Howdy folks.
Back to bringing you some content on this site. This time I just wanted to get out my thoughts from the spring game. I'll be honest, I was very excited for the game and to see all of the moving pieces, but it was not very entertaining at all. Maybe it's because the play wasn't great, but I at least figured the personnel part would be more interesting. At this moment, I think there is still a lot of competition, but no one truly standing out to get excited about. I'm just going to run through position by position with my thoughts. Quarterback: Pretty meh performance from the group here. The offensive line was very inconsistent so there were a lot of plays that probably should have been called for sacks and there were times were quarterbacks had so much time but receivers were not getting open. Tate probably should have been picked off on his only throw but oh well. You know what you're getting with Rhett and there wasn't too much going on there. Grant Gunnell was third up, and given the way the rest of the quarterbacks stacked up I'd say this is probably the true order. Good movement in the pocket, good accuracy but threw a lot of balls away, which could also be attributed to receivers not getting open. Joiner didn't look great and Doyle was last to get reps in and seemed very off on timing, which might also be due to the receivers, but nonetheless. Running backs: Interesting group. We know Taylor is the workhorse. Gary Brightwell put together a couple of nice plays and I think this is a big year for him to jump. Darrius had some decent runs but it was Nathan Tilford who started to grind out some runs and ran hard. At this point you're just hopeful DeMarco Murrary can extract that talent and put him on the field. Receivers: Oh boy where to start. There were a lot of receivers who were named this off-season as surprises. Cedric Peterson is your No. 1 although I'm still convinced he'll be anywhere as reliable as any of the top three receivers from a year ago. Then you'll definitely have Jalen Curry take over another starting spot. Drew Dixon, Brian Casteel, Tre Adams and Jaiden Mitchell all seem like they'll crack the rotation. Dixon has a big, strong body you want outside. Casteel has slimmed down and has great playmaking ability. Adams is a smooth, well-rounded receiver and Mitchell has bounced back from his ACL tear and has been one of the most impressive receivers this spring. I love Casteel returning punts, Dixon looked good out there, Adams came down with a couple of snags and Mitchell had quite a few targets. Tight ends: Bryce Wolma as been held out, Jake Peters didn't have a whole lot of action from what I remember, but I also just face the fact that tight ends are dead in this offense. Zach Williams who is officially a receiver now did get some targets but nothing too impressive. Offensive line: Another interest group. I love what Paiton Fears does at right tackle. He got beat pretty badly by Jalen Harris at times but that's one of the best pass rushers in the Pac-12. It's surprising to see Edgar Burrola in the mix at right tackle. I don't think I expected much from him arriving to campus, but he's in the mix. Scholarship center Josh McCauley looked good. Donovan Laie looked fine, although the edge was bringing it on defense. A very inconsistent group right now but after last years spring game we thought the offensive line was going to be terrible and well, it was really good last season. Defensive line: This was the most interesting position group to watch. They are basically playing defensive ends all across the line and it actually seemed to work. I love having a combination of Justin Belknap, JB Brown, Nahe Sulunga and Jalen Harris on the line, or throw in Finton Connolly for Nahe Sulunga and Jalen Cochran for JB Brown. The point is, I think the movement of guys inside and outside makes the line much better than it actually is. I love the movement and the stunts that the defense can use with this. Oh and Kylan Wilborn. They ran a front with Wilborn, Sulunga, Tapusoa and Harris. Yes please. Add Tapusoa, who is banked up right now, and Trevon Mason, who comes in this summer and it will be a good group, or at least better than I would have expected. Linebackers: I don't think that there is any depth here outside of the top four and there isn't a whole lot of help coming in the summer either with Kwabena Watson coming in as a defensive end, although I'm positive that Eddiue Siaumau could play weakside. Derrion Clark is a nice, instinctive player, but we'll see how it pans out. Anyways, Colin Schooler will hardly be off the field. I wasn't terribly impressed with Dayven Coleman, but he can take a few reps off Schooler. Tony Fields hopefully has a bounce back season but my breakout guy of 2019 is Anthony Pandy. He got no recognition in the spring but looked great in the spring game coming off the edge. I think this is the time he takes the leap. Cornerback: McKenzie Barnes stole the show. He looks like a smaller version of Jalen Harris. Just super long and fast. I'm a little disappointed Maurice Gaines didn't get mentioned this spring and didn't do a whole lot in the spring game. Troy Young got a lot of reps at corner so it seems like he'll stay there. He can play anywhere in the secondary but I like him at corner. Malik Hausman wasn't very impressive. Chris Roland-Wallace has had a great spring and I imagine he'll get reps. Safety: Pretty quiet group. They covered the receivers well at the next level. But this group seems pretty solid to begin with and not a lot of question marks. So now I'm interested in seeing how Bobby Wolfe is used. Corner looks good with Barnes there and if Roland-Wallace turns up then you're set. Safety has a set two-deep (Cooper/Bell, S Young/J Wallace, C Young/C Ulloa, plus you have Jaxen Turner coming in and Rhedi Short still back there as well.
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