Practice Report

A

Axe

Flats Noob
Joined
Dec 31, 2001
Messages
539
Howdy guys. I got the chance to go to both practices this weekend. Here are some of my random thoughts. If you have any specific questions, fire away. I've read the articles from the AJC and MT and I thought they were a little silly. These practices were basically just helmets and shells so you can't talk much about long gains, catches etc. This was basically touch football.

1. Bilbo: Guys I'm so blown away by Bilbo from a physical standpoint. He is just such a fluid athlete for a guy his size. IMHO, he has the best arm, mechanics and natural running ability. Obviously, I don't know how well he is picking up the offense but he is cleary the most talented. I think he has some good leadership skills as well. I'm not one to throw around praise but if he really picks up the offense and an understanding of the game he will be a 1st or 2nd round pick when he leaves GT.

2. Other QBs: Hall and Suggs also did some nice things. Like I said I can't tell what is going on upstairs with these kids, so one of the 3 might win the job because that QB just has a better understanding of what he is doing. I've said on here many times that Suggs has decent wheels for a big guy. All 3 of the QBs showed they could make plays running the football. All of them have better arm strength than Godsey, the question is can they get the football to the right place. The thing I like is all the QBs look to be good compeitiors.

3. o-line size: Robinson looks a lot bigger and stronger. The Left side of the line looks very LARGE. Tarquinio, Phillips, and Bennett all look like they need some more time to get healthy. At least they've been able to participate in some of the drills. Depth is still a concern here but it is a very impressive group of guys. Coach Joe D looks a lot like Mac out there. Very enthusiastic, looks to be a good teacher. If we get(stay) healthy we should be very good on the o-line.

4. Coaches-Coach Wilson was there and you can tell he is going to really help us on the recruiting trail. IMHO, Coach Nix is going to be a star. He just has something about him. He's the type of guy that can push you but not beat you up at the same time. 5 years from now or sooner, he will be a name in demand. Coach Tenuta was very much in charge but not overbearing. I think he's going to have the defense playing very well.

5. Team Attitude-The team was the most upbeat at practice that I've seen during a practice. Lots of competition between offense and defense. They seemed to be having a lot of fun. Hopefully, that will translate into wins.

I couldn't really think of everything, so if you have questions, just fire away.
 
Axe,

I'd love to hear any comments on D-line and cornerbacks. Did you see anyone out there that looks like they're gonna make an impact at those positions? We need a couple of guys to really step up this year at defensive tackle. I know it's too early to say much, but if you have any insight based on what you saw, I'd appreciate it.
 
First I'll start with where players were playing, excuse me if I forget anyone:

Defensive Ends: Gathers, Holiday, Henderson, Hargrove, Parker, Williams, Furlong

Defensive Tackles: Johnson, Malone, Loesch, Wright, Koon, Billy, Lee

As you said, it's very early and the guys were just in helmets and shells, so I really can't report anything. We still have a ways to go from a size standpoint, but clearly we have the best group of athletes we have had in a long time. I also see a lot of guys that can help us. My guess is all the DTs I listed will play this year and help. We are still small, but those guys are bigger and stronger than in years past. I thought Loesch and Koon looked to be in better shape and Wright looked bigger. He's a good third down guy. Billy has always been a guy I'm very high on.

Cornerbacks: Poree, Hester, Houston, Cox, Rhino, Davis

Safety: Muyres, Collins, Butler, Burton

As you can see, we need the Freshman safties to arrive soon. We are running very low on Safties and as the paper reported Butler hurt his hamstring. IMHO, I'm much more worried about safety than corner. Poree was running with the first team and made some nice plays. He just needs to get his confidence back. Houston and Cox looked solid as well, although we will have to wait till the pads go on. Muyres is the leader at Safety and we need Butler healthy, because IMHO we need some more range back there. I would imagine that Reis and the other safties will be in the mix come fall. Still a lot of construction work left to be done in the d-backfield.
 
Axe,

I hope Poree can get his confidence back. Maybe this particular coaching staff can do a better job of pushing the right buttons.

Thanks for the update. You're right. Safety is probably a bigger worry than CB, for depth if no other reason.

With that in mind, I'd love for future updates to have a blurb or 2 about how Tenuta deals with the DB's. That's his biggest strength, I think, so I think we'll be much better in this area than in the past. I'm really excited about having him as a DC.
 
THANKS Axe on behalf of all us out of towners! Attitude, the fun quotient that seems to be present, and the attention on FUNDAMENTALS (as mentioned by Master B) ALL make me excited about the upcoming season. The QB race will be GREAT to watch. I can't remember us being THIS deep with THIS much talent EVER! What a blessing.
 
The thing that really gets me excited is that no one outside of GT fans think we'll do anything this year. I like being the nobody, forgotten-about underdog. Makes it that much more fun when we stick the knife in them.

Remember that feeling when we did that very thing in Clemson in 2000 vs. a team ranked in the top 5? I hope we can do that this year to someone.
 
Regarding the RBs, no pads still too early to tell much of anything. Ford stood out the most to me. He looked very quick and explosive. I think the key with Ford is the little things and he needs to run in the games with more confidence, but he is very good in practice.

Camp probably throws the nicest ball of any of the QBs. I just never thought he looked real accurate and he lacks height for the position. I would imagine he is back at QB because he knows the offense and probably wasn't going to be a big factor at FB. He does have a good arm though, I'd imagine he will be helpful in the meeting room.
 
AXE, thanks for your report.
How are the LB looking?
Is Lawston backing up Smith??
Has Bowers-Wilkerson added any weight??
shocked.gif
 
LB Report:

Tugboat and Ather Brown are out of practice right now. I would imagine that Tugboat would be the backup MLB when healthy. Ather could probably take some snaps there as well.

Lawston is currently working at OLB. I didn't get a good luck at him during full team drills. Etheridge was working as the 2nd Team MLB with Tugboat out. Kuale and Sterling Green were getting plenty of work as well. Sterling made a nice interception in team drills. Kuale is very quick but he needs to add size. Bowers-Wilkinson was out there but I didn't see anything that jumped out. He was at OLB as well. We will know more once the pads go on.
 
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