further Spring game observations
So I re-watched the spring game on DVR. Am surprised there hasn't been more of discussion of the observations, unless I missed it., and if I did so I apologize. Nonetheless, here are mine...
-Ulizio looked fantastic... he was holding off Wormley quite well. Ulizio jumped out at me, more than any other OL. Was playing RT, which was surprising, for I thought he was a G. Did anyone else have the same observation?
-brings me to Newsome. he seems very raw, didn't have good bend and got blown back by many smaller players... he has a ways to go. This is our proverbial achilles heel this season.. if we don't make the playoff, this will be it. He looks the part, but is gonna be a liability unless he progresses and fast... Wow we are short at LT, the one position I'd think with our storied history, we'd have no trouble with. Losing that kid Hamilton to Stanford, and losing LTT, and this position is scary thin. Im hoping Harbaugh has an ace up his sleeve, as in a grad transfer LT.
-Pliska looked ok, he took out Godin for that TD run, I think.
-McCray is a man. Incredible that our LBs looks miles ahead of last years lbs, and those were 5 seniors. The backup Wroblenski blew alot of gap assignments. If Furbush is what I think he is, our lbs may be perceived as our best unit by the end of the season, only because the DL will be so dominant that it'll make the LBs look great. Hats off to Partridge here?
-Mitchell looks like a senior, physically.
-And this is what totally floored me.....All the early enrollees, Mitchell, Walker, Bush, Kemp.. do not look like freshmen at all. Wow, what a difference between Hokes incoming freshen, and Harbaughs. All of them look that they can contribute immediately. Let that settle for a moment. This is quite remarkable. Bush looks ready to start if need be. Walker too.
I have not had a chance to re-watch it. Just curious, what % of the time were we in shotgun vs. under center? It seemed like the coaches mixed it up pretty well.
I was intently watching the players, and I don't recall running the shotgun at all... but I was lost in observation.
They definitely ran some shotgun. I recall thinking some of the snaps to Speight were slow in arriving, or left short.
I saw at least one instance Cole had trouble with the shotgun snap.
It happened a couple times. Not many though. It's very possible you just missed it.
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Seemed like Cole was not comfortable letting it go..More than a couple snaps were light and barely got there, QBs had to reach for it and bobbled a couple..work in progress
I hope they UFR the whole spring game. Sure, this was somewhat vanilla and featured split units, but there's probably a lot of cool stuff to glean that my eyes don't catch.
I always find the UFRs interesting because they are written by people with much higher football IQs than I have.
Do I have a 2nd?
Please. Would love a spring game UFR.
Same here. I'd read the hell out of that.
UFR! UFR!
That is all.
Ufer too.
I'd read that UFR mostly to overanalyze spring game weirdness like Shane Morris grading out at WR. Poor damn Ken Sloss should get his numbers handicapped for hustle.
Did we ever get a Citrus Bowl UFR?
Nope
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No UFR for the Citrus bowl? Probably no UFR for the spring game?
These people need to be better at their jobs.
Agreed. I think the UFR's are great, because I end up learning so much about the minute parts of the game. They may be the part of this blog that I enjoy the most.
Well, besides Jessica, Alison, and The Muppets. (I mean, there's enjoyable, and then there's ENJOYABLE.)
Ditto.
By the way is video of the spring game posted online?
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The exact percentage is 38.268.
My one observation is that Kareem Walker was open all day long in the flat and O'Korn never looked at him.
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Dint want it on tape
Don't*
Well, a swing pass to the tailback isn't really a revolutionary concept.
Seemed like none of the QBs did a particularly good job of going through their receiver progressions. Odd for a Harbaugh-led pack of QBs unless it was intentional.
They might have been focusing more on their receivers as in wanting to focus on getting timing down with them and not looking to dump off on an easy outlet check down. Big MIGHT but it's just a thought.
when Malzone's throws were largely dump offs.
his throws seemed to be dumpoffs this year too.
not intentional. That would be counterproductive.
Speight was the most calm, and ready to play QB IMO. Every single time O'Korn dropped back he immediately ran If his first read wasn't there. I don't think O'Korn is ready yet for such an in depth, pro style system.
Speight looked more poised, and he can also take off, though not nearly as fast as O'Korn.
At this point it is pretty obvious that the race is a two horse race between Speight and O'Korn. The summer and fall are pivotal to these fellas.
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O'Korn just didn't look comfortable with the offense or defensive looks. I think it is a two horse race based on those two starting, but I actually thought Morris looked more comfortable going through the offense than O'Korn, though he wasn't without flaws.
This its Speight's job to lose unless JOK gets a lot more comfortable outside easier spread O reads
I agree with this, but I think JOK has the higher ceiling if he can get comfortable with the reads, and we all know how good his coach is at coaching QBs. If JOK can make the same kinds of improvements throughout the year that Rudock made last season, JOK will be better than Speight, maybe by a healthy margin. That said, there's no guarantee he makes those improvements, and for the time being, Speight looks more capable of winning games.
Speight actually looks a lot like Rudock last year. Not a cannon for an arm, but steady as hell everywhere else. And although Speight looked quicker than I thought he was, he won't be getting first downs or TD with his feet as well as Rudock did.
I think that's a big reason why JOK is getting the reps he is, the staff still feels a lot of untapped potential. While I thought Morris looked better, my feeling is that his room for improvement is less at this point. He may improve a little more, but JOK is less developed and the staff feels more confident they can eventually get JOK to that ceiling than Morris at this point.
Peters will pass O'Korn on the depth chart before the end of the year. No one else wants to say it, but its gonna happen.
Yep, I saw this and several times yelled "throw it to him" - as if it mattered in the spring game, or as if I wanted one side to win more than the other.
It was good to see him open, though.
Yes, this was very frustrating to me during the game. Kareem Walker was wide open a few times and O'Korn held the ball too long. Or didn't see him. Either way, it wasn't good.
Since I was cheering for the defense, I cheered every time our defensive backs baited the QBs into throwing at a receiver who appeared open, only to be smothered by the defense /s
More importantly though, remember how early last season Rudock would lock onto a receiver and never make a progression through the entire play? Obviously Harbaugh got that fixed quick so I'm not too concerned yet that the new QBs are demonstrating the same problem.
His name is Jake Raulerson, and he decided to go to UCLA. He would have allowed Cole to remain at LT, thus leaving Newsome on the bench for another year. And Devery Hamilton is a Guard, I believe.
I suspect Drevno will have Newsome playing well enough by mid-season that he won't be a liability. May not be a strenght - but won't be a liability, anyway. I can't imagine saying that had Drevno not arrived to replace Funk.
Hamilton is listed as a tackle by 247. Oh, and I forgot about Swenson, too. Word is that Bredeson can be kicked out to LT, but I don't like this at all.
every time I hear "Funk". Glad those days are behind us.
would like a word with you...
If that's the case then all I can say is...RUN! RJ was crazy even when he was alive.
I'm Rick James, Bitch.
Obligatory for anyone old enough to remember.
We need the funk! Gotta have that funk!
De very Hamilton was definitely a tackle.
I also think that it will make a big difference, especially for a young guy like Newsome, to be able to rep with the full OL in the fall. Tough to read a ton into the performance of patched together OL's in the spring game.
Only issue is then people would be complaining about our center getting blown back instead of our LT...so pick your poison I guess.
I felt like Lawrence Marshall was near the ball a lot making plays, but I'm by far not an expert observer. I'm expecting to be corrected.
I noticed that too. He reminds me a lot of Mario Ojemudia in size and ability.
I thought he was OK, though Bunting really caved him on one play (good for Bunting, his blocking really impressed me overall - his willingness and "contact courage"). He doesn't seem like the quick-twitch DE I had envisioned/hoped for though.
but it seemed like he was getting consistently beat in the passing game.
Yes McCray looked lost in pass coverage but thought he played well overall. Newsome did not look good. Thankfully it's only April. He will get better.
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