wait!what?
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I haven't heard much from anyone here or on Gopherhole on what they saw at the March 28th practice.
I haven't heard much from anyone here or on Gopherhole on what they saw at the March 28th practice.
Wasn't much to tell. It was a scrimmage scenario so no individual work or one on ones. I got there late, just as Berkley Edwards ran a stretch play to the left, cut upfield and darted 65+ yards for a TD. After that, not much happened as the offense couldn't move the ball. Sight lines are tough from the sidelines as well. I was on the D side of the ball mostly so I couldn't watch the OL.
Jeff Jones lined up in the slot quite a bit, later moving back to RB. The staff wants to get him some touches, but it seems pretty clear to me that Nugget will be our go-to RB so they want to move Jones around like they did with Berkley Edwards last year to get him some touches and keep defenses off balance.
Nugget only ran one series and then watched. That's telling, imo. When the coaches are that comfortable with a guy that they feel he doesn't need the work, it's a good sign he's got the inside track on the job.
Rodney Smith didn't do much and he had a fumble.
The OL didn't give Mitch any time to operate so the passing game never got going.
On defense Gary Moore played an awful lot. He'll be in the mix this year and is a plyer we should be excited about moving forward.
Hank Ekpe was getting pressure on Mitch.
Poock looked like a veteran.
Charlie Rogers is as good as any of our Safety's already.
Both the Huff's like to hit.
Duke McGhee had a few big pops.
All in all, one of the most boring practices I've ever been to.
Wasn't much to tell. It was a scrimmage scenario so no individual work or one on ones. I got there late, just as Berkley Edwards ran a stretch play to the left, cut upfield and darted 65+ yards for a TD. After that, not much happened as the offense couldn't move the ball. Sight lines are tough from the sidelines as well. I was on the D side of the ball mostly so I couldn't watch the OL.
Jeff Jones lined up in the slot quite a bit, later moving back to RB. The staff wants to get him some touches, but it seems pretty clear to me that Nugget will be our go-to RB so they want to move Jones around like they did with Berkley Edwards last year to get him some touches and keep defenses off balance.
Nugget only ran one series and then watched. That's telling, imo. When the coaches are that comfortable with a guy that they feel he doesn't need the work, it's a good sign he's got the inside track on the job.
Rodney Smith didn't do much and he had a fumble.
The OL didn't give Mitch any time to operate so the passing game never got going.
On defense Gary Moore played an awful lot. He'll be in the mix this year and is a plyer we should be excited about moving forward.
Hank Ekpe was getting pressure on Mitch.
Poock looked like a veteran.
Charlie Rogers is as good as any of our Safety's already.
Both the Huff's like to hit.
Duke McGhee had a few big pops.
All in all, one of the most boring practices I've ever been to.
Thanks for the recap CRG! I find it comforting that the D is tough as nails, especially this early. Love to hear it. Did you get any impressions of the D-line (other than Moore)? As Husker says, you win in the trenches.
It was hard to see. So many more fans on Saturday at TCF than a Tuesday at the complex. It makes it hard to see over all the people on the sideline. Then of course they keep moving up and down the field so even when you do get a good sight line it's gone in a couple plays. We moved up into the stands and I could see a lot better, but we were on the defensive end of the field so that means we couldn't see the OL. Then factor in they were subbing players in and out, I was all the way up in the stands, etc. It's a big fancy way of saying I didn't get to see too much of the DL.
What I can tell you from the practices I've been to and from what I've read Ryan Burns say about the ones I missed, is that Hank Ekpe is probably out best DE right now. Cochran looks the same, but Hank Ekpe is the one turning the most heads right now. Elmore and Keith are ok, but not amazing. Kafo is still raw, but looks like he's a B1G DE. It's just so awesome to have a stable of young DE's who're all legit sized DE's.
At DT Richardson is pretty much unstoppable. Even when Scott Ekpe comes back, Richardson is probably still our #1 DT. Ndondo-Lay, Stelter and Gary Moore are all getting lot's of work. Shoob Timms gets a few snaps and has stuck around this long, so he could still contribute.
The foundation for a really strong DL is being laid with The Ekpes, Richardson, Stelter, Moore, Elmore and Kafo.
Wasn't much to tell. It was a scrimmage scenario so no individual work or one on ones. I got there late, just as Berkley Edwards ran a stretch play to the left, cut upfield and darted 65+ yards for a TD. After that, not much happened as the offense couldn't move the ball. Sight lines are tough from the sidelines as well. I was on the D side of the ball mostly so I couldn't watch the OL.
Jeff Jones lined up in the slot quite a bit, later moving back to RB. The staff wants to get him some touches, but it seems pretty clear to me that Nugget will be our go-to RB so they want to move Jones around like they did with Berkley Edwards last year to get him some touches and keep defenses off balance.
Nugget only ran one series and then watched. That's telling, imo. When the coaches are that comfortable with a guy that they feel he doesn't need the work, it's a good sign he's got the inside track on the job.
Rodney Smith didn't do much and he had a fumble.
The OL didn't give Mitch any time to operate so the passing game never got going.
On defense Gary Moore played an awful lot. He'll be in the mix this year and is a plyer we should be excited about moving forward.
Hank Ekpe was getting pressure on Mitch.
Poock looked like a veteran.
Charlie Rogers is as good as any of our Safety's already.
Both the Huff's like to hit.
Duke McGhee had a few big pops.
All in all, one of the most boring practices I've ever been to.
TBD aka Moore? But the key is rotation without losing effectiveness. The B team DL is key. It comes down to total snaps, keeping players fresh. This is where Elmore, Timms, Stettler, and Ndondlay will be critical.The starting D-line will be H. Ekpe, Cockran, Richardson, and a tbd DT.
I arrived just after Berkley's long TD run. It was a pretty uneventful practice, I was there for probably an hour and I'm not sure if the offense had a play longer than 15 yards. A few more observations to add on to what's been covered:
1. The D-line looks really good. Hank Ekpe looks like a different player. He's chiseled and was able to get into the backfield whenever he wanted to. I also saw a few good pass rushes by Kafo. Elmore, Stelter, Ndondo-Lay, and Moore all got a lot of reps. The starting D-line will be H. Ekpe, Cockran, Richardson, and a tbd DT.
2. They ran a lot of plays with Rodney Smith as the RB, Jeff Jones as the slot WR, and Gentry and Holland on the outside. On one play, Jones caught a pass on a WR screen, juked a defender at the line of scrimmage, and probably gained about 10 yards.
3. Brian Smith played a lot and had a couple of nice 10-12 yard receptions in traffic. I think he will get some playing time this year.
4. Duke McGhee likes to come up and hit. He had some big time pops.
5. Leidner was unimpressive. He missed some really easy throws of less than 5 yards. I liked Perra's arm strength and accuracy from the few throws I saw. Streveler is fast and also looks like he's improved as a passer.
TBD aka Moore? But the key is rotation without losing effectiveness. The B team DL is key. It comes down to total snaps, keeping players fresh. This is where Elmore, Timms, Stettler, and Ndondlay will be critical.
Glad to hear Brian Smith the young man from the 414 is stepping up. He comes from a very athletic family. His uncle played for the Harlem Globetrotters(back in the day) one of his 1st cousins started 3 yrs at Louisville(bball) and another played at Marquette and with the LA Lakers.
TBD aka Moore? But the key is rotation without losing effectiveness. The B team DL is key. It comes down to total snaps, keeping players fresh. This is where Elmore, Timms, Stettler, and Ndondlay will be critical.
Only on The Gopherhole will you find the discussion of the defensive line and speculation as to who will start and who will relieve.
I would imagine quite a few GHers are on here looking for information on the football team. That might include who is playing with the 1s in spring practice and who is rotating in. My apologies for posting such controversial information.
i think the poster was complimenting you.
Glad to hear Brian Smith the young man from the 414 is stepping up. He comes from a very athletic family. His uncle played for the Harlem Globetrotters(back in the day) one of his 1st cousins started 3 yrs at Louisville(bball) and another played at Marquette and with the LA Lakers.