I've seen 3 practices so far and I thought I'd post what you can tell so far and not tell. Some of the guys on the Rivals board are drowning in their own Kool-Ade spit up. As one of the half-full guys around here, I am optimistic, but very cautious. Here's what I've seen:
One of the things I like about this camp so far is there's a confidence and a chip-on-the-shoulder mentality. That's good. They've done nothing. They have a lot to prove. I'm optimistic, but not so optimistic that I want to blow smoke up their skirts and have them start reading these headlines. They need to stay pissed.
They need that edge. There's a lot of work to do between now and 9/4.
I'm pumpin' some optimism from what I've seen at Camp, but let's keep a perspective here. It's camp.
CSU stomped on our field last year. Don't ever forget.
- Some guys have moved up early into the 1's or 2's (Bahktiari, Terrell Smith) - but it's early.
- Some much needed speed at WR. Celestine, Richardson, Patterson, Clemons are all guys we didn't see last fall.
- Very competitive practices OL vs. DL and DB's vs. WR's.
- Seems like we got way more leadership (Sipili, Jalil, Jimmy, Nate, Miller, the QBs, Scotty, Deehan, Stevens, other OLine guys, Cunningham, Herrod, Beatty...) Just a lot of veterans out there like no time in quite some time. They are playing pissed.
- The O looks like they are well ahead of the last few falls as far as timing goes. They have guys with game experience thoughout the 1's and most of the 2's. Certainly most of the guys in those two groups were with us in Spring drills.
- Grossnickel's best punts are huge compared to DiLallo. His worst ones are 5 net yarders. Looks much better than last Spring so far though.
- Long snapping hasn't been a problem.
- Some early looks at young guys looks very promising Uzo-Direbe, all of the TE's and RB's look like guys who will compete for PT sooner than later. The linemen - who knows? Not this year.
- DL guys are going to be much better.
- Hansen gets ALL the snaps with the 1's and Cody is with the 2's. They both get as many snaps as they can probably handle.
- There is a lot of competition at WR. McKnight and Clemons are the only penciled in starters I'd guess. Jefferson is a year older. Celestine is showing things. Simmons is in there a lot. Cefalo is Scotty McKnight with a different number (this kid is for real). Canty is there. Darden has caught passes and is a very tall target, and has filled out well. There are options here and there will be guys sitting who would have played a lot the last 5 years.
One of the things I like about this camp so far is there's a confidence and a chip-on-the-shoulder mentality. That's good. They've done nothing. They have a lot to prove. I'm optimistic, but not so optimistic that I want to blow smoke up their skirts and have them start reading these headlines. They need to stay pissed.
They need that edge. There's a lot of work to do between now and 9/4.
I'm pumpin' some optimism from what I've seen at Camp, but let's keep a perspective here. It's camp.
CSU stomped on our field last year. Don't ever forget.