Spring Practice

[Jasper]

Spent a hour or so watching the first day of practice. It was naturally somewhat subdued but spirited nevertheless. Hard to tell a lot in helmets and shorts but it was fun to watch the one on one throw and catch drills. We have lots of guys who do both very well I am happy to say. Carson Jones looked good but I paid a lot of attention to the new kid on the block, Trey Hedden. He throws a very tight spiral that is also a very catchable ball. What really impressed me was the catchers though. Colton Hinton (now # 1) looked tremendous. He beat every D back he went against with his speed and burst to the ball on deep balls. Made a few circus catches as well. This kid may be a great one. Ben Ferguson simply catches everything thrown to him and has strong after catch moves as well. I noticed a walk on D back named Jake Pendleton who made 2 great interceptions. I was talking with one of the grad interns who was a receiver for us last year and he said this kid is a superior athlete who is raising eyebrows with the staff. Might be another find. The skill positions on this team appear to be well staffed. More on the other positions when they put on pads and do some hitting. I get the feeling that will be more than a rebuilding year after the loss of 40 or so players. The cupboard is far from bare.

Talked to someone who has seen both practices and concur. "Tampa Bay Trey" has a G5 arm, can flat sling it. Carson looks very good. Receivers can really run and catch. Offense looks very good early. Agree offense skill is very strong. One caveat to "wow are receivers are great" - we are pretty thin at corner at the moment, have like 3 guys healthy right now I think and they are all FR/SO. Going to be young there this year. Might need to move one of our Safeties to Corner.

Keep on eye on the Pendleton kid. He showed some exceptional athleticism on the field the other day. If that can be properly harnessed, he could be a real find. Listed at free safety right now but might be candidate for move to CB.

[cavedweller2]

Spent a hour or so watching the first day of practice. It was naturally somewhat subdued but spirited nevertheless. Hard to tell a lot in helmets and shorts but it was fun to watch the one on one throw and catch drills. We have lots of guys who do both very well I am happy to say. Carson Jones looked good but I paid a lot of attention to the new kid on the block, Trey Hedden. He throws a very tight spiral that is also a very catchable ball. What really impressed me was the catchers though. Colton Hinton (now # 1) looked tremendous. He beat every D back he went against with his speed and burst to the ball on deep balls. Made a few circus catches as well. This kid may be a great one. Ben Ferguson simply catches everything thrown to him and has strong after catch moves as well. I noticed a walk on D back named Jake Pendleton who made 2 great interceptions. I was talking with one of the grad interns who was a receiver for us last year and he said this kid is a superior athlete who is raising eyebrows with the staff. Might be another find. The skill positions on this team appear to be well staffed. More on the other positions when they put on pads and do some hitting. I get the feeling that will be more than a rebuilding year after the loss of 40 or so players. The cupboard is far from bare.

Talked to someone who has seen both practices and concur. "Tampa Bay Trey" has a G5 arm, can flat sling it. Carson looks very good. Receivers can really run and catch. Offense looks very good early. Agree offense skill is very strong. One caveat to "wow are receivers are great" - we are pretty thin at corner at the moment, have like 3 guys healthy right now I think and they are all FR/SO. Going to be young there this year. Might need to move one of our Safeties to Corner.

It helps that our young corners work against our receivers. They won’t see many better during the year.

[Jasper]

Dropped into practice for about an hour today. Pads on - real football today. Some observations - keeping in mind that practice jerseys and game numbers are not in sync so it is difficult to identify some of the players:
1. The running back contingent is lean at the moment. 5 or 6 yellow shirts with the unit who are still recovering from last season injuries. The only known entity participating was Grant Robinson. Looks like the injured will not be participating at all in spring practice. - a few still in braces.
2. There are a dozen O lineman in that unit who are competing hard for PT. I hear we are also engaged with some grad recruits at this time.
3. In the one on one passing drills, Ferguson continues to hang on to everything thrown into his zip code, Jalen Walker and John Holbrook joined the list of impressive pass catchers with great grabs. Ran a pitch sweep wide to Colton Hinton that he is running untouched.
4. The QB contingent is plentiful and strong throwers. In drill and scrimmages, the usual schollie/class pecking order is in effect with Jones taking first snaps, followed by Garcia (don't fall asleep on this kid - very impressive today) and then Hedden. The walk-ons can fling the ball pretty damn well also.
5. Brock Chappel taking first snaps at TE - looks big and strong. Josh Harris, Hinton and Ferguson lined up with first receiving unit today. O line had Petit, Hundley, Norman and Lamb.
6. Defense looked very strong against the run today, not so much vs the pass. We kind of expected that and it will improve. Will concentrate on D in next visit. My aging bladder did not allow me to stay longer today.

[FUATT]

As noted, injury bug is biting. Need to get a hold of that situation.

[AllTimeFU]

Dropped into practice for about an hour today. Pads on - real football today. Some observations - keeping in mind that practice jerseys and game numbers are not in sync so it is difficult to identify some of the players:
1. The running back contingent is lean at the moment. 5 or 6 yellow shirts with the unit who are still recovering from last season injuries. The only known entity participating was Grant Robinson. Looks like the injured will not be participating at all in spring practice. - a few still in braces.
2. There are a dozen O lineman in that unit who are competing hard for PT. I hear we are also engaged with some grad recruits at this time.
3. In the one on one passing drills, Ferguson continues to hang on to everything thrown into his zip code, Jalen Walker and John Holbrook joined the list of impressive pass catchers with great grabs. Ran a pitch sweep wide to Colton Hinton that he is running untouched.
4. The QB contingent is plentiful and strong throwers. In drill and scrimmages, the usual schollie/class pecking order is in effect with Jones taking first snaps, followed by Garcia (don't fall asleep on this kid - very impressive today) and then Hedden. The walk-ons can fling the ball pretty damn well also.
5. Brock Chappel taking first snaps at TE - looks big and strong. Josh Harris, Hinton and Ferguson lined up with first receiving unit today. O line had Petit, Hundley, Norman and Lamb.
6. Defense looked very strong against the run today, not so much vs the pass. We kind of expected that and it will improve. Will concentrate on D in next visit. My aging bladder did not allow me to stay longer today.

Presume Petit, Hundley, Norman and Lamb was LT, LG, RT, RG in order above. Who did you see as the line general at C?

[AllTimeFU]

Any observers at practice today?

[Jasper]

Any observers at practice today?

I plan on going over tomorrow for practice. In answer to your question, I think #72 Chris Luna a redshirt Freshman was in the mix but the jersey numbers are sometimes difficult to read and I am not certain if he was taking first snaps or just in the mix. I don't know the young man. I will ask one of the staff if I speak with them.

[The Jackal]

Any observers at practice today?

I plan on going over tomorrow for practice. In answer to your question, I think #72 Chris Luna a redshirt Freshman was in the mix but the jersey numbers are sometimes difficult to read and I am not certain if he was taking first snaps or just in the mix. I don't know the young man. I will ask one of the staff if I speak with them.

Luna is a name that's come up a few times. From what I can tell, he was dressed out even with the road squad most of the games.

I had not noticed this before, but both Luna and Hedden are from Tampa Catholic. So, I guess Luna was Hedden's center.

[Afurmanfan]

Chris Luna is a stud. I was at a practice during the summer preseason and our best OL who was out at the time told me that he is an all- socon OL.

[Jasper]

I guess I saw right. If he is getting first snaps at C as a redshirt freshman he the hell is a stud. Perhaps coach knew of what he had in the stable after a bunch of stallions left the barn? I will be sure to watch him closely tommorow.

[The Jackal]

I guess I saw right. If he is getting first snaps at C as a redshirt freshman he the hell is a stud. Perhaps coach knew of what he had in the stable after a bunch of stallions left the barn? I will be sure to watch him closely tommorow.

With the offensive line, I think a few thoughts.

We are producing all SoCon offensive linemen every season. I think the last three years we've had 8 total recognized. There's literally no reason to think that we are not going to continue to develop and produce good offensive linemen.

While we do lose some key guys, we have quite a few players that are returning that have seen a fair amount of snaps over the past two seasons. They'll be called on to step into bigger roles.

It's early, and I'm uninformed, but it wouldn't shock me if Luna sort of ends up a bit like Evan Jumper - just the guy from day 1 as a freshman.

[gofurman]

My concern is pass defense. All fresh faces. Less pass rush?

Didn’t one of the CB guys come back? Entered portal but stayed? I was trying to keep a list but can’t recall name. Starter last year. Edit - . Yates. Did he leave?

Any transfers come like the kid from Brown or GSU ?

[The Jackal]

Four of our top six in sacks return.

[Jasper]

Cold and windy day yesterday. Was able to catch some of the drill sessions and more importantly the full contact scrimmage with each of the main QB's running sets. In that group the one who impressed me the most is Garcia, the redshirt freshman from California. He is the only one who showed real "escapability" - an essential for QB's these days plus a very fine passing arm. (They all do). Looks like there is real competition there. Thats a good thing.

The Defensive front ( Line and LB's) appears to have not lost a step. Pretty much stuffed every run and got after the QB really good on passes. Aside from returnees like Dimaggio and Clark, etc. , some guys who stood out were: Alibi, Chiedo, Dudek and Hernandez. The D backs were often beaten but that is to be expected and they are working hard. IMO, they will not have to face a receiving corps like this one during the season. I am going to stop talking about Hinton so that I don't put the "kibosh" on him but this kid is special. He could grow into one of the biggest offensive forces in the SoCon.

The practice was spirited and intense. Evidence of that is the growing "yellow jersey" contingent on the sidelines.

[Stumpy]

Hope they aren't scrimmaging today. It sucks outside.