The weather was great and there was a respectable crowd. Ely looked pretty sharp a QB. Most of his throws were on the money, and he seemed to have good feel for the pocket. Woodside did not have a good day, but his protection was pretty poor, especially in the second half. Connery Smith seemed to be in on quite few plays. Alonzo Russel seemed his regular reliable self, Robert Michaels made plays at TE, and Zach Yousey made a lot of catches. It looks like Julian Michael will be 3rd string, if not red-shirted, but he did have a nice punt. Other than that, there were quite a few guys who did not dress; Kareem Hunt, Damion Jone-Moore, Mancz, Voss, etc. I don't recall seeing Chaz Whitaker, Ray Bush, or Junior Sylvestre. They may have played, but not all the numbers on the handout matched the players on the field, and some players on the field were not listed at all. It was nice to be out in the Glass Bowl, but I can see why spring games are starting to disappear. I'm not sure how much an evaluation coaches can make with so many starters sitting out and playing with mixed squads.
I think we as fans learned very little this afternoon. Was the first chance for most of us to see Ely and he really threaded the needle on some passes and also showed he could throw a deep ball; also showed some leadership skills. Other than that, wasn't much to go on with so many starters not playing and a fairly condensed playbook.
(04-12-2014 03:24 PM)falconplucker Wrote: The weather was great and there was a respectable crowd. Ely looked pretty sharp a QB. Most of his throws were on the money, and he seemed to have good feel for the pocket. Woodside did not have a good day, but his protection was pretty poor, especially in the second half. Connery Smith seemed to be in on quite few plays. Alonzo Russel seemed his regular reliable self, Robert Michaels made plays at TE, and Zach Yousey made a lot of catches. It looks like Julian Michael will be 3rd string, if not red-shirted, but he did have a nice punt. Other than that, there were quite a few guys who did not dress; Kareem Hunt, Damion Jone-Moore, Mancz, Voss, etc. I don't recall seeing Chaz Whitaker, Ray Bush, or Junior Sylvestre. They may have played, but not all the numbers on the handout matched the players on the field, and some players on the field were not listed at all. It was nice to be out in the Glass Bowl, but I can see why spring games are starting to disappear. I'm not sure how much an evaluation coaches can make with so many starters sitting out and playing with mixed squads.
Ely was 17 of 30, Woodside 15 of 27 with 2 picks. Good turnout by former Rockets.
I agree that Ely had the better game, although Woodside's TD pass was perhaps the single best throw of the afternoon. I was disappointed to not also get a look a Julian at QB, but I do think that Ely in particular showed a great presence in the pocket and reacted very well when under pressure. Regardless of who eventually steps up, experience not withstanding, I do think that we are in for an upgrade at QB this year.
The receiving corps looks to be an upgrade as well. Alonzo Russell led the group as might be expected but a number of young "new" receivers had a good day as well and there were even catches by the TE. Although there were perhaps one or two tough catches that were not made, I don't recall seeing many obvious or overt drops that we have come to expect over the past several years.
I also thought that both blue and white defenses played well in that they effectively handled the running game (Hunt and Jones-Moore didn't play) and got decent pressure on the QB most of the time. Speaking of rushing the QB, I think that Zac Kerin's absence might be most felt in snapping the ball. I noticed several high snaps (although only one got over the QB's head) and few "lazy" snaps that result in the QB having just a bit less time to operate in the pocket. At times the D-backs still played too far off the receiver coming off the line for my tastes and they still did not always try to play the ball on deep routes such as on Ely's first TD pass.
All in all, barring too many injuries, the season may turn out to be better than last year.
Yes he did RS last year, and Ely took most of the Scout team snaps and was unstoppable at times against the defense last year. Ely was and is very accurate, which we haven't had since Bruce. This 2014 version of the Rockets could be the best since the last couple Pinkel years and early Amstutz days.
(This post was last modified: 04-12-2014 07:41 PM by utrocks84.)
Isn't there a chance that Mancz will play center??????????? This was my third watch this spring and I think it's a two horse race for QB. I'm betting on Ely, but fall may alter the result. TE caught balls. In fact, the offense was spread all over. No locking into one target. I think our defense will improve this year and there will be more pressure on Opposition QB's.
(04-12-2014 08:19 PM)tolfbfan Wrote: Isn't there a chance that Mancz will play center??????????? This was my third watch this spring and I think it's a two horse race for QB. I'm betting on Ely, but fall may alter the result. TE caught balls. In fact, the offense was spread all over. No locking into one target. I think our defense will improve this year and there will be more pressure on Opposition QB's.
I don't believe Mancz played today, but if he is also being considered for center that might help with the snaps. I agree that Ely in particular seemed to maintain a good view of the entire field which really helped when he was under pressure-----he could usually find an alternate receiver and was not prone to tucking it away and start running if his primary receiver was covered.
(This post was last modified: 04-12-2014 09:04 PM by T-Town.)
Ely has very refined skills and a maturity about him beyond his years. That being said, myself, I was impressed with the progress Logan Woodside has made in a year. He threw some nice strikes and showed some moves on his feet, too. Too bad his OL protection was weak, and, as bad as the snaps were, he 'bout played some receiver, too. Would loved to have seen Julian throw it today.
Chatted with Treyvon Hestor for a minute and he makes one thing perfectly clear: He is planning to bring more this season. If you ever get a chance to chat with him, do so. You will not find a nicer guy, with more heart--another one of those Rockets who makes our community a better place.
#2 for the white team had some nice catches, one for a long td, but man he was small. Who was that? The announcer didn't even know because he never said his name.
Also, who was #34 for the white team? I didn't see him play, must have just missed it if he did, but he was huge!
Crowd was pretty good and you could not have asked for better weather.
(04-13-2014 04:25 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote: Running backs? No mention here or on the news highlights to indicate there were any running plays.[/align]
There isn't much talk about the running game because the defense pretty well contained it so there is nothing much to talk about. Hard to say how much to credit the D or how much to fault the O-lines for this outcome, but IMO the D-lines looked better than the O-lines yesterday on both squads.
Remy and Pringle had most of the carries and were well contained by the respective defenses to a bit less than 3 yards per carry---according to the stats: Both Remy and Pringle had 12 carries apiece gaining 35 and 33 yards, respectively. Newcomer Brad Smith had 5 carries for 19 years and veteran McDowell had the best day's average with 2 carries for 23 yards. As I noted in a previous post neither Hunt nor Jones-Moore played.
(04-12-2014 11:25 PM)inductchuck16 Wrote: #2 for the white team had some nice catches, one for a long td, but man he was small. Who was that? The announcer didn't even know because he never said his name.
Page's brother? Reedy's brother? Carl Fords brother? LOL, one can only hope. I love these smaller guys with quicks and/or blazing speed.
#2 was Corey Jones. The roster they passed out was somewhat of a mess and not completely accurate.
I overheard Brad Smith saying that he redshirted last year; he said he was a late walk-on and knew he had no chance of seeing the field. He's an interesting runner. Good balance and good speed, straight up the gut style. And he don't stop. 1st Team DIII All-State / All District /All Conference, Conference Outstanding Player.