2015 Football Spring Practice Thread (Spring Game 4/11/15 at 3:00pm)
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jamesda3
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And it seemed like over half of his ints last season came from wr/te's missing catches and knocking the ball up in the air for a pick.
Something like six of his first seven picks happened this way.
He threw his share of picks without assistance as well.
ESPN article on offensive line improvement includes this welcome news: "It's not a fully-stocked cupboard yet, but when the Deacons line up during practice, they actually look like a functioning offense routinely."
http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=ncfnation&id=109405&src=desktop&rand=ref~{%22ref%22:%22http://t.co/mBoKzgXEMs%22}
http://m.espn.go.com/general/blogs/blogpost?blogname=ncfnation&id=109405&src=desktop&rand=ref~{%22ref%22:%22http://t.co/mBoKzgXEMs%22}
Deaconblue
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As goes the O-line, so goes the offense. If the sacks, tackles for loss etc numbers go down, Wake's offense will look much better.
First scrimmage is open to the public tomorrow at 11:30 am. http://www.wakeforestsports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/032715aaa.html
Yes. Also I think it relates to an NCAA rule change more than a change in internal philosophy. Effective in 2014 the NCAA began to permit 8 hours per week of strength and conditioning sessions during summer school, but only if the players are enrolled and taking classes during that session. I assume those sessions are overseen by the football staff. This created a big incentive for schools to have their players attend both sessions. Expect Wake's policy to be more or less a permanent change as a result.
Not a lot of difference. We had less than 20 defensive players available.
DeacsOrDie
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Cortez Caught a TD from Wolford. Tyree caught Atleast two balls from Wolford. Sounds like Tabari had a lot of targets, mainly across the middle.
Why so few on D?
I believe we have only 29 defensive players on the roster. Several were out with minor injuries but my count was only 7. Could be I missed a couple on the sideline but my count on switches from first team to second were only 8 players. We might play several true freshmen on D next season.
TODAY’S SCRIMMAGE
Overall Thoughts
If you had come to the scrimmage expecting a level of play dramatically different from last season you would have been disappointed. However, I don’t know why expectations would have been higher. It was effectively last year’s team minus a few players plus 6-7 additional practices. There was a lot of sloppy play (pre-snap penalties, missed field goals, botched snaps etc). Basically a lot of rust, but also a lot of PT for players further down the depth chart.
The entire practice was first team offense against first team defense and second team offense against the second team defense. As others have already noted the defense substituted liberally so many players saw action on both first and second teams. Overall, the second team offense was more effective at moving the ball than the first team offense.
Lots of players sat out. Cam Serigne and Jared Crump were two of the bigger names that didn’t suit up.
Here are my thoughts on the two offenses:
First Team Offense
Quarterback: I didn’t think Wolford had a particularly good day but wasn’t terrible. His longest pass completion went for 14 yards. He finished 13-for-25. Three passes were badly overthrown. 3 passes were either batted down or deflected at the line (continuing a trend from last season). His lone INT came off of one of those deflections. Had a 10-yard scramble which was the second longest run play generated by the first team offense.
Running Back: Isaiah Robinson played with the first team for the entire scrimmage. He had a nice 13 yard run but otherwise was limited to 9 rushes for 27 yards. The running game did not impress.
Wide Receiver: Tyree Harris filled in for Jared Crump at the S-receiver and looked like the best receiver on the field today in my opinion. He was Wolford’s main target throughout the scrimmage. No big plays, but the two connected 6 times for 54 yards. Cortez Lewis was the starter at the X-receiver. He had a nice game with 3 catches for 33 yards and a very nice TD grab. PJ Howard was the starting slot receiver but left the scrimmage with an injury. Tabari Hines then moved up to play with the first team. Most of Hines stats were put up with the second team offense.
Tight End: Devin Pike started with Serigne out but he did not catch a pass.
Offensive Line: From what I could tell, the first team played the entire scrimmage with LT Haynes, LG Harris, C Anderson, RG Intemann and RT Herron. So that’s 3 redshirt freshmen in the first team lineup.
Second Team Offense
Quarterback: I came into the scrimmage with low expectations for Hinton given his inexperience but I came away impressed. This was not a “blow the doors off” type of performance by any means but he looked comfortable and was generally effective. He finished 13-for-26 but his stats suffered from some dropped passes, especially two early drops by Tabari Hines and then a TD that was dropped by Steve Donatell. His two biggest pass plays went to Hines (33 yards) and Williams (60 yarder that was thrown directly into coverage but Williams made a great play on a ball that could have been an INT). His TD run was NICE. He was generally accurate but did have one ball that was badly overthrown. A nice debut for Hinton, but I want to see more before I start dramatically increasing expectations.
Running Back: Dez Wortham started but only ended up with one carry for 0 yards. Redshirt freshman walk-on Christopher Pearcy ended up carrying the ball six times.
Wide Receiver: The scrimmage started with Jonathon Williams at X-receiver, walk-on Maddox Stamey at S-receiver and Tabari Hines at Slot. As noted above, Hines moved up to first team when Howard was injured. When that happened Stamey moved over to Slot. Hines was Hinton’s favorite target while he was with the second team (I think they connected 4 times for 50 yards). After Hines moved up Hinton was left throwing to Stamey. They connected 4-5 times after Hines moved up.
Offensive Line: The lineup was LT Will Smith, LG Osterhage, C Terry, RG Hayworth, and RT Luedeke.
I will post more tomorrow. Let me know what questions you have and I will try my best to answer. Note that I mostly focused on the offense during the scrimmage.
Overall Thoughts
If you had come to the scrimmage expecting a level of play dramatically different from last season you would have been disappointed. However, I don’t know why expectations would have been higher. It was effectively last year’s team minus a few players plus 6-7 additional practices. There was a lot of sloppy play (pre-snap penalties, missed field goals, botched snaps etc). Basically a lot of rust, but also a lot of PT for players further down the depth chart.
The entire practice was first team offense against first team defense and second team offense against the second team defense. As others have already noted the defense substituted liberally so many players saw action on both first and second teams. Overall, the second team offense was more effective at moving the ball than the first team offense.
Lots of players sat out. Cam Serigne and Jared Crump were two of the bigger names that didn’t suit up.
Here are my thoughts on the two offenses:
First Team Offense
Quarterback: I didn’t think Wolford had a particularly good day but wasn’t terrible. His longest pass completion went for 14 yards. He finished 13-for-25. Three passes were badly overthrown. 3 passes were either batted down or deflected at the line (continuing a trend from last season). His lone INT came off of one of those deflections. Had a 10-yard scramble which was the second longest run play generated by the first team offense.
Running Back: Isaiah Robinson played with the first team for the entire scrimmage. He had a nice 13 yard run but otherwise was limited to 9 rushes for 27 yards. The running game did not impress.
Wide Receiver: Tyree Harris filled in for Jared Crump at the S-receiver and looked like the best receiver on the field today in my opinion. He was Wolford’s main target throughout the scrimmage. No big plays, but the two connected 6 times for 54 yards. Cortez Lewis was the starter at the X-receiver. He had a nice game with 3 catches for 33 yards and a very nice TD grab. PJ Howard was the starting slot receiver but left the scrimmage with an injury. Tabari Hines then moved up to play with the first team. Most of Hines stats were put up with the second team offense.
Tight End: Devin Pike started with Serigne out but he did not catch a pass.
Offensive Line: From what I could tell, the first team played the entire scrimmage with LT Haynes, LG Harris, C Anderson, RG Intemann and RT Herron. So that’s 3 redshirt freshmen in the first team lineup.
Second Team Offense
Quarterback: I came into the scrimmage with low expectations for Hinton given his inexperience but I came away impressed. This was not a “blow the doors off” type of performance by any means but he looked comfortable and was generally effective. He finished 13-for-26 but his stats suffered from some dropped passes, especially two early drops by Tabari Hines and then a TD that was dropped by Steve Donatell. His two biggest pass plays went to Hines (33 yards) and Williams (60 yarder that was thrown directly into coverage but Williams made a great play on a ball that could have been an INT). His TD run was NICE. He was generally accurate but did have one ball that was badly overthrown. A nice debut for Hinton, but I want to see more before I start dramatically increasing expectations.
Running Back: Dez Wortham started but only ended up with one carry for 0 yards. Redshirt freshman walk-on Christopher Pearcy ended up carrying the ball six times.
Wide Receiver: The scrimmage started with Jonathon Williams at X-receiver, walk-on Maddox Stamey at S-receiver and Tabari Hines at Slot. As noted above, Hines moved up to first team when Howard was injured. When that happened Stamey moved over to Slot. Hines was Hinton’s favorite target while he was with the second team (I think they connected 4 times for 50 yards). After Hines moved up Hinton was left throwing to Stamey. They connected 4-5 times after Hines moved up.
Offensive Line: The lineup was LT Will Smith, LG Osterhage, C Terry, RG Hayworth, and RT Luedeke.
I will post more tomorrow. Let me know what questions you have and I will try my best to answer. Note that I mostly focused on the offense during the scrimmage.
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Lohengrin
Banned for anti-Marxism
Thanks for the candid report 94. I checked out the stats posted on the official Wake site and concluded that there really wasn't anything to be excited about. Your report pretty much confirms that. RS freshmen on OL don't usually make big impacts unless they were difference-maker recruits. What disappointed me most was that we were 1-4 on FGs, all fairly short (longest attempt 38 yds). Just a first Spring scrimmage though; won't know more until at least Spring game.
I noted in the post above that I didn’t pay as much attention to the defense, but here are some notes that I took about who was playing where:
Defensive End – The DL position was very thin yesterday with Rashawn Shaw and Ali Lamot both sitting out. That added to the departures of Ziggy Allen and Dez Floyd. That left Wendell Dunn (1 tackle, 1 INT) and Duke Ejiofor (3 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack) on first team. Both had to contribute some on second team as well.
Defensive Tackle – With Josh Banks and Tylor Harris sitting out I think the first team might have been a rotation of Zeek Rodney, Shelldon Lewinson and Willie Yarbary. I noted that Lewinson played some with the second team as well.
Other DL Notes – I didn’t really take notice of DE Julian Thomas-Jackson but from the stat sheet it appeared that he had a big day (3 sacks, 3 TFL) on second team defense. Chris Stewart and William Flood both played some on second team.
Linebackers/Rover – No surprises here. Chubb/Lee/Williams on first team and Jaboree Williams/Grant Dawson/Zack Wary on second team.
Cornerback – Thomas Dillon and Jalen Latter on first team. I noted Latter, Dillon, Deonte Davis and John Armstrong all getting second team reps.
Safety – I think Thomas Brown and Ryan Janvion started at first team, but by the end of the scrimmage it was Thomas Brown and Demetrius Kemp. I assume that Janvion got nicked up. Kemp and Cameron Glenn started the scrimmage as the second team safeties.
Defensive End – The DL position was very thin yesterday with Rashawn Shaw and Ali Lamot both sitting out. That added to the departures of Ziggy Allen and Dez Floyd. That left Wendell Dunn (1 tackle, 1 INT) and Duke Ejiofor (3 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack) on first team. Both had to contribute some on second team as well.
Defensive Tackle – With Josh Banks and Tylor Harris sitting out I think the first team might have been a rotation of Zeek Rodney, Shelldon Lewinson and Willie Yarbary. I noted that Lewinson played some with the second team as well.
Other DL Notes – I didn’t really take notice of DE Julian Thomas-Jackson but from the stat sheet it appeared that he had a big day (3 sacks, 3 TFL) on second team defense. Chris Stewart and William Flood both played some on second team.
Linebackers/Rover – No surprises here. Chubb/Lee/Williams on first team and Jaboree Williams/Grant Dawson/Zack Wary on second team.
Cornerback – Thomas Dillon and Jalen Latter on first team. I noted Latter, Dillon, Deonte Davis and John Armstrong all getting second team reps.
Safety – I think Thomas Brown and Ryan Janvion started at first team, but by the end of the scrimmage it was Thomas Brown and Demetrius Kemp. I assume that Janvion got nicked up. Kemp and Cameron Glenn started the scrimmage as the second team safeties.
Other (Random) Notes
Kendall Hinton’s first 3 drives went: Field Goal Attempt (Missed), TD and then Field Goal (after Donatell dropped a TD pass).
It was nice to see Nathan Gilliam make the trip to attend the scrimmage. I also saw a guy on the sidelines that I thought might have been KJ Brent.
I know that someone above mentioned the possibility for a number of true freshmen to contribute next year on defense. Obviously that is true for the two CBs Dionte Austin (who is recovering from minor injuries suffered in a bad auto accident) and Amari Henderson, but after that I just don’t see it. There will be a strong desire to get the DLs a redshirt year dedicated to the weight room and, barring injury, the depth chart looks OK (especially at DT). The depth chart also looks OK at LB where Nate Mays will be coming back from a knee injury. Safety Jessie Bates is still raw after being a multi-sport athlete for a number of years and the two-deep seems set there as well. Let’s just keep everyone healthy.
Is it just me or could there be some really interesting competition at receiver this year. I really have no clue where they are going to place Brent or the freshmen, but think about this possible scenario:
S-receiver: Jared Crump is supposedly the WR with the most firm grasp on a starting role, but what if he is pushed by Tyree Harris and Steven Claude? Harris looked good yesterday. Claude, who hasn’t faced great HS competition, would have benefited from enrolling early. Keep in mind though that his rep is that he looked polished in camps and certainly looks physically ready.
X-receiver: Maybe this position is a battle between Cortez Lewis, KJ Brent and Scotty Washington. Interesting.
Slot: This could be the weakest position if the competition is former walk-on PJ Howard versus Tabari Hines versus Chuck Wade. That would be an interesting battle though.
Kendall Hinton’s first 3 drives went: Field Goal Attempt (Missed), TD and then Field Goal (after Donatell dropped a TD pass).
It was nice to see Nathan Gilliam make the trip to attend the scrimmage. I also saw a guy on the sidelines that I thought might have been KJ Brent.
I know that someone above mentioned the possibility for a number of true freshmen to contribute next year on defense. Obviously that is true for the two CBs Dionte Austin (who is recovering from minor injuries suffered in a bad auto accident) and Amari Henderson, but after that I just don’t see it. There will be a strong desire to get the DLs a redshirt year dedicated to the weight room and, barring injury, the depth chart looks OK (especially at DT). The depth chart also looks OK at LB where Nate Mays will be coming back from a knee injury. Safety Jessie Bates is still raw after being a multi-sport athlete for a number of years and the two-deep seems set there as well. Let’s just keep everyone healthy.
Is it just me or could there be some really interesting competition at receiver this year. I really have no clue where they are going to place Brent or the freshmen, but think about this possible scenario:
S-receiver: Jared Crump is supposedly the WR with the most firm grasp on a starting role, but what if he is pushed by Tyree Harris and Steven Claude? Harris looked good yesterday. Claude, who hasn’t faced great HS competition, would have benefited from enrolling early. Keep in mind though that his rep is that he looked polished in camps and certainly looks physically ready.
X-receiver: Maybe this position is a battle between Cortez Lewis, KJ Brent and Scotty Washington. Interesting.
Slot: This could be the weakest position if the competition is former walk-on PJ Howard versus Tabari Hines versus Chuck Wade. That would be an interesting battle though.
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