-The defense won the day by a somewhat significant margin today. That's without CJ Taylor but also without Sedrick Alexander and AJ Newberry.
-That being said, this is the best I've seen Nate Johnson to date. He had some ball security issues that Clark was unhappy with but I thought he made more throws than he had previously and his offenses generally moved. He may have been the only offensive player with a positive +/- on the day. Nothing super noteworthy out of the other quarterbacks, they probably took care of the ball better than Johnson but didn't move it as much, either. Berlowitz' long throwing motion concerns me considering they have o-line issues.
-Chase Gillespie made some plays but I struggle to see a way they're going to consistently be able to run it against defenses better than their own with the running backs. That's not only because they were shorthanded in the backfield. I'm thinking Nate Johnson may be their leading rusher if he is the starter.
-Quiet day for the receivers. They've got work to do in that room before the summer. I've liked what I've seen more from Hoskins than Dillon. They do seem to utilize the tight ends more than they did with Joey Lynch and Tim Beck seemed to light up when I asked him what he was looking for in a TE.
-Cole Spence seems to be the guy in that room and seems to be a threat in the red zone. Interested to see what Kam Johnson does when he returns to practice.
-Think they've only got eight healthy bodies on the offensive line currently and I'd expect some turnover there but it certainly needs to be better than it has been. It's also hard when the defense is throwing bodies at them and they only have eight guys, though.
-Seems like Leyton Nelson and Jake Ketschek may not have much of a future with the program, although Clark said that wasn't official. Said it will play out in the next week or so with Nelson, Josh Palmer and Dylan Pauley Betts. Ketschek seems to have begun the process of medically retiring.
-Defensively, Clark seems to really like their energy. They're flying to the ball at times and seem to be rallying around each other. Definitely more noticeable energy than the offense.
-They also seem to have what Clark called the blueprint working defensively. They're starting to stack some depth.
-Kolbey Taylor is the most high-energy guy on that side from the looks of it. Bryce Cowan and Nate Johnson had some good friendly banter going, as well.
-I'm starting to buy that this can be a capable defense, but it's hard to know what's them being successful vs the offense struggling. But, they've got good top end guys like CJ Taylor and Langston Patterson, they've got some depth on the defensive line and have some experience there, really like their athletes at linebacker and safety.
-Didn't see much of an impact out of Prince Kollie. Think Longwell plays more, but it was nice to see him back out there healthy. That's another testament to their depth in the linebacker room.
-Randon Fontenette can really come down and hit which I think people will appreciate.
-I would venture to guess Dontae Carter plays the most out of any defensive freshman by a good margin. I admittedly am not a tremendously advanced defensive line evaluator, though. I do like Simeon Boulware more than I did when he was a recruit.
-Really like Tim Beck. Quincy Skinner mentioned that he talks with Diego Pavia every day which I thought was interesting. He seems to think he's got a big leap ahead of him.
-One more scrimmage next week before the end of spring ball.
-That being said, this is the best I've seen Nate Johnson to date. He had some ball security issues that Clark was unhappy with but I thought he made more throws than he had previously and his offenses generally moved. He may have been the only offensive player with a positive +/- on the day. Nothing super noteworthy out of the other quarterbacks, they probably took care of the ball better than Johnson but didn't move it as much, either. Berlowitz' long throwing motion concerns me considering they have o-line issues.
-Chase Gillespie made some plays but I struggle to see a way they're going to consistently be able to run it against defenses better than their own with the running backs. That's not only because they were shorthanded in the backfield. I'm thinking Nate Johnson may be their leading rusher if he is the starter.
-Quiet day for the receivers. They've got work to do in that room before the summer. I've liked what I've seen more from Hoskins than Dillon. They do seem to utilize the tight ends more than they did with Joey Lynch and Tim Beck seemed to light up when I asked him what he was looking for in a TE.
-Cole Spence seems to be the guy in that room and seems to be a threat in the red zone. Interested to see what Kam Johnson does when he returns to practice.
-Think they've only got eight healthy bodies on the offensive line currently and I'd expect some turnover there but it certainly needs to be better than it has been. It's also hard when the defense is throwing bodies at them and they only have eight guys, though.
-Seems like Leyton Nelson and Jake Ketschek may not have much of a future with the program, although Clark said that wasn't official. Said it will play out in the next week or so with Nelson, Josh Palmer and Dylan Pauley Betts. Ketschek seems to have begun the process of medically retiring.
-Defensively, Clark seems to really like their energy. They're flying to the ball at times and seem to be rallying around each other. Definitely more noticeable energy than the offense.
-They also seem to have what Clark called the blueprint working defensively. They're starting to stack some depth.
-Kolbey Taylor is the most high-energy guy on that side from the looks of it. Bryce Cowan and Nate Johnson had some good friendly banter going, as well.
-I'm starting to buy that this can be a capable defense, but it's hard to know what's them being successful vs the offense struggling. But, they've got good top end guys like CJ Taylor and Langston Patterson, they've got some depth on the defensive line and have some experience there, really like their athletes at linebacker and safety.
-Didn't see much of an impact out of Prince Kollie. Think Longwell plays more, but it was nice to see him back out there healthy. That's another testament to their depth in the linebacker room.
-Randon Fontenette can really come down and hit which I think people will appreciate.
-I would venture to guess Dontae Carter plays the most out of any defensive freshman by a good margin. I admittedly am not a tremendously advanced defensive line evaluator, though. I do like Simeon Boulware more than I did when he was a recruit.
-Really like Tim Beck. Quincy Skinner mentioned that he talks with Diego Pavia every day which I thought was interesting. He seems to think he's got a big leap ahead of him.
-One more scrimmage next week before the end of spring ball.
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