My thoughts from the scrimmage on 11 August 2018
I don't have much to add on the QB position/competition as it’s been fully covered by others’ comments, the article by George Thomas in the ABJ, and comments by Coach Bowden himself.
I will say that the QB room has a different energy than last year. They are enjoying the competition and each other, and are pushing each other to get better.
They held several guys out of the scrimmage; I’m assuming that’s just precautionary.
(Mykel Traylor-Bennett, Dustin Burkhart, Bubba Arslanian, Nick Johns, and Abraham Alce were some that I noted though I’m sure there were others). Bubba told me he has some turf burn under the gauze bandage that Captain Kangaroo mentioned so I think they’re just wanting that to heal.
As has been mentioned, Justin Sampson really popped – He’s put on some good size and he’s got a great first step. I hear he plays the power read very well because he’s so fast/quick.
Captain Kangaroo mentioned the kicking woes. I wonder if they are working on mechanics/trying different things. Some kicks had plenty of leg but went wide right or left. Others looked great but didn’t have the length.
I was very excited to see Keyondre White run the rock and he did not disappoint. Most notably, they brought him in for several short yardage plays, among others he was in the lineup for, and he was able to move the pile.
The ABJ article suggested that the running game hit a brick wall of a defense but I felt like they were rather productive collectively regardless of the total yards accumulated. Specifically, both 1st team and 2nd teams were gaining good yards on early downs. It wasn’t exclusive and the defense definitely blew up a few plays but generally speaking I was impressed with the running backs and the OLs in front of them.
The tight end position appears to be one they are really trying to integrate into the offense. It’s been reported that Darryl Long suffered an injury and losing his dynamic playmaking ability with his height advantage and huge catch radius will be a negative but Junk and Wolfley look prepared to add depth with Newman Williams and Nick Johns rounding out the room. Not sure who will be the day one started but they all have some ability. Personally, I like Maverick’s “nasty” but Newman appears to be a more polished blocker at this point. It’s good to have options.
It was great to see them utilize Brandon Mitchell in the red zone on a jump ball fade. Everyone in the stadium, including one of the refs, thought the ball from Ramart was a TD. They somehow ruled it was incomplete but I don’t know if that was a “bobbling the ball”, “not securing it through contact with the ground”, or some other nonsensical NFL application of the pass catch rule. Regardless of the outcome, having that option is nice as it will force defenses to play him differently and we can take advantage of the mismatch on the goal-line. Additionally, I hear he’s a great kid and is working hard.
TB mentioned “competition” at various positions and I think there are real battles going on for the following:
QB
TE
RB
WR
The defense is pretty much locked down but with so many new/young faces on offense, these battles will continue to be a focus for the remainder of camp.
In TB’s interview with Joe Dunn the other day, he mentioned that by the end of this week, they’d be getting into game prep.
I assume that Saturday’s scrimmage may reflect the outcome of some of those battles based on who gets the bulk of #1 reps.