My thoughts .. take it for what its worth:
- Missed the special teams warm ups so not much to talk about there.
- Boyle looks like he has the most upside of all the QB's I saw today. Over all he looks in command and throws a really nice ball .. made a great play in the redzone while under pressure throwing the ball up over the D to the outside right shoulder of his receiver who was well defended in the corner of the end zone. He def had some freshmen moments, as is to be expected... one play that stands out is during 7 v 7 where he forced a throw into double coverage and got picked. But the kid can throw. They may just be warm ups but he is a flat out athlete, you don't have to be a professional to spot that. He looks like the #2 at this point. As far as snaps I'd say Whitmer, Boyle/Cochran were pretty even on reps .. followed by Taylor then Lagow. Lagow throws a nice ball but if I had to put my money on it he's going to redshirt. He has a lot of upside too. I think Taylor is a multi threat (though they didnt run him) has a chance to see the field some this year.
- Whitmer played like Whitmer, I don't know .. He has the most game time experience but I see more upside in Boyle... I'll leave it at that. Earlier on I saw a drill dedicated to QB's shifting/scrambling around while other QB's pressured.. some were movements in the pocket others roll outs. I hope thats a standard drill for QB's and not a sign of things to come... speaking of which..
- Oline ... this area really worries me, I mean REALLY worries me. Maybe I'm just over reacting and don't have a clue. Yes the defense is usually well ahead of the offense early on... but theres a week and a half left until the season opener and I didn't see much to be excited about. Lots of coaching on where players should be lined up... I heard Deleone yelling for players to get down into their stance, the line got NO push on the majority of the running plays and the QB didn't have much time to get the ball off. There were a number of running plays where the RB was running for his life in the back field. During the hurry up no huddle the DLine did seem to be off balance which worked to the advantage of the offense.. hope we see alot of that type of play this year.
- "STAY ON YOUR FEET!" ...."QUIT FALLING DOWN!" I heard a lot of that being screamed today. I believe it was Hughes who was demanding the Dline stay upright. Pasqualoni was very vocal too. No need to get injuries before the season starts.
- Running game ... yea... lots of defenders in the back field (see Oline comments above). Mccombs ... still goes down after first contact. The person that impressed me today was #25 Hypolite, he powered through on some plays and broke lose on others. Looks pretty damn good! Dropped an easy pass early on but in the scrimmage drills he held his own and made gains. Delorenzo did OK but again didnt get much help from the OLine.
- Defense ... #2 from Florida is BIG.. He had a red zone break up pass where he dove and knocked the ball down right before it hit the WR's hands .... he hits hard too. Our LB core is going to be a beast this year. Speaking of BEAST Obi Melifonwu stands out. Though a safety, at first glance, he looks like a LB IMO and is all over the field... Brian Urlacher anyone? He is going to be special. DLine handled the OLine today.... corners looked good .. mack hits hard as I'm sure you have all heard. Glad to hear McQuillan has been released from the hospital with nothing too serious.
- WR starters are obvious .. Davis, Phillips on the outside with fox/Bradley as the slot. Though I did see Bradley line up on the wide out few times. Abrams had a good catch and run on the 7v7's. I forget who it was and the actual play but there was pass where a WR's made an ankle breaking shift that caused a number of 'OOOOOooooo's!' from the side line.
- Over all its just practice and the coaches aren't going to show anything significant. Its just an opportunity for casual fan's like myself to act like they can evaluate things. The weather was great and its a great way to get fans engaged. No need to predict how this will unfold for the season... we will let the games speak for themselves.
