A few of my thoughts on Spring practice

00Burdell

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I need someone to settle a discussion my husband & I had yesterday. He says that after a spring game teams always cut players to slim down the roster, that being the main reason for a spring game. I told him that I had not seen any indication on this blog that this would happen. Comments?

Probably a misunderstanding. I suspect he meant depth chart.
 

jwsavhGT

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Thanks to all for the help on settling our "discussion". I will make sure I pass on the information. 00Burdell, he actually said "cut from the team". He is old-school football from many years ago.
 

gtg936g

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Laskey/ Custis is gonna be a good combo. Laskey is good at getting leverage underneath. He seems to run lower this year. The good thing about having good BB combo is the dive can be a home run if the D cheats the B gap.

The more I rewatch, the more I like TB. The back shoulder throw in the rain is a tough one to make. Most of the drops were not his fault. The quick pitch when the dive read and the pitch read blitzed would have been a Vad sack.

It looks like we went to our tight set to keep the D from jumping the gaps. I really like the tight set, it masks some of our line blocking issues.

On D I have to say Davis fid a good job, I like his motor.

I agree with @ATL1 about Devine. If he gets in better shape by fall, he needs to be on the field. He is not quite quick enough yet to get off the line and block in space, but he is a force on the line.

On another note, I really like Roddy as a commentator. He is intelligent, and well spoken.
 
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danny daniel

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Defense: Roof has the whole bunch running around laying hard licks on anything that moves. He seems to be getting the most out of what he has. Great job!

Offense: Lot of work to be done. I am not sure how good our overall offense is, but I saw in the Spring game a tough bunch of QBs. Very tough. All four QBs took a ponding and showed no signs of quit. I knew Byerly was that hard nosed but was pleasently surprised how gutsy Griffin, Jordan, and Swilling were as well. You cannot ask for more effort. I saw the same effort and toughnest from Laskey . When CPJ gets the blockers making the same effort we will have some real offense. We have a lot of good things to look forward to.
 

GTRX7

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I think the AB situation will figure itself out. We may not have a playmaker like Godhigh, but if Days blocks well, and we have a QB to make the right pitches, we will still have one average over eight yards a play just by catching and running straight ahead.

UGA often seems to have success with freshman RBs. If we are that bad off, Leggett or Autry should be able to help as well.
 

Techster

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Anyone who watched Ty Griffin's film knows he can run the option portion of our offense. That kid is quick, and may not be too far behind JT in terms of getting up to full speed within the first few steps. He's a very gifted runner. The only question about Griffin has always been whether he can take our offense to the "next level" in terms of running AND passing. He's got the arm strength, and actually throws a pretty ball (if it's not wet), but accuracy and anticipation is a concern with him. Griffin-Jordan-Ratliffe (if he signs) QB race will be interesting to watch over the next few seasons.

I went into spring concerned with JT's durability, and I'm still not convinced he will stay healthy all year. He will be our starter, but I think TB will play A LOT of snaps as well. Our offense is so physical for QBs and JT just does not have the frame to take that kind of punishment all year, especially since our QBs are live during practices.

Devine...you can see his talent. When he puts his hands and shoulders on you, you're not going anywhere.

Laskey in the open field is a great sight. He can motor once he gets to the second and third levels. Seems like guys are having a tougher time this year bringing him down. Something tells me defenders are going to hate tackling him later in the games.

Game was too sloppy to see much in the passing game, especially with the WRs.

Nealy and Marcordes are going to be monsters for us. Didn't really pay attention to the D, so it will be interesting to go back and see what Roof did in terms of rotating players to different looks and who he rotated where.
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I think our D is going to take a step up this year and we'll improve from last year. Seems like our guys are getting to spots faster and with more violence. I like that.

I'm happy with our BB spot. I think Laskey may go over 1,000 yards this year on pure effort alone. I'm not sure the OL line-up is settled yet. It certainly didn't looked settled to me.

Not sure we can take too much from the Spring game because we had so many people out and the game condition was just terrible, but in terms of guys who can make football plays, there was a lot to be optimistic about. Always hard to tell how good we are because we're playing ourselves, but you can definitely some special talent flash with a few of our guys.
 

Brian Johnson

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I did not think griffin looked good at except maybe running a tad. He didn't have much help but he was a very bad throwing motion, bad arm strength from what I saw. He couldn't even throw a pass straight. Now this may be cuz of the rain but I do like his speed and he can break tackles. Don't seem him playing much
 

wingsrlevel

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I think people will underestimated how fast Laskey is until he is going by them. I'd like to see him on kick offs. One or two cuts and runs downhill. Really nice hands and the one handed catch in the rain was pretty impressive.

I think Butker will win us a game or two this year with a field goal. Kid has a serious leg. I'll be surprised when he doesn't put the ball in the end zone on kick offs. It will be interesting to see how our kick/punt coverage teams will be this year.

Byerly threw the ball pretty good considering the conditions. There were a few drops and the way he runs always picking up positive yards is HUGE in this offense. I predict even more 8 or 9 minute drives this year with him under center. It is just refreshing IMO to see a QB who doesn't hesitate with the ball in his hands and tries to pick up every yard he can get. He just has to learn how to protect the ball. I think we have a pretty good situation with TB and JT ant QB.
 

Techster

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I did not think griffin looked good at except maybe running a tad. He didn't have much help but he was a very bad throwing motion, bad arm strength from what I saw. He couldn't even throw a pass straight. Now this may be cuz of the rain but I do like his speed and he can break tackles. Don't seem him playing much

CPJ said they were not rotating the footballs as much as they would have had it been a real game. In a lot of instances, they were playing with a water logged ball.
 

TampaGT

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I guess I really need to re-watch the spring game because I don't see what everybody is so happy about TB and Ty. Yes TB is a hard runner and can pass the ball, but I don't think he is anything special. If we need TB for extended games we might be in trouble. I think we best hope that JT doesn't get hurt. I didn't see anything from Ty to make me think he is going to be anything special. MJ didn't get that much time last night to get a gauge. With that said he seemed to be talented and ran hard. Now he just needs work on picking up the TO. Not bad for only being in the O for a few weeks. Still concerned about the Oline. Now with all the bad out of the way, the D looked very good. They seemed to be on a different level in terms of effort compared to the O. Very good in terms of everybody run to the ball. D line was a concern, but doesn't seem to be a problem. Even looks like there are some position battles, which will make everybody better as well as depth. The DB's weren't tested, but I think they will be ok. HB has a leg and I think he will be a HUGE key this season along with the D. I think BB will be ok, but very concerned about AB. I don't think we have anybody special at AB. Right now we have Day maybe TZ and some other guys. I am hoping Snoddy can flash with his speed or one of the incoming Freshmen can add a little something. Maybe the AB will look a little better with JT. If def are so focus on JT speed it will open it up for others. I going to DVR the game on ESPNU so I can watch it a couple of times to see if it changes what I thought I saw. Also really hoping SD drops the needed weight. When he got his hand on somebody it was over, right now it looks like needs to drop the weight to pick up a little speed to pull outside and just overall movement. Be gentle everybody don't kill me :)
 

Yaller Jacket

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I was pleased to see the game easilty available on ESPN3. It was a very clean broadcast; the action was lifelike and not shaky as it sometimes is on internet broadcasts. Agree with the earlier poster on Roddy. He sounded smooth as any pro and his insights were great since he played in the offense.

I see why people think highly of Byerly. His running style reminds me of Josh. He is quicker than I expected. The passing game looked bad no matter who was in there, but Tim looks smooth and comfortable passing.

Ty Griffin! Wow! I had no idea we had another contender at QB. Surely this go 'round, between JT, Ty, and Jordon we can have a big play threat at the position sometime not too far off.

Snoddy has to be the easiest college back to knock off his feet I've ever seen. Even so, I like the move to A and hope he gets some carries. If the play is blocked he can get six out of it.

Zenon also looked quick to me. I wanted to see Perkins and Custis, but oh well.

I really like our defense. Do both Gotsis and Green return next year? I think they have an advantage since the see our offense all day long, but still, they are quick and aggressive. I am amazed how far they have come in two years.

The QB follow play was there no matter who was taking the snap.

When I haven't seen him in a while I always underestimate Laskey. I think maybe because his gait is kinda strange I forget he has some speed to go with his tough inside running.

Pleasantly surprised by Devine. Maybe if we could play all our games in cool weather....I think the S and C coach should do a Weight Watchers thing with him all summer. Once a week he weights in. If he has lost a pound or two, he is heartily complimented. If he has gained he gets his butt chewed. If he could drop a little weight over the summer, I would imagine August camp would take a good bit more off.
 

takethepoints

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So, since everyone else is doing it, I'll chip in. And, yes, I was at the game. I sat under the overhang (ok, I'm a wimp), but I was there.

I spent a good deal of the night watching Devine. He looked pretty good, imho; at least as good as Braun, who I watched for comparison. He had no trouble moving people around, he got to the second level quickly, and I saw no evidence of major conditioning issues. He did miss a couple of block reads where the DT was slanting into the gap and Devine blocked outside. I have no doubt that he was doing the right block, if the DT wasn't in the gap, but … One play stuck out. It was a passing down and the DT got the jump on Devine. He hit him good and low and popped Devine up and back a step. Devine collected himself, leaned back in, and blocked the guy easily. I think he was surprised that anyone would try to bull-rush him.

Typical Byerly game. He runs for 101 (did anybody think it was that much?), passes for 69, and scores a TD. And gives one up, despite having the ball well tucked in. Like I keep saying, he just doesn't look like he's doing as much as he does.

No surprise about Laskey. Problem = he still has problems with pass blocking. This must cease. Oh, and while the smaller splits might have helped with the pass blocking, they were murder on the BBs.

I think people here didn't read that when we finally offered Ty Griffin he was Army's #1 target for QB. I never doubted he could play the position. Competition over the next few years should be interesting.

I sure do hope Shawn Green can stay healthy. He showed last night why he was a 4* in HS. When healthy he's extremely quick and has terrific leverage. Paired with Gotsis, he gives Tech a pretty good inside DL.

And, yes, Eric is right with a bullet: I sure do hope Chase Roberts is healthy enough to play next year. If he can't go, we'll have an interesting 3 - 4 games getting the OL sorted out. If he can everything will be soooo much easier.
 

wingsrlevel

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Laskey reported weight was 223 now. He's also looks taller than 6'1. Looks more like 6'3 and I think he needed all of that on the 1 handed catch. Byrerly at 215 gives us some pretty good size pounding up the gut. I'm hoping this opens up the outside for Snoddy/Perkins/Andrews for big plays.
 
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