Last nights spring game lacked some of the overall fireworks and flare that we've seen from some games, but it wasn't totally without some excitement. The evening was perfect - sun was out and it was 70 degrees. There was some fun socializing and even a few tailgaters out and about. No band, and the music was... eh, but those were more small details in what was a pleasant evening.
I don't think the scrimmage answered all of our questions / concerns. Maybe that was a little intentional, I wouldn't put that past this coaching staff to do so, but it also did give us a good chance to see a lot of the newer guys on the team. Another thing as well, like the last few spring camps, we had a lot of expected starters either watching, or playing just 1 or 2 series and then giving way to backups. This has been something this staff has done for a few years now, we know what we're getting with many of these guys and we don't need them to "prove it" in a spring scrimmage. It appeared to me that Kale Edwards, Hayden Harris, Riley Wilson, Junior Bergen, Sawyer Racanelli, Drew Deck, Garrett Hustedt, Ryan Tirrell, and Sam Alford were all out entirely. Other guys like Ryder Meyer, Cole Grossman, Eli Gillman, Nick Ostmo appeared to play very sparingly, or just early and then got the rest of the night off.
Guys who stood out
You have to start with the two RBs that got the workload. Steve Rocker, Jr and Asher Croy. Granted, they were going against the 2nd team defense, but both had great evenings. Rocker had 2 TDs and runs the ball so patiently. He played big and physical, read blocks really well, and overall showed that he's going to be a guy that will not be left off the field this season. He'll pair really well with Ostmo in that bigger/physical back role. Asher Croy, still listed as an LB, was a damn bulldozer out there. I saw this from him most of the spring, he looks like Mike Alstott out there just plowing through guys but still having surprisingly good agility with his feet. Could he be a fullback / short yardage guy?
I think many of our new transfers made multiple plays to show they are going to be starters and major contributors. DT Pat Hayden showed a good motor up the middle and had a sack in the game. DE Andres Lehrmann had a sack/fumble that the refs called an incomplete pass but it was clearly a forced fumble (Bobby was overruling some calls through the evening). LB Vai Kaho had some tremendous hits, he runs with force and is a major hitter. Everett Johnson was starting at guard on the OL. I'd already mentioned Rocker, Jr. Logan Fife at QB is in the mix - I'll talk more on QBs in a few. S Chrishawn Gordon was rotating in with the 1st team as one of the 3 safeties on the field, especially once Meyer and then Lee were given more time off. Kenzel Lawler was on the field a bunch, I'd have to defer to others, it looked to me like he was playing some slot/nickel safety, but I could be wrong there.
Xavier Harris has seemingly moved to a slot / wing back role. He was in motion a lot, played the first half and I think was given the rest off. His combo of quickness and agility is going to be fun to see out there. He's going to get handoffs, screens, and as they showed last night - they'll send him down the field on verticals as well. We could see 4 wide sets that are White/Fontes/Bergen/Harris and maybe even 5 wide where you add Grossman into the mix. Fun stuff.
I though both 1st team and 2nd team OL did really well run blocking. Not too many runs stopped behind the line of scrimmage and our backs had time to make decisions once handed the ball. I guess that could toss concern to the DL/front 7 but I'll focus on the positive. Pass protection wasn't as good though, work to be done on that side.
With the graduation of quite a few safeties we've seen for years we got some glimpses of the future at safety. Jace Klucewich appeared to be at safety and made a few great pass breakups in a row on Ah Yat passes to Harris. TJ Rausch had maybe the highlight reel play of the night - intercepting a pass that bounced off an intended RB's hands and taking it to the house for a TD. Rausch had some tackles and I think another PBU. I think we'll see him on the field a lot this year. Tyson Rostad had a few breakups as well.
A few guys you knew you'd see make a splash did just that, Aaron Fontes hauled in a deep Huot pass, Ostmo had a great 1-handed catch to convert a 4th down. Glasgow drilled a few long field goal attempts. Cooper Barnum and Vince Genatone were up with the 1st team LBs and Barnum was a damn menace most of the night, largely in blitzing / added pass rush situations.
One guy who had a few plays and who I saw a bit in other practices is #20 BJ Phillips, a smaller WR who played for a D2 school in Minnesota. He's listed as a junior and 5-9, 165 pounds. Not really a type of guy we see this team recruit a lot but he has some great returning skills and fun/fast moves as a slot WR.
Areas of concern
Can't sugar coat it, from this fan's perspective QB play wasn't good. There were moments, but it was choppy and inconsistent most of the night. I saw better play from 4 of the 5 QBs in some of the practices I saw, so I know these guys can perform better. However, if it was jitters or just an off night or whatever for a spring game, then that's a major issue come game time. The good news is we've got summer and fall camp to hopefully iron this out, but honestly if you just watched this one game you wouldn't have much of a clue as to who should start.
Ah Yat - opened the scrimmage, seems to be holding QB1 right now. His first two series were 3 and outs, he was scrambling a lot, only had short throws. As the night went on he got a little more comfortable, did lead a drive for a field goal in a 2 minute drill situation, and actually ran the ball a bit. It looked to me that he had some more options downfield but didn't take them early. Then when he did he was throwing to Harris in double coverage and didn't put the ball where it needed to be to make a catch. Seems to me he needed a few series to get into the groove and he did look better as things went on.
Fife - Equally shaky start but did lead a field goal drive that had a handful of dropped / bad snaps, broken plays, and all sorts of chaos. Fife appears to do better when plays break down and he has to leave the pocket. He had a few nice throws finding WRs that were helping him out as he was scrambling. I think he had a drive that ended with a Rocker score as well. He got the opening reps in the 2nd half and as I recall the offense went nowhere.
Huot - Had a long bomb pass to Fontes that was great, scrambled around a bit too. He's seemingly far more confident in the pocket than he used to be. Had some other series that weren't as great, and a pick 6. Hard to really pin the pick 6 on him, probably needed to place the ball better to Dantic and it did hit Dantic in the hands - tough all around.
Vidlak - Sam was more mobile/active than I'd previously seen but it appeared to me that the coaches wanted him to keep his eyes downfield more than he was. There was a play I recall that Sam ran for a first down but Bobby stopped the play and called it a sack (it wasn't) in an effort to keep the offense pinned and not reward the scramble. I think Vidlak's reps got some things going but it was mostly on the legs of Rocker and Croy and not so much in the air.
Sliter - Dude had a beauty of a fade pass TD to Klumph. He didn't play til the near end and was mostly sending in plays through the scrimmage. My assumption is that with super limited reps the coaching staff doesn't see him as ready yet... still was kind of a fun guy to watch!
Beyond the QBs my other concerns were shotgun snaps from the centers, they were bad. They had to rotate guys to get the snaps down. Pass protection wasn't good enough either, all of the QBs had too much pressure. The punting game was... odd. No punt rush or protection as usual - just let the guys smash it. There was one deep bomb that landed on the 3 but then a few shanks too.
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Overall a scrimmage I generally expected, I just wish we saw a little better play from the QBs, especially considering the QBs had the near full contingent of their expected starter skill / OL players and were up against defenses that had quite a few main contributors out. Lots to work on and improve for the Griz but overall I think they've got a team that's coming together well. I noticed a lot of the newer guys were communicating a lot with long time roster guys and there seemed to be really good respect for all to help learn and improve.
I don't think the scrimmage answered all of our questions / concerns. Maybe that was a little intentional, I wouldn't put that past this coaching staff to do so, but it also did give us a good chance to see a lot of the newer guys on the team. Another thing as well, like the last few spring camps, we had a lot of expected starters either watching, or playing just 1 or 2 series and then giving way to backups. This has been something this staff has done for a few years now, we know what we're getting with many of these guys and we don't need them to "prove it" in a spring scrimmage. It appeared to me that Kale Edwards, Hayden Harris, Riley Wilson, Junior Bergen, Sawyer Racanelli, Drew Deck, Garrett Hustedt, Ryan Tirrell, and Sam Alford were all out entirely. Other guys like Ryder Meyer, Cole Grossman, Eli Gillman, Nick Ostmo appeared to play very sparingly, or just early and then got the rest of the night off.
Guys who stood out
You have to start with the two RBs that got the workload. Steve Rocker, Jr and Asher Croy. Granted, they were going against the 2nd team defense, but both had great evenings. Rocker had 2 TDs and runs the ball so patiently. He played big and physical, read blocks really well, and overall showed that he's going to be a guy that will not be left off the field this season. He'll pair really well with Ostmo in that bigger/physical back role. Asher Croy, still listed as an LB, was a damn bulldozer out there. I saw this from him most of the spring, he looks like Mike Alstott out there just plowing through guys but still having surprisingly good agility with his feet. Could he be a fullback / short yardage guy?
I think many of our new transfers made multiple plays to show they are going to be starters and major contributors. DT Pat Hayden showed a good motor up the middle and had a sack in the game. DE Andres Lehrmann had a sack/fumble that the refs called an incomplete pass but it was clearly a forced fumble (Bobby was overruling some calls through the evening). LB Vai Kaho had some tremendous hits, he runs with force and is a major hitter. Everett Johnson was starting at guard on the OL. I'd already mentioned Rocker, Jr. Logan Fife at QB is in the mix - I'll talk more on QBs in a few. S Chrishawn Gordon was rotating in with the 1st team as one of the 3 safeties on the field, especially once Meyer and then Lee were given more time off. Kenzel Lawler was on the field a bunch, I'd have to defer to others, it looked to me like he was playing some slot/nickel safety, but I could be wrong there.
Xavier Harris has seemingly moved to a slot / wing back role. He was in motion a lot, played the first half and I think was given the rest off. His combo of quickness and agility is going to be fun to see out there. He's going to get handoffs, screens, and as they showed last night - they'll send him down the field on verticals as well. We could see 4 wide sets that are White/Fontes/Bergen/Harris and maybe even 5 wide where you add Grossman into the mix. Fun stuff.
I though both 1st team and 2nd team OL did really well run blocking. Not too many runs stopped behind the line of scrimmage and our backs had time to make decisions once handed the ball. I guess that could toss concern to the DL/front 7 but I'll focus on the positive. Pass protection wasn't as good though, work to be done on that side.
With the graduation of quite a few safeties we've seen for years we got some glimpses of the future at safety. Jace Klucewich appeared to be at safety and made a few great pass breakups in a row on Ah Yat passes to Harris. TJ Rausch had maybe the highlight reel play of the night - intercepting a pass that bounced off an intended RB's hands and taking it to the house for a TD. Rausch had some tackles and I think another PBU. I think we'll see him on the field a lot this year. Tyson Rostad had a few breakups as well.
A few guys you knew you'd see make a splash did just that, Aaron Fontes hauled in a deep Huot pass, Ostmo had a great 1-handed catch to convert a 4th down. Glasgow drilled a few long field goal attempts. Cooper Barnum and Vince Genatone were up with the 1st team LBs and Barnum was a damn menace most of the night, largely in blitzing / added pass rush situations.
One guy who had a few plays and who I saw a bit in other practices is #20 BJ Phillips, a smaller WR who played for a D2 school in Minnesota. He's listed as a junior and 5-9, 165 pounds. Not really a type of guy we see this team recruit a lot but he has some great returning skills and fun/fast moves as a slot WR.
Areas of concern
Can't sugar coat it, from this fan's perspective QB play wasn't good. There were moments, but it was choppy and inconsistent most of the night. I saw better play from 4 of the 5 QBs in some of the practices I saw, so I know these guys can perform better. However, if it was jitters or just an off night or whatever for a spring game, then that's a major issue come game time. The good news is we've got summer and fall camp to hopefully iron this out, but honestly if you just watched this one game you wouldn't have much of a clue as to who should start.
Ah Yat - opened the scrimmage, seems to be holding QB1 right now. His first two series were 3 and outs, he was scrambling a lot, only had short throws. As the night went on he got a little more comfortable, did lead a drive for a field goal in a 2 minute drill situation, and actually ran the ball a bit. It looked to me that he had some more options downfield but didn't take them early. Then when he did he was throwing to Harris in double coverage and didn't put the ball where it needed to be to make a catch. Seems to me he needed a few series to get into the groove and he did look better as things went on.
Fife - Equally shaky start but did lead a field goal drive that had a handful of dropped / bad snaps, broken plays, and all sorts of chaos. Fife appears to do better when plays break down and he has to leave the pocket. He had a few nice throws finding WRs that were helping him out as he was scrambling. I think he had a drive that ended with a Rocker score as well. He got the opening reps in the 2nd half and as I recall the offense went nowhere.
Huot - Had a long bomb pass to Fontes that was great, scrambled around a bit too. He's seemingly far more confident in the pocket than he used to be. Had some other series that weren't as great, and a pick 6. Hard to really pin the pick 6 on him, probably needed to place the ball better to Dantic and it did hit Dantic in the hands - tough all around.
Vidlak - Sam was more mobile/active than I'd previously seen but it appeared to me that the coaches wanted him to keep his eyes downfield more than he was. There was a play I recall that Sam ran for a first down but Bobby stopped the play and called it a sack (it wasn't) in an effort to keep the offense pinned and not reward the scramble. I think Vidlak's reps got some things going but it was mostly on the legs of Rocker and Croy and not so much in the air.
Sliter - Dude had a beauty of a fade pass TD to Klumph. He didn't play til the near end and was mostly sending in plays through the scrimmage. My assumption is that with super limited reps the coaching staff doesn't see him as ready yet... still was kind of a fun guy to watch!
Beyond the QBs my other concerns were shotgun snaps from the centers, they were bad. They had to rotate guys to get the snaps down. Pass protection wasn't good enough either, all of the QBs had too much pressure. The punting game was... odd. No punt rush or protection as usual - just let the guys smash it. There was one deep bomb that landed on the 3 but then a few shanks too.
----
Overall a scrimmage I generally expected, I just wish we saw a little better play from the QBs, especially considering the QBs had the near full contingent of their expected starter skill / OL players and were up against defenses that had quite a few main contributors out. Lots to work on and improve for the Griz but overall I think they've got a team that's coming together well. I noticed a lot of the newer guys were communicating a lot with long time roster guys and there seemed to be really good respect for all to help learn and improve.
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