rotate receivers a lot. If you aren't fit, you have no chance of playing at all. He is not consistent with his route running and concentration, but that might be because he is tired, who knows. If/When he gets it all together, he will eventually be a threat, but it hasn't happened yet.

- Dieter - Hands of gold. You watch him with the juggs machine and his hands are like vacuums just sucking everything in, really soft. Good athlete, great size. Knack for going up and getting the ball at the highest point. He was really, really slow in the fall practices that I watched. I don't know if it was because of the knee, or what I was saying before about trying to figure things out. The fact that the coaches are already trying to work the frosh into the rotation speaks volumes of what they think of him. As soon as everything clicks, he will play.

- Fuller - Because of the difficulty of the system, coaches can't ask players to learn two positions. The staff had to make a decision at the beginning of the season on whether to use Fuller on the inside or the outside. His abilities are better for the outside, but they needed a big guy who could block inside. So he was moved inside for that purpose. Fuller has limited quickness (burst), but great hands. Lots of one handed catches in practice. Cuts off the wrong foot a lot of the time and has trouble with the quick cuts of the inside route, and falls down a lot. He is in the Bradley Haynes role - big guy who can block on the inside and put in when we need size, but doesn't run the inside routes very well. Before people complain and say they want him outside, realize he would run behind Dieter outside, so he wouldn't be in line to start there.

- Stewart - This is my pick of the "special" player SMU has on their roster who doesn't see time yet. He has the full package - speed, quickness, burst, sharp cutting, good hands. The real deal. Smooth in and out of routes. I haven't been to practice in a while, but when I was there, Phillips was working with him a lot on getting him to run the correct routes. Was in the mix for the return game for a while, but I don't think they want to burn a redshirt just on returning kicks. I have no idea if he has progressed since fall, but athletically, he has the ability to push for time.

- Darius Joseph - Very good athlete. Good size for an inside receiver. Is fast, but runs his routes really slow sometimes. Not sure if it is an attention thing or an "I'm trying to figure things out' thing. Didn't look ready to play yet because of the speed of routes, which was displayed in the A&M game. Not a lazy thing, he just doesn't quite get it yet. When he does, he has a lot of potential. I am sure Jeremy Johnson looked like he did last year.

[PonyFan2011]

Thanks for the insight JasonB - Good stuff.

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

Agree. Nice to see some coherent ANALYSIS, rather than just hysteria.

[Dark Horse]

I completely agree. Dieter fits that. Incoming Jeremiah Gaines definitely fits that. Use Holman for blocking since he can't seem to catch . . . get creative with what you have . . .

Can't catch? He has 13 catches, which is one off the team lead, and his 156 receiving yards are the most on the team.

[RyanSMU98]

I completely agree. Dieter fits that. Incoming Jeremiah Gaines definitely fits that. Use Holman for blocking since he can't seem to catch . . . get creative with what you have . . .

Can't catch? He has 13 catches, which is one off the team lead, and his 156 receiving yards are the most on the team.

I think people confuse Keenan Holman with Ace Holleman in these posts sometimes. Holman can definitely catch; Holleman, not so much so far. Hopefully Ace gets more comfortable so that changes, because he has a lot of potential

[ghost]

What are you doing? This is Pony Fans not Pony Traitors! And people wonder why the practices are closed! I am impressed with your knowledge but why share it with our opponents. Patterson reads everything he can get his hands on and when you can give a player a more-detailed scouting report on a backup who doesn't play much it just gives them even more confidence going into the games. And you wonder why football coaches are so paranoid.....Bill Belicheck, Barry Switzer, Sean Payton....you can't trust anybody what with the spying and illegal stuff and then you just go right out and give em a scouting report.

[whitwiki]

What are you doing? This is Pony Fans not Pony Traitors! And people wonder why the practices are closed! I am impressed with your knowledge but why share it with our opponents. Patterson reads everything he can get his hands on and when you can give a player a more-detailed scouting report on a backup who doesn't play much it just gives them even more confidence going into the games. And you wonder why football coaches are so paranoid.....Bill Belicheck, Barry Switzer, Sean Payton....you can't trust anybody what with the spying and illegal stuff and then you just go right out and give em a scouting report.

That's a joke right?

[JasonB]

What are you doing? This is Pony Fans not Pony Traitors! And people wonder why the practices are closed! I am impressed with your knowledge but why share it with our opponents. Patterson reads everything he can get his hands on and when you can give a player a more-detailed scouting report on a backup who doesn't play much it just gives them even more confidence going into the games. And you wonder why football coaches are so paranoid.....Bill Belicheck, Barry Switzer, Sean Payton....you can't trust anybody what with the spying and illegal stuff and then you just go right out and give em a scouting report.

I haven't said anything that they haven't seen on tape already. I am not giving away strategies that nobody knows about. There are certain things I would certainly never comment on because of their strategic value.

[PonySnob]

Film doesn't lie........

[SMU_Alumni11]

I don't think anybody needs to spy smu haha, fortunately our only advantage is the element of surprise in hope that TCU struts in thinking win and hopefully the offense learns to at offense an hits them hard and fast and defense keeps them at bay