So glad I went to the scrimmage tonight!! This was by far the most people I have ever seen at a scrimmage outside of the Spring game!! there were no parking spots available anywhere close to the stadium, people were ripping down the ropes in the farmer’s market to park in grass spots that they didn’t want us in… It was as close to a game atmosphere as you can get without playing a game. People were walking around asking if we were in Alabama…
A few spots that “WOWED” me besides the massive crowd:
1 Jarrel Adams. He is every bit as good as the constant praise about him has been this preseason so far. There is no way they keep this guy off the field this year. Without Adams we had a FANTASTIC group of TEs… experienced guys, athletic guys, depth blue chip talent… We had it all before we added him… and he is still going to probably lead our TEs with receptions as a freshman. He is just that good. The guy is big, fast, athletic and he knows how to get open. You remember how Wes Saunders could just run down field, turn towards the post and get his body between the QB and the defender? Adams does that and he does it as well as anybody I’ve seen. Playing his position you have LBs covering inside and there aint many LBs who can keep up with him, then you have Safeties covering him deep and there aren’t many who can tackle him. He is a miss-match vs any team on every play.
2. Shaq Roland. Another freshman who is as good as advertised… He didn’t have a bunch of catches tonight but one paly showed me all I needed to see. He hauled in a deep ball on a play where not only was he covered well, the defender was called for pass interference. Basically the defender had inside position and Shaq was running up the sideline, The defender bumped him, hooked his arm and was blindly swiping at the ball, basically it was obviously going to be incomplete.. most WRs just pull up on a play like this and let the ball fall to the ground.. but as soon as he saw where the ball was, Shaq made a move and suddenly, he moved from the sideline to the inside of the DB, and went from even to three steps past the guy in a SECOND- his arms went out and he stabbed the ball out of the air as the DB wass clawing at his arms from behind… This kid has speed, ball skills and GREAT hands. He will be a ball player for us. There was another deep jump ball in the end zone later on that he had a good shot at and just could not come down with it, but he was easily one of the most exciting players on the field tonight!
3. Brandon Shell. WOW. Talk about passing the eye test. I saw this kid in person last year and though he looked big for a freshman.. This year… He looks big for a freaking New England Patriots starting LT. I see why people keep saying he is an NFL type lineman… he just has that incredible super-human size…. He is the biggest guy on the field when he is out there and the biggest guy on the sidelines when he isn’t. He didn’t make a lot of big time standout plays, but from an Offensive lineman, their play usually stands out when they get beat and that sure wasn’t happening much often either. I would temper my enthusiasm for what any OL accomplishes in today’s scrimmage though because the DL was saw was not the one that will play on Saturdays for us. Clowney was in regular dress but no playing (why risk it
). Taylor, the same.. in fact I didn’t see many starters for our defense play at all. No holloman, Swearinger, Auguste (still out with that groin I think?), Clowney, Taylor, Quarels, or most any of the starters. I did see Brison williams make a pick against strickland, and I think Williams will perhaps start but that safety spot beside DJ will probably be a rotation as we have a lot of young talent there…
Those guys really blew my mind tonight, but a lot of guys played well.
TJ gurley was cracking skulls out there! Coach Spurrier got real mad at him after he BLASTED buster Anderson on a ball across the middle, but he was a one man wrecking crew and I don’t know how much eh will play but that kid has taken notes from DJ for sure.
Dylan Thompson really looks good out there. He is very athletic, not as fast a Shaw but still a very good runner. He is comfortable in the pocket and throws a nice ball..
Mije Davis runs HARD for his size… He was not getting a ton of yards though. With the RBs we have, I expect a RS for this kid, but in a year or two he will be a star for us I think.
Bruce Elington is a great athlete. I hope we get him a lot more involved in both the offense and special teams this year because he can move, he can catch and he just knows how to get open. He ripped a 100 yard KR for a TD tonight BTW… Just in case anybody was wondering who will be the KR guy this year,,,
Damiere Byrd had some nice plays tonight! He was not streaking down the sidelines for 90 yard TDs, but he was catching quick outs and making DBs miss on the first tackles, taking sweeps around the end and showing some nice jump cuts to get extra yards… He looks like he is finally ready for prime time… We will see.
Video Board= HUGE.
That is all.
A few spots that “WOWED” me besides the massive crowd:
1 Jarrel Adams. He is every bit as good as the constant praise about him has been this preseason so far. There is no way they keep this guy off the field this year. Without Adams we had a FANTASTIC group of TEs… experienced guys, athletic guys, depth blue chip talent… We had it all before we added him… and he is still going to probably lead our TEs with receptions as a freshman. He is just that good. The guy is big, fast, athletic and he knows how to get open. You remember how Wes Saunders could just run down field, turn towards the post and get his body between the QB and the defender? Adams does that and he does it as well as anybody I’ve seen. Playing his position you have LBs covering inside and there aint many LBs who can keep up with him, then you have Safeties covering him deep and there aren’t many who can tackle him. He is a miss-match vs any team on every play.
2. Shaq Roland. Another freshman who is as good as advertised… He didn’t have a bunch of catches tonight but one paly showed me all I needed to see. He hauled in a deep ball on a play where not only was he covered well, the defender was called for pass interference. Basically the defender had inside position and Shaq was running up the sideline, The defender bumped him, hooked his arm and was blindly swiping at the ball, basically it was obviously going to be incomplete.. most WRs just pull up on a play like this and let the ball fall to the ground.. but as soon as he saw where the ball was, Shaq made a move and suddenly, he moved from the sideline to the inside of the DB, and went from even to three steps past the guy in a SECOND- his arms went out and he stabbed the ball out of the air as the DB wass clawing at his arms from behind… This kid has speed, ball skills and GREAT hands. He will be a ball player for us. There was another deep jump ball in the end zone later on that he had a good shot at and just could not come down with it, but he was easily one of the most exciting players on the field tonight!
3. Brandon Shell. WOW. Talk about passing the eye test. I saw this kid in person last year and though he looked big for a freshman.. This year… He looks big for a freaking New England Patriots starting LT. I see why people keep saying he is an NFL type lineman… he just has that incredible super-human size…. He is the biggest guy on the field when he is out there and the biggest guy on the sidelines when he isn’t. He didn’t make a lot of big time standout plays, but from an Offensive lineman, their play usually stands out when they get beat and that sure wasn’t happening much often either. I would temper my enthusiasm for what any OL accomplishes in today’s scrimmage though because the DL was saw was not the one that will play on Saturdays for us. Clowney was in regular dress but no playing (why risk it
). Taylor, the same.. in fact I didn’t see many starters for our defense play at all. No holloman, Swearinger, Auguste (still out with that groin I think?), Clowney, Taylor, Quarels, or most any of the starters. I did see Brison williams make a pick against strickland, and I think Williams will perhaps start but that safety spot beside DJ will probably be a rotation as we have a lot of young talent there…Those guys really blew my mind tonight, but a lot of guys played well.
TJ gurley was cracking skulls out there! Coach Spurrier got real mad at him after he BLASTED buster Anderson on a ball across the middle, but he was a one man wrecking crew and I don’t know how much eh will play but that kid has taken notes from DJ for sure.
Dylan Thompson really looks good out there. He is very athletic, not as fast a Shaw but still a very good runner. He is comfortable in the pocket and throws a nice ball..
Mije Davis runs HARD for his size… He was not getting a ton of yards though. With the RBs we have, I expect a RS for this kid, but in a year or two he will be a star for us I think.
Bruce Elington is a great athlete. I hope we get him a lot more involved in both the offense and special teams this year because he can move, he can catch and he just knows how to get open. He ripped a 100 yard KR for a TD tonight BTW… Just in case anybody was wondering who will be the KR guy this year,,,
Damiere Byrd had some nice plays tonight! He was not streaking down the sidelines for 90 yard TDs, but he was catching quick outs and making DBs miss on the first tackles, taking sweeps around the end and showing some nice jump cuts to get extra yards… He looks like he is finally ready for prime time… We will see.
Video Board= HUGE.
That is all.