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For weeks now, the number one question for Bronco fans has been who will run the show at quarterback. Hiller, Peregrin, and Burdi have been battling for the spot for nearly two weeks. Today was the first day I've observed where I thought Cubit was separating one QB from the rest of the pack. And the winner is?
<b>Tim Hiller</b>
Hiller was the star of the show today. He was the least criticized of the bunch, pulled off some excellent throws, and received more reps than Peregrin. As for Drew Burdi, he was wearing a red jersey (ankle injury), and did not participate.
So how did the two fair? In team on team drills Hiller went 12-19. Three of those incompletions were spot on, but dropped by the receiver. He could have easily gone 15-19. Hiller started slow, but once he got warmed up, he was sharp. Two passes in particular caught everyone's eye, including the coaches. Both were fly routes to Herb Martin, and both were perfectly thrown balls that caught Martin in stride.
In passing drills, Hiller looked a little sharper as well. While neither quarterback was hitting the outside shoulder consistently, Hiller was doing it more often. On the slant routes into the corner of the endzone, Hiller was much more consistent than Peregrin.
I asked Coach Cubit about Hiller getting the majority of the reps, and if he's leaning towards naming him the starting QB.
<b>Cubit: "Right now Burdi's hurt, he's got a little ankle sprain. I tried to give Tim a lot of reps, but you know, I wasn't real happy again today. There are moments here and there, but they're getting better. We're trying to strive for perfection, we're not there yet, but we're making progress." </b>
While Coach Cubit has become a seasoned pro at ducking and dodging the quarterback question, I still sensed that Hiller was now in the driver's seat. Maybe it's just me, but when Hiller was behind center the ball was going down field a lot. When Peregrin was there, you saw a lot more dink and dunk, and quarterback keepers. Peregrin seems to be on a shorter leash when it comes to opening up the offense.
For the record Peregrin went 6-10, fumbled once, was sacked once, and threw one interception. His longest pass was for 15 yards. While Cubit gave an earful to both quarterbacks, Hiller was getting his share of "atta-boys."
The running game looked as solid as it's ever looked. West looked very sharp, whether picking his holes, or getting to the corner. He seemed to have a little more giddy-up to the corner than he did last year. Glennis Thompson is proving himself to be a human bowling ball. If he ran any closer to the ground his face would be in it. Nothing fancy here. Just north and south, with a quick burst to the hole. Expect to see some two back this year, particularly inside the redzone.
So who was missing from this equation? Mark Bonds. While Bonds got reps, he is clearly fighting to get back in the 2 man rotation. We asked Cubit about that.
<b> Cubit: "Bonds is fighting to get some playing time. There are some guys who've had better springs, and better summers. I still think he's a valuable guy and things can change. But the guys that are practicing the best are going to get the playing time. Right now he's battling for the two. I think Brandon West has the starting spot, but again, that could change."</b>
There were some interesting battles on defense. Braska got a lot of reps on the right side today, perhaps getting the nod ahead of Greg Marshall at RDE. Regardless, we are deeper than we've been in years at DE, with Davidson, Braska, Marshall, Burghuis, and Anthony Williams all contributing.
At linebacker, keep your eye on Cornelius Robinson. This guy is flying to the ball. On one play he covered 30 yards of ground, coming from the right side, and stopping a screen to the left side for a 3 yard loss.
Antwan Allen is adding depth at safety, and playing well too. Anthony Gephard played a lot of left corner today along with Andy Dorcely . London Fryar had on a yellow (no contact) jersey today.
Three things stood out at receiver.
<b>#1 Schnieder Julien's cutbacks are Barry Sanderish. On two occasions in goal line passing drills, he left the corner grabbing air. Julien also handled punts. I believe we have the weapon on punt returns that we've lacked since Jennings graduated. A lot of gunners are going to be grabbing air on punt coverage, and after that Julien may be off to the races.
#2 Jordan White nearly took an end around to the house. What surprised me was how he turned on the jets once he had the corner. White is a big strong receiver, and you don't expect him to have this other gear.
#3 Anthony Middleton just catches your eye. He's not only big, but he's very athletic. I asked Coach Cubit if he'd get some playing time at wide receiver. Cubit said yes. Both he and Ledbetter are going to get spaced out at times. There's not a lot of 5'9" corners in the MAC who will be able to bring Anthony down on the first hit. </b>
On the lighter note, Cubit had a few things to say to his players during practice. Cubisms, we'll call them. As always, the coach was tossing around the complements. Some notable quotes included, "_ _ _ _ _ you've got no leadership skills!" Or this one. "Damn it, when will you stop staring down the receiver!" Or this one, after a fumble in shotgun. "Wise guy………You're Joe Cool aren't ya!!!" During passing drills he witnessed some errant throws. He proceeded to sprint 80 yards to the other end of the field, where he lit into his stable of quarterbacks. After a few more less than perfect throws, he had them all stop and do up downs. Don't be fooled by his gruff demeanor, said Nancy Cubit, "He's a ***** cat at home."
Look for another update towards the middle of the week.
<b>Pictures from Fall practice, with more to come</b>
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