Some early buzz from spring

[grover]

I'm all in on Moss and Kelly tbh.

Moss is clearly not ready for 2022. I personally think he'll need two years to have an impact based on what I saw. But we've seen S&C miracles in the past so maybe he puts it together in time for 2023. No way he doesn't redshirt this season IMHO. ... Kelly is different player and more physically ready. But since he's not here yet, I also don't see him as a reliable contributor to 2022. Maybe he starts rotating in at the end of season like a lot of the 2021 kids.

Net/net, need a rush end desperately.

 

[canesdogo]

USC, Ole Miss & Arkansas just did.

In theory you’re right, but the exception is a big time impact guy can come in & take those spots, it’s just not likely because all those types of players already got snatched up months ago in the Portal.

If we could’ve landed Antoine Wells out the Portal we would have the best WR corps in the ACC right now, but I think they didn’t really go as hard for WR this offseason because the primary focus will be the run game & TE’s, so adding a depth piece like Ladson rather than a full time starter who’s gonna want a lot of targets probably made the most sense for their plan.

Adding a vet Mike LB & premier pass rusher is the top priority now, the Post Spring Portal wave is supposed to have some pretty good prospects available, it’s just a matter of who & when we go after them.

El......... we shouldn't worry as Mario is setting up his Portal team knowing "what" is needed and "who" is available. The "when" is the key to getting the most bang for the right player to step into our system ready to perform .

Michigan State wrote the template of winning with a lot of portal activity, and I believe that Mario and his crew have a good idea that portal players who are one year and out, are the most desirable, unless they can see growth potential from the Coaching level to take a portal multi year player..

 

[RealRussellPumps]

They had a ton of guys transfer out when Tucker took over so there was a ton of openings across their depth chart.

Fair point

 

[Hegemon]

I don’t think anybody strictly wants him to be a LB, at least no one with any sense.

But a kid his size with his skill set has the ability to be a versatile Defender.

The same way Isaiah Simmons & Jayron Kearse were used at Clemson, or Derwin James at FSU.

You can move him all over the field in certain packages & use his freakish ability to the Defenses advantage.

He can be a Swiss Army knife Defender & give the Defense more flexibility in certain personnel groupings on 3rd Downs, Blitz packages & in Nickel coverage etc..

We could realistically have JWill, Kam, Tae, Chase Smith, Keontra & Gilbert all on the field at the same time.

He really screams Ray Ray Armstrong to me....

and that is O K

 

[CDWright40]

El......... we shouldn't worry as Mario is setting up his Portal team knowing "what" is needed and "who" is available. The "when" is the key to getting the most bang for the right player to step into our system ready to perform .

Michigan State wrote the template of winning with a lot of portal activity, and I believe that Mario and his crew have a good idea that portal players who are one year and out, are the most desirable, unless they can see growth potential from the Coaching level to take a portal multi year player..

I think Mario was smart to wait out the portal. There will be an influx of players after Spring practices and I'm guessing Mario wanted to see first hand what he was working with so he could identify positions of need and prioritize portal signings.

 

[DMoney]

DMoney - thanks as always for the insight! Have you heard anything about Chase Smith or Huff at LB? I was surprised not to see their names in your writeup.

Chase Smith is out for spring. Huff working more with the backups. Very little contact so not much to evaluate with the LBs.

 

[DMoney]

I don’t think anybody strictly wants him to be a LB, at least no one with any sense.

But a kid his size with his skill set has the ability to be a versatile Defender.

The same way Isaiah Simmons & Jayron Kearse were used at Clemson, or Derwin James at FSU.

You can move him all over the field in certain packages & use his freakish ability to the Defenses advantage.

He can be a Swiss Army knife Defender & give the Defense more flexibility in certain personnel groupings on 3rd Downs, Blitz packages & in Nickel coverage etc..

We could realistically have JWill, Kam, Tae, Chase Smith, Keontra & Gilbert all on the field at the same time.

Derwin James is the closest comp IMO. Similar body types, high-energy guys who love football. Williams probably has more DB skills than he does.

 

[CaneintheWilderness]

Sharing some things I’ve heard from the first three days of camp. Remember, it’s only been three days of very limited contact.

- Tyler Van Dyke is very confident and carrying himself like QB1. Don’t be surprised to see him try more Mahomesish stuff like the 2-point conversion against UNC.

- Jacurri Brown is impressing with his size, personality and arm strength. He misses some easy throws (will improve with coaching) but has natural zip and a Lamar Jackson-like whip delivery. He drives the ball effortlessly.

- Thad Franklin has leaned up and is showing his athleticism in the passing game. Hands-catcher and very shifty for his size.

- Starting WRs have mostly been Keyshawn Smith, Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George.

- Jaleel Skinner looks more advanced than expected. We knew he had speed and length, but he is showing some lateral quickness and is competing at a high level. IMG training clearly helped him.

- Starting OL has been Zion-Troure-Clark-Justice-Scaife. Logan Sagapolou has gotta reps as well. John Campbell and Jalen Rivers have been getting worked in and I won’t be surprised if they are starting by end of camp (with Scaife pushed in and Troure/Justice moving to second team). The three ‘21 signees show flashes, especially McLaughlin with his length and foot quickness.

- Harvey and Chantz have been starting defensive ends with Taylor, JHH, Lichtenstein and Miller rotating at tackle. Elijah Roberts will be in the end mix when his ankle heals.

- Steed and Keontra Smith getting majority of reps at LB.

- Blades has been a very pleasant surprise with his twitch and movement ability. He’s worked outside and inside. I wasn’t sure what his future was in football, but he looks ready to play a role. Malik Curtis is learning and moves better than anyone in the room.

- James Williams is lean and comfortable at safety. He is a leader on the team. Brian Balom looks healthy.

Overall, the biggest difference is the amount of coaches on the field (one source says it looks 3X as big) and the emphasis on physicality in practice.

Took me about 5 minutes to realize "Mahomesish" not an exotic religious sect that TVD had converted to since last season.

 

[Jassid82]

I'm all in on Moss and Kelly in 2023. tbh.

FIFY. LOL. Sorry bro, Kelly and Moss will lend us pretty much little to nothing this season. And thats not a bad thing. To ask Kelly to miss all of Spring and to come in and be 2 deep at DE is just throwing him to the wolves. And Moss needs to add weight. Badly. Let them come in during blowouts against Bethune and Middle Tennessee State. But lets not put any pressure on them to show something significant this season.

Hoping we can reel in another portal DE after Spring ball to help out. And I hope Mario isnt stubborn enough to think that we dont. Sounds like hes already decided hes not going to get a portal LB from what was reported by someone on here.

 

[JHallCanes]

I don’t think anybody strictly wants him to be a LB, at least no one with any sense.

But a kid his size with his skill set has the ability to be a versatile Defender.

The same way Isaiah Simmons & Jayron Kearse were used at Clemson, or Derwin James at FSU.

You can move him all over the field in certain packages & use his freakish ability to the Defenses advantage.

He can be a Swiss Army knife Defender & give the Defense more flexibility in certain personnel groupings on 3rd Downs, Blitz packages & in Nickel coverage etc..

We could realistically have JWill, Kam, Tae, Chase Smith, Keontra & Gilbert all on the field at the same time.

Just my opinion but I think a lot of the JWill to LB talk comes from wanting to see him, Kam, and Tae on the field at the same time

 

[Memnon]

Just my opinion but I think a lot of the JWill to LB talk comes from wanting to see him, Kam, and Tae on the field at the same time

They will be on the field at the same time, Tae will play as a Nickel Safety.

Most of the JW to LB talk just comes from the fact it’s rare to see a 6’5 230lbs Safety that can move like him.

But here’s the caveat, it does’t have to be an either or proposition, if we use him like Isaiah Simmons, Derwin James, Jayron Kearse etc he can get snaps at multiple positions.

I’ve posted this multiple times, but I will again:

Move him all over the field.

 

[gogeta4]

I wish we could get eyes on that Douglas kid from 21 in individual drills. Future LT imo. Like Zion very raw coming in but a good big athlete as well.

He came in WAYYYYY bigger than Zion though. Kid when he enrolled was above 285- towards 290.

 

[RedSquare]

I’m a believer that guys are either accurate or they’re not. Coaches can clean up mechanics and drill guys into being more consistent but you either have that pinpoint accuracy or you don’t. It doesn’t mean you can’t be a great quarterback though. There are high level NFL starters who don’t have that elite accuracy but they do other things well and have coaches that know what plays to call and what type of offense to run. You can get by with “B” accuracy if you’re a good athlete with a strong arm and your coach knows how to use your talents. Josh Allen couldn’t hit a target in college but Dorsey and Daboll used his other attributes to make him one of the leagues better quarterbacks.

Having been there, I will tell you that accuracy can be improved.

There are multiple reasons for it and not all of them are purely arm related.

 

[cway313]

Moss is clearly not ready for 2022. I personally think he'll need two years to have an impact based on what I saw. But we've seen S&C miracles in the past so maybe he puts it together in time for 2023. No way he doesn't redshirt this season IMHO. ... Kelly is different player and more physically ready. But since he's not here yet, I also don't see him as a reliable contributor to 2022. Maybe he starts rotating in at the end of season like a lot of the 2021 kids.

Net/net, need a rush end desperately.

It's March lmao.

 

[HOLISTIC CANE]

Excluding Brown, are all of the other quarterbacks completing all of their passes in practice? That’s great if they are, but it sure as **** sounds like Brown is the only one in practice not completing all of his his passes.

 

[ChinstrapCane]

Moss is clearly not ready for 2022. I personally think he'll need two years to have an impact based on what I saw. But we've seen S&C miracles in the past so maybe he puts it together in time for 2023. No way he doesn't redshirt this season IMHO. ... Kelly is different player and more physically ready. But since he's not here yet, I also don't see him as a reliable contributor to 2022. Maybe he starts rotating in at the end of season like a lot of the 2021 kids.

Net/net, need a rush end desperately.

Kelly is enrolled at UM, but he isn't participating this spring due to injury, IIRC. If he's at UM, but rehabbing an injury, then he most likely won't be ready to contribute early, so I agree with you.

 

[Billy D Williams]

TY for the update. Like the DL rotation, LT, JHH, Lich and Miller. Guess my clip eval of Malik Curtis was on spot. Wish Chase Smith was here to get LB reps. Fall will be interesting when big Anez Cooper shakes things up somewhere along the OL.

 

[Angry Ibis]

USC, Ole Miss & Arkansas just did.

In theory you’re right, but the exception is a big time impact guy can come in & take those spots, it’s just not likely because all those types of players already got snatched up months ago in the Portal.

If we could’ve landed Antoine Wells out the Portal we would have the best WR corps in the ACC right now, but I think they didn’t really go as hard for WR this offseason because the primary focus will be the run game & TE’s, so adding a depth piece like Ladson rather than a full time starter who’s gonna want a lot of targets probably made the most sense for their plan.

Adding a vet Mike LB & premier pass rusher is the top priority now, the Post Spring Portal wave is supposed to have some pretty good prospects available, it’s just a matter of who & when we go after them.

Mel Tucker’s bank account approves this message

 

[freeman84]

@DMoney has Keontra Smith put on weight i feel like he got pushed around a little at times by some o-lineman last year and might’ve been to small.

 

[Cane44]

For moss, realistically are we looking at him putting 20lbs on by first game?