My football scrimmage opinions

[Bo Darville]

Went and watched a portion of yesterday's scrimmage. I probably watched half of it. I tried to pay attention to a particular person on each play, rather than watch the play itself. Keep in mind they have only had a few practices.

1. We have no QB after Russell and Prescott (sat out scrimmage). No walk-on is in any way capable of playing.

2. Carr looks good. He can help us.

3. Gus Walley has potential. Soft hands and not afraid to catch in traffic. He doesn't hear footsteps. Not the athlete that Malcolm Johnson is, but he is the type of tight end that will get you 9 yards on 3rd and 7. Won't play much this year I wouldn't think.

4. Geoff Collins coaches hard and the players like his style. He wants turnovers.

5. Joe Morrow showed nothing. He doesn't show much effort and I wonder if he is afraid. The potential is there but the light has not come on. Hopefully it will. At this point he reminds me of Hargro. I remember watching Hargro practice and thinking that he would never contribute. As much crap as people gave Prosser, Prosser looked like Megatron compared to Hargro's catholic school girl. Hargro had no SEC ability. I hope Morrow isn't the same. He is still young and the switch could still flip. I think he lacks confidence. He needs something good to happen on the field for him. I'm hoping he can turn it around but he's got to want it. Doesn't play with any urgency. Please step up Morrow. Please step up.

6. The switch has flipped for Jameon Lewis. Other than a kickoff return against Ole Miss, he has done nothing special. Now he looks like a guy that knows the wideout depth chart just graduated. He looks engaged, aggressive, and confident. Hugely improved I thought.

7. Nick James is another impressive player. He would play hard and looked in much better condition. He was only playing in 2 or 3 play bursts, but didn't look tired when he came to the sidelines. The other defensive linemen have definitely accepted him into the club. I would say that Nick and Jameon looked like the two most improved players.

8. Holloway is fast. Hopefully he isn't a track star trying to play football. He can flat run.

9. Richie Brown looks good, but he's not even close to ready to start. Get those thoughts out of your head. They will bring him along at a nice pace and he will play well for us.

10. Justin Cox looks very natural in the defensive backfield.

11. Robert Johnson wants to play. Works hard.

This was only the first scrimmage. Things can and will change. This is simply my thoughts on the hour or so I watched.

[Coach34]

all this is based on what I'm hearing:

1. I agree with you on Ritchie Brown and have wondered why people thought he would even have a chance to start??? He has zero chance of beating out Skinner or McKinney. Zero. But he will get experience this year, get better, and step in and start in Skinner's spot in 2014. R. Brown as a R-Soph will be a pretty good football player.

2. You just repeated everything I've heard about Morrow.

3. Nick James, PJ Jones, and Eulls are playing the best of the DT's. Quay and Virges are hell at times, but are still inconsistent. It will be a year long fight to stay out of the 5th DT spot for us. Which is a good thing

4. Cox is an NFL type talent.

5. Autry is taking the next step to being a drafted DE. Look for Chris Jones to be his back-up this Fall to get experience and reps

6. Jameon has indeed raised his level of play

7. Our TE's are the most solid group on offense.

8. JRob and Milton have to get better in pass pro. Pass pro is the reason JRob cant take the job from Perkins.

9. Watch out for Matthew Wells this year

10. Smith and Brown are really making some good strides at DE- our DL should be drastically improved in 2013

[BeastMan]

You pretty much saw what I have seen so far as well. Did Morrow get many targets? The thing i notice w/him is that he's big And can get open but doesnt look natural catching the ball. He grabs at it as opposed to how Jameon and Carr flip their hands up and catch it softly, looking effortless. Did Morrow get some targets and have drops or just disappear? Thanks for the notes, it's appreciated.

[FISHDAWG]

so who is behind Morrow on the depth chart ?

[BeastMan]

so who is behind Morrow on the depth chart ?

Carr is the next option behind Morrow and Rojo. Fred Brown has made a nice push for PT this spring at outside receiver. Don't forget about Jeremy Chappelle. The more comfortable he gets in the offense, the more pt he'll get

[Bo Darville]

Morrow just disappears. SEC football is tough. You have to be all-in or all-out. You can't be halfway in. You have to totally, 100% decide that you want to work, give effort, pay attention, learn, and play. I don't think Morrow has made the 100% commitment. Jameon Lewis looked like he has finally made the 100% commitment. So does Nick James. I do worry some about Quay. I didn't see him play, but my understanding was that he got banged up early before I arrived. The problem is that while he was on the sidelines watching the remainder of the scrimmage, he looked like he lost interest in the scrimmage. Didn't seem to remain engaged in what was happening on the field, and what Collins and David Turner were saying and teaching. Quay has all the ability in the world, so let's hope we see it. I think he will be fine.

Back to Morrow. Some guys never make the 100% commitment. When you don't, you wind up like Montrell Conner (MSU to JUCO to Troy to Belhaven). Think about that. A guy with multiple SEC offers playing at Belhaven. Morrow just doesn't look like a guy who wants to be on the football field on Saturday afternoon practicing. You can see it in his body language and effort. I do think confidence has a lot to do with it. I'm wondering if Morrow himself is doubting his own ability to compete at this level. I think a big play in a scrimmage or game that would help him gain some confidence would be huge. It is almost like a pitcher (Woodruff is good example) that loses that confidence that he can dominate. Sometimes they need something good to happen to regain that confidence.

Also Justin Malone continues to come along nicely. If necessary, I could see him taking Siddoway's tackle spot after Siddoway graduates (unless Damien Robinson or Justin Senior is ready). Malone has good feet and pass blocks well. I would like to see him give us more thump in the running game (like Tobias would), but Malone plays more with footwork and athleticism rather than being a physical mauler. Malone is smart and could probably quickly adapt to all line positions except center. With Siddoway and Gabe Jackson being seniors, and Clausell and Day being juniors, we should have the best offensive line we've had in a while. However, with that age, it means we've got to get ready with replacements, as we will start losing starters to graduation and want to reload rather than rebuild. We've lost Maiden, Knox, Lawson, and Nick Redmond, so Hevesy better coach up the new guys.

[mic]

I have ben to a few practices and some of the scrimmage..
Everything said I would agree with.
Redmond was suspended for the scrimmage but he has looked awesome in the 2 practices I saw. I think he will start at the other CB position depending on the NCAA stuff. which at this point is ridiculous it is even still an issue.
yes we have majot talent at TE.. I hope we us a lot of double TE sets which will also help the running game
The defense does look much more energized. And i agree about Wells maybe we will finally put him in positions to use his athletic ability which is off the charts.
The Browns (Richie and Benq) both will play some but prob see most of their time on special teams.
Dont forget about Chris Hughes. i think this def will suit him much better.. he is VERY fast
Maybe Robinson has finally turned the corner. He has been running a lot with 1st team with Siddoway 2nd..not sure that will be the result this fall but at least he has made progress

[TrueMaroon]

Take this with a grain of salt because it was with the 2nd team OL, but AJ Jefferson absolutely blew up two runs. He was at the RB before the RB had taken the hand off.

Denico will have a solid year this year.

Josh Robinson needs to get the mental aspect of the game down. Physically, he is dominant but he still had a few mental errors which will keep him off the field if he doesnt change it.

Nelson Adams got to run with the 1's some.

Cedric Jiles is going to be a legit player in his time here. Really liked his effort.

[Coach34]

Take this with a grain of salt because it was with the 2nd team OL, but AJ Jefferson absolutely blew up two runs. He was at the RB before the RB had taken the hand off.
.

I've heard AJ is coming on also- but he will be competing in the Fall with Chris Jones for playing time on the 2nd DL. Hard for me to believe he is going to win that battle. But if he does- it means we are going to be pretty ****ing good at DE

Heard Smith is really playing well- he can rush the passer, still has work to do vs run game, but has improved there

[Bo Darville]

Take this with a grain of salt because it was with the 2nd team OL, but AJ Jefferson absolutely blew up two runs. He was at the RB before the RB had taken the hand off.

Agreed about AJ. Here is my one concern (using my best Mel Kiper voice). AJ is too big to play linebacker. But I worry about his lack of height at defensive end, which is where he is playing. Taller guys (Preston Smith, Autry, Ryan Brown, Chris Jones) tend to have longer arms which helps them with the pass rush. You don't see many 6'-2" defensive ends in the SEC or the NFL. He is somewhat of a tweener (end Mel Kiper voice). But he did look really good. Production is all that matters anyway. If he can play well, I don't care if he is a midget.

Edited to say that Smith, Autry, and Brown are all listed at 6'-6". AJ Jefferson listed at 6'-3" (per hailstate spring roster). Still somewhat short, but who cares. If he can get it done I'm happy. We will mix and match some based on down and distance anyway. You don't always play the same defensive ends on 3rd and 2 that you would play on 3rd and 9.

[BeastMan]

Preston Smith looks really good. He is huge. Much bigger and more physical than Autry who he beat out for sack lead w/way less reps. To be honest, seeing how good Smith plays will piss you off about the last 2 years and our pathetic production at that DE spot