5 guys you will be watching close in Spring Practice?

GTech63

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Fatmike91 said:
I'm going to be watching:

1 - Coach Johnson. Is he smiling?
2 - JT. Is he still smooth?

Beyond that it's interesting -- in part because there are 20 guys worth watching -- but I can't limit myself to just 3 more.

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I agree. Snoddy status is of great interest as are Back up QB progress, perimeter blocking progress, holding on to the ball progress, catching passes progress, Kallon,
 
Techster

Techster

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JHD back on the team gives us some positional flexibility on the D line.

We can flex Gamble out to SDE in a 43 set (Freeman - JHD - Gotsis - Gamble), or flex Gotsis out to DE in a 34 set (Freeman - JHD - Gotsis). Gamble looked really good at SDE.

The key is we have some players with positional flexibility to let Roof move the pieces around after the snap if he wants to. I actually think Gotsis is a far more impactful DE than he is playing in the middle, but because he's been our best DT in a very shallow DT pool, it was necessary for him to stick to the middle the majority of the time. The few times he was able to line up at DE, he either made a play or put tons of pressure on the QB. He's quite the load for a blocker to take on 1v1.

I really like Marcordes in pass rushing specialist role coming off the edge at OLB. Really brought great pressure and got some sacks coming from there. Will be interesting to see if he takes the next step from pass rushing specialist to full time OLB that can handle covering space and playing against the run.

Really excited about the potential of our DL...something we haven't been able to say since the 2008 season when our entire DL comprised of future NFL players. JHD probably is the most important piece to what we'll be able to do in 2015.
 

Skeptic

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Fatmike91 said:
I'm going to be watching:

1 - Coach Johnson. Is he smiling?
2 - JT. Is he still smooth?

Beyond that it's interesting -- in part because there are 20 guys worth watching -- but I can't limit myself to just 3 more.

/
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Per #1: if he is somebody needs lab work to find out who this imposter is and why he is pretending to be Johnson.
 

croberts

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I am looking forward to seeing a lot of things this spring. The two best battles could be Devine and Brown along with the weak side DE where we will have an unbelievable 3 deep with Freeman, Simmons and Whitehead. All three will be better than this past years option of starting Freeman as a true freshman. Wow what fun we may see. Another thought is about the backs, where I feel 3 or 4 guys not showing up until august will be in the rotation. Speed kills!
 
forensicbuzz

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If I were looking at 5 guys for the Spring, it'll be five young guys, to see how they will step up from last year or how they progressed during their redshirt year. However, I'm more interested in watching how 5 groups work:

1 B-Back mesh and speed
2 A-Back blocking (inside and outside)
3 D-Line pressure (especially on the inside, and how the outside helps the inside)
4 Receivers (who will step out as the go-to receiver)
5 Receivers (how are the young guys blocking)

My five young guys I'll be looking to hear a lot about:

1. Step Durham
2. C.J. Leggett/Q. Weimerskirch
3. Gary Brown
4. Qua Searcy
5. Tre Jackson

Three older guys I expect to really break out:

1. Sir Francis
2. Lynn Griffin
3. Beau Hankins
 

JTS

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1. JHD - Obviously, a freakishly athletic 280-300lb guy in the middle of our D-line would be game changer.

I also look forward to seeing more of two guys that should have played more this past year IMO:

2. Anthony Harrell - I thought our defense was better when he was on the field. Isn't a liability against the run or pass.

3. Antonio Simmons - Disruptive and explosive....Could be a starter if can add some weight and maintain his athleticism.

On offense:

4. Devine / Brown - If we have a good replacement for Mason, we should have good OL play and that should go a long way to making the skill positions look good.

5. WR - We need one guy that is unguardable one-on-one (is this too much to ask?) and has good rapport with JT. I know that Summers will play a lot this year. Not sure who the other guy will be.
 

Skeptic

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JTS said:
1. JHD - Obviously, a freakishly athletic 280-300lb guy in the middle of our D-line would be game changer.

I also look forward to seeing more of two guys that should have played more this past year IMO:

2. Anthony Harrell - I thought our defense was better when he was on the field. Isn't a liability against the run or pass.

3. Antonio Simmons - Disruptive and explosive....Could be a starter if can add some weight and maintain his athleticism.

On offense:

4. Devine / Brown - If we have a good replacement for Mason, we should have good OL play and that should go a long way to making the skill positions look good.

5. WR - We need one guy that is unguardable one-on-one (is this too much to ask?) and has good rapport with JT. I know that Summers will play a lot this year. Not sure who the other guy will be.
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No. 5 is on target. Was it three times, or two, that Thomas and Waller misfired downfield against FSU? Oh, what might have been.
 
DrJacket

DrJacket

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Skeptic said:
No. 5 is on target. Was it three times, or two, that Thomas and Waller misfired downfield against FSU? Oh, what might have been.
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When I was out at practice last year, the kid who surprised me at WR was Qua Searcy. I know he's small. I get it. But, he kept on catching my eye. Playmaker who could run, and who went up strong and beat DB's to the ball at the high point. We keep hearing that he's been an A-back since midseason. But, on the official roster Searcy is currently listed at WR.

I don't know where he'll end up. Or, how much of a player this fantastic athlete will become. The only thing I do know-- I am not a coach and we need to be glad that these decisions are in the hands of those who are there every day and know more than I.
 
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Skeptic

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DrJacket said:
When I was out at practice last year, the kid who surprised me at WR was Qua Searcy. I know he's small. I get it. But, he kept on catching my eye. Playmaker who could run, and who went up strong and beat DB's to the ball at the high point. We keep hearing that he's been an A-back since midseason. But, on the official roster Searcy is currently listed at WR.

I don't know where he'll end up. Or, how much of a player this fantastic athlete will become. The only thing I do know-- I am not a coach and we need to be glad that these decisions are in the hands of those who are there every day and know more than I.
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You certainly aren't the only one on the board who has seen Searcy closeup and developed a man crush on the guy. He surely is at a spot where we need help and I could envision a guy supposedly so athletic getting one-on-one down the field and driving teams crazy. Who knows? With somebody that quick we might actually throw the ball to the left side of the field because for some reason we seem almost exclusively right-handed.
 
Northeast Stinger

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Skeptic said:
With somebody that quick we might actually throw the ball to the left side of the field because for some reason we seem almost exclusively right-handed.
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You made me suddenly start thinking about this. I wonder if the "right handedness" of the throwing, assuming that is a real thing, occurs not so much because of there being a better receiver on that side but because we seem more effective running to that side which causes the defensive backs to cheat toward the run thus leaving man to man coverage on the receiver, or in some cases, no coverage at all.
 

orange14

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DrJacket said:
When I was out at practice last year, the kid who surprised me at WR was Qua Searcy. I know he's small. I get it. But, he kept on catching my eye. Playmaker who could run, and who went up strong and beat DB's to the ball at the high point. We keep hearing that he's been an A-back since midseason. But, on the official roster Searcy is currently listed at WR.

I don't know where he'll end up. Or, how much of a player this fantastic athlete will become. The only thing I do know-- I am not a coach and we need to be glad that these decisions are in the hands of those who are there every day and know more than I.
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How "small" is Searcy? I was thinking 5-10 - 5-11. I thought he was bigger than the Austin twins?
 
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