is there any photo gallery or video of the practice?
According to the published roster, Kealand Dirks outweighs Chinedu Okonya. Looking at that picture, I do not see how that is remotely possible.
Pre-season Practice
Seniors.
According to the published roster, Kealand Dirks outweighs Chinedu Okonya. Looking at that picture, I do not see how that is remotely possible.
According to the published roster, Kealand Dirks outweighs Chinedu Okonya. Looking at that picture, I do not see how that is remotely possible.
The Jackal wrote: ↑Mon Aug 13, 2018 11:41 amSeniors.
According to the published roster, Kealand Dirks outweighs Chinedu Okonya. Looking at that picture, I do not see how that is remotely possible.
Who is standing to our left of Okonya? I can't make out his number
Also where is Tyler Voyles?
I believe that might be Diondrae Wright-Linton, who is listed as a R-JR, but may have already decided to forego his final year of eligibility and wanted to be included in the Sr. Picture.DungeonRealm wrote: ↑Mon Aug 13, 2018 2:39 pmThe Jackal wrote: ↑Mon Aug 13, 2018 11:41 amSeniors.
According to the published roster, Kealand Dirks outweighs Chinedu Okonya. Looking at that picture, I do not see how that is remotely possible.
Who is standing to our left of Okonya? I can't make out his number
Also where is Tyler Voyles?
Tyler Voyles is listed as a Communications major. Maybe he had to take the pic.
JK, of course. He has already used 3 years of eligibility, so there shouldn’t be a ‘he’s decided he wants to come back for his 5th year’ issue. Maybe he had a make-up exam or something.
BTW - related to a previous thread/post from last week...London Lewis remains on the online roster. Any additional info on his status?
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers,
For he today who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother
For he today who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother
BTW - related to a previous thread/post from last week...London Lewis remains on the online roster. Any additional info on his status?
I was told that he is still on the team but not on campus. He is at home dealing with a concussion issue and they hope to have him back by the start of school. I cannot speak to the veracity of that but he does remain on the roster. I hope he gets better and returns. The kid was highly recruited and has a big time, mature body. Could be very helpful.
I was told that he is still on the team but not on campus. He is at home dealing with a concussion issue and they hope to have him back by the start of school. I cannot speak to the veracity of that but he does remain on the roster. I hope he gets better and returns. The kid was highly recruited and has a big time, mature body. Could be very helpful.
Managed to get a lot wrong in a single sentence.Thomas Gordon and tight end Darius Morehead form a decent receiving corps
QCGlue liked this
YEP - forget that junk we heard last year "about this 1st year no one will know what offense we are running - what a huge advantage". I will take a 2nd year offense and Defense EVERY DAY and twice on Sunday over the element of surprise. I actually asked a few players about this and they agreed - like what Dirks is saying here (though I have never spoken with him).. it's all about knowing what to do and not having to think or react. I have always thought this (trying to think and react) is especially tough on a defense.. that lost 1/2 step is a killer when a LB has to think about where to go etc.The Jackal wrote: ↑Sun Aug 05, 2018 11:14 amInteresting quote from Dirks:
Once our offense got rolling last year, it was a tough group to stop. With a new offensive coordinator (Quarles) we may see some different looks than we did last year.“It took us a while to realize even what we were running as an offense,” running back Kealand Dirks said of preseason practices in 2017. “Now, we’ve changed up a little bit of stuff, but we have a better idea going into camp of what we have to do. Also, we had a great season last year, so now we’re just expected to do it even better than that. We’re working even harder because we know what we can do.”
Glad to see these guys in the second year !
The only drop off I could really see is at QB in terms of just learning - Blaze became much more efficient and "learned to throw the ball away and live to play another down" as he became a Senior. That's typical. I could see our FR QB making some of the Freshman mistakes which can be costly turnovers when you try to force a ball in to too tight a window...
Main note though is that I really hope our OL is a little stronger etc. as (and Hendrix said the very same himself.. it was obvious) the other top SoCon / playoff teams were able to push our OL some and that really stymied our O which is predicated on FB runs. If we can't run in the middle some, everything else begins to get jammed up. Samford/ Woff / Elon were the 3 best Front 7s we faced that I recall. And Mercer did a good job too (yes, FUBeAR - Mercer's front 7 was pretty stong !
) as we were forced to take 4 downs to run for a first down several times vs the Bears... To me the two who front 7s that really shut us down were Samford and Wofford in the playoffs... thuogh my memory may be faulty 
Had a remote work day today — so I went out to catch this mornings practice… shh! don't tell,
I won't go into formations and such… but I think I can still share a few nuggets.
Defense is INTENSE, they were vocal, lots of spirit.
Looks like we've got lots of depth on defense.
I primarily scanned the field to see if the vets were playing then focused on some of the younger players.
On defense, hard not to miss Hodge, Cameron, and Gilby. Trapp looked solid, I haven't changed my mind I think we're going to see a lot of Davonta Porter this season.
The offense, Jake Walker appears ready to have a big season.
The OL had some fun drills and battles with the DL, they got after each other pretty good.
Runningbacks were impressive… Sanders looked back to old form Wynn stood out in practice
Quarterbacks… watched Sisson, Granger, and Lincoln take snaps primarily.
Looking forward to watching the scrimmage on Saturday to see these guys do battle.
Did I say Jake Walker looked good, oh yeah, I did?
I won't go into formations and such… but I think I can still share a few nuggets.
Defense is INTENSE, they were vocal, lots of spirit.
Looks like we've got lots of depth on defense.
I primarily scanned the field to see if the vets were playing then focused on some of the younger players.
On defense, hard not to miss Hodge, Cameron, and Gilby. Trapp looked solid, I haven't changed my mind I think we're going to see a lot of Davonta Porter this season.
The offense, Jake Walker appears ready to have a big season.
The OL had some fun drills and battles with the DL, they got after each other pretty good.
Runningbacks were impressive… Sanders looked back to old form
Wynn stood out in practiceQuarterbacks… watched Sisson, Granger, and Lincoln take snaps primarily.
Looking forward to watching the scrimmage on Saturday to see these guys do battle.
Did I say Jake Walker looked good, oh yeah, I did?
Some thoughts from today's practice session - helmets, no shoulder pads - light contact - scrimmage tomorrow.
After the first two weeks of practice, I counted 6 walking wounded - none seemed particularly bad..
Lots of real athleticism on this squad at all positions on both sides of the ball - most I have seen in years
Because of the nature of the session, it was mostly passing - the QBs looked very good - Lincoln is very agile and elusive - Sisson can really throw the ball accurately - but the Paladin receiving corps, including the backs, is the best I have seen here - an already deep group is being pressed by some very talented freshmen, Bell in particular. He, Cam Burnett and Thomas Gordon are serious deep threats, as is Jake Walker in the way we use the TE but the star of today's play was Avery Armstrong. Great hands, good speed and knows how to get open. It looks to me like he may be our featured "possession" receiver this year.
Tomorrow shoud be very interesting and I think we will learn a lot
After the first two weeks of practice, I counted 6 walking wounded - none seemed particularly bad..
Lots of real athleticism on this squad at all positions on both sides of the ball - most I have seen in years
Because of the nature of the session, it was mostly passing - the QBs looked very good - Lincoln is very agile and elusive - Sisson can really throw the ball accurately - but the Paladin receiving corps, including the backs, is the best I have seen here - an already deep group is being pressed by some very talented freshmen, Bell in particular. He, Cam Burnett and Thomas Gordon are serious deep threats, as is Jake Walker in the way we use the TE but the star of today's play was Avery Armstrong. Great hands, good speed and knows how to get open. It looks to me like he may be our featured "possession" receiver this year.
Tomorrow shoud be very interesting and I think we will learn a lot
Roster has some changes as camp ends. Aside from breaking the OLB position into bandit and spur, Ben Page has been moved back to DE from OLB, and Caleb Auer and Cody Wyatt have switched. Auer now listed as a OG, and Wyatt moved from OG to OT. Auer was expected to backup Godwin at RT so seems the most significant.
FYI. They've published a depth chart. Also, some more changes to the roster, notably Jack Owen is now listed at bandit. This is not reflected on the DC which has him backing up McKoy. There's weight discrepancies too. Roster is maybe a work-in-progress.
It's kinda a two-deep, three-deep, four-deep depth chart… far more info than I would expect
Six true freshmen on the offensive depth chart, four true freshmen on the defensive depth chart,
sixteen total freshmen on the two-deep (includes redshirts).
WLB Donavan Perryman OR Braden Gilby
Amir Trapp is listed as the starter at RC and PR
6-7 307 Bo McKinney is listed at #2 LG behind Jacob Conrad
I expected to see Coleman as #3 NG — I'm guessing he's going to redshirt
Another interesting thing I noticed; at DE Okonya or Seabrook. This doesn't surprise me I thought Seabrook looked really good in the scrimmage and he's now listed at 6-3 242, DE might be the deepest position with Okonya, Seabrook, and Lawerence… Hanff might still be recovering from a spring injury, now it makes sense that Ben Page would move back to DE.
Just looked again at the roster and Jack Owen is back at ILB. Harmony is restored at least until I look again.
Even with all those names, I count 3 seniors on the offense's depth chart.
Looks like open competition on who is Dirks' backup.
Looks like open competition on who is Dirks' backup.