Walking back from the game as I type this, here is my impression:
(Disclaimer: I tried something different this year, mostly focusing on the WRs vs the CBs.)
This looked about how I expected it to look. Nobody stood out to me much. Our CBs stalemated our WRs when the 1s and 2s were on ths field. Both Smiths looked about like last year. Dominique Daffney got a ton of reps and looks like a big RB, physically. Stanley's arm is still a cannon. Our guys dropped a lot of balls with him in there and timing looked off.
Mansell looked like the clear #2 QB. He's got quick feet, seemed to be making quick, good decisions and has a strong enough arm. Petras has a cannon, but looked lost (as should be expected for a true freshman).
Our top two RBs looked good. Young looks like he's more patient and sees the hole and cutbacks better.
All 5 or so TEs I saw looked good, including Drew Cook. Hockenson and Beyer look like they could still add weight (which is crazy, since Hockenson is 250 as-is).
It was hard to get a sense of the LBs, since my focus was outside and since they were rotating a lot of guys in with the 1s and 2s.
When I did peak inside, as expected, the OL and DL looked pretty even. The DL rotated a ton. Even without P. Hesse, we look deep there.
@HawkeyeGamefilm posted saying the size isn't great at DT, the ends (5-6 deep, he says) and OTs were battling and looked good, and the interior OL was struggling some, fwiw. He also said A. Jones looked good.
The back seven while 1s and 2s were on the field looked like they'd seen the plays the offense ran 1,000 times (they have, of course), which probably accounts for some of the timing stuff and the CBs locking down the WRs.
Max Cooper is gonna get talked about after this, but to me, he looked like a good slot WR. Don't get your hopes too high, especially as he played with every unit, so he had lots of chances.
Gersonde looked like the better punter. Caleb Shudak is a little guy competing for backup K and wears #94, so I've dubbed him Lil' Eppy and I suggest we all get on board.
Overall: I felt like the 1s and 2s were really closely matched, so that everyone looked pretty good, but no one really stood out (again, not watching the line play).
Ohhhh, except Amani Hooker. He was everywhere, all night.
Please post your thoughts as well. I'd love more perspective on the lines.
(Disclaimer: I tried something different this year, mostly focusing on the WRs vs the CBs.)
This looked about how I expected it to look. Nobody stood out to me much. Our CBs stalemated our WRs when the 1s and 2s were on ths field. Both Smiths looked about like last year. Dominique Daffney got a ton of reps and looks like a big RB, physically. Stanley's arm is still a cannon. Our guys dropped a lot of balls with him in there and timing looked off.
Mansell looked like the clear #2 QB. He's got quick feet, seemed to be making quick, good decisions and has a strong enough arm. Petras has a cannon, but looked lost (as should be expected for a true freshman).
Our top two RBs looked good. Young looks like he's more patient and sees the hole and cutbacks better.
All 5 or so TEs I saw looked good, including Drew Cook. Hockenson and Beyer look like they could still add weight (which is crazy, since Hockenson is 250 as-is).
It was hard to get a sense of the LBs, since my focus was outside and since they were rotating a lot of guys in with the 1s and 2s.
When I did peak inside, as expected, the OL and DL looked pretty even. The DL rotated a ton. Even without P. Hesse, we look deep there.
@HawkeyeGamefilm posted saying the size isn't great at DT, the ends (5-6 deep, he says) and OTs were battling and looked good, and the interior OL was struggling some, fwiw. He also said A. Jones looked good.
The back seven while 1s and 2s were on the field looked like they'd seen the plays the offense ran 1,000 times (they have, of course), which probably accounts for some of the timing stuff and the CBs locking down the WRs.
Max Cooper is gonna get talked about after this, but to me, he looked like a good slot WR. Don't get your hopes too high, especially as he played with every unit, so he had lots of chances.
Gersonde looked like the better punter. Caleb Shudak is a little guy competing for backup K and wears #94, so I've dubbed him Lil' Eppy and I suggest we all get on board.
Overall: I felt like the 1s and 2s were really closely matched, so that everyone looked pretty good, but no one really stood out (again, not watching the line play).
Ohhhh, except Amani Hooker. He was everywhere, all night.
Please post your thoughts as well. I'd love more perspective on the lines.
