Here is my brief take from the scrimmage...
Was there with a good friend of mine who walked on to the Baylor football team back in 1990. He is also a Rice fan (don't run him off lol).
Offense: We both agreed that our run game showed signs of life as the scrimmage went on. Run blocking while initially good got better. Pass blocking needs a lot of work. Thought that Stehling did well moving while in the pocket. Didn't like the first throw into triple coverage. I thought that Tyner was destined for a position shift to TE. I'm not sure of that anymore. He did well. I thought that aside from the potential pick 6, Granato did well. I don't know if that was a bad throw or an incorrect route. We need a passing attack that isn't predicated on long developing routes. Very interesting that Jack Dill is running with the 2nd team on the offensive line. Noticed that Kenneth Thompson was hurt, so that might be the reason. Could be the first Offensive lineman to get game reps as a true freshman since Scott Mitchell. That turned out well, so we will see. Speaking of run game, we have a wealth of riches from Davis' elusiveness, Walter's speed, Dillard's power and patience, and Esukpa's combination of all. No German at WR as I assume that he is still recovering. He can be a game breaker at WR so hopefully we get him back soon. Pollard looks to have a good year and Wright will be steady. Yet, we still need speed at that position. I would love for Houston Robert to get moved back to offense. I know that we have coverage issues, but Robert was more of an offensive player in high school. My opinion is that we are not doing that great of a job of converting offensive players to safety. Not sure that Destri White or Houston Robert will help on defense as much as they would on offense. To be fair, Xavier Webb and Paul Porras turned into multi year starters; Anyway, I say that because Robert's 4.37 speed could really open up the underneath passing game as a deep threat. While Pollard, Walter, and Ellerbee have good speed, we don't seem to be utilizing them as deep threats. However, offensively we were pretty vanilla with our play calling.
Defense:
Looked great in the RedZone early on. Blew up the line on many occasions especially on passing downs. True freshman defensive lineman Elijah Garcia (all 6-5/310 lbs of him) was not suited up. I think at this point he is bound for a redshirt. On the other hand, true freshman Myles Adams was very impressive and at times unblockable. A redshirt would be good for him but depth may force the issue. If so, be on the lookout for number 64. Didn't recall see McGaskey play though he was suited up. Tackling was a mixed bag. The defense swarmed and ran well to the ball, but then at times would go for the big hit or not secure the wrap up. Secondary seems to have more speed; of a particular note, JT Ibe looks more confident out there at Free Safety.
Special Teams: Did not like the fact that we were showing off potential trickery with Jack Fox and Hayden Tobola during the special teams drills. But with that said, I did appreciate the special teams emphasis. Jack Fox definitely has a live leg, just needs to develop consistency. I think that Tobola only missed one FG. There were some occasions that looked as if a block could occur so hopefully that gets cleaned up.
Overall, it was good to be in the stands again. We have a lot of work to do. A lot. With that said, this team will go as far as the Oline takes us. There is a lot of potential on that line. If I were to play to our strengths, I would adopt a lot of what Baylor does offensively. We need to incorporate the zone read pass option.
http://www.espn.com/blog/statsinfo/post/...ense-great
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