Anyone going to the scrimmage today at 9am? I believe I saw that it was open to the public. If so we can collect comments here.

What do people want to know?

(08-15-2015 10:56 AM)talon owl Wrote:  What do people want to know?

Did any of the true freshmen stand out? Who is playing DE? How did secondary look? Who looks to be a candidate for breakout season at WR? Are the Walter twins lining up at CB and WR?

(08-15-2015 10:56 AM)talon owl Wrote:  What do people want to know?

Did the defense look as good as all the early reports have indicated? How does the depth look at Dline after the projected starters? How did we compare to early last year?

I heard price made a nice long FG and Fox missed one just wide.

Backup QB report.

Something ... anything!!!

(08-15-2015 11:27 AM)Buho00 Wrote:  

(08-15-2015 10:56 AM)talon owl Wrote:  What do people want to know?

Did any of the true freshmen stand out? Who is playing DE? How did secondary look? Who looks to be a candidate for breakout season at WR? Are the Walter twins lining up at CB and WR?

No real true freshmen standouts, except for maybe at kicker and it wasn't Fox. The walk-on from West, TX (Tobola) has possibly the team's livest leg. Abercrumbia, Padgett and Thompson were in the rotations along the line.

Lots of people rotating through DE. Womac and Schantz are the projected starters. Womac wasn't suited. Peterson wasn't suited (I think he's out for season). Derek Brown is back in action. Brandon Hamilton saw some action in pass rush situations.

Secondary looked good generally. Starters are R. Pollard and Banks at CB. Espinosa at SS, White at KAT and Thomas at FS. WR/TE/RBs had a hard time getting separation for the most part.

Lots of young guys competing to get in the rotation at WR. Parks and Z. Wright were held out as the known quantities. Lance Wright looks to have been a find. Had a quiet scrimmage but he looked good in drills and reeled in a one handed catch in the back of the endzone but was ruled out of bounds. Temi Alaka looks to currently be at the top of the pack, and he participated, but with a red jersey on. We've got good length here. Most productive in the scrimmage was our former punter Decell, who caught a couple deep fades over the shoulder from the slot.

TEs had a good day with both Cella and Wells with long catch and run TDs.

I saw Austin Walter at RB and back on kick returns. I'm not sure where Aston was playing.

(08-15-2015 11:29 AM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(08-15-2015 10:56 AM)talon owl Wrote:  What do people want to know?

Did the defense look as good as all the early reports have indicated? How does the depth look at Dline after the projected starters? How did we compare to early last year?

I heard price made a nice long FG and Fox missed one just wide.

Defense looked solid.

There are certainly bodies at DL, hard to say whether they are of sufficient quality based on the scrimmage.

Again, hard to say.

Each of the 3 participating kickers (Fox, Price, and Tobola [Knopf was holding a yard marker on the sidelines]) attempted several. I wasn't tracking make %, looking more at the quality of the kick, and to my eye Tobola's looked best.

(08-15-2015 11:31 AM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Backup QB report.

We're talking about Stehling and German here. No major fireworks, these guys look as they have, just another cycle stronger / more competent. I'm still intrigued by German's overall physical tools.

Granato got a couple series at the end and showed off a refined and effortless motion. He threw a perfect fade for a deep completion to Decell, and then completed a slant to walkon WR Hudak for a TD.

Great report Talon, thanks.

QB accuracy?

Here's my two cents

QBs

- Driphus looked great. Crisp throws, good reads and great scrambles when under pressure.
- Backups were so-so, had overthrown/wide throws from both Stehling and German. Great scrambling from German, seemed faster than Driphus.
- Granato had a great throw down the sideline, but didn't see much action except at the end. One thing I really liked was how Driphus stood behind the play and followed the offense down the field, at least during one series that Granato was at QB. Thought it was a nice gesture of leadership/mentorship that Driphus was on the field doing that, since he had finished his snaps a while back.
- End viewpoint: I think the backups are serviceable, but someone will need to improve a good amount in spring ball next year, because I would not be that confident if any had to start a game this year.

RBs
- Generally good. Davis had a good catch out in the flat for a TD and Dillard had a nice rush for a TD down by the goal line, gaining the last few yards when I thought he was stopped. This may be oversight from me, but I didn't think Bob played that much, was mainly featured in goal line situations.

WRs
I think Lance Wright and Cameron Decell could be breakout candidates for us...great size and route running from them. I believe Trevor Long, (RS FR, 6-5 220) also featured pretty regularly. Very few drops amongst the guys that played (at least when they were given a good pass to catch). This seems like a position we have a lot of depth at.

TEs
- We have some monsters at TE. Cella and Wells each had scores and they'll wreak havoc on opposing offense if we can ever line them both up together.

O-Line
- Thought their pass blocking was very good. Run blocking was not great, IMO. Seemed like the defensive line more than held their own in designed run plays.

D-Line
- See O-Line comment. Was pleasantly surprised at how many quick stops they made on designed run plays. Derek Brown has some good reach at end.

LBs
- Honestly didn't watch them enough to provide any insight.

Secondary
- Very iffy in coverage. Thought our WRs generally won the day against them. Espinosa made some great tackles in the open field and I expect his number to get called a lot on safety blitzes. Several big pass plays were given up and they seemed confused on more than one play.


Special Teams
Placekickers - Price lined up and nailed an XP, 25 yarder, 35 yarder and 45 yarder before the scrimmage started. Fox, Price and Tobola all took turns kicking XPs each time the offense scored. Fox missed a 50-yarder slightly wide right, but had the distance. Kicking game is in a much better spot than last year.

Kickoffs-Not a ton of distance on the kickoffs, most were landing between the 7 and 3 yard line. No touchbacks.

Punter - Farrimond was so-so.

I was there with my two toddlers so I spent most of my time playing daddy instead of observer, so I can't offer a detailed impression but these are my limited observations.

1. Driphus looks sharp. Westside mentioned that DJ was also showing exceptional leadership and mentorship. I agree. I especially like how he worked with Nate after Nate struggled for a series.
2. Future at QB is much brighter than I thought. I think that Nate will be better challenge to Stehling next. But I'm even more excited about Granato. He has the it factor. That deep fade was one of the prettiest thrown balls I have seen by a Rice QB in a long time. Granato could be a four year starter for us.
3. Agree about the Tight Ends
4. Very impressed with the team speed of the 1st team defense
5. Kickoff returns could be a tremendous weapon
6. I like what I saw with regard to the 1st team Offensive line

(08-15-2015 12:29 PM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Here's my two cents

QBs

- Driphus looked great. Crisp throws, good reads and great scrambles when under pressure.
- Backups were so-so, had overthrown/wide throws from both Stehling and German. Great scrambling from German, seemed faster than Driphus.
- Granato had a great throw down the sideline, but didn't see much action except at the end. One thing I really liked was how Driphus stood behind the play and followed the offense down the field, at least during one series that Granato was at QB. Thought it was a nice gesture of leadership/mentorship that Driphus was on the field doing that, since he had finished his snaps a while back.
- End viewpoint: I think the backups are serviceable, but someone will need to improve a good amount in spring ball next year, because I would not be that confident if any had to start a game this year.

RBs
- Generally good. Davis had a good catch out in the flat for a TD and Dillard had a nice rush for a TD down by the goal line, gaining the last few yards when I thought he was stopped. This may be oversight from me, but I didn't think Bob played that much, was mainly featured in goal line situations.

WRs
I think Lance Wright and Cameron Decell could be breakout candidates for us...great size and route running from them. I believe Trevor Long, (RS FR, 6-5 220) also featured pretty regularly. Very few drops amongst the guys that played (at least when they were given a good pass to catch). This seems like a position we have a lot of depth at.

TEs
- We have some monsters at TE. Cella and Wells each had scores and they'll wreak havoc on opposing offense if we can ever line them both up together.

O-Line
- Thought their pass blocking was very good. Run blocking was not great, IMO. Seemed like the defensive line more than held their own in designed run plays.

D-Line
- See O-Line comment. Was pleasantly surprised at how many quick stops they made on designed run plays. Derek Brown has some good reach at end.

LBs
- Honestly didn't watch them enough to provide any insight.

Secondary
- Very iffy in coverage. Thought our WRs generally won the day against them. Espinosa made some great tackles in the open field and I expect his number to get called a lot on safety blitzes. Several big pass plays were given up and they seemed confused on more than one play.


Special Teams
Placekickers - Price lined up and nailed an XP, 25 yarder, 35 yarder and 45 yarder before the scrimmage started. Fox, Price and Tobola all took turns kicking XPs each time the offense scored. Fox missed a 50-yarder slightly wide right, but had the distance. Kicking game is in a much better spot than last year.

Kickoffs-Not a ton of distance on the kickoffs, most were landing between the 7 and 3 yard line. No touchbacks.

Punter - Farrimond was so-so.

Good comments - here's my two cents from what I saw. Kicking game not very impressive. Defense was so-so. No one really stood out. LB's gave up some plays. D Brown got to DJ a few times. DJ was off on the first series, then got it going. He had help by a great catch by #85 (sorry don't know some of the freshman). #5 receiver, kid from Alaska played well. German looked much better than Stehling as the backup. Two good drives, one TD and one FG, Stehling struggled, he did not throw the deep ball very well and that's what he is known for, he was not sharp. The freshman kid struggled on first series which is to be expected. He fumbled snap, threw some bad balls. At the end when it was almost done saw from a distance a nice pass from him. Does not look very fast. Davis and Dillard both had good runs. Stewart had a good run back on a punt return. Overall decent practice. Still have concerns with defense. We will have to put up plenty of points against the WK, LATech, Baylor.

(08-15-2015 01:34 PM)Pan95 Wrote:  I was there with my two toddlers so I spent most of my time playing daddy instead of observer, so I can't offer a detailed impression but these are my limited observations.

1. Driphus looks sharp. Westside mentioned that DJ was also showing exceptional leadership and mentorship. I agree. I especially like how he worked with Nate after Nate struggled for a series.
2. Future at QB is much brighter than I thought. I think that Nate will be better challenge to Stehling next. But I'm even more excited about Granato. He has the it factor. That deep fade was one of the prettiest thrown balls I have seen by a Rice QB in a long time. Granato could be a four year starter for us.
3. Agree about the Tight Ends
4. Very impressed with the team speed of the 1st team defense
5. Kickoff returns could be a tremendous weapon
6. I like what I saw with regard to the 1st team Offensive line

1. Agree
2. Not sure about Granato, looked slow on the drive I saw. I did see his throw from afar but cannot judge on one ball. He threw a couple of bad incompletes. I hope the kid from Waco Midway commits, that kid is excellent. I think he fits our offense better. Agree German looked better today.
3. Cella caught a couple of nice balls. Don't recall Hunt or Wells catching anything.
4. Agree but gave up big plays. They did shut down the outside runs by Walter and Stewart.
5. Totally agree - we finally have some speed
6. OL looks good but concern with the depth.

(08-15-2015 02:28 PM)KTOWL Wrote:  

(08-15-2015 01:34 PM)Pan95 Wrote:  I was there with my two toddlers so I spent most of my time playing daddy instead of observer, so I can't offer a detailed impression but these are my limited observations.

1. Driphus looks sharp. Westside mentioned that DJ was also showing exceptional leadership and mentorship. I agree. I especially like how he worked with Nate after Nate struggled for a series.
2. Future at QB is much brighter than I thought. I think that Nate will be better challenge to Stehling next. But I'm even more excited about Granato. He has the it factor. That deep fade was one of the prettiest thrown balls I have seen by a Rice QB in a long time. Granato could be a four year starter for us.
3. Agree about the Tight Ends
4. Very impressed with the team speed of the 1st team defense
5. Kickoff returns could be a tremendous weapon
6. I like what I saw with regard to the 1st team Offensive line

1. Agree
2. Not sure about Granato, looked slow on the drive I saw. I did see his throw from afar but cannot judge on one ball. He threw a couple of bad incompletes. I hope the kid from Waco Midway commits, that kid is excellent. I think he fits our offense better. Agree German looked better today.
3. Cella caught a couple of nice balls. Don't recall Hunt or Wells catching anything.
4. Agree but gave up big plays. They did shut down the outside runs by Walter and Stewart.
5. Totally agree - we finally have some speed
6. OL looks good but concern with the depth.

I'm intrigued to see clips from the kid from Waco this fall to see what he can do. Agree on the kickoff returns...even returned a kickoff to the 30 that was fumbled initially.

The new Chronicle young reporter's writeup on the scrimmage is great...better coverage than the Chronicle has given us on some actual home games in the recent past. Really good stuff....have to pinch myself, is this 1957, and is this the reincarnation of Mickey Herskowitz? No, wait, Mickey's still around....

KTOwl wrote:

Quote:Good comments - here's my two cents from what I saw. Kicking game not very impressive. Defense was so-so. No one really stood out. LB's gave up some plays. D Brown got to DJ a few times. DJ was off on the first series, then got it going. He had help by a great catch by #85 (sorry don't know some of the freshman). #5 receiver, kid from Alaska played well. German looked much better than Stehling as the backup. Two good drives, one TD and one FG, Stehling struggled, he did not throw the deep ball very well and that's what he is known for, he was not sharp. The freshman kid struggled on first series which is to be expected. He fumbled snap, threw some bad balls. At the end when it was almost done saw from a distance a nice pass from him. Does not look very fast. Davis and Dillard both had good runs. Stewart had a good run back on a punt return. Overall decent practice. Still have concerns with defense. We will have to put up plenty of points against the WK, LATech, Baylor.

This summary is the most consistent with my impressions, FWIW.....except I got a much more positive vibe from J. T. Granato...that long bomb he arched downfield was a thing of beauty....

(08-15-2015 04:31 PM)Ricefootballnet Wrote:  The new Chronicle young reporter's writeup on the scrimmage is great...better coverage than the Chronicle has given us on some actual home games in the recent past. Really good stuff....have to pinch myself, is this 1957, and is this the reincarnation of Mickey Herskowitz? No, wait, Mickey's still around....

You are right. I almost could see a 5 photo sequence complete with arrows charting the pass to Cella.

(08-15-2015 01:34 PM)Pan95 Wrote:  I was there with my two toddlers so I spent most of my time playing daddy instead of observer, so I can't offer a detailed impression but these are my limited observations.

1. Driphus looks sharp. Westside mentioned that DJ was also showing exceptional leadership and mentorship. I agree. I especially like how he worked with Nate after Nate struggled for a series.
2. Future at QB is much brighter than I thought. I think that Nate will be better challenge to Stehling next. But I'm even more excited about Granato. He has the it factor. That deep fade was one of the prettiest thrown balls I have seen by a Rice QB in a long time. Granato could be a four year starter for us.
3. Agree about the Tight Ends
4. Very impressed with the team speed of the 1st team defense
5. Kickoff returns could be a tremendous weapon
6. I like what I saw with regard to the 1st team Offensive line

I cannot believe that one pass and you have the kid starting four years. Did you see the ball Stehling threw in the Notre Dame game. This was against the Irish not the walk ons and fourth stringers. Be realistic. Stehling is in his fourth year and has yet to get serious playing time. German has been great during his spring games, some have compared him to Mariotta and he has yet to see the field consistently. Would disagree with you. Difficult to go from high school to college, speed of the game is totally different. His dad and DB are good friends but I don't see him playing right away and the kid coming in this year is very good.

(08-17-2015 10:24 AM)KTOWL Wrote:  

(08-15-2015 01:34 PM)Pan95 Wrote:  I was there with my two toddlers so I spent most of my time playing daddy instead of observer, so I can't offer a detailed impression but these are my limited observations.

1. Driphus looks sharp. Westside mentioned that DJ was also showing exceptional leadership and mentorship. I agree. I especially like how he worked with Nate after Nate struggled for a series.
2. Future at QB is much brighter than I thought. I think that Nate will be better challenge to Stehling next. But I'm even more excited about Granato. He has the it factor. That deep fade was one of the prettiest thrown balls I have seen by a Rice QB in a long time. Granato could be a four year starter for us.
3. Agree about the Tight Ends
4. Very impressed with the team speed of the 1st team defense
5. Kickoff returns could be a tremendous weapon
6. I like what I saw with regard to the 1st team Offensive line

I cannot believe that one pass and you have the kid starting four years. Did you see the ball Stehling threw in the Notre Dame game. This was against the Irish not the walk ons and fourth stringers. Be realistic. Stehling is in his fourth year and has yet to get serious playing time. German has been great during his spring games, some have compared him to Mariotta and he has yet to see the field consistently. Would disagree with you. Difficult to go from high school to college, speed of the game is totally different. His dad and DB are good friends but I don't see him playing right away and the kid coming in this year is very good.

McHargue was a 4 year starter, and I personally never saw him throw a nicer ball than what Granato threw to Decell. And that is no slight against McHargue. Also, compare the career high school numbers of Granato and Stehling:

Stehling - 3,344 yards / 31 touchdowns
Granato - 9,000 yards / 81 touchdowns

I'm not saying that Granato will leapfrog Stehling or German. I am saying that I think that the kid has "it". He shook off the nerves on the first series and threw two absolutely beautiful passes: the deep fade that hit Decell in stride, and a well positioned slant to Hudek for the score. And I have no dog in the fight so I don't really care if Granato, Stehling, or German when the QB battle in 2016. I want to the team to win.

With that said, after we win CUSA in 2015 and blow out our bowl opponent, the Spring 2016 QB battle will be fun. KTOWL, I'll bring the popcorn and we can have fun debating who the starter should be then.

As an aside, anyone know if Tyner is still at QB?

(08-17-2015 10:46 AM)Pan95 Wrote:  

(08-17-2015 10:24 AM)KTOWL Wrote:  

(08-15-2015 01:34 PM)Pan95 Wrote:  I was there with my two toddlers so I spent most of my time playing daddy instead of observer, so I can't offer a detailed impression but these are my limited observations.

1. Driphus looks sharp. Westside mentioned that DJ was also showing exceptional leadership and mentorship. I agree. I especially like how he worked with Nate after Nate struggled for a series.
2. Future at QB is much brighter than I thought. I think that Nate will be better challenge to Stehling next. But I'm even more excited about Granato. He has the it factor. That deep fade was one of the prettiest thrown balls I have seen by a Rice QB in a long time. Granato could be a four year starter for us.
3. Agree about the Tight Ends
4. Very impressed with the team speed of the 1st team defense
5. Kickoff returns could be a tremendous weapon
6. I like what I saw with regard to the 1st team Offensive line

I cannot believe that one pass and you have the kid starting four years. Did you see the ball Stehling threw in the Notre Dame game. This was against the Irish not the walk ons and fourth stringers. Be realistic. Stehling is in his fourth year and has yet to get serious playing time. German has been great during his spring games, some have compared him to Mariotta and he has yet to see the field consistently. Would disagree with you. Difficult to go from high school to college, speed of the game is totally different. His dad and DB are good friends but I don't see him playing right away and the kid coming in this year is very good.

McHargue was a 4 year starter, and I personally never saw him throw a nicer ball than what Granato threw to Decell. And that is no slight against McHargue. Also, compare the career high school numbers of Granato and Stehling:

Stehling - 3,344 yards / 31 touchdowns
Granato - 9,000 yards / 81 touchdowns

I'm not saying that Granato will leapfrog Stehling or German. I am saying that I think that the kid has "it". He shook off the nerves on the first series and threw two absolutely beautiful passes: the deep fade that hit Decell in stride, and a well positioned slant to Hudek for the score. And I have no dog in the fight so I don't really care if Granato, Stehling, or German when the QB battle in 2016. I want to the team to win.

With that said, after we win CUSA in 2015 and blow out our bowl opponent, the Spring 2016 QB battle will be fun. KTOWL, I'll bring the popcorn and we can have fun debating who the starter should be then.

As an aside, anyone know if Tyner is still at QB?

I hope Granato is a star in the making, we badly need an answer at QB beyond this season. I've always preferred good runners at QB at Rice, and that's why in my perfect scenario, German takes over next season and blossoms as a dual-threat. Some of my preference for really mobile QB's comes from following Rice since the early 90's. Not sure that in the past we had offensive lines that were good enough to protect pure pocket passers. Going to mobile QB's was a must under Hatfield, but Bailiff has had more success with Clement, McHargue, DJ, than with less mobiles Fanuzzi, Cook, Ryan Lewis. Those last three were fairly athletic, is Granato that athletic? I worry about the 3rd and 31 scenario, doesn't matter how good your QB is if he doesn't get get the time. The pieces seem to be in place - improved O-line talent and good skill position depth, for the passing offense to have success beyond this season. In the Bailiff offense, pocket passers have not faired well, but maybe the right one hadn't come along until now.