As predicted and somewhat deserved the usually nervous twitter posts and egriz thoughts start flowing out. Thoughts of a losing 2017 record, coaches being fired, certain position groups being worse than ever, certain coaches not doing things that posters think they should, and so on and so forth.
Take today for what it was worth. The defense played very well save a few breakdowns by the 2nd team safeties that lead to big plays and the 1st team offense had a bad showing overall.
Now before you guys go freaking out claiming a losing season is on the horizon I'd counter with the fact that the 1st team offense didn't have a bad spring. They had a bad scrimmage today. They had good scrimmages too, yet some fans will only cling to the last thing they saw.
Some thoughts from today:
- Reese Phillips had a bad damn day. Sure Josh Sandry probably knew those sideline routes were coming but what's not to say other teams won't game-prep for that too? Phillips was slow in his delivery there or didn't recognize what was coming. They were bad throws that lead to even worse results.
- Gresch Jensen was choppy, a better day than his 2nd scrimmage but he hasn't passed anyone in depth yet I don't think. Gresch did have the 1 TD drive for the 1st team and maybe the throw of the day, back peddling and into the wind 50 yards to Jerry.
- Caleb Hill showed what he can bring to the table but it was against the 2s (and technically the 3s in some regards). I see posters asking why he didn't get 1st team reps today, I think the coaches know he's still new enough and building enough that he's not there for 1st team reps. This fall though it'll be interesting if he can try to break through.
- The D-line, despite not even having Davidson and Shaw, is damn good. People are quick to bash the OL for today but some can't seem to wrap their head around the possibility that this D-line is pretty deep on the inside even without two main contributors and has 1 great edge pass rusher in Schye and two good/upcoming comes in Favoroso and Rodriguez.
- The 2nd team linebackers killed it this spring. Lewis, Cochran, and Fa'atuise were playing out of their mind great and it carried over again today. I think all three had TFLs and maybe even a few sacks spread across the three of them. Add in that these guys will be backing up and subbing in for our expected starting three this year and LB is looking like it's pretty loaded.
- The young corners have greatly eased my concerns about the depth. Yeah they're raw but Nash has two picks in three scrimmages, Egbo turned it up today and Cowans had multiple breakups as well. These guys are freak athletes. Yeah they're young and make mistakes but I think they have the physical tools to be impact players in the future. CB is light on experience behind it's two starters which will lead to growing pains but it isn't light on talent.
- The O-line appeared to take a step back after a promising 2nd scrimmage. David Reese is big missing piece here. When you don't have your senior 3 year starter LT out there it makes a difference. He'll be good to go for the fall and that'll have some impact. Will it fix everything? Nope. Beaver as the backup LT shows flashes of great stuff, IMO. Great footwork overall, I'm told he usually grades out pretty well. Run blocking needs to improve. Ralston made more errors today that he had in the last two scrimmages but had good moments too. For this group it's really about consistency IMO. I think on the interior we've got center set with Sprunk and then Meyer. Guard has Villanueva, Luke, and Hart who all show the right stuff for being guys that could start and play well. Tackle has Beaver, Jackson, and Scott battling for backups. With them it's up and down, but it's something regularly seen with RS-Frosh guys. I'm not sure what some fans expect, that every RS-frosh should play as good as a 4 or 5 year senior? It's not great right now and the time to improve is very short, I hope it gets there sooner than later.
- Josh Sandry and Justin Strong are going to torment more QBs than just Reese Phillips lol, however they sure were major forces on defense today.
- Rey Green's patience as a runner is something we've not seen much for Griz RBs who usually attack fast. Green once again had a few plays where he would hesitate and wait for gaps to develop to turn for sure losses into some sort of good gain.
- Loved to see Akem play more physical today. Toure a nice TD. The guys last year who were totally inexperienced players in Calhoun, Curran, JLM, Horner, Bingham, and Simis now look and play like smart and grizzled vets. Add in guys like Akem, Toure, McLaughlin, and then some that are missing this spring like Lyons and you've built up a good WR corps. However as possibly suggested I've not seen anything this spring to suggest that of the 4 returning starters one is going to actually lose his starting job.
- More hand-wringing over Tim Semenza but keep in mind the 2nd team offense (and thus 2nd team ST) did most of the PAT/FG work. Tim's missed PAT rolled over a missed fieldgoal, I could be wrong but I think that's the first PAT he missed this spring. Purdy remains the #1 kicker and didn't miss any PATs this whole spring I don't think. Purdy (the presumed backup punter) had 1 bad punt and 1 ok punt and the rest were good. Williams the main punter had a few good ones and 1 iffy one. Punting is fine.
- A thing not commented on here at all, did you guys notice some of what the defense showed? Sims a pick, he dropped into coverage on a zone blitz. Some cover-2 and cover-3 again that was shown in the other scrimmages too. The athleticism of the corners allows them to make a play on the ball and greatly reduce getting beat deep. Hill had two TD passes both in the same spot where the 2nd/3rd string safety was out of position. Other than that bigger plays were greatly limited
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Look Griz nation, it's spring ball. They're setting the base offense up, testing toughness, and working to see who can step up under pressure and who will fold. The offense and defense aren't game-planning against each other (told to me by 2 coaches) and are running sets that both sides know are coming. That's not an excuse for the lack of a showing by the 1st team offense today but it gives possible hint to what probably contributed to today.
In my opinion:
- This was the best run Stitt spring camp start to finish with a balance of toughness, competition, team building, and offense/defense installation.
- While QB remains murky I think we're in good (not great) shape for a solid starter. Summer drills and early fall will set the pace. However the 3 guys on this roster have all shown they can be effective in this offense.
- The interior D-line and LBs are at least 2 deep with guys that will play this year, and not just on ST.
- O-line needs to take the biggest strides this off-season
- WRs will not be nearly as mistake prone in 2017 as they were in 2016 and that'll benefit the offense as a whole.
- the running game greatly needs Calhoun back and Favors/Green to sink in to roles to share carries
- Sanders/McKinley/Egbo/Nash/Cowans could be the most athletically gifted CB crew we've ever seen. Lack of depth experience will be felt though, but the future is bright.
- I'm not worried about the kicking game at the moment
- I'm greatly encouraged by how the defensive coaches have worked in some great stuff in the three scrimmages we saw this spring.
- Team unity appears to be at an all time high under Stitt. Guys helping other guys up, supporting each other, helping correct each other. Even if it's offense against defense guys. This is a great progression of team cohesiveness and that could be an awesome help to this crew.
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So lets give congrats to the defense for ending this spring scrimmage as the shining stars. Most Griz fans were freaking out about the defense after the 2016 season and today suggests that these guys are playing with a mind set to correct that. The 1 defense was without Buss, Strahm, Banks, Davidson, and Shaw today. Add these dudes back in and look out.
Great reps for the youth on the team this season. Guys most of you hadn't heard or seen much before like Burton, Fousch, McKenzie, and Maua had some flashes in a few scrimmages. Other young guys that presumably won't be big impact guys this year are showing the future is bright too in 2018 and beyond.
Going to post a fan's wild-ass guess of a 2-deep tomorrow (hopefully) and will give more thoughts on the spring. It was a good spring camp, GO GRIZ!
Take today for what it was worth. The defense played very well save a few breakdowns by the 2nd team safeties that lead to big plays and the 1st team offense had a bad showing overall.
Now before you guys go freaking out claiming a losing season is on the horizon I'd counter with the fact that the 1st team offense didn't have a bad spring. They had a bad scrimmage today. They had good scrimmages too, yet some fans will only cling to the last thing they saw.
Some thoughts from today:
- Reese Phillips had a bad damn day. Sure Josh Sandry probably knew those sideline routes were coming but what's not to say other teams won't game-prep for that too? Phillips was slow in his delivery there or didn't recognize what was coming. They were bad throws that lead to even worse results.
- Gresch Jensen was choppy, a better day than his 2nd scrimmage but he hasn't passed anyone in depth yet I don't think. Gresch did have the 1 TD drive for the 1st team and maybe the throw of the day, back peddling and into the wind 50 yards to Jerry.
- Caleb Hill showed what he can bring to the table but it was against the 2s (and technically the 3s in some regards). I see posters asking why he didn't get 1st team reps today, I think the coaches know he's still new enough and building enough that he's not there for 1st team reps. This fall though it'll be interesting if he can try to break through.
- The D-line, despite not even having Davidson and Shaw, is damn good. People are quick to bash the OL for today but some can't seem to wrap their head around the possibility that this D-line is pretty deep on the inside even without two main contributors and has 1 great edge pass rusher in Schye and two good/upcoming comes in Favoroso and Rodriguez.
- The 2nd team linebackers killed it this spring. Lewis, Cochran, and Fa'atuise were playing out of their mind great and it carried over again today. I think all three had TFLs and maybe even a few sacks spread across the three of them. Add in that these guys will be backing up and subbing in for our expected starting three this year and LB is looking like it's pretty loaded.
- The young corners have greatly eased my concerns about the depth. Yeah they're raw but Nash has two picks in three scrimmages, Egbo turned it up today and Cowans had multiple breakups as well. These guys are freak athletes. Yeah they're young and make mistakes but I think they have the physical tools to be impact players in the future. CB is light on experience behind it's two starters which will lead to growing pains but it isn't light on talent.
- The O-line appeared to take a step back after a promising 2nd scrimmage. David Reese is big missing piece here. When you don't have your senior 3 year starter LT out there it makes a difference. He'll be good to go for the fall and that'll have some impact. Will it fix everything? Nope. Beaver as the backup LT shows flashes of great stuff, IMO. Great footwork overall, I'm told he usually grades out pretty well. Run blocking needs to improve. Ralston made more errors today that he had in the last two scrimmages but had good moments too. For this group it's really about consistency IMO. I think on the interior we've got center set with Sprunk and then Meyer. Guard has Villanueva, Luke, and Hart who all show the right stuff for being guys that could start and play well. Tackle has Beaver, Jackson, and Scott battling for backups. With them it's up and down, but it's something regularly seen with RS-Frosh guys. I'm not sure what some fans expect, that every RS-frosh should play as good as a 4 or 5 year senior? It's not great right now and the time to improve is very short, I hope it gets there sooner than later.
- Josh Sandry and Justin Strong are going to torment more QBs than just Reese Phillips lol, however they sure were major forces on defense today.
- Rey Green's patience as a runner is something we've not seen much for Griz RBs who usually attack fast. Green once again had a few plays where he would hesitate and wait for gaps to develop to turn for sure losses into some sort of good gain.
- Loved to see Akem play more physical today. Toure a nice TD. The guys last year who were totally inexperienced players in Calhoun, Curran, JLM, Horner, Bingham, and Simis now look and play like smart and grizzled vets. Add in guys like Akem, Toure, McLaughlin, and then some that are missing this spring like Lyons and you've built up a good WR corps. However as possibly suggested I've not seen anything this spring to suggest that of the 4 returning starters one is going to actually lose his starting job.
- More hand-wringing over Tim Semenza but keep in mind the 2nd team offense (and thus 2nd team ST) did most of the PAT/FG work. Tim's missed PAT rolled over a missed fieldgoal, I could be wrong but I think that's the first PAT he missed this spring. Purdy remains the #1 kicker and didn't miss any PATs this whole spring I don't think. Purdy (the presumed backup punter) had 1 bad punt and 1 ok punt and the rest were good. Williams the main punter had a few good ones and 1 iffy one. Punting is fine.
- A thing not commented on here at all, did you guys notice some of what the defense showed? Sims a pick, he dropped into coverage on a zone blitz. Some cover-2 and cover-3 again that was shown in the other scrimmages too. The athleticism of the corners allows them to make a play on the ball and greatly reduce getting beat deep. Hill had two TD passes both in the same spot where the 2nd/3rd string safety was out of position. Other than that bigger plays were greatly limited
-----------
Look Griz nation, it's spring ball. They're setting the base offense up, testing toughness, and working to see who can step up under pressure and who will fold. The offense and defense aren't game-planning against each other (told to me by 2 coaches) and are running sets that both sides know are coming. That's not an excuse for the lack of a showing by the 1st team offense today but it gives possible hint to what probably contributed to today.
In my opinion:
- This was the best run Stitt spring camp start to finish with a balance of toughness, competition, team building, and offense/defense installation.
- While QB remains murky I think we're in good (not great) shape for a solid starter. Summer drills and early fall will set the pace. However the 3 guys on this roster have all shown they can be effective in this offense.
- The interior D-line and LBs are at least 2 deep with guys that will play this year, and not just on ST.
- O-line needs to take the biggest strides this off-season
- WRs will not be nearly as mistake prone in 2017 as they were in 2016 and that'll benefit the offense as a whole.
- the running game greatly needs Calhoun back and Favors/Green to sink in to roles to share carries
- Sanders/McKinley/Egbo/Nash/Cowans could be the most athletically gifted CB crew we've ever seen. Lack of depth experience will be felt though, but the future is bright.
- I'm not worried about the kicking game at the moment
- I'm greatly encouraged by how the defensive coaches have worked in some great stuff in the three scrimmages we saw this spring.
- Team unity appears to be at an all time high under Stitt. Guys helping other guys up, supporting each other, helping correct each other. Even if it's offense against defense guys. This is a great progression of team cohesiveness and that could be an awesome help to this crew.
-----------
So lets give congrats to the defense for ending this spring scrimmage as the shining stars. Most Griz fans were freaking out about the defense after the 2016 season and today suggests that these guys are playing with a mind set to correct that. The 1 defense was without Buss, Strahm, Banks, Davidson, and Shaw today. Add these dudes back in and look out.
Great reps for the youth on the team this season. Guys most of you hadn't heard or seen much before like Burton, Fousch, McKenzie, and Maua had some flashes in a few scrimmages. Other young guys that presumably won't be big impact guys this year are showing the future is bright too in 2018 and beyond.
Going to post a fan's wild-ass guess of a 2-deep tomorrow (hopefully) and will give more thoughts on the spring. It was a good spring camp, GO GRIZ!