I haven't seen anyone post their thoughts, so I thought I would post some of mine.
They didn't allow us to take any pictures or video.
I watched the offense almost exclusively.
First 15 minutes or so were in the indoor practice facility before we went outside to the grass fields for the rest of practice. My son and I were there for the whole practice, which was a lot of fun to watch.
Notes:
- Marcel looked really good throwing the ball. Very few mistakes. Good command of the offense. They ran several situational offenses including from the 50 and in the redzone. He threw a couple of fades that were perfect for TDs. He also threw one as a dart (no air under it) and it was a strike for a TD. Defenders were generally there with good coverage. Receivers were 1 or 6 in those cases. Marcel only had a couple of glaring mistakes. One was a misthrow that didn't reach the receiver. The other was in 2 min drill. Around 9 seconds left and he throws the ball in the flats. If it had been caught, the WR could have been tackled in bounds and there wouldn't have been time to kick a FG. Elko had some choice words for him lol. The backup was 16 (Helaman). He had some good moments, but is significantly behind Marcel (to be expected).
- Some jersey numbers seemed to have changed, and I didn't expect that going in. Starting WRs were 1, 6, and 7 (Mario, Bussey and Horton). Mario looked great. Scored at least 3 times. One was an out route that the DB just missed and Craver took to the house from around 45 yards out. 6 looked really good. I didn't know it was bussey until I looked him up later. He was really quick, had great cuts and got vertical quickly after the catch. Scored a couple of times. 7 looked pretty good as well. I felt like they would be a really good starting 3, but I couldn't tell you who they were playing on defense. I didn't see Dezz at corner. 6 was in there at corner a bunch (Julio). I felt like the offense got the better of the defense when 10 was in. 16 had some good plays, but also had some head scratchers, including an INT that was a misfire.
- Didn't see ABR, but I did see Aaron Gregory against air. I thought he was ABR at first because he was #3. He looked really quick and has great hands. Def taller than ABR. I'm guessing ABR is hurt. Aaron looks really good.
I think we will be fine at WR from what I could see in practice. If you told me we were going to start 1, 6 and 7, I would say they will do great.
RB - Reuben looked good as you might expect. I don't remember seeing Morrow. He could be banged up. Tiger got quite a few touches and looked fine. It was difficult to see the run plays because of all of the traffic in front of me. 22 had a couple of nice plays.
TE - 9 catches your eye physically. He's just build different. I didn't see him make any eye popping plays, but he reminds me of the dude from tu last year. He's just a physical freak. 87 caught my eye several times with nice catches and good separation. 88 had a couple as well. I didn't really know who any of them were, so I just mentally made a note of jersey numbers when I saw a nice play.
Punter - I watched Tyler punt the ball and Craver was in on the returns. They probably did it 15 times. Only one kick that wasn't great. Most of them were booms of 50+ yards with several going almost 70. Craver was returning against air, but the dude has a great first step, and he has great hands.
Only saw a couple of field goal attempts during their 2 min drills. First one was made from close in (maybe 30 yards). 2nd one was attempted from around 52 yards and was wide left. Couldn't see who the kicker was. The missed FG kicker was pretty thin.
Sorry for the scattershoot. I wasn't able to take any notes, so I'm just going from memory.
It would have helped if I had known about the jersey changes. Also, would have been good to get an injury report to know who was out.
They run practice like a pretty well oiled machine. They get lots of reps in. Cameras are everywhere, and my guess is that the film review for the players is really helpful.
FWIW, I'm guessing that Holleman was calling plays. I would have had no idea that it wasn't Collin Klein. Plays got it really quickly with high tempo offense. I'm sure there will be bumps in the road this fall, but the transition looks really good in practice.
Gig 'Em,
OA96
They didn't allow us to take any pictures or video.
I watched the offense almost exclusively.
First 15 minutes or so were in the indoor practice facility before we went outside to the grass fields for the rest of practice. My son and I were there for the whole practice, which was a lot of fun to watch.
Notes:
- Marcel looked really good throwing the ball. Very few mistakes. Good command of the offense. They ran several situational offenses including from the 50 and in the redzone. He threw a couple of fades that were perfect for TDs. He also threw one as a dart (no air under it) and it was a strike for a TD. Defenders were generally there with good coverage. Receivers were 1 or 6 in those cases. Marcel only had a couple of glaring mistakes. One was a misthrow that didn't reach the receiver. The other was in 2 min drill. Around 9 seconds left and he throws the ball in the flats. If it had been caught, the WR could have been tackled in bounds and there wouldn't have been time to kick a FG. Elko had some choice words for him lol. The backup was 16 (Helaman). He had some good moments, but is significantly behind Marcel (to be expected).
- Some jersey numbers seemed to have changed, and I didn't expect that going in. Starting WRs were 1, 6, and 7 (Mario, Bussey and Horton). Mario looked great. Scored at least 3 times. One was an out route that the DB just missed and Craver took to the house from around 45 yards out. 6 looked really good. I didn't know it was bussey until I looked him up later. He was really quick, had great cuts and got vertical quickly after the catch. Scored a couple of times. 7 looked pretty good as well. I felt like they would be a really good starting 3, but I couldn't tell you who they were playing on defense. I didn't see Dezz at corner. 6 was in there at corner a bunch (Julio). I felt like the offense got the better of the defense when 10 was in. 16 had some good plays, but also had some head scratchers, including an INT that was a misfire.
- Didn't see ABR, but I did see Aaron Gregory against air. I thought he was ABR at first because he was #3. He looked really quick and has great hands. Def taller than ABR. I'm guessing ABR is hurt. Aaron looks really good.
I think we will be fine at WR from what I could see in practice. If you told me we were going to start 1, 6 and 7, I would say they will do great.
RB - Reuben looked good as you might expect. I don't remember seeing Morrow. He could be banged up. Tiger got quite a few touches and looked fine. It was difficult to see the run plays because of all of the traffic in front of me. 22 had a couple of nice plays.
TE - 9 catches your eye physically. He's just build different. I didn't see him make any eye popping plays, but he reminds me of the dude from tu last year. He's just a physical freak. 87 caught my eye several times with nice catches and good separation. 88 had a couple as well. I didn't really know who any of them were, so I just mentally made a note of jersey numbers when I saw a nice play.
Punter - I watched Tyler punt the ball and Craver was in on the returns. They probably did it 15 times. Only one kick that wasn't great. Most of them were booms of 50+ yards with several going almost 70. Craver was returning against air, but the dude has a great first step, and he has great hands.
Only saw a couple of field goal attempts during their 2 min drills. First one was made from close in (maybe 30 yards). 2nd one was attempted from around 52 yards and was wide left. Couldn't see who the kicker was. The missed FG kicker was pretty thin.
Sorry for the scattershoot. I wasn't able to take any notes, so I'm just going from memory.
It would have helped if I had known about the jersey changes. Also, would have been good to get an injury report to know who was out.
They run practice like a pretty well oiled machine. They get lots of reps in. Cameras are everywhere, and my guess is that the film review for the players is really helpful.
FWIW, I'm guessing that Holleman was calling plays. I would have had no idea that it wasn't Collin Klein. Plays got it really quickly with high tempo offense. I'm sure there will be bumps in the road this fall, but the transition looks really good in practice.
Gig 'Em,
OA96