• Spring practice

 #67297  by Jasper
 Sat Feb 25, 2023 4:57 pm
Watched practice this AM for a few hours and spoke with several players. They are very enthused and animated at the well-organized session. Tough to tell a lot without full game conditions but I will pass along some observations.
1. Appear somewhat thin on the O line. Only 7 big boys dressed today. Wyatt Hughes is still out and don't know about any others. I heard we are looking to sign a few grads if we like them.
2. The QB position is very strong. Tyler Huff is Tyler Huff and Carson Jones has a really great throwing arm. Seems bigger and more mature this season.
3. Our receiving corps looked very good. I was somewhat surprised to see the former LB Ty Youngblood take most of the snaps at the Miller TE hybrid position and looking very good. Chatting with Dominick Roberto after practice and he said Youngblood has been the talk of spring practice. He is a devastating blocker and very tough runner after the catch. Ben Ferguson was catching everything thrown his way and also has great moves after the catch. Then there is Anderson, Harris, Dean and Shiflet. Lots of options.
4. Roberto is the best RB in the league IMO with Myion Hicks looking good right behind him. Then there is Grant Robinson, Jay Smith and some highly touted freshmen.
5. The new OC is in his second year with some very experienced talent at his call. I look for the whole play book to open and see a very high scoring unit on the field.

If Furman can shore up the O line numbers somewhat, this team could make some real noise in the FCS this year. I will try to concentrate on the D on my next visit to practice but it looked very strong and deep today.
Last edited by Jasper on Sun Feb 26, 2023 8:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
apaladin, Fuonetime, gman84 and 5 others liked this
 #67385  by 'Din Djarin
 Mon Feb 27, 2023 10:14 am
Jasper wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2023 4:57 pm
I was somewhat surprised to see the former LB Ty Youngblood take most of the snaps at the Miller TE hybrid position and looking very good. Chatting with Dominick Roberto after practice and he said Youngblood has been the talk of spring practice. He is a devastating blocker and very tough runner after the catch. Ben Ferguson was catching everything thrown his way and also has great moves after the catch. Then there is Anderson, Harris, Dean and Shiflet. Lots of options.
That is an intriguing possibility. I think the talk on here re: TE has been focused on finding someone in the transfer portal, but maybe the answer for finding the successor to "Miller Time" is already on the squad.

Concerned about the OL depth issue, but hopefully Furman can find some good hands in the portal after spring practice. I don't have any doubts that we'll have a solid starting 5, but it was the ability to sub linemen and not lose the ability to block that really made our offense potent this past year.
 #67388  by FUBeAR
 Mon Feb 27, 2023 10:38 am
'Din Djarin wrote:
Mon Feb 27, 2023 10:14 am
Jasper wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2023 4:57 pm
I was somewhat surprised to see the former LB Ty Youngblood take most of the snaps at the Miller TE hybrid position and looking very good. Chatting with Dominick Roberto after practice and he said Youngblood has been the talk of spring practice. He is a devastating blocker and very tough runner after the catch. Ben Ferguson was catching everything thrown his way and also has great moves after the catch. Then there is Anderson, Harris, Dean and Shiflet. Lots of options.
That is an intriguing possibility. I think the talk on here re: TE has been focused on finding someone in the transfer portal, but maybe the answer for finding the successor to "Miller Time" is already on the squad.

Concerned about the OL depth issue, but hopefully Furman can find some good hands in the portal after spring practice. I don't have any doubts that we'll have a solid starting 5, but it was the ability to sub linemen and not lose the ability to block that really made our offense potent this past year.
Not sure who’s in or who’s out…but, in general, Spring Practice is a good time for Older, exp’d OLmen & DLmen to protect their bodies, heal up, and get the next generation of OLmen & DLmen Coached up. And, it’s a good time for young OLmen & DLmen to get a ton of reps, get better, and show the Coaches what they are going to be able to do in the Fall.

Wouldn’t put too much emphasis on what it looks like right now…
'Din Djarin, Jasper liked this
 #67421  by The Jackal
 Tue Feb 28, 2023 6:17 am
'Din Djarin wrote:
Mon Feb 27, 2023 10:14 am
Jasper wrote:
Sat Feb 25, 2023 4:57 pm
I was somewhat surprised to see the former LB Ty Youngblood take most of the snaps at the Miller TE hybrid position and looking very good. Chatting with Dominick Roberto after practice and he said Youngblood has been the talk of spring practice. He is a devastating blocker and very tough runner after the catch. Ben Ferguson was catching everything thrown his way and also has great moves after the catch. Then there is Anderson, Harris, Dean and Shiflet. Lots of options.
That is an intriguing possibility. I think the talk on here re: TE has been focused on finding someone in the transfer portal, but maybe the answer for finding the successor to "Miller Time" is already on the squad.

Concerned about the OL depth issue, but hopefully Furman can find some good hands in the portal after spring practice. I don't have any doubts that we'll have a solid starting 5, but it was the ability to sub linemen and not lose the ability to block that really made our offense potent this past year.

My speculation is that based on the current roster, you probably will see Youngblood handle some of millers “H-Back” duties - lining up in the backfield, blocking, running short routes across the field, etc.

I would guess Ferguson will get a lot of Miller’s snaps in the slot. Ferguson is a thicker wide receiver that appears to be an excellent route runner with good hands. Not as big a Miller, but there are some similarities.
'Din Djarin liked this
 #68838  by AllTimeFU
 Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:52 pm
Spring game coming up this weekend. What should we expect to see?
 #68859  by FUBeAR
 Mon Mar 13, 2023 6:33 pm
AllTimeFU wrote:
Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:52 pm
Spring game coming up this weekend. What should we expect to see?
498 Basketball threads after we beat YouVeeAy and prepare to play CofC or SDSU (not the Jackrabbits though)
 #68874  by apaladin
 Tue Mar 14, 2023 2:40 am
AllTimeFU wrote:
Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:52 pm
Spring game coming up this weekend. What should we expect to see?
Not a lot. A lot of drills, very little actual football if any. Its become a glorified practice which is understandable. Not like it used to be.
 #68879  by Purple rain
 Tue Mar 14, 2023 7:14 am
I think we will see a mature football team with a bunch of experience. I think this group has a chance to be very special. We need to be lucky with injuries this year.
 #69213  by apaladin
 Fri Mar 17, 2023 1:09 am
With scheduling conflict now with the basketball game, I wonder if FU will change plans? No one is going with the basketball game on at the same time.
 #69441  by Purple rain
 Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:09 am
I thought they did a good job working the schedule out to be able to support basketball. It was a practice but with some Live work involved. We have a chance to be a really good football team. Tyler Huff can play the game. Coach Bernardi will have them now and get them bigger, faster, and stronger. It was a beautiful cool day at Paladin stadium Saturday.

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