That was a lot of fun for me. Got my first GT football scrimmage in 30 years under my belt. It will be difficult to produce a report of great meaning here. Without film to confirm suspicions etc, please take this for what it is worth.
I spent the warm up period mostly watching the WRs because they were right in front of me. I just tried to identify who the real athletes were by the way they move and how natural they were with their hands etc. The guy who stood out to me was Searcy. He is a very small dude compared to the others, but he is the best pure athlete of the bunch. I really like his speed body control and hands. His size will impact him in his development some, but there is a lot of raw material for these coaches to work with. We may not see him this season, but he is a guy future defenses are going to have to be aware of. Messick is graceful, Juene is big. Smelter is an NFL player. He will make a team.
My attention then turned to the QBs a little. All our guys can throw, which is good. I was really impressed with Jordan and his ability to put a quality ball in the air. During drills, when there is no decision to be made and no pressure facing him, he throws the prettiest ball and is the most natural of the bunch. When the play went live, however, all that comfort evaporated and confusion and hesitation set in. The poor kid screwed up a bunch, but he also made some really good plays. Despite not being anywhere close to being ready to run the whole offense, he showed flashes, which is about all we really should expect from him right now.
Justin played only a handful of snaps. He made two great back shoulder throws to Smelter, who dropped the first one, on consecutive plays. The play that impressed me the most was the roll out to the right after being flushed. He bought time, kept his eyes down field without forcing an early throw, directed traffic with his hands and made a beautiful completion for about 20. That play showed me a lot- COMPOSURE. Just like that, he was done and I can't tell you why. No hits. That is for sure.
Byerly ran the rest of the first team offense. I thought he played really well. If you want a reason to be excited after last season, take faith in this: both our QBs read the field very well. Time and time again, Byerly made good choices and found the right guys. From my vantage point, I think you have to say that he is a legit contender to be the starter and not just a safety valve. The option part of the offense is being run much better than at any point last year and we are only a week into camp. We kept it simple for the most part, but I thought I saw some new elements, like speed option, being thrown in.
On offense, it is easy to see that we are looking for ways to get the ball in Synjin's hands more often. I thought he looked good, both running and receiving. He took some snaps at QB and BB. There was one memorable run after catch where he made some nifty moves to add 10 or yards to an already good play.
One interesting tidbit is that the OTs have switched sides. We came out with Chamberlain on the left and Griffin on the right. I'm not sure what all that means. In general, I would say the OL did well. There was usually time enough to make reads and plays against the defense. Devine is more fit. There is no question about that. It is hard to say more than that without slowing the action down.
Sorry, I gotta run, but I will write up a few thoughts about defense when I return this afternoon.