I went to practice last night for the first time this year, and I just wanted to share a few of my observations with you guys. Unfortunately, this may have been one of the worst practices to go to considering all of the injuries to key players. It would figure that the one time I could make it so far would be a day like that.
Obviously, don't get to excited or worked up about anything I say, as one practice isn't necessarily indicative of how things will go once we start playing games, especially since a number of key players were sitting out with minor injuries.
Calvin, James Johnson, Xavier McGuire, Jamaal Evans, Loyall Gause, and Kenny Scott didn't participate in any drills.
OFFENSE
QBs - Reggie is clearly #1. The same thing can be said about Bennett at #2. None of the other QBs even got snaps in the 7v7 or 11v11 drills, and to be honest, I can't say that I was all that impressed with any of them in the other passing drills. To be fair, it's hard to tell much from a drill with just QBs and WRs, but none of the backups stuck out to me. Perhaps that's why we're going after 2 QBs in this recruiting class despite the number we will still have on the roster.
I thought Reggie looked pretty good today. He made good decisions, checking down to other receivers when necessary. He threw one ball toward double coverage in the endzone that I initially thought was a mistake, but it was thrown far enough to where no one could catch it. I doubt his completion % was all that high, but going up against our #1 defense and not having either of our top 2 wideouts hurt there.
Taylor also looked good to me. He was making good decisions and accurate throws for the most part. It definitely hurt him having to have a true freshman walk-on in the backfield with him, though. There was one play in particular in which there was some confusion in the backfield, and Taylor pitched the ball to the RB, who was promptly demolished for about a 5 yard loss.
WR - The wideouts were kind of up and down today with the two Johnsons not out there. There were a few dropped balls, as well as a few nice catches. Dunlap, Frierson, and Smith ran with the first team, and Earls, Thomas, and #83 (Tyler Davis or Andrew Smith, not sure which, or could have been both) ran with the second team. Although he dropped one pass that he should have caught, I was impressed with Demaryius Thomas. He looks ready to play.
RB - Choice looked really good, as I think most of us would expect. I don't really remember Grant running the ball much. With Jamaal Evans and Gause sitting out, true freshman walk-on Tyler Evans ran with the second team. He's small, but very shifty and quick. I was impressed with a few of his runs. However, one play he was pass blocking and Darrell Robertson completely destroyed him. One of the more lopsided hits that I've seen!
TE - The tight ends caught a number of passes today as our defensive backs were doing a good job on the wideouts, so our QBs dumped the ball off a few times. Colin Peek had a nice catch in the corner of the endzone on a perfectly thrown ball from Bennett.
OL - It was hard to get a really good view of all of them from where I was standing, but both the first team and second team seemed to be doing a pretty good job for the most part. At this point, though, Wrotto still needs some more work. He missed a couple of blocks that led to sacks.
DEFENSE
DL - Wow, we're deep here. Richard looks to be back into form, and I don't think I really even need to say anything about Anoai. I really like our ends, too, with Oliver and Robertson. I can't wait to see Michael Johnson next year. He's already put on a bunch of muscle, and I overheard Wes Durham, talking to another fan, say that MJ is up to 250, and they don't think they'll have any trouble putting 25 more pounds on him!
LB - Phillip Wheeler is a ridiculous athlete, and Hall makes plays and is a vocal leader on D. I think both of them will be contending for All-ACC. But I digress...I didn't even need to see practice to have that opinion! Guyton looks steady. Out of the backups, I remember a few nice licks by Chambers, but don't really remember much from the others.
DB - With Scott out, Roberson started in his place. There were a few catches against him, but I don't remember him getting beat badly on anything. Word-Daniels looked really good. He's definitely put on a little bit of weight, and isn't afraid to hit anyone. He's very good in coverage, too. DJay Jones made a few mistakes, and Tenuta let him know about it. Two plays (almost in a row), he didn't have tight coverage, and the receiver caught passes on him. To me it looked like he thought the plays were over or something in both instances because he was in position to where he could have had the coverage, but for some reason seemed to ease up. Tony Clark had an interception that would have been returned for a TD off of a tipped pass. Bennett through the ball slightly behind the receiver (#83), who tipped it right to Clark. Marius looks good in coverage, but he is very slight right now.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Durant Brooks has a VERY good leg. Every punt I saw from him was DEEP with good hang time. I was pleased to see that. One low snap ended up being blocked, although I'm not sure if that was the first or second team unit when that happened. Back catching punts were Pat Clark and Correy Earls. There were one or two others back, too, but I don't remember who. There was one muffed punt. I think that was by the infamous #83 again, but I could be wrong, so don't quote me on that! :o
Anyway, those are my observations from yesterday. Feel free to ask questions or add comments. Hopefully I can make it to another practice some time next week.
Obviously, don't get to excited or worked up about anything I say, as one practice isn't necessarily indicative of how things will go once we start playing games, especially since a number of key players were sitting out with minor injuries.
Calvin, James Johnson, Xavier McGuire, Jamaal Evans, Loyall Gause, and Kenny Scott didn't participate in any drills.
OFFENSE
QBs - Reggie is clearly #1. The same thing can be said about Bennett at #2. None of the other QBs even got snaps in the 7v7 or 11v11 drills, and to be honest, I can't say that I was all that impressed with any of them in the other passing drills. To be fair, it's hard to tell much from a drill with just QBs and WRs, but none of the backups stuck out to me. Perhaps that's why we're going after 2 QBs in this recruiting class despite the number we will still have on the roster.
I thought Reggie looked pretty good today. He made good decisions, checking down to other receivers when necessary. He threw one ball toward double coverage in the endzone that I initially thought was a mistake, but it was thrown far enough to where no one could catch it. I doubt his completion % was all that high, but going up against our #1 defense and not having either of our top 2 wideouts hurt there.
Taylor also looked good to me. He was making good decisions and accurate throws for the most part. It definitely hurt him having to have a true freshman walk-on in the backfield with him, though. There was one play in particular in which there was some confusion in the backfield, and Taylor pitched the ball to the RB, who was promptly demolished for about a 5 yard loss.
WR - The wideouts were kind of up and down today with the two Johnsons not out there. There were a few dropped balls, as well as a few nice catches. Dunlap, Frierson, and Smith ran with the first team, and Earls, Thomas, and #83 (Tyler Davis or Andrew Smith, not sure which, or could have been both) ran with the second team. Although he dropped one pass that he should have caught, I was impressed with Demaryius Thomas. He looks ready to play.
RB - Choice looked really good, as I think most of us would expect. I don't really remember Grant running the ball much. With Jamaal Evans and Gause sitting out, true freshman walk-on Tyler Evans ran with the second team. He's small, but very shifty and quick. I was impressed with a few of his runs. However, one play he was pass blocking and Darrell Robertson completely destroyed him. One of the more lopsided hits that I've seen!
TE - The tight ends caught a number of passes today as our defensive backs were doing a good job on the wideouts, so our QBs dumped the ball off a few times. Colin Peek had a nice catch in the corner of the endzone on a perfectly thrown ball from Bennett.
OL - It was hard to get a really good view of all of them from where I was standing, but both the first team and second team seemed to be doing a pretty good job for the most part. At this point, though, Wrotto still needs some more work. He missed a couple of blocks that led to sacks.
DEFENSE
DL - Wow, we're deep here. Richard looks to be back into form, and I don't think I really even need to say anything about Anoai. I really like our ends, too, with Oliver and Robertson. I can't wait to see Michael Johnson next year. He's already put on a bunch of muscle, and I overheard Wes Durham, talking to another fan, say that MJ is up to 250, and they don't think they'll have any trouble putting 25 more pounds on him!
LB - Phillip Wheeler is a ridiculous athlete, and Hall makes plays and is a vocal leader on D. I think both of them will be contending for All-ACC. But I digress...I didn't even need to see practice to have that opinion! Guyton looks steady. Out of the backups, I remember a few nice licks by Chambers, but don't really remember much from the others.
DB - With Scott out, Roberson started in his place. There were a few catches against him, but I don't remember him getting beat badly on anything. Word-Daniels looked really good. He's definitely put on a little bit of weight, and isn't afraid to hit anyone. He's very good in coverage, too. DJay Jones made a few mistakes, and Tenuta let him know about it. Two plays (almost in a row), he didn't have tight coverage, and the receiver caught passes on him. To me it looked like he thought the plays were over or something in both instances because he was in position to where he could have had the coverage, but for some reason seemed to ease up. Tony Clark had an interception that would have been returned for a TD off of a tipped pass. Bennett through the ball slightly behind the receiver (#83), who tipped it right to Clark. Marius looks good in coverage, but he is very slight right now.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Durant Brooks has a VERY good leg. Every punt I saw from him was DEEP with good hang time. I was pleased to see that. One low snap ended up being blocked, although I'm not sure if that was the first or second team unit when that happened. Back catching punts were Pat Clark and Correy Earls. There were one or two others back, too, but I don't remember who. There was one muffed punt. I think that was by the infamous #83 again, but I could be wrong, so don't quote me on that! :o
Anyway, those are my observations from yesterday. Feel free to ask questions or add comments. Hopefully I can make it to another practice some time next week.
