ZD11's move to WR

[Blue & Gold]

Here is George Thomas' article on ZD11's move to WR.

[AKSportsFan]

DB's a strength on defense? Since when? That's certainly good news. I certainly can see some freshman stepping in to provide some extra reinforcement on the D-Line. Brian Wagner didn't make all those tackles at the line of scrimmage. Its because so many times the offense made it to the second level. How many 2nd and short situations have we seen the last couple of years? Our save and grace sounds like will be Presley. It will be exciting to watch someone who can get pressure on the QB.

Lets also remember that the offense did really well against our defense last year in the spring game...and we all watched as we tallied up the worst offensive stats in the country throughout the season. Its really hard to gauge at this point what we got.

[GeorgeThomasABJ]

DB's a strength on defense? Since when? That's certainly good news. I certainly can see some freshman stepping in to provide some extra reinforcement on the D-Line. Brian Wagner didn't make all those tackles at the line of scrimmage. Its because so many times the offense made it to the second level. How many 2nd and short situations have we seen the last couple of years? Our save and grace sounds like will be Presley. It will be exciting to watch someone who can get pressure on the QB.

Lets also remember that the offense did really well against our defense last year in the spring game...and we all watched as we tallied up the worst offensive stats in the country throughout the season. Its really hard to gauge at this point what we got.

Exactly. But remember, I can only report what I see on the practice field at this point. Lartey and Alexander have looked consistently good. And while I respect Zips athletics, I didn't go out of my way to watch MAC football in any form last year. I'm still waiting to get some of last year's games on DVD so that I can take a look at just how bad they were. None of this is meant at a slam. Just the truth.

[johnnyzip84]

Exactly. But remember, I can only report what I see on the practice field at this point. Lartey and Alexander have looked consistently good. And while I respect Zips athletics, I didn't go out of my way to watch MAC football in any form last year. I'm still waiting to get some of last year's games on DVD so that I can take a look at just how bad they were. None of this is meant at a slam. Just the truth.

Lartey was rated fairly high as a recruit, and Bill Alexander has had injuries in the past to prevent him from showing what he could do. Maybe both of them are responding well to Buckley’s tutelage?

[Blue & Gold]

Exactly. But remember, I can only report what I see on the practice field at this point. Lartey and Alexander have looked consistently good. And while I respect Zips athletics, I didn't go out of my way to watch MAC football in any form last year. I'm still waiting to get some of last year's games on DVD so that I can take a look at just how bad they were. None of this is meant at a slam. Just the truth.

Both Lartey and Alexander were pretty highly-touted coming out of high school.

And last year the Zips were very... very... VERY bad.

[Big Zip]

From watch ZD play basketball in HS I always thought he had great hands. I'm glad to see that appears to translate to football. At 6'2" that is a decent size WR and with him being a 21 year old freshman he should be able to provide leadership to the unit.

[Dr Z]

Exactly. But remember, I can only report what I see on the practice field at this point. Lartey and Alexander have looked consistently good. And while I respect Zips athletics, I didn't go out of my way to watch MAC football in any form last year. I'm still waiting to get some of last year's games on DVD so that I can take a look at just how bad they were. None of this is meant at a slam. Just the truth.

I think the fact that you did not see last year, gives you a "fresher" perspective right now. I enjoy the "truth", rather than poetically polishing up turds. Some in this forum like to say "I'm a glass half full guy", BS, write what you see, since you have the advantage of seeing practice, and that's what I want to read about. Keep up the good work.

PS I think the lack of pressure from our front seven, put the DB's in a bad way last year. I hope the front seven vastly helps out the secondary this season.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Exactly. But remember, I can only report what I see on the practice field at this point.

That is the best thing you can do.

I used to attend practices several years ago when DL Morgan was the Zips beat writer. With about 2 minutes remaining in the practice, Morgan would show up, ask Brookhart a question or two after everything was done, and then leave. The next day, MAYBE there'd be a line or two in the sports section...the same quotes you'd read 20 hours earlier on GoZips.com.

Conversely, Michael Holley used to do an outstanding job of talking Zips football. I wish some of his old columns were available, but that was pre-internet days. Regardless, he was always a fun, insightful read that made you feel you were at the practice. I looked forward to the Beacon every morning.

Be like Mike, George.

[GP1]

This is a very good article. Well done.

Best quote: "D’Orazio caught everything thrown his way from several quarterbacks during the course of practice, making difficult catches, but more importantly, snagging the easy ones."

Guys who make the easy catches and not the hard catches are third down guys...they never make a difference. Guys who make the spectacular catches and drop the easy ones are called bench warmers...they can't be trusted. When a player makes both routine and spectacular catches, there is potentially something special there. Doing the routine should be expected. The Zips need players they can count on all the time. George might have been the first witness to see the blossoming of a special player. Lucky for us he is able to attend practice and report to us what is happening.

[akzipper]

This is a very good article. Well done.

Best quote: "D’Orazio caught everything thrown his way from several quarterbacks during the course of practice, making difficult catches, but more importantly, snagging the easy ones."

Guys who make the easy catches and not the hard catches are third down guys...they never make a difference. Guys who make the spectacular catches and drop the easy ones are called bench warmers...they can't be trusted. When a player makes both routine and spectacular catches, there is potentially something special there. Doing the routine should be expected. The Zips need players they can count on all the time. George might have been the first witness to see the blossoming of a special player. Lucky for us he is able to attend practice and report to us what is happening.

That's what we need! A Joe Jurevicius, Wes Welker, Jordon Norwood type of receiver. Maybe they don't make the most spectacular plays like the superstar receivers, but can bring in the clutch catches when it matters!