Captain Kangaroo

Could be a new kicker?

Jatavis Fighting for a Roster Spot While rookie linebackers Kyzir White and Uchenna Nwosu continue to impress, Jatavis Brown has done nothing to help his case. It’s one of the saddest realizations I’ve had to endure while covering the Chargers up to this point. I’ve been a big fan of Jatavis Brown since his days at Akron. My best friend played defensive end at the University of Iowa before finishing his last two years of eligibility at Akron, his first year there being with Brown. He told me time and time again that Jatavis was the best defensive player he had every seen, and that includes all the Big Ten talent that came through during that time. The hype for Brown only grew as he was a sparkplug for the defense during the 2016 season. His performance in the color rush game against the Broncos is the first thing that comes to mind. He forced a fumble by Demaryius Thomas to help swing the momentum in the Bolts’ favor as it all eventually led to the first win over Denver in several years. Last year, Brown’s sophomore slump was largely attributed to a combination of the new playbook and a nagging injury he just never quite got over. It was made known that Brown was back to 100% earlier this offseason and he should be much improved after a full year in Gus Bradley’s system. So far, this is not the case. Against the Saints’, Brown was still in the game with the third-stringers as White and Nwosu got plenty of reps ahead of him. Even against the worst talent on the field, Brown missed tackle after tackle. His abysmal play was just one piece of a dumpster fire that was the defense in the fourth quarter. When Hayes Pullard, the worst rated player by Pro Football Focus in 2017, is looking more explosive and overall like a better player than you are, something major has got to change. Here’s to hoping he fixes whatever happens to be broken.

For Northeast Ohio this is one of those neighbor-texts-you "Holy crap...turn on Channel 8...the Zips are up 20 on Nebraska in the 4th quarter!!" games. You couldn't ask for a higher-visibility opportunity for the program to get some recognition. Could be "Zips-Michigan Part II"? A competitive showing, or better yet a win, would be HUGE.

Being realistic that they're "Nebraska" and in the Big 10...this is still about as good a chance as the Zips will have to get a Power 5 win. Huskers were 4-8 last season, with a loss to Northern Illinois. They're starting a freshman QB. It's not exactly Baker Mayfield, backed by Samaje Perine and Mixon. "Can the Zips offense move the ball?" is the big question. "Can Davis, Brady and Gilbert make the Freshman QB uncomfortable?" is probably my #2 biggest key. Our defense will hold it's own, if they get a few breathers. If the offense goes 3-and-out all day, we're screwed. Fingers are crossed that Sands is healthy. If he played the entire game, that would be huge. Keep the turnovers to a minimum, Kato. And hit your open WR's.

Nebraska has the best receiving corp in the Big 10?

Can we place bets on when Keith Dambrot first complains about the unfairness of NET?

Windham's Phillip Maiorca From a small school, and small-sized. Probably a long shot to be a Zip, but he's on the radar. Article #1 Article #2

Sluggish Offense

Very heartbroken for him. Seemed like he really put in some hard work over the winter/spring.

Kicking target

From UA to AU

I attended the scrimmage today, but didn't conduct any interviews. It seemed like this scrimmage, held indoors due to weather, was an opportunity for everyone to play extended minutes and show what they can do before the 1's and 2's are defined and preparation for the Nebraska game begins. The starters did play, but not as much as last week. Brandon Mitchell is definitely getting his chance to show what he can do. He played a lot of snaps at WR although he didn't have many stats to show for it. In general , it seemed like the defense amped it up. And the constant changing of bodies on offense just didn't make the O look very good. All 4 QB's played quite a bit. I don't think Ramart gained any ground on Kato today. Kato looked sharper than last week. The biggest concerns from today were injuries to Trevor Brown and DeAndre Brimmage. Brown seemed to hurt his knee in the first half. After about 8 minutes on the turf he slowly walked off the field and into the dressing room, Brimmage also looked to have a knee injury. It happened with about 2 minutes remaining in the scrimmage. He couldn't walk, and was carted to the locker room. I'm no doctor, but his injury seemed like it could be bad. Hope I'm wrong. Mykel Traylor-Bennett had back-to-back nice grabs from Kato. With him at 6'3", Mitchell at 6' 6" and Morris at 6' 4", we really have some nice height at WR. At 6' 2" Scippio and Stewart are big bodies too. Bubba didn't play. Gilbert was held out. King played in his place and seemed to do a nice job. McGriff showed some nice speed on an end-around sweep that gained 10 yards Didn't notice Reinke at TE? No kicking or punting today. If the Zips were a stock, I'd invest in Malik Wooldridge while he's still affordable. I didn't expect much from him going into this season, but he made some nice catches last week and today. Hope others can glean more from this morning than me. That's all I've got.

WWBDD (What Would Big Dog Do?)

Sophomore Alex Ramart? Overall, good reporting by George this August. Wonder why?

Inconsistency at QB Bunch falling behind in QB race

I got the opportunity to interview Zips senior safety Shawn Featherstone after last Saturday's scrimmage. Here's the story: Perseverance Pays Off Thanks to Dr. Z for the nice layout!

Look at his content, then look at your content, and tell me which brings more value.

Note - Brandon Mitchell was shortchanged 4 inches in the height column. Move it up.

Hope Newman can stay healthy.

Nice article. Brian's a good dude. He still follows the Zips program pretty heavily and can occasionally be seen in Lot 9 and at the Zips golf outings.

My belated scrimmage notes - Beautiful day for football. Sunny, but not too hot. The team was in good spirits as they took the field accompanied by a sound system blasting mostly hip-hop tunes. The scrimmage was offense/defense (not a split squad). 1's vs. 1's, 2's vs. 2's, etc. for the bulk of the day. The first score of the day was a 60+ yard pass from Ramart to Malik Woodridge. It was a blown coverage, but the throw was 40 yards in the air, and on-the-money. Ramart showed great poise and accuracy all day long. Deep balls and short routs were equally sharp. Had a nice hard count that drew the defense offside. He did a lot of good things. Scippio apparently got his required test scores. He is bigger than I anticipated. He made a couple catches, but also dropped what would have been a 20 yard gainer from Ramart. He looks like the real deal. Jest played with the second D-line. He was in the backfield several times and looks much more svelte than during his first stint with the Zips. While there was a lot of positives to be taken from the scrimmage, one glaring negative was the 1-4 conversion rate on FG's from O'Leary. Kicks were between 30 and 45 yards. I mentioned to Dr. Z that "If Gasser never kicks a field goal this season, we'll have a great year." If things don't improve, Gasser could be our opening day kicker. Not ideal. Field goal kicking will definitely be something to watch as the summer camp moves forward. James King is #32, and seemed to be working his way towards some PT. He started with the 3rd group, but played some with the second group as the scrimmage progressed. Keyondre White is a strong runner. He moves the pile and finishes his runs. If Deltron Sands can stay healthy, he'll get 1,000 yards this year. Man does he have a burst of speed once he hits the line. He's a special, "next level" back, but he's got to stay healthy. He had a really nice 12 yard run, but took a good hit at the end and fumbled. And what would an early camp scrimmage be without a scuffle? Maverick Wolfley turned the corner at the goal line and put a good lick on Jordan George as he scored what looked to be a TD. The collision got the guys a little fired up. The referees marked the ball just short of the goal line, and as the players lined up, a little smack talk broke into a mild wrestling match between Kato Nelson and Justin Sampson. It was quickly diffused, and the coaches let the players know in no uncertain terms that fighting wouldn't be tolerated. Ramart got his reps with the starters as Kato was benched for a short while. Later in the scrimmage Kato jogged over to the defensive side and seemed to apologize to Sampson. Kato did eventually get back on the field and all was forgotten. Kato did some good things on the day. He was especially efficient and smooth in the red zone. Kwad caught a 30 yard slant from Ramart and showed a few nice juke moves after the catch. While he's relied upon his speed to get open for the bulk of his Zips career, he looks like he's going to be a much more well- rounded receiver this season. Both Suggs and White got a lot of work. Getting the newcomers a chance to show what they can do was a primary focus of this scrimmage. Said Bowden afterwards "We've got eight to ten guys that are new. We want to get those guys to get the ball...to get them on the field...so we can see what we've got. We have to see if they're someone that can help us right away. After this week we're going to be getting into our game preparation (for Nebraska). You want to see Suggs, you want to see MJ (McGriff) you want to see Brimmage at wideout...guys like Scippio and Jonah Morris. On defense it's a little different, with 9 returning starters, but we certainly wanted to see what Walter Brady can do." I'd mentioned Brandon Mitchell previously. 6' 6" 220 lb wide out that got a lot of PT on Saturday. He originally tried out for the football team 4 years ago. He had difficulty catching the ball, so he opted to join Dennis Mitchell's track team. Per NCAA rules, if you play 4 years of a given sport, starting as a true freshman, you can play a different sport in your 5th year. So Brandon decided to give football another try. The staff told him "If you want to play football, come out every day and catch 70 - 100 balls." Brandon put in the work, and here he is. He showed the results of his efforts in a nice 15 yard catch courtesy of walk-on TJ Deshields. He also had a nice climb-the-ladder catch in the corner of the end zone that was ruled incomplete. I'm convinced replay would have overruled it. But how nice will it be for the Zips to have a 6' 6" wide out, with hops, in the red zone?! He'll be a fun one to watch in scrimmage #2. Dylan Meeks spent time with the 3rd and second units. He was frequently in the backfield disrupting plays. He had a really solid scrimmage. Said Bowden on Meeks - "He's so steady. You know he started for Dr. Phillips, and outstanding high school in Orlando as a 9th grader. He's been a state wrestling champ. He's such a smart kid...I don't think he's had a "B" in his life. He's just got such great smarts and ability. There are guys that look more explosive than him, but when it's all said and done he makes plays." How did Walter Brady get to Akron? He decided somewhat late to leave MTSU and try to hook up with a Power 5 program. Unfortunately the late timing meant there were no scholarships to be had. MTSU head coach Rick Stockstill, a former QB at Florida State under Bobby Bowden, gave Terry a call to let him know of Brady's situation. Now he's a Zip. Says coach Bowden "Walter's a hands down guy. Having him on one side, and Jamal (Davis) on the other really creates a 'vise.' But I want to mention Reinke's looked really good, Josh Ward has looked really good, Sampson's playing outstanding...we have a lot of nice options at defensive end right now." Bubba Arslanian did not participate. He had a massive bandage on his lower leg. He was walking ok, so I'd guess it is nothing major. Devanier Floyd was also out with a minor injury. Too many turnovers on the day. But it tough to say whether it was due to bad offense, or a good, ball-hawking defense. Hopefully the latter.

Scippio did play. He’s a legit 6’ 2” 195 lb wideout. Brady got some snaps, but not a ton. Story of the scrimmage was either - 6’ 6” 220 lb wr Brandon Mitchell. Zips track star with a 5th year of college eligibility remaining. Could be a real impact player this season. Alex Ramart- had an outstanding scrimmage. Per Coach Bowden after the scrimmage “We’ve got a battle at the QB. position .” Dr. Z and I have a lot to post, but have a busy Saturday. We’ll get some stuff up later tonight or tomorrow.

I wish people from Akron took 1/20 the pride in Akron that LeBron, or the people participating on ZipsNation do.

"Let us reflect on the depths that a program can fall with one bad hire" How could a Zips fan possibly identify with that statement?

Nebraska QB Competition Still Ongoing