mat1992 2,248 Report post Posted August 12, 2017 http://towsontigers.com/news/2017/8/12/football-tigers-hold-first-scrimmage-of-camp.aspx RA's thoughts on the scrimmage "First time in the heat, probably what I expected. Maybe a hair better. The defense is always going to be ahead of the offense, because the defense doesn't always have to be right. A year ago, I probably had 8 1/2 to 9 guys on the right page on offense. Today probably was about 10 1/4. We have a lot of work to do." In the first part of the scrimmage, they went four series, three and out and one interception. One thing leads to another. I like how they finished. We've done nothing live. So this is the first bit of live work and everybody turns their speed up a little. We talk about how we need to prepare if we're going to be in synch once we do go live. Injuries Warren Bruckner has an ACL and is done. The rest are a week here, two weeks there. Everybody else is camp-dinged. On Kobe Young moving to RB Happened last night. Adrian (Platt) had to go somewhere and Shane wasn't healthy. He was on the list as a running back and we recruited him as a running back but Jaelen (THompson) committed ahead of him. I wanted him on our team and he wanted to be here. He can play corner or safety. After what he did today, there is going to be some negotiation from the staff. On freshmen Christian Dixon hasn't hit the wall yet and Nygel Johnson have stood up. Rodney Dorsey has a groin strain that is getting better. He has stood out. On Underwood Has a hamstring that is getting better. Thought (Scroggins) played well. The wideouts are strong. That group has gotten better by leaps and bounds because we have so many guys that can play. On tight ends We played them all. We didn't care who the ones and twos are. I saw a lot of good stuff and and a lot of dumb shit. On corners We have guys that know what to do and know how to do it. Who is going to play the best and locked in? Shep has done the best job of any guy on the team in terms of intelligence. He's the smartest defensive back I've got. He's maxing out everything he can control. Not the most athletic guy. On offensive line "Decent but not good enough. Didn't expect them to be great by now. On D-line Clifton and Zane are playing their faces off. Cummings is having his best camp. They have a chance to be pretty good. We have to grind through the next week and stay healthy. Tibo has looked good. Playing a true freshman on the D-line is not possible but he's the closest thing I've had to somebody playing as a freshman. Will be a tough decision. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mat1992 2,248 Report post Posted August 12, 2017 Ok, first real humid day out there at practice. They practiced at 12pm, which was a good thing considering the weather (Field Hockey had the field earlier). But pretty hot in terms of humidity. Defense ruled most of the scrimmage, especially the early part. With K. Anderson still out, they've been using Cummings at defensive end with Clifton Jones and Zane Harps Upshur at DT, along with Malik Tyne at the rush end spot. That's probably the best line right now with no Anderson and no Reece (now has a boot). Thought Tibo is getting better and might play as a true freshman. Mullins, the other defensive tackle recruit, looked very good late against the 3's, who couldn't block him. I'd like to see him more against the better DL but I presume they'll get him to 290 next season and he'll probably start after a redshirt season (hopefully with 2 more transfers). A lot of these are nagging injuries as Ambrose told me, which means 1-2 weeks, maybe more. Linebackers had Wallace and Heyward with Paye as the hybrid rover guy. Still concerned about Wallace against the pass. I think that's where Tedder comes in or Konate. Dymelle Parker has a shoulder issue and is out another week or so. RA also talked about Christian Dixon and Nygill Johnson as freshman standout linebacker but I don't see them playing this year, especially if Parker is healthy. At corner, Lyrics is fine but there is a battle with JPD and McDade for the other spot. McDade has looked great and could start. With JPD's size but not great speed, I wonder if he'll wind up at safety eventually because Watson is also coming on. Sheppard and Boals continue to battle it out at safety. Boals is the more athletic player but Shep is the more experienced player and knows where to be. Studies film and RA called him his smartest DB. As for the punting game, I screwed up. They did bring in another punter, maybe he was just added to the roster but forgot to ask Rob about him. Honestly, I wasn't that impressed. Thought Toomey was better but maybe he'll get better as camp continues. On offense, was speaking with my old friend Stan "the Fan" Charles, who has Rob on his Press Box show tomorrow morning at 10:30am. He wanted to check out Mahalak, so what does Morgan do? Throws a pick to Tedder in the red zone part of the scrimmage and is way off target for about the first hour of the scrimmage. But he turned it around after that thankfully. Not incredibly concerned but he has to be more consistent. Stover ain't getting worse-he's getting better. That kid has a great touch. Receivers are banged up with Tsimis (hammy), Greaves (?) still out and Jabari Allen dealing with some leg injury and then Kilgore getting dinged up but they still looked really good, especially Leatherbury and Jabari Underwood. Talk about catch radius, Underwood was called "tarantula" by some of his teammates for his catches. Looked very impressive. I continue to be impressed by Brent Richardson and Ryan Rutkowski is 6-2 with great hands. Somewhat similar to Tom Ryan. Sam Gallahan also performed well out of the slot. Even Scroggins was making plays. Both those guys better continue to push hard because there is so much competition. Then there's Rodney Dorsey, playing with a sore groin but still making plays and burning people. Also returning kicks, though again, not sure if he's going to be redshirted or not. With Shane dinged up, which is fine this early that he didn't get a ton of reps in a scrimmage. They went with David Bryant, who played some in the spring. Not bad. C.J. Williams is legit but no surprise. Platt was out (no injury) so they moved Kobe Young from corner to running back. The freshman bumped into backup QB Tyler Raines on the first attempt and fumbled. But after that, he was impressive. What a great athlete. Once again, guessing he'll redshirt but at what position? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TigerNation 49 Report post Posted August 12, 2017 I love it that we have depth at so many important positions. The question marks seem to the line on both sides of the ball. I still think we take the league by surprise. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mat1992 2,248 Report post Posted August 12, 2017 I think the line will come together but still not sure about Carnesale at center, Grzymkowski is starting but Francis will eventually start I assume. Harris at left tackle is a bit of a concern since he hasn't played it since his sophomore season. At least they have options. D-line needs a healthy Anderson and I really don't know what big Reece is going to give. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
