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I spent a little over an hour last night watching a replay of the game on ESPN3. My purpose was to watch these four guys because I had never seen three of them play and, although I have seen some game film on O'Reilly, I have a keen interest in how the C position was shaping up. I wanted to develop an informed opinion, on my own, about the newcomers. I am sorry but I just don't put much stock in a lot of the chatter I hear. Instead, I want see it with my own eyes and then, make my own chatter right here. Take it FWIW. I paid no attention to the ball, but instead just watched these guys in their individual battles each play.
Griffin: I came away very impressed with this kid. Obviously the potential to be very good is there. He is a bit of a different type than OTs we have put out there in the recent past. He is tall with a substantial wingspan. Despite not being overly thick, he is adept at getting leverage and he controls his opponents with his length. He has a motor and a little bit of leg drive too. I am not sure he always took the right guy, but whatever guy he did take, he did a good job in controlling him. He got down field in a hurry on the plays where he was supposed to release. I was surprised by his speed. With him, we are likely to see an improvement in pass pro over Beno. He has the ideal body for it and he moves his feet well and keeps his balance. He had no trouble with Stargell at all. I thought he executed his cut blocks fairly well although it didn't look as natural to him as the stand up game did.
Devine: This kid is a beast and it is hard for me to imagine we could bring in a better one into the program. Please do not fret over his current standing in the depth chart. Perhaps the cold and wet evening helped to cool him and improve his stamina. In any case, when not tired, Devine was simply too much for any kid put in front of him. We have all seen Kitchen and Gamble on film last year. They were far from dominant against our competition, but they were competitive. Well, Devine did whatever he wanted with both of those guys and he made it look easy. It was almost like watching a scene from "Blind Side" at times. Devine gives you the impression he is soft and slow, but in a very small ring he is extremely effective because he keeps his feet moving and he uses his size and long arms extremely well. He can come off the ball and engage a defender with a lot of force and he is surprisingly adept at getting angles on them. He got bull rushed and slammed into a couple times by a blitzer who knocked him back. However, Devine just kept his arms on his man, used his feet, and maintained his balance and control over his opponent. They got nowhere after the initial three foot surge. Out in space, he suffers. He is not nearly as effective running in the open field looking for somebody. In fact, it looked pitiful sometimes. However, in his small ring on the interior, he is the best I have seen and he only has the potential to get better. While he is able to bend a little, the cut blocking aspect looks less natural to him. He needs a little work there. Some people think he is too heavy. I don't really think so, at least not in terms of being able to control his weight and use it to his benefit. IMHO, if if if, he can gain some kind of stamina at the current weight, either thru improved diet or exercise/weight training or both, he can easily keep his weight. It is one of his great strengths. The NIKE camp film was no fluke. He will upgrade both the drive blocking and pass pro at his position. He has NFL written all over him. Strong words I know, but I am sticking with it. Call me crazy if you want, but 3 or 4 years from now.....
Burden: I thought he played well. The first thing that struck me was his foot speed. He is really really fast for a center. I had no idea he was so fast. If I had to guess, I would say he is easily under 5 in the 40, maybe as low as 4.8s. He would get the ball snapped, whether successfully or not, and shoot out of there like I cannon ball. He doesn't strike me as being quite as strong as Finch or as polished with footwork, but he is athletic and quick. I like him. He can play. There won't be much of a let down so long as the exchange thing gets taken care of.
O'Reilly: He played well too. Of the two centers he is the more physical, but he is slower. He cut several people to the ground at the second level and seems to have a little more fire this year. While he and Burden are very different players, I would feel comfortable with either. O'Reilly is a big kid. The potential for a huge G-C-G exists with Devine, he, and Mason.
After having done this exercise I am optimistic about where we are headed as a group. As every year, we will be different. The very strong potential for improved pass protection is palpable, as is the potential for springing the dive. I didn't watch Chamberlain much. I know I have been very hard on that kid in the past. Hopefully he played well despite the false start. If that position gets solidified we may be far better up front than many are anticipating.
Griffin: I came away very impressed with this kid. Obviously the potential to be very good is there. He is a bit of a different type than OTs we have put out there in the recent past. He is tall with a substantial wingspan. Despite not being overly thick, he is adept at getting leverage and he controls his opponents with his length. He has a motor and a little bit of leg drive too. I am not sure he always took the right guy, but whatever guy he did take, he did a good job in controlling him. He got down field in a hurry on the plays where he was supposed to release. I was surprised by his speed. With him, we are likely to see an improvement in pass pro over Beno. He has the ideal body for it and he moves his feet well and keeps his balance. He had no trouble with Stargell at all. I thought he executed his cut blocks fairly well although it didn't look as natural to him as the stand up game did.
Devine: This kid is a beast and it is hard for me to imagine we could bring in a better one into the program. Please do not fret over his current standing in the depth chart. Perhaps the cold and wet evening helped to cool him and improve his stamina. In any case, when not tired, Devine was simply too much for any kid put in front of him. We have all seen Kitchen and Gamble on film last year. They were far from dominant against our competition, but they were competitive. Well, Devine did whatever he wanted with both of those guys and he made it look easy. It was almost like watching a scene from "Blind Side" at times. Devine gives you the impression he is soft and slow, but in a very small ring he is extremely effective because he keeps his feet moving and he uses his size and long arms extremely well. He can come off the ball and engage a defender with a lot of force and he is surprisingly adept at getting angles on them. He got bull rushed and slammed into a couple times by a blitzer who knocked him back. However, Devine just kept his arms on his man, used his feet, and maintained his balance and control over his opponent. They got nowhere after the initial three foot surge. Out in space, he suffers. He is not nearly as effective running in the open field looking for somebody. In fact, it looked pitiful sometimes. However, in his small ring on the interior, he is the best I have seen and he only has the potential to get better. While he is able to bend a little, the cut blocking aspect looks less natural to him. He needs a little work there. Some people think he is too heavy. I don't really think so, at least not in terms of being able to control his weight and use it to his benefit. IMHO, if if if, he can gain some kind of stamina at the current weight, either thru improved diet or exercise/weight training or both, he can easily keep his weight. It is one of his great strengths. The NIKE camp film was no fluke. He will upgrade both the drive blocking and pass pro at his position. He has NFL written all over him. Strong words I know, but I am sticking with it. Call me crazy if you want, but 3 or 4 years from now.....
Burden: I thought he played well. The first thing that struck me was his foot speed. He is really really fast for a center. I had no idea he was so fast. If I had to guess, I would say he is easily under 5 in the 40, maybe as low as 4.8s. He would get the ball snapped, whether successfully or not, and shoot out of there like I cannon ball. He doesn't strike me as being quite as strong as Finch or as polished with footwork, but he is athletic and quick. I like him. He can play. There won't be much of a let down so long as the exchange thing gets taken care of.
O'Reilly: He played well too. Of the two centers he is the more physical, but he is slower. He cut several people to the ground at the second level and seems to have a little more fire this year. While he and Burden are very different players, I would feel comfortable with either. O'Reilly is a big kid. The potential for a huge G-C-G exists with Devine, he, and Mason.
After having done this exercise I am optimistic about where we are headed as a group. As every year, we will be different. The very strong potential for improved pass protection is palpable, as is the potential for springing the dive. I didn't watch Chamberlain much. I know I have been very hard on that kid in the past. Hopefully he played well despite the false start. If that position gets solidified we may be far better up front than many are anticipating.
