Caught up with a source who attended today's scrimmage. I know it's not much and not very detailed, but I figured I'd hop in here and write down a little of what was said:
>> The team, as a whole, looks good and in shape. The source heard they've had a great offseason, and the players certainly look the part. The team is more talented than last year's.
>> It was a full-on scrimmage with live tackling. The QBs were "somewhat" live. The source thought the defense came out inspired and would have "barely" been considered the winner of the scrimmage. There was a heavy rotation at all positions, as has been the case in the previous practices.
>> Raiola is "the real deal" and played with good pace and looked to have good control of the offense. Raiola was also "extremely" accurate on deep passes today. Both Raiola and Kaelin were standing out with their deep-ball shots. Heinrich Haarberg's passing looked improved from what he showed last year.
>> Emmett Johnson looked solid and Dowdell "is a big dude and impressive."
>> The source said Lloyd continues to impress. The source also noted the two transfer WRs — that'd be Banks and Neyor — were consistent and "as advertised" and that they'd give the offense flexibility in terms of play-calling. (Unfortunately no mention of any of the first- or second-year WRs)
>> The source said the OL finally looks like it has legit depth. The source mentioned Micah Mazzccua stood out and that it wouldn't be surprising to see Brix, Sledge or Gottula find their way to the field in the fall in some capacity. (We saw a sixth offensive lineman get run in heavy run packages last season)
>> As for the DL, the first name the source mentioned was Van Poppel — "he popped." The normal cast of characters you'd expect — the veterans like Hutmacher, Robinson and Butler — "did their thing," according to the source.
>> At the Jack position, the source liked what he saw from Sherman, Borders and McGahee, the true freshman. (No mention of Umanmielen, who has been in green at practice and didn't play Saturday)
>> At ILB, the first name the source mentioned was Shavers, the true freshman from Miami. Said the kid is always around the ball and just makes plays, whether he's correct with his assignment on a given play or not.
>> There was a ton of mixing and matching at all positions, and that was especially true for the DBs. So when I asked who was playing opposite of Tommi Hill, I got multiple names. The same ones we already know, led by Blye Hill.
>> The team, as a whole, looks good and in shape. The source heard they've had a great offseason, and the players certainly look the part. The team is more talented than last year's.
>> It was a full-on scrimmage with live tackling. The QBs were "somewhat" live. The source thought the defense came out inspired and would have "barely" been considered the winner of the scrimmage. There was a heavy rotation at all positions, as has been the case in the previous practices.
>> Raiola is "the real deal" and played with good pace and looked to have good control of the offense. Raiola was also "extremely" accurate on deep passes today. Both Raiola and Kaelin were standing out with their deep-ball shots. Heinrich Haarberg's passing looked improved from what he showed last year.
>> Emmett Johnson looked solid and Dowdell "is a big dude and impressive."
>> The source said Lloyd continues to impress. The source also noted the two transfer WRs — that'd be Banks and Neyor — were consistent and "as advertised" and that they'd give the offense flexibility in terms of play-calling. (Unfortunately no mention of any of the first- or second-year WRs)
>> The source said the OL finally looks like it has legit depth. The source mentioned Micah Mazzccua stood out and that it wouldn't be surprising to see Brix, Sledge or Gottula find their way to the field in the fall in some capacity. (We saw a sixth offensive lineman get run in heavy run packages last season)
>> As for the DL, the first name the source mentioned was Van Poppel — "he popped." The normal cast of characters you'd expect — the veterans like Hutmacher, Robinson and Butler — "did their thing," according to the source.
>> At the Jack position, the source liked what he saw from Sherman, Borders and McGahee, the true freshman. (No mention of Umanmielen, who has been in green at practice and didn't play Saturday)
>> At ILB, the first name the source mentioned was Shavers, the true freshman from Miami. Said the kid is always around the ball and just makes plays, whether he's correct with his assignment on a given play or not.
>> There was a ton of mixing and matching at all positions, and that was especially true for the DBs. So when I asked who was playing opposite of Tommi Hill, I got multiple names. The same ones we already know, led by Blye Hill.
