I had the pleasure of hanging out with @bblake, @Halley and @heisman last night for practice. It's always great to see my BD compadres and these guys do more for the program than we all realize.
I had a bunch of observations that I thought I would share. They're going to range from A to Z, so I apologize if I ramble.
OFFENSE:
Lagway is the REAL DEAL. He's YOUNG and doesn't make all the right reads yet, but the you don't miss the abilities. When he takes off and runs, LOOKOUT. That said, he's not a run first kid and he has an absolute cannon for an arm. I saw him literally flick a ball thirty yards on the money last night. He did it more than once. He also has a bit of Mahomie in him. He changes his arm angle under duress and makes connections.
Graham Mertz is a true leader. He has complete control of the offense and really builds his teammates up. Any of us would LOVE to play with his kid.
We will be FINE at WR. Wilson only did drills, but it was great for the other kids to shine. A lot of people on the board have been asking about Mizell. He was heavily involved last night and looked great. He can blaze. Tank is going to be a stud. They had him lining up all over the place and he has speed to burn. It may not be a popular thought, but don't be surprised if KJackson starts. He knows the offense and has amazing hands.
The TE room is going to be deep. I don't think we have that Pitts type TE. But, we have a lot of kids that can play. Hansen has completely transformed his body. As a freshman, he was a big cat, but "just big". Now, he looks like an NFL tight end. I was impressed.
I want to take this one carefully. But, I thought the OL looked "good". The unfortunate part about our OL, is that our DL is really good. We have a LOT of depth at every position on the DL and we have some ballers. So, I thought the OL really held their own. I got a chance to watch tape in the RB room today and I actually thought the RB's missed several designed holes. So, from the "naked eye" at practice, it looked like the OL didn't create a hole. Reality was that the RB missed the hole. Johnson will help this issue.
RB's are talented and deep. I think several just need reps, but they all have skills. Everyone in the SEC will know the name Baugh be the end of the season. By the by, I was shocked at the depth of the RB meeting. If you've played RB, it probably wouldn't shock you. But, coach Juluke wasn't talking about "cutting". He was talking about taking one more step before you cut, so the D is a bit more out of place. The complexity was really suprising and Juluke is a great coach.
DEFENSE:
Our defense will be good. DL is VERY deep with a great mix of young and old. Cam literally almost flipped Westphall upside down on one play. Westphall lost 30-40lbs from being sick. So, I'm not sure he's fully back yet. But, it was brutal. Also, having Boone back will be a HUGE addition to the defense. The kid is a LEADER. LJ McCray is a STUD. He won't be redshirting and you will definitely feel his presence THIS YEAR.
Pup is huge. It's been a while since we had a backer his size. He makes the right reads and gets to the ball carrier. With a leader like Pup in the middle, it frees up the other LB's to be more effective.
The DB's are very good. Last year, it seemed like receivers would be wide open when they caught the ball. When receivers caught the ball last night, almost every reception was tightly contested. We have depth and athleticism at CB. Greg Smith is young, but he made several impressive plays last night. As well, I would mention that bringing in Bridges and Turner was HUGE. These guys both know where to be and both made a LOT of plays last night. Turner is also a thumper.
You should have heard the RB room when they showed the film of him de-cleating Daniels last night. The other RB's were giving him all kinds of crap. Those guys were merciless LOL. As a side note, a few plays earlier, one of the players on O took a bit of cheap shot on a D player. They were not hitting last night. Asa took it upon himself, as a leader, to defend his boys. LEADER.
Win, lose or draw, ALWAYS PROUD TO BE A GATOR!
I had a bunch of observations that I thought I would share. They're going to range from A to Z, so I apologize if I ramble.
OFFENSE:
Lagway is the REAL DEAL. He's YOUNG and doesn't make all the right reads yet, but the you don't miss the abilities. When he takes off and runs, LOOKOUT. That said, he's not a run first kid and he has an absolute cannon for an arm. I saw him literally flick a ball thirty yards on the money last night. He did it more than once. He also has a bit of Mahomie in him. He changes his arm angle under duress and makes connections.
Graham Mertz is a true leader. He has complete control of the offense and really builds his teammates up. Any of us would LOVE to play with his kid.
We will be FINE at WR. Wilson only did drills, but it was great for the other kids to shine. A lot of people on the board have been asking about Mizell. He was heavily involved last night and looked great. He can blaze. Tank is going to be a stud. They had him lining up all over the place and he has speed to burn. It may not be a popular thought, but don't be surprised if KJackson starts. He knows the offense and has amazing hands.
The TE room is going to be deep. I don't think we have that Pitts type TE. But, we have a lot of kids that can play. Hansen has completely transformed his body. As a freshman, he was a big cat, but "just big". Now, he looks like an NFL tight end. I was impressed.
I want to take this one carefully. But, I thought the OL looked "good". The unfortunate part about our OL, is that our DL is really good. We have a LOT of depth at every position on the DL and we have some ballers. So, I thought the OL really held their own. I got a chance to watch tape in the RB room today and I actually thought the RB's missed several designed holes. So, from the "naked eye" at practice, it looked like the OL didn't create a hole. Reality was that the RB missed the hole. Johnson will help this issue.
RB's are talented and deep. I think several just need reps, but they all have skills. Everyone in the SEC will know the name Baugh be the end of the season. By the by, I was shocked at the depth of the RB meeting. If you've played RB, it probably wouldn't shock you. But, coach Juluke wasn't talking about "cutting". He was talking about taking one more step before you cut, so the D is a bit more out of place. The complexity was really suprising and Juluke is a great coach.
DEFENSE:
Our defense will be good. DL is VERY deep with a great mix of young and old. Cam literally almost flipped Westphall upside down on one play. Westphall lost 30-40lbs from being sick. So, I'm not sure he's fully back yet. But, it was brutal. Also, having Boone back will be a HUGE addition to the defense. The kid is a LEADER. LJ McCray is a STUD. He won't be redshirting and you will definitely feel his presence THIS YEAR.
Pup is huge. It's been a while since we had a backer his size. He makes the right reads and gets to the ball carrier. With a leader like Pup in the middle, it frees up the other LB's to be more effective.
The DB's are very good. Last year, it seemed like receivers would be wide open when they caught the ball. When receivers caught the ball last night, almost every reception was tightly contested. We have depth and athleticism at CB. Greg Smith is young, but he made several impressive plays last night. As well, I would mention that bringing in Bridges and Turner was HUGE. These guys both know where to be and both made a LOT of plays last night. Turner is also a thumper.
You should have heard the RB room when they showed the film of him de-cleating Daniels last night. The other RB's were giving him all kinds of crap. Those guys were merciless LOL. As a side note, a few plays earlier, one of the players on O took a bit of cheap shot on a D player. They were not hitting last night. Asa took it upon himself, as a leader, to defend his boys. LEADER.
Win, lose or draw, ALWAYS PROUD TO BE A GATOR!
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