Spring Football

[LZIp]

Reading GT's new article, the apparent lack of work effort put in by some of the players in the off season seems concerning.

[Zipgrad01]

Reading GT's new article, the apparent lack of work effort put in by some of the players in the off season seems concerning.

Extremely concerning.

[Blue & Gold]

Day 3 Breakdown by George Thomas.

It's good to hear Nick Rossi is beginning to have an impact. I was expecting him to have an impact the day he set foot on campus. It takes some guys longer than others. He's got two years remaining & can still have a very solid career.

[K92]

Reading GT's new article, the apparent lack of work effort put in by some of the players in the off season seems concerning.

I think "lack of effort" is probably evident (to some degree) in every spring practice across the country. I just hope the offending parties get the message and renew their commitment. I am guessing when a guy like Albert Presley isn't working with the first unit, the entire team takes notice. I think (hope) the team will be alright. This staff knows what they are doing & they will have things on track by the time they get to Orlando.

Chisholm looked pretty damn good on some of those runs. I think he may have taken his off-season pretty seriously.

[33Akrondad7]

The HS record in Ohio is 10.38, so that's seems plenty fast to me for a DE He clearly showed great closing speed behind the line of scrimmage a few times last year. JT was a pretty light DE when he was a freshmen.

On a side note, I saw a lot of Ravenna's DJ Jones handling the rock in today's video. That should answer a few questions posed by the poster who asked about him several times since last season. He looks like he might have that knack some shorter RBs have to hide behind linemen and "pop" to daylight.

I think I posted a question about DJ. Good to see some neighboring kids out there. I didnt see CJ Mizel on the roster... whats up with him?

[Blue & Gold]

I think I posted a question about DJ. Good to see some neighboring kids out there. I didnt see CJ Mizel on the roster... whats up with him?

As of yet he hasn't graduated from JUCO, so he won't report till the fall. (Knock on wood.)

[K92]

I was not able to make practice today. Anybody else make it? I would love to hear some observations.

[ZachTheZip]

Day 4 observations

[ZippyFan]

I attended practice today. I tought it was very upbeat. I thought the offense got the best of the D. Chisholm, Jones and Hundley looked good running the ball. The passing game needs work. It was hit and miss throughout the day. Pohl has a cannon but he was not real accurate. I understand it's spring ball. We need help at WR.....badly. I hope these 2 guys we're bringing in are the real deal. Does anyone know if either of them were there today? There was a couple tall kids watching practice that I thought might have been Wolf. I dont know what he looks like. I saw one of them talking to TB for awhile. There was another kid wearing a Norwayne Bobcats jacket there. He is a WR. Does anyone know if he's walking on? I saw them play in a Regional Championship game this year. It was at Stow so I went over and watched. He dominated in that game. I cant remember his name. I also saw Bickley there...man he's small. I know he's dynamic but he's gonna have to get alot stronger to play at this level.

[zippyfan34]

I attended practice today. I tought it was very upbeat. I thought the offense got the best of the D. Chisholm, Jones and Hundley looked good running the ball. The passing game needs work. It was hit and miss throughout the day. Pohl has a cannon but he was not real accurate. I understand it's spring ball. We need help at WR.....badly. I hope these 2 guys we're bringing in are the real deal. Does anyone know if either of them were there today? There was a couple tall kids watching practice that I thought might have been Wolf. I dont know what he looks like. I saw one of them talking to TB for awhile. There was another kid wearing a Norwayne Bobcats jacket there. He is a WR. Does anyone know if he's walking on? I saw them play in a Regional Championship game this year. It was at Stow so I went over and watched. He dominated in that game. I cant remember his name. I also saw Bickley there...man he's small. I know he's dynamic but he's gonna have to get alot stronger to play at this level.

This article talks about a senior Norwayne WR who was considering a preferred walk-on offer at Akron. Also mentions 2 of the juniors that had some MAC offers last month which maybe Akron is getting in the chase on them now.

[ZippyFan]

Berger is the kid I'm talking about. That was him there today. I think that is good news if he's going to walk on. Norwayne has become a D4 power and he is a D1 size player. He's very strong. In the game I watched he got doubled the entire game and had probably a dozen catches. I'm shocked that nobody offered him. The fans I talked to at that game said he put up huge numbers over the past 2 years. Norwayne won the State Champioship 2 years ago.

[johnnyzip84]

Here are some things I noticed, several of which tie-in to GT's observations and TB's comments:

1) DJ Jones gives the Zips a nice "change of pace" option in the backfield. Like I noticed on video earlier, he has the ability to hide behind his line and uses his quick feet and excellent balance to prevent the defense from delivering a solid blow. Even the one time he did get hit hard he managed to bounce off the tackler and get another 10 yards.

2) While it's true the passing game was far less than optimal, I wouldn't worry too much about that at this stage. A lot of that is timing and TB seemed to concentrate on the running game when the offense was either backed up near their own goal line or in the red zone. I agree that a receiver (or two) who can stretch the field is needed eventually however.

3) The O-Line looks pretty good to me, despite not having a lot of current depth. I believe they're more physically imposing and athletic than last year.

4) I know it's early, but it looks likely that an injury to Pohl could be devistating UNLESS Tommy Woodson arrives ready to play in the fall.

5) Jamel Turner appears to be playing exclusively at LB this year, after playing a little DE last year as well. For Zipgrad01, I'm afraid he doesn't look to have hit the weights very hard over the winter (or perhaps there's a lingering effect from his shooting injuries?). Either way, he looks very thin right now (can't be much over 200 to 210 lb).

6) Safety JAMES Turner looks like a nice player and I'm glad they redshirted him last year. He has nice size and seems to cover the field pretty well.

7) I think the prospect of winning a few more games this year will likely hinge on players who did not participate today (James, Mizell, Hollis, Gauthney, etc). BTW, does anyone know why Hollis is either not enrolled or not playing spring ball?

[GP1]

5) Jamel Turner appears to be playing exclusively at LB this year, after playing a little DE last year as well. For Zipgrad01, I'm afraid he doesn't look to have hit the weights very hard over the winter (or perhaps there's a lingering effect from his shooting injuries?). Either way, he looks very thin right now (can't be much over 200 to 210 lb).

This could be by design. It appears to me as if LBs at the major college and NFL level don't seem to be the Hulks they used to be. With rules designed to promote passing and the spread offense, a huge run stopping LB isn't as important as a smaller, more mobile LB. A LB doesn't have to be as big as a DE.

I really believe in coming years, base defenses may be called 4-3-4's, but in reality they are going to be 4-2-5s. What will worry me is if the size of our front four is not improved.

What we don't know about Turner is if he is the same weight, but his strength improved 30% and his quickness improved as well.

[K92]

@JZ84,

Did it look like JT55 was practicing as an every down LB or as an "obvious pass situation" blitzing LB? I realize this could be hard to tell from practice since the Zips offense can make any down and distance a passing situation.

@ZippyFan

As a guy who gets to watch quite a bit of WCAL football, it is very exciting to think a kid from the league might get a chance to play for the Zips. This is the first I had heard about Brady walking on.

Thanks for the updates.

[johnnyzip84]

Did it look like JT55 was practicing as an every down LB or as an "obvious pass situation" blitzing LB? I realize this could be hard to tell from practice since the Zips offense can make any down and distance a passing situation.

They didn't do a lot of situational subbing (if any). He played LB mostly with the 2's.

One thing I forgot to mention is that we might want to keep an eye on true sophomore LB John Rachal as it appears to me he might be turning into a vocal leader, even though he split time between the 1's and 2's. His 2012 season ended abrubtly at home early in the year, but I like his size and attitude.

[LZIp]

I attended practice today. I tought it was very upbeat. I thought the offense got the best of the D. Chisholm, Jones and Hundley looked good running the ball. The passing game needs work. It was hit and miss throughout the day. Pohl has a cannon but he was not real accurate. I understand it's spring ball. We need help at WR.....badly. I hope these 2 guys we're bringing in are the real deal. Does anyone know if either of them were there today? There was a couple tall kids watching practice that I thought might have been Wolf. I dont know what he looks like. I saw one of them talking to TB for awhile. There was another kid wearing a Norwayne Bobcats jacket there. He is a WR. Does anyone know if he's walking on? I saw them play in a Regional Championship game this year. It was at Stow so I went over and watched. He dominated in that game. I cant remember his name. I also saw Bickley there...man he's small. I know he's dynamic but he's gonna have to get alot stronger to play at this level.

With Frieson, Davis, and Sconiers injured, the WRs looking they need help is no surprise to me. I do hope that somebody can step up and become a "go to guy" this season like Suel was, however.

[Zipmeister]

This could be by design. It appears to me as if LBs at the major college and NFL level don't seem to be the Hulks they used to be. With rules designed to promote passing and the spread offense, a huge run stopping LB isn't as important as a smaller, more mobile LB. A LB doesn't have to be as big as a DE.

I really believe in coming years, base defenses may be called 4-3-4's, but in reality they are going to be 4-2-5s. What will worry me is if the size of our front four is not improved.

What we don't know about Turner is if he is the same weight, but his strength improved 30% and his quickness improved as well.

The same thing appeared to me last year.

[johnnyzip84]

[johnnyzip84]

GT's take on practice #5

Freshman defensive lineman Jason Stargel had an outstanding morning. If no one on the coaching staff knew who he was before, they do now after he stood out on three separate plays. In the first he batted a pass at the line of scrimmage right back into the face of backup quarterback Steve Franco. Moments later he sacked quarterback Dalton Easton and on a short pass play, he released from a block on the line at his right end position and dashed to the other side of the field to get in on the tackle.

[johnnyzip84]

GT's take on practice #6

Isaiah Williams is now a former defensive lineman. The 6-foot-3, 264-pound lineman was moved to the other side of the ball. Bowden said that his speed wasn’t quite what they needed on the defensive line, but it along with his athleticism were perfect for the other side. … Defensive ends Jason Stargel and Alfonso Horner limped off the field. Of the two Stargel, who has been playing some good ball, appeared to be the most serious injury. However, word of anything serious will likely not be confirmed until Saturday.

[K92]

Nice video from Channel 19 News. Can't get it to embed, though.

Link

[Dr Z]

Nice video from Channel 19 News. Can't get it to embed, though.

Link

I can't get it to work either. Maybe it's not us?

One thing I do know "Kyle Pohl is the TRUTH"

[johnnyzip84]

They didn't do a lot of situational subbing (if any). He played LB mostly with the 2's.

One thing I forgot to mention is that we might want to keep an eye on true sophomore LB John Rachal as it appears to me he might be turning into a vocal leader, even though he split time between the 1's and 2's. His 2012 season ended abrubtly at home early in the year, but I like his size and attitude.

I observed some of today's scrimmage with Zips Win!, and I have a couple of updates. First, as Zips Win! pointed out to me, Rachal actually got his redshirt last year (just as the rule was orginally intended) so he's a RS freshmen this year. He appears to be making gains through the spring to the point where Zips Win! is considering him for "breakout player of the year" in 2013. He made a great goal line stop on DJ Jones (who has had a great spring himself) today among other fine plays. This guy has it. And in case you wondered who Zips Win! had as "breakout player of the year" in 2012, he picked none other than Dalton Williams.

Talked to DW13 a little after practice and it's really great to have him helping out this year. It's obvious he bleeds blue and gold even after only one season at UA.

Chisholm does look to be a step quicker to me this year as evidenced by his TD burst to the outside in the red zone.

The passing game remains a work in progress. Pohl looked OK (besides a bad pick to Bre Ford), but the receivers are dropping too many for my liking (edit: SIX scholarship WRs weren't practicing after the 1st series, so this is somewhat understandable). IMHO, Franco may have been the best backup today.

On the injury front, Pughsley looked luke e hurt his ankle as it was on ice. Hopefully, it's nothing serious. Stargel had the red (injured) jersey and limped a little, but at least he wasn't in a boot or anything like that.

[Zipgrad01]

I observed some of today's scrimmage with Zips Win!, and I have a couple of updates. First, as Zips Win! pointed out to me, Rachal actually got his redshirt last year (just as the rule was orginally intended) so he's a RS freshmen this year. He appears to be making gains through the spring to the point where Zips Win! is considering him for "breakout player of the year" in 2013. He made a great goal line stop on DJ Jones (who has had a great spring himself) today among other fine plays. This guy has it. And in case you wondered who Zips Win! had as "breakout player of the year" in 2012, he picked none other than Dalton Williams.

Talked to DW13 a little after practice and it's really great to have him helping out this year. It's obvious he bleeds blue and gold even after only one season at UA.

Chisholm does look to be a step quicker to me this year as evidenced by his TD burst to the outside in the red zone.

The passing game remains a work in progress. Pohl looked OK (besides a bad pick to Bre Ford), but the receivers are dropping too many for my liking (edit: SIX scholarship WRs weren't practicing after the 1st series, so this is somewhat understandable). IMHO, Franco may have been the best backup today.

On the injury front, Pughsley looked luke e hurt his ankle as it was on ice. Hopefully, it's nothing serious. Stargel had the red (injured) jersey and limped a little, but at least he wasn't in a boot or anything like that.

Have you spotted Keontae Hollis? Where is he on the roster? Sorry if I missed it somewhere, but I haven't seen or heard about him being there. I was excited about his signing.

[johnnyzip84]

Have you spotted Keontae Hollis? Where is he on the roster? Sorry if I missed it somewhere, but I haven't seen or heard about him being there. I was excited about his signing.

No I didn't and in fact I had the same question last week. He isn't on the roster either. Maybe he's enrolling in the fall?

George Thomas, can you investigate?