Scrimmage Notes

I’m just going to start with the bad. From my understanding, “bad” was the definition of quarterback play overall. The one guy I talked to late Monday said all three quarterbacks made really bad decisions, too many of them. The expectation from one source who participates in every practice, is that they should have done much better.

A second source was laying a lot of the blame on the pass protection of the offensive line. The centers had multiple bad snaps that ended in big losses or turnovers as well.

Rick Wells and Van Jefferson both had big receptions on the night.

A source said the offensive line seemed to run block well and that Lamical Perine was the best of the running backs. He evidently had a good night overall. Another source told me that Iverson Clement made some nice plays as well.

As you would expect, the defense played well, but hard to get a grasp on whether that was because of the quarterback play or they just actually played well. The older David Reese evidently had a good night. I was told.

Slaton and Polite stood out up front.

Yikes

Well that’s the most depressing recap of the Scrimmage I have read so far. Nick from GC posted notes including some of the QB struggles with poor throws/INT’s, but there were also some big plays that got me really excited.

QB: Sounds like Trask (still nursing a hand injury) struggled the most with a fumbled snap and a couple INT’s. Jones ran the ball well with a couple TD runs one 20+ yds against 3rd team D, but was very inconsistent throwing the ball. Franks performed the best with a 70yd bomb to Rick Wells down to the 1, a 9yd TD to Van, and he had a 60+ yd TD run. Negative for FF was a pick by Marco, and other bad throws that were near picks.

RB: Pierce 30+ TD Run Clement 40+ TD Run Jaylin Jackson had huge 40+ Run on speed sweep!

OL: Poor snaps from Buchanan 4-5 bad snaps from the line on the night Pass protection needs to improve Run blocking showed significant improvement.

Defense: Conliffe and Slaton are a force in the middle D had a goal line stop from the 1 led by Big Reese Polite stood out all night and was “unblockable” Clayton got praise from coaches- 2 Sacks + TFL Chatfield,Campbell, Zuniga had Sacks Moon looked good in coverage Wilson & Edwards had INT’s

Toney, Heggie, Lewis were in the PIT Chauncey & Cece sat out of scrimmage

I still expect FF to be named the man next week and that we will have a package for EJ. RB’s are running the ball extremely well and we are deep. Line needs to improve protection, and fix the issues with snaps that led to some of the QB issues. Defense should be solid with a strong pass rush off the edge, and run stuffers in the middle.

Overall had some good some bad which I will take for the first scrimmage. It also feels like we have way more playmakers on the field than we have seen in many years. Will be interested in what Dan the man has to say. Expect it to be that we are still looking for leadership on offense.

I actually think our defense is going to be top 10, and I don't necessarily think it's bad for any of the Quarterbacks or offensive line.

Keep in mind every single one of our players on defense has a year's experience, the vast majority of them started a game last year and they're all pretty much veterans.

Jabari Zuniga, redshirt junior at end.
Khairi Clark, redshirt senior at DT.
Luke Ancrum, redshirt junior at NT. (Or Slaton, Sophomore)
CeCe Jefferson, senior at Rush.
David Reese, junior at ILB.
Rayshad Jackson, redshirt junior at ILB.
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, junior at STAR.
Jeawon Taylor, junior at SS.
Brad Stewart, sophomore at FS.
Marco Wilson, sophomore at CB
C.J. Henderson, sophomore at CB.

I mean, Goddamn. There are three Sophomores and eight upperclassmen. Both Cornerbacks started or played in every single game last year even though they're just sophomores. Even Brad Stewart played in all 11 games.

Next year is going to be absolutely insane for this defense, but even this year is scary. What I love is that Mullen filled in the needs behind them.

But anyway: I'm not sure if the offense is bad, or the defense is just a monster.