My Orange and Blue Review
Well of course I went to the Orange and Blue game, what did you expect? Sure it is just a glorified practice (that’s right Allen, we’re talking about practice), but you talking to a man who has been to four different NFL training camps (three different teams). Hey I was one of 45,000+ so I can’t be that nuts. I stayed through the rain delay. I want to say that I have only ever been in two rain delays at football games and both came at the Swamp – wusses.
Anyway for those who don’t know the Orange and Blue game is an intrasquad scrimmage. It is pretty low key; the best way I describe it to you is to relate how on the first drive of the game once the offense got towards midfield the special teams ran out behind them and practiced some fieldgoals as they played. I’m betting next to none of you went and need some analysis so once again I’ll step into the breach for you all. (If you did go you might have seen me: I was wearing an orange shirt…at one point I think I stood up…I was by a sign.)
QB: I’ve been hearing a lot about how Leak has become a more vocal leader, Meyer seems to be on a campaign for the guy. Maybe it is so, but he needs to turn some of his vocal leadership towards his arm because he is still inaccurate and just did not have a good day. Tebow on the other hand looking outstanding. He is bigger, faster, more accurate, and has a stronger arm than Leak. However my careful eye caught three things that let you know he will benefit from a year on the bench. First is he has a tendency to stare his receivers down; I never saw him scan the field, although that might because the coaches are cutting the field in half to make it easier for him. He also has a tendency to drift left in the pocket (he’s a Southpaw). That might be coaching again, but I find that doubtful. Finally, while he is faster than Leak he is not so fast and shifty (Note of explanation for Taylor: by shifty I mean he shakes his “laffy taffy” well. That pop culture enough for you?) that he should be running as much as he was, but one good smack will correct that. All that said the future is bright (boy that was quick huh? No pressure Tim).
RB: Moore has broken his back and so didn’t play (yes that is bad – I bet we never see him in 2006). Anyway Wynn looked about the same (which makes his flirtation with going pro all the more funny – think Paris Hilton announcing she is retiring). Speedster Manson seems to have added at least a little power and found some shiftiness and probably should be the guy getting the most carries this year. Some walk-on named Anthony Gay, while small, looked pretty good to me – some power and speed mixed with good moves. He might end up being our third down back. Finally Latsko was being used as a halfback. I wish they would stop screwing him around, he’s a good fullback on an offense with many holes, lets not artificially create another one hmm? Leak did throw to him frequently, which I liked because he has traditionally been underutilized.
WR: Clearly the strength of the team. Even with Caldwell, Baker, and Cornelius out we showed some talent (Caldwell did come back to fair catch some punts, why?). Boateng has taken a big step forward, I bet he is on the field often by midway through the season. This is good too as it gives me a chance to go on about my predictions being correct (could be I bent the ear of the General every time he made a play). He has great hands, able to catch those behind the WR Leak tosses a la O.J. Small, and some nice moves. Ingram, the former QB turned TE who is now a WR, also made some good grabs too and has plenty of speed. Leak threw to second year man Louis Murphy, whose name I have seen a few times in the Sun, quite a bit. He’s fast, but had several drops. Another second year man, David Nelson has a couple of deep catches (and drops) too. Neither looked special enough to be playing much next year.
TE: Tater Salad had two drops to one catch – one of which hit him in the hands. He also had a blatant false start that was not called (he took two steps and actually looked for the flag – few flags were dropped on this day).
OL: This was the hardest for me to judge because of the general lack of intensity and the fact defenders could not hit the QB. Assuming the Blue team had our expected starters because Leak was their QB (not a safe bet as starters were mixed all over) they did okay in pass blocking – and they were facing more defense starters than the other squad (although our three best D-linemen were out). Orange ran better, but they had better backs too. I’m not sure how we will be this year.
DL: Given that nearly all our starters were out I don’t have much to say. McDonald is still recovering from that knee, Thomas has a hernia (should be ready by the fall), Moss was suited up on the sidelines but never got on the field for reasons unknown to me. Overall they did not do much as a unit and runners found some lanes too – bringing back bad memories of teams busting off runs against our small line last year.
LB: Meyer is worried about depth at this position, with good reason as they made few plays. Projected weakside starter Crum looked suspect in coverage, at one point yanking Tater Salad so badly he spun around, but since he didn’t take off his helmet and beat him with the intent to break his legs the refs let ‘em play. The LBs did have a pick, but it is only because they held Murphy (not called either – are you getting the picture yet big boy?) and snatched up a typical Leak overthrow.
DB: Avery Atkins (who I still like from last year), Reggie Nelson, and Kyle Jackson (who I am presuming will be a starter) were all out so again who really knows. Reggie Lewis looked okay. A few other guys made plays on deep passes, McCollum was one (I think – 18?). I’m off the Joiner for starting safety bandwagon, boy did he appear to be just other body out there (although he is a great celebrator). For the group as a whole coverage was pretty good, but tackling was poor as were angles as plays featured guys running through both secondaries.
ST: Hetland kicked a 52 yarder! Oh baby!! Of course then he then later missed a PAT (you knew that was coming right? God I’m sick). Special teams will be inconsistent again. Those who showed also got to witness the lowest knuckleball punt I have ever seen and a beautiful boomer, that landed five yards into the endzone when it was kicked from around midfield.
Coaching: The team Meyer coached lost 24-6, but you cann’t read very much into that. I did happily notice a marked absence of shovel passes.
Team Attitude: Meyer has been talking a lot about this, finding his team lacking compared to Noah and Co. who “play for each other.” I do wonder if a lack of faith in the offensive system messed with the players some midseason last year. That said when I was third row behind the Orange bench the guys seemed to be smiling, loose, and friendly with one another (for what it is worth some kept joking around together even when a DB went down hold his knee and had to be helped off the field).
Fans: I started out in the alumni section before going over to studentland and I have to say drunk students are definitely more pumped. They were presnap shouting when Blue (Orange was on the student side) got in the redzone and were singing and doing cheers even without a band. While I have complained about undergrads in the past at least they make noise, and the girls don’t tend to wear much which gives me something to do during TV timeouts.
Bottom Line: As you may have picked up on at this point I am unwilling to predict if we will be better or worse next year (that will come after our first game). I do know we are not a national championship team, although hopefully you knew that already [HEATHER IF YOU MAKE THAT BET AGAIN THIS YEAR COME TO ME FIRST]. However beyond with Tebow, Boateng, and Moss we look to have three young guys who can be stars.
Anyway for those who don’t know the Orange and Blue game is an intrasquad scrimmage. It is pretty low key; the best way I describe it to you is to relate how on the first drive of the game once the offense got towards midfield the special teams ran out behind them and practiced some fieldgoals as they played. I’m betting next to none of you went and need some analysis so once again I’ll step into the breach for you all. (If you did go you might have seen me: I was wearing an orange shirt…at one point I think I stood up…I was by a sign.)
QB: I’ve been hearing a lot about how Leak has become a more vocal leader, Meyer seems to be on a campaign for the guy. Maybe it is so, but he needs to turn some of his vocal leadership towards his arm because he is still inaccurate and just did not have a good day. Tebow on the other hand looking outstanding. He is bigger, faster, more accurate, and has a stronger arm than Leak. However my careful eye caught three things that let you know he will benefit from a year on the bench. First is he has a tendency to stare his receivers down; I never saw him scan the field, although that might because the coaches are cutting the field in half to make it easier for him. He also has a tendency to drift left in the pocket (he’s a Southpaw). That might be coaching again, but I find that doubtful. Finally, while he is faster than Leak he is not so fast and shifty (Note of explanation for Taylor: by shifty I mean he shakes his “laffy taffy” well. That pop culture enough for you?) that he should be running as much as he was, but one good smack will correct that. All that said the future is bright (boy that was quick huh? No pressure Tim).
RB: Moore has broken his back and so didn’t play (yes that is bad – I bet we never see him in 2006). Anyway Wynn looked about the same (which makes his flirtation with going pro all the more funny – think Paris Hilton announcing she is retiring). Speedster Manson seems to have added at least a little power and found some shiftiness and probably should be the guy getting the most carries this year. Some walk-on named Anthony Gay, while small, looked pretty good to me – some power and speed mixed with good moves. He might end up being our third down back. Finally Latsko was being used as a halfback. I wish they would stop screwing him around, he’s a good fullback on an offense with many holes, lets not artificially create another one hmm? Leak did throw to him frequently, which I liked because he has traditionally been underutilized.
WR: Clearly the strength of the team. Even with Caldwell, Baker, and Cornelius out we showed some talent (Caldwell did come back to fair catch some punts, why?). Boateng has taken a big step forward, I bet he is on the field often by midway through the season. This is good too as it gives me a chance to go on about my predictions being correct (could be I bent the ear of the General every time he made a play). He has great hands, able to catch those behind the WR Leak tosses a la O.J. Small, and some nice moves. Ingram, the former QB turned TE who is now a WR, also made some good grabs too and has plenty of speed. Leak threw to second year man Louis Murphy, whose name I have seen a few times in the Sun, quite a bit. He’s fast, but had several drops. Another second year man, David Nelson has a couple of deep catches (and drops) too. Neither looked special enough to be playing much next year.
TE: Tater Salad had two drops to one catch – one of which hit him in the hands. He also had a blatant false start that was not called (he took two steps and actually looked for the flag – few flags were dropped on this day).
OL: This was the hardest for me to judge because of the general lack of intensity and the fact defenders could not hit the QB. Assuming the Blue team had our expected starters because Leak was their QB (not a safe bet as starters were mixed all over) they did okay in pass blocking – and they were facing more defense starters than the other squad (although our three best D-linemen were out). Orange ran better, but they had better backs too. I’m not sure how we will be this year.
DL: Given that nearly all our starters were out I don’t have much to say. McDonald is still recovering from that knee, Thomas has a hernia (should be ready by the fall), Moss was suited up on the sidelines but never got on the field for reasons unknown to me. Overall they did not do much as a unit and runners found some lanes too – bringing back bad memories of teams busting off runs against our small line last year.
LB: Meyer is worried about depth at this position, with good reason as they made few plays. Projected weakside starter Crum looked suspect in coverage, at one point yanking Tater Salad so badly he spun around, but since he didn’t take off his helmet and beat him with the intent to break his legs the refs let ‘em play. The LBs did have a pick, but it is only because they held Murphy (not called either – are you getting the picture yet big boy?) and snatched up a typical Leak overthrow.
DB: Avery Atkins (who I still like from last year), Reggie Nelson, and Kyle Jackson (who I am presuming will be a starter) were all out so again who really knows. Reggie Lewis looked okay. A few other guys made plays on deep passes, McCollum was one (I think – 18?). I’m off the Joiner for starting safety bandwagon, boy did he appear to be just other body out there (although he is a great celebrator). For the group as a whole coverage was pretty good, but tackling was poor as were angles as plays featured guys running through both secondaries.
ST: Hetland kicked a 52 yarder! Oh baby!! Of course then he then later missed a PAT (you knew that was coming right? God I’m sick). Special teams will be inconsistent again. Those who showed also got to witness the lowest knuckleball punt I have ever seen and a beautiful boomer, that landed five yards into the endzone when it was kicked from around midfield.
Coaching: The team Meyer coached lost 24-6, but you cann’t read very much into that. I did happily notice a marked absence of shovel passes.
Team Attitude: Meyer has been talking a lot about this, finding his team lacking compared to Noah and Co. who “play for each other.” I do wonder if a lack of faith in the offensive system messed with the players some midseason last year. That said when I was third row behind the Orange bench the guys seemed to be smiling, loose, and friendly with one another (for what it is worth some kept joking around together even when a DB went down hold his knee and had to be helped off the field).
Fans: I started out in the alumni section before going over to studentland and I have to say drunk students are definitely more pumped. They were presnap shouting when Blue (Orange was on the student side) got in the redzone and were singing and doing cheers even without a band. While I have complained about undergrads in the past at least they make noise, and the girls don’t tend to wear much which gives me something to do during TV timeouts.
Bottom Line: As you may have picked up on at this point I am unwilling to predict if we will be better or worse next year (that will come after our first game). I do know we are not a national championship team, although hopefully you knew that already [HEATHER IF YOU MAKE THAT BET AGAIN THIS YEAR COME TO ME FIRST]. However beyond with Tebow, Boateng, and Moss we look to have three young guys who can be stars.
posted by El Breto @ 7:50 PM
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