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My take on the scrimmage

Jlang

Member
posted this on rivals.:thumbsup:

It was more of a situational scrimmage then an actual game type format. Therefore stats are very skewed. The rotations were very odd as well. Missing several key players being held out so it seemed like there were a ton of walk on's all over the field so it was hard to really get a feel for what we were seeing.

After reading all the pre scrimmage reports I guess I expected to see just incredible size on the lines and to be honest I didn't really see that. We have guys with great frames and none of them look fat at all but physically they won't be confused with Texas or Oklahoma yet. The biggest change though is that we don't have a lot of guys that don't pass the eye ball test. (i.e 5-11 310 pounds). They almost all look like d-1 players but do look like young kids still. It was a good reminder that they are playing A LOT of Freshmen and Sophomores on the line and that we need to keep that in mind next year. I would love to fast forward to 2010 and see these guys then because they definitely have the frames. Guys like Givens, Daniwitz, and Solder are just shells of what the finished products will be when they are in their 4th and 5th years.

Also with the number of walk ons playing at WR, TE and S, I still don't have that feeling that we have completely turned the corner with the talent level. Granted on Saturday's we won't see all of these guys but building the talent and depth is still a work in progress.

The interior DL defintiely got the better of the OL today. Miller didn't go very long and Bahr, Behrens, and of course Mariner didn't play so that needs to be considered. Plus they seem to still be experimenting so really not much to go on at this point. Goree, Perciak and Kaynor didn't get moved off the ball much. Will needs about another 20 pounds, but I like his frame and his mean streak. Cunningham didn't play today. DE's were not really factors today but held their own against the run and the rush was more focused on the LB's and DB's.

LBs were active. Burton is a very good player facing this type of offense. How that translates to the fall with more sophisticated spread passing attacks will be another story much like last year. He is a truck though and you do not want him to get locked in on you when he is going forward. Sipili looks like he is in really good shape. He sure looks the part, it will just come down to whether he has the instincts. Rippy looks very good. There will be some growing pains as a FR but he looks like he will be a nice player. Beatty played some early and will be a disruptive force. He didn't get much time later in the scrimmage. Mohler seems to be a forgotten man and doesn't seem to be a natural for a 3-4 ILB. He is too small to play outside in a 3-4 but seems to me to be much more of a 4-3 OLB with his body type. After last year i had him penciled in as one of the top couple Defensive players next year but I am not sure where he will play at this point. Especially when Major gets into the mix. I pull for that kid after his dedication to being a Buff and am a little concerned he might get lost in the shuffle his SR year.

At Corner, Burney sat out and Chap didn't play a lot. Smith sure looks the part. They worked a lot on press coverage and with his size, he is by far the most physically up to that challenge. Seems that this must be why Chap has been passed over by Burney because with his size, the bump and run is not going to be his specialty. With as much spread offense that we will see, he will get plenty of playing time covering the slot. Hicks and Sanderstrom (or whatever) have the HT to play that style but that is probably the extent of their skills. Simas made both of those guys pay in the bump and run with fade patterns. Wright should be a big factor with his skills here as well when he gets healthy. If we can get a pass rush, these corners will be a stength next year with Smith, Burney, Chap and Wright.

At S, Mahnke is really growing on me. He looks to be a good player. He got caught man on man in the slot one time and Simas worked him over but the QB was running for his life and was on his checkdown looks and didn't see it. Other then that, this kid is a baller. He definitely will light you up if he gets the chance. Perkins doesn't really stand out at this point but has the skills to develop as he is still young. I don't remember seeing Jalil today but I wasn't specficially looking for him. Arthur Jafee made some plays but I anxiously await Ray Polk and look forward to seeing what he can do.

They had a nice scheme to get pressure on the QB with rushes from many different points. I have a feeling that Coach Brown will find a way to get enough pressure to overcome our lack of natural skill in that department. I expect that they will play a lot of 3-4 next year so that they can stay unpredicable with their pressure. Unless Kasa can make an immediate impact, I don't see a lot of natural pass rushing skills in our down linemen.

The only real drawback to the defense is that there were probably 5 completely blown coverages against the TE today. Certainly not a concern at this stage of spring but if nothing else is certainly inflated the passing stats today. Also, not any turnovers today and one thing this D needs to start getting better at in 09 is creating more Turnovers.

Offensively, it is hard to get much out of the first spring scrimmage. You don't know how much they have put in and therefore how much the defense has to defend against. Overall, you certainly didn't see even the slightest hint of a dominant running game. There were only a couple runs that were impressive and those were more due to the fact that Speedy is a heck of a back then anything schematic or due to blocking. Lockridge had one nice run where he got good blocking and was patient to let the hole develop. Much of the same as last year for Scott....every time he carried the ball there was absolutely no holes to speak of.

Throwing the ball, again you just don't know how much of the offense they have in place and have no idea how much of the finished product you are looking at. To me, I don't love the offense (or at least what we are seeing today). 95% of the time you have a QB running for his life (either because of poor blocking or design to roll the pocket) throwing on the run to a TE or FB running some sort of come back route. I get it, you have a 5-11 QB who needs throwing lanes, or a slightly taller QB whose biggest asset is his feet and getting him out of the pocket gives him more options. That being said, it just feels like an offense that is being dicated to by the defense. I just want to see an offense run by CU where we are striking fear in the defense and this run, chuck and duck style just doesn't do that.

I understand this is far from the finished product, but that to me is the biggest disappointment in the Hawkins era is that the 1st three years we have been a lamb offensively and I am hungry to see some signs of the lion and today it was more of the same. i have a feeling the stats will make this comment look out of place as they were relatively productive. It is just an agressive mentality that the great offenses in the country have that is lacking in Boulder.

Anyway, off the soap box. I thought both Hansen and Hawkins had their moments and for both the good outweighed the bad. Neither is ever going to be confused with an all american or all big 12 player but if you surround either with great talent, they can get the job done. Hansen seemed to close the gap in the passing game. I still would like to see him stand in the pocket and make some more plays there but he definitely has improved his recognition. He is comfortable throwing on the run and didn't settle for running much today. He has a much higher upside then Cody, but will probably spend most of his career looking over his shoulder at younger QB's trying to take his job.

At RB, I really love Stewart. He just is a heck of a football player. He is fearless and will throw his body around to get the needed yardage to move the chains. His size and aggresiveness will make him an injury waiting to happen but when he is healthy he is going to produce. Lockridge is a nice change of pace back that will provide good depth. As for Scott, he would be a heisman trophy back with a great OL, with an average line he is a pretty average back.

At TE/HB/FB, Devenny could be developing into the greatest Spring TE in the school's history. Much like last year, he is the best player on the field at the skill position. Most likely like last fall, he will be a solid contributor but will be far from the dominate player he was today. Geer didn't play to my knowledge and Deehan didn't get much thrown his way. All of the rest of the guys including several walk on's made plays as that seems to be the obvious check down on the chuck and duck roll out play. There were several missed blocks from the TE position but I have a feeling a lot of the walk on's are on the team more for their pass catching ability then blocking ability.

At WR, Simas is a player. He isn't a speed demon but has great body control and will be the best WR on the field. Espinoza had several nice catches but again I will have to see how that translates into the fall before I count on that. Smith didn't make an impact on Offense but that is probably a part of the style of offense that almost immediately relies on check downs taking him out of the offense.

They only ran one WR end around which was refreshing. It was much like last year with its success (or lack of). They just run that play too flat. Every reverse I have ever seen that was succesful gets the ball to a player in space where he can make a move and go. They run the ball horizontal to the line of scrimmage which gives the runner one option to cut up field and at this level, defenses are too fast to get beat with pure speed.



 
On ST's, Goodman looked very good today. Practice wasn't his issue though last fall, we won't know anything about him until the lights go on. The return game looked very good. (KO's no punt returns today).

As far as punting.....It appears like everything else, CU will mimick the latest craze with the latest being the roll out, and swinging gate style punt. Like everything else, when CU tries to copy these other teams they never seem to do it very well. Maybe I am a little old school but just line up and punt the ball. This Mickey Mouse crap is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Overall, it was a typical first spring scrimmage. Not much can be taken from it and they have a long way to go. I didn't have huge expectations and those expectations weren't blown away by any stretch. It was just good to watch some football.

Hopefully I didn't give too much away for Coach Hawk. Seriously though, if any team is relying on someone like me to provide an analysis of our strengths and weaknesses then that is a very very good sign. ha!
 
Scott will NEVER get a punt blocked on a roll out punt because he could terrorize an open field. Maybe this means they are designing plays for the personnel, which is obviously a good approach.

Thanks for the info!
 
Scott will NEVER get a punt blocked on a roll out punt because he could terrorize an open field. Maybe this means they are designing plays for the personnel, which is obviously a good approach.

Thanks for the info!


He had one tipped yesterday.
 
I'm not very well schooled in the technical aspects of football but I'm planning on going Friday. If anyone has anything they're particularly interested in or things I should watch for, let me know.
 
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