post spring game thoughts and predictions

QB - Allen looked a little better, but there wasn't a glaring difference.

RB - Arinze, the guy is a bulldog, strong. JWill looked ok. Walker was pretty impressive. Holmes is Holmes, lots of speed but small, if he gets in the open he's gone.

O-line and D-line - I'm going to wait on this before I comment simply because it's hard to say watching the spring game, the D can't bring much.

Secondary - They aren't getting beat like last year, they still can't tackle worth a F in the open.

LB - I like Carr so far. Not much depth, if someone gets hurt we're f'd.

Overall, they don't seem to make a lot of mistakes. There's still a few, but compared to last year the difference is noticable. And it's still just spring.

ETA: If the o-line has improved like I think they have, the combination of Arinze, Walker, and doses of Small could be brutal on D's.

I enjoyed the new format

Both QB's looked pedestrian at best, probably due to the coaching change.

I somehow expected Tavarres to play better, Carr and Atiga were more impressive. We're still fricked at that position.

JWill not impressive, Arinze is hard to bring down.

Darius Philon has some good strength and speed along with Kelley-Thomas.

Very encouraging to see the D line do something other than staying engaged with the O line. Robert Thomas has developed a great spin move.

Zach Hocker = money

I did like the way 2Beez conducted himself on the sidelines, encouraging players.

Walk-on JUCO FB from California.

I still hope Mitchell is the QB. He made a couple of bad plays, but he seemed more accurate on the deep throws. Allen looked better at times, but Mitchell really impressed me with his ability to avoid pressure and escape the pocket.

Herndon, Hatcher, and Wilson all looked very good at receiver. I don't think we will have any problems there.

Arinze... wow. He's definitely going to be a goal line and short yardage presence for us.

The defense looked too much like last year. Lots of open receivers and poor tackling. Our secondary needs to learn to get lower on tackles. I was happy to see our corners turning around to look for the ball. Hines looks good in coverage.

Even though the defense was able to get pressure at times, he O-line looked surprisingly good. They protected the QBs well and opened up some good holes for the running game.

I know this staff is emphasizing physicality and they definitely should, but I hope JWill doesn't go too far with that. I hope he doesn't just plow into people every chance he gets and try to push the pile. I still want to see him bounce to the outside and make cuts, and run into people when there's no option left.

Well most of his career he was behind Wright, Adams and Childs. And then last year, Tyler couldn't see anybody on the field other than Cobi on the quick slant. So no, like all of our current receivers, he hasn't done much. Don't judge his ability on one glorified scrimmage though. Over his career he's taken in 29 passes and averaged 13 yards per reception. He's no Percy Harvin but he's a solid option in the slot.

i actually thought Allen looked pretty good. wasnt expecting too much, and all spring i was hoping for BMitch to pull ahead.

Allen's first series was pretty underwhelming, but he settled in and made some nice throws. that scramble-to-sideline throw into double coverage was pretty impressive. some more confidence and better touch on the deep ball, and i think he'll turn out ok.

and Deatrich Wise looked like he made alot of plays.

I've been high on Wise since the first time I watched him play. He is going to make some plays for Arkansas. I thought Herndon, Hatcher, Walker and Wilson looked really good on offense. The offensive line looked alright at times and I expect them to be a lot better in the fall. The defense will not be a world beating defense but will be better than last year. I would say at this time we win 6 or 7 games next year.

quote:

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OLine is solid up the middle but I still worry about our tackles.

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Admittedly, I didn't watch the whole thing, but I saw a few instances where the DE would have gotten a sack if they hadn't pulled up (refs didn't blow it dead).

I <3 Arinze already! That run up the middle in the 2nd was a thing of beauty!