Sam Webb - Rome Update
Sam Webb gave a summary of his opinions on the Rome practices today on the Michigan Insider podcasts.
- Mason Cole looks great at LT - like he hasn't missed a step
- Patrick Kugler has stepped up at Center and is currently leading over Caesar (too bad this didn't happen last year Kugler at C, Cole at LT may have been good enough to get us to the playoffs)
- Peters and O'Korn looked great at practice and Wilton was inconsistent (sprinkled some great plays with some not-so-good types). He still expects Speight to start the season at #1 but the gap is shrinking by the week.
I don't bring up #3 to stir up a Peters vs. Speight debate (the coaches will pick the guy who gives the team the best chance to win - full stop). However, these notes directly contridict the post from Maizenbrew yesterday.
How can two observers watch the same practice sessions and come out with completely opposite view points? Between the two, Sam has the track record and, to my knowledge, doesn't have any biases in this conversation - so I will go with his viewpoint.
Pretty skeptical of Kugler still. Doesn't take that long for a player to develop, especially one referred to as about the surest bet that an OL could ever be. Maybe they didn't want to make a switch midseason last year, but either way hard to imagine him being much better than mediocre.
I think he's going to hold up pretty well. Determined, dedicated, and getting good work this spring against two of the best interior DL he'll face in 2017. See my post below, but after watching Kugler in practice, I think he'll be fine. Put it this way, the coaches wouldn't waste an entire spring ball with Kugler with the 1s if they thought they had someone better.
Sam doesn't have any biases?
/insert LOL emoji
For the Eleventy billioneth time, the juicy tidbits from practice reports that people clamor for each year mean almost next to nothing. It's practice...in a protected environment...against teammates...with nothing on the line. Forming your opinion on who the best player at such-n-such a position based solely on these reports is fools gold.
The kind of information you should take to heart when reading practice reports is:
- ___________ has great hands/runs good routes.
- ___________ has a good punch
- ___________ has a quick first step
- ___________ had a big lick in a full contact/full team drill
The kind of information you should take with a Spartan shoulder chip-sized grain of salt, particularly when the subject has never faced a live opponent during a Saturday game in a real stadium in which score is kept and the W/L counts:
- ___________ is the best QB on the team
- ___________ should be starting and he isn't, I question our coaches
- anything and everything that begins with "They say......"
This is your friendly reminder for your buddy RYG.
That take regarding the QB situation is spot on, and one I agree with 100%. My quip about Sam was more of a general "lol wut" about him not being biased.
Why people waste brain cells debating practice reports is beyond me. I'll form my uneducated, ignorant opinions (hot takes)when the games start.
The reason I don't buy this too much (in regards to Speight) is when JOK started the Indiana game there was a HUGE drop off from Speight. I don't think JOK could be closing on Speight tbh (no offense to JOK).
Thanks. Yeah Peters is kind of an unknown commodity. Maybe he'll explode in garbage time in an early game and we'll see what he's about.
I will add that Peters may be a better "7 on 7" QB than Speight. On the camp circuit Peters played a ton of 7on7 and was one of the best at it. However, from my days of playing ball...7on7 QBing can sometimes correlate to a good QB, but sometimes is overstated.
The practices in Rome were 7 v 7 so you can evaluate the WRs v CBs for example pretty well. Very difficult to read much into a RB or a linemen. Lineman were going up against each other in "drills". Especially for OL that is very different than trying to work as a unit, pulling, dealing with blitzes, stunts, any of that jazz. So X lineman can look good in isolation in a 1 v 1 battle, and then be lost in the fog of war on an actual field where what he sees is changing dynamically.
As for Onwenu before the Italy trip Harbaugh was at some symposium for local coaches and was talking about the local Detroit products and how each was doing and said in front of the room apparently Onwenu is well above the weight they want him, and they are on him about it. So to say that in a forum where usually you gush about people (he gushed about just about everyone else) is a shot across the Onwenu bow. That guy needs to get some self motivation because it sounds like someone who feels he has a spot sewn up and is not self discipling in a program that is all about self discipline.
I still would love to have to Onwenu at DT rather than OG. He would be an excellent run stuffing DT.
Were you in Rome or not?
he stayed at a Holiday Inn.
In Rome, New York, no less.
Dude knows his shit.
can take the starting C position and run with it. Put a RS on Ruiz and let him learn this year and then anchor the line for 3-4 years!
Funny maizenbrew gave the exact opposite. That Speight starting getting comfortable etc.... I am not an evaultor, but from the photage I've seen Speight is inconsistent . Seems to always throw an INT. Peters looks more comfortable. Not sure who to believe.......
and became Caesar? Just kidding, thanks for the update.
It wasn't the media. It was the fanbase (a lot on here). Agree with the rest though.