Dr Z

You will not mistake AA if you go next week. Abe is a load. I would not want to tackle him. He ran (successfully) a lot of short yardage situations yesterday. The thought crossed my mind if this is eventually his best use to benefit the team, it may not be. But I know nothing about the situation. I do remember coach Bowden saying that he came to Akron because he wanted to play RB. He does exhibit good hands out of the backfield as well.

I'll start some notes, but I know @Captain Kangaroo has more. It's difficult to photograph, and be very attentive while keeping an eye on multiple footballs and players, but here are a few. ◙ The most positive thing I witnessed, in my opinion, is to see our quarterbacks go through progressions. I saw Kato look off receivers and go to his second option multiple times. ◙ Speaking of "options" I like to see the the team practicing red zone offense for good amount of time. Lots of options for the QB in the red zone passing game. ◙ I think it's unfair to judge an offensive line right now. I would have to watch individuals multiple times. As coach mentioned to Joe Dunn yesterday after practice, I think our run game is behind some. But there were multiple good runs by Deltron. I didn't get to speak with him after, if I did, I would have asked if he put on some weight. He looks bigger to me, but maybe thats because he was wearing #41 with a lot of space between the four and the one. ◙ Coach Arth, and staff, are constantly teaching, he will either tell someone what they did right, or what they did wrong after ever snap. He seems to really enjoy it, and every player and parent that I talk to says the same. ◙ Coach Arth held a breakfast with University faculty and staff before practice, going around to each table for a meet and greet. I think the phrase "he just gets it" is overused, but I wouldn't argue with anyone that said that about him. ◙ Referees attended the practice. There were also refs that were in training. Once in awhile they would throw a flag. Kind of interesting to hear some of the teaching, I hesitate to write what I heard. I'll just say it confirms a lot of what I thought about particular calls. The refs also mentioned a few things to the group after practice. ◙ Nate Stewart made a great case for himself seeing the ball often. He fights hard in one on one situations, and was very successful yesterday. If I'm the QB, and he has one on one coverage, he has my attention. ◙ I wish I could give you more detail about the defense, but I'm only coming up with a few things. Dylan Meeks stood out on a few short yardage plays. I noticed Michael Scott with multiple successful stunt blitzes. Alvin was at corner, and playing well. ◙ Lots of area recruits there. Many from Canton McKinley. ◙ I'll be interested to read other valued ZipNation member's notes next week at the spring game. I will be out of town, so please post something, even if it's just one thing you noticed. If you question something you saw, post it, I'll try to get an answer if there is one. I was told there will be no score or stats at the spring game. I think you will be entertained by this team, because they seem to enjoy practicing with this staff. I'm thinking it will translate on the field this fall.

Photos up today, notes tomorrow.

Here are some images from this mornings practice. Notes to follow.

More Brandon Lee #25 in this video....#49 is not on my roster. ??‍♂️ Edit: From today's practice I learned Devanier Floyd is wearing #49 at the moment. Listed as #22 on the roster.

Brandon Lee runs the slant with coach Arth in coverage.

According to Shawn's (Featherstone) Instagram, he is back in action.

Gilbert to make official predraft visit to Pittsburgh. Draft Scout has Gilbert projected as a 5th round pick but given his impressive workouts, his stock could be on the rise. He’s the second linebacker reported to have a visit scheduled, joining TCU’s Ben Banogu. In Pittsburgh, Banogu would play on the edge while Gilbert would slide in at the Mack linebacker spot. Note: I’m not sure the article is correct in suggesting hat Gilbert counts against the Steelers 30 visits. In the past UA visits have been considered local. Although most teams don’t even use all their official visits.

From what I saw in his professional career, it would explain a lot. Good luck to him.

Discuss your answers below.

@ChrisTrapasso is the "guy on CBS" in the above post. He predicts Jamal getting drafted in round six. Out of the 256 picks in the draft, I would love to know how many Chris gets correct. I'll never cross reference the two lists, but I have a good guess. I'm on board with his 17th overall pick in the draft.

The Ties That Bind: Akron Expects New Coach Tom Arth’s Northeast Ohio Roots to Pay Off By Jason Kersey

KD interested in Utomi.

A couple of things I noticed from yesterday's practice. Practice is so up tempo and organized. I am amazed at how smooth and quick everything seems to run with coach Arth being in his first year. Coach Arth is very hands on. I see him running defensive routes while teaching receivers how to get out of their breaks, I see him teaching defensive players hand technique. He distributes his time all over the practice field. You can actually see how much he enjoys the teaching process. I’m starting to believe the "we are going to keep local kids local." It was junior day yesterday, I have never seen so many high school kids and coaches at a practice. They gave everyone a presentation on a big screen after practice. Coach Arth is not going to get out worked. I was told Kelvon Blackmon is new (walk on) to the roster. I saw Wofley and Alce make nice one hand catches on swing pass out of the backfield. I can't see why both won't play a part in any offense that the Zips run. For those that like the 3-4 defense, I can see the versatility that some on this roster have to offer in the scheme. Lots of different players rushing the QB from different angles. It seems like this scheme has the ability to pressure a QB with athletic ability and confusion. A sidelined Keyondre White and Deltron Sands gave Devanier Floyd a chance to run the ball, he sure was shifty in the open field. If I’m a QB, one of the first things I do when I get to line, is find #1 on defense, he still has the uncanny ability to get his hands on the ball. I thought Kato and Rob looked good many times today. Some quick decisions were being made in the seven on seven drills. I'm sorry to say I will be out of town for the spring game, I am depending on some good ZipNation reports to catch me up. I think ZipsNation will enjoy watching these guys. The buzz around practice is that the players are very excited about the staff, and have enjoyed #OurWay thus far.

Here are some photos from this morning.

@Captain Kangaroo and I went, we will have photos and notes later.

A few more Random thoughts from Saturday. Shawn Featherstone is almost cleared to practice. All his paperwork is in order to receive another year, but he hasn’t got the word just yet. Tyler Gilchrist was moved to safety late last week. Anonymous staff member “first impression was good” Nate Stewart looks like he is ready to contribute more this season. He had some nice plays showing strength, and quickness. I think this is the earliest practice that I have been to, but it was impressive for the little amount of time together, how quick and efficient it was run. Put this in the back of your mind. Coach Arth preaches that you win and lose many games late, he wants the Zips conditioned so that they are able to win late games. He referenced Kobe Bryant's (you could tell this wasn't the first time he spoke to the team about this) ridiculous dedication to his craft. He referenced another professional football player's work ethic. He preaches a committed work ethic is the difference. From an anonymous player after practice "I like the whole staff...they hold us accountable, and except nothing less...they bring the competitiveness out of everybody, you can see the difference" I know it's early, but this seems to be the attitude.

Meeks will play the 5 technique this year.