The Bank (8/21)

[gacaneaddict]

Lu … I was only able to attend Saturday’s scrimmage and that’s the only one I’ll be able to make.

Aside from trying to survive the heat I was mostly enjoying the overall structure of a new regime and soaking in our likely final season of TVD throwing dimes behind center.

However, it seemed pretty clear that more traditional gap responsIbilities are foundational in the D. Our linebackers still look way too small to me but they certainly were playing much more sound and were filling nicely at times. I don’t know, again I wasn’t very focused on it, but they still seem to be the clear weak spot in the D. It’ll be interesting if Strong can get some of the younger guys, who certainly look the part, able and ready to play. I thought 17 flashed from time to time with the one’s.

The backend looks solid. Again, seemingly very little confusion pre and post snap. 24 flashed in my opinion. The other guys might have more talent but that kid was all over the place.

@waynejr31 Shout out to Steed flashing at LB with 1's

 

[Rickd]

Just say it yourself get ya best player on the field and if we think at RB don’t see why not. Can use him like 49ers do Deebo Samuel. Defense wouldn’t know what to expect. Is he noticing out as a WR or Scat Back I love it.

That is exactly the situation with Rooster ... he is reportedly doing very well in the pass catching area out of the backfield ... and he can scoot.

 

[AlexCane]

I think some of you are overreacting about the RB situation. We have a very competent 1-3 right now, each of which have a case for 15 carries a game. Hopefully, Chaney will be ready at some point in this season to fortify the position even further. I don't think we need to swing for a portal RB or move Brashard to RB for reps. I think it's clear his position going forward is WR. He is a young player that likely needs all the reps possible to continue his development and trajectory.

 

[rsa coral gables]

Taking a whole group of WR who played well in last year's scheme and purposely making them fit an offense that doesn't suit their talents seems so counterintuitive to me and flies in the face of Gattis's stated philosophy of tailoring his offense to fit his personnel. I just have a hard time accepting that such an intelligent coach(Gattis) would cut his nose off to spite his own face. I'm not entirely buying the whole WR room is a huge weak point narrative. The whole thing just reeks of sandbagging. We'll see what happens at ATM.

we have seen this very scenario here (Enos, D'Onofrio) and I have seen it in the professional settings repeatedly. a majority of people (50% or more) struggle to adapt to the facts on the ground. I hope Gattis does so.

 

[Jassid82]

I think some of you are overreacting about the RB situation. We have a very competent 1-3 right now, each of which have a case for 15 carries a game. Hopefully, Chaney will be ready at some point in this season to fortify the position even further. I don't think we need to swing for a portal RB or move Brashard to RB for reps. I think it's clear his position going forward is WR. He is a young player that likely needs all the reps possible to continue his development and trajectory.

Agreed. And didnt Mario or Gattis say that we werent doing a RB by committee thing anyway? He was looking for 2 workhorses and a utility guy and the other guys would just wait their turn. We werent going to play 5 RBs if all were healthy anyway. Someone was going to get hurt feelings. So things kind of worked themselves out in the end anyway. (Knighton and Thad are the workhorse backs and Parrish is the utility guy)

 

[cway313]

If we can figure out WR, then I think we could win 10 games. But that’s a HUGE question mark and one that shouldn’t be brushed to the side.

Naaa practice doesn't translate to games we will be fine at WR.

 

[AlexCane]

Agreed. And didnt Mario or Gattis say that we werent doing a RB by committee thing anyway? He was looking for 2 workhorses and a utility guy and the other guys would just wait their turn. We werent going to play 5 RBs if all were healthy anyway. Someone was going to get hurt feelings. So things kind of worked themselves out in the end anyway. (Knighton and Thad are the workhorse backs and Parrish is the utility guy)

I don't know much about Oregon or Michigan's offense last year but check the stats.

At Oregon, Dye got 211 carries in 14 games (average 15). Verdell had 78 carries in 5 games (average 15.6). The next guy (Cardwell) had 61 carries in 12 games and after that (McGee) 14 carries in 8 games.

At Michigan, Haskins had 270 carries in 14 games (average 19.2). The next guy (Corum) had 144 in 12 (average 12). After that, the next RB had 35 carries.

It looks like both our HC and our signal caller like a strong 1-2 punch with a third guy getting somewhere b/w 3-5 carries a game (garbage time?). Another injury would be concerning but I think we're fine (especially if Chaney returns midseason).

 

[RVACane]

Naaa practice doesn't translate to games we will be fine at WR.

 

[PSU Cane]

I don’t care about Int or pbu’s. I care about taking away your side and allowing the defense to roll guys elsewhere. Trevon Diggs is Mr int but gets beat like a rented mule. Its an int or he’s beat. The risk isn’t worth the reward. Lock your side down and everybody will be happy. Ts, our coaches , scouts , gm’s and his agent.

In a perfect world I don’t want to hear my cb’s or Ol‘s names mentioned one time during the game.

Really bugs me when Diggs is hyped as a top corner. He’s not. He’s risk/reward and got more credit for the plays he made than criticism for the ones he didn’t. He’s a good player who’s improving, much more than I expected coming out of Bama, but he’s not a shutdown corner and does not belong in that discussion.

 

[Pentagon Cane]

we have seen this very scenario here (Enos, D'Onofrio) and I have seen it in the professional settings repeatedly. a majority of people (50% or more) struggle to adapt to the facts on the ground. I hope Gattis does so.

Putting Gattis in with Enos and D'Onofrio. LoL, good lord.

 

[canecrazy23]

And woke up to a whole new day (20 hours later) still mad, spamming the board, and trying to start yet another fresh unprovoked blog fight. This new ADHD, Bipolar disorder, NPD, devils advocate, fake bully, millennial/Z, contrarian Schtick is catching on. It’s all some dudes do all day on here.

 

[Astcloud11]

Taking a whole group of WR who played well in last year's scheme and purposely making them fit an offense that doesn't suit their talents seems so counterintuitive to me and flies in the face of Gattis's stated philosophy of tailoring his offense to fit his personnel. I just have a hard time accepting that such an intelligent coach(Gattis) would cut his nose off to spite his own face. I'm not entirely buying the whole WR room is a huge weak point narrative. The whole thing just reeks of sandbagging. We'll see what happens at ATM.

What group? If you combine all the receptions of our returning WR group you'd get 85. Rambo alone had 79. Harley had 54. Only 1 (returning) outside WR on our roster had over 7 catches last season lol. Not saying the room is weak and everyone sucks, but definitely a room full of young question marks.

 

[FrancisSawyer]

What group? If you combine all the receptions of our returning WR group you'd get 85. Rambo alone had 79. Harley had 54. Only 1 (returning) outside WR on our roster had over 7 catches last season lol. Not saying the room is weak and everyone sucks, but definitely a room full of young question marks.

This group. I don't disagree.

 

[TheOriginalCane]

Hopefully the 50+ yd td run by a walkon was against the threes on D.....

Nah, hopefully it was against the 1s. Then we'd know that even our walk-ons (and he DID play football ON SCHOLARSHIP at another school) are capable of scoring TDs.

 

[TheOriginalCane]

What group? If you combine all the receptions of our returning WR group you'd get 85. Rambo alone had 79. Harley had 54. Only 1 (returning) outside WR on our roster had over 7 catches last season lol. Not saying the room is weak and everyone sucks, but definitely a room full of young question marks.

And Rambo had 0 UM receptions before that...same exact number as Frank Motherfvckin' Ladson, who is being kept under wraps.

 

[Billy D Williams]

Below are some notes on yesterday's scrimmage based on numerous conversations with sources:

- Overall, the offense looked sharper than last scrimmage, although the defense won the day. Tyler Van Dyke had better pockets and was driving the ball. He had a long pass down the middle to Xavier Restrepo along with a TD to Elijah Arroyo.

- With the room depeleted by injuries, walk-on RBs Devon Perry and Terrell Walden II had moments to shine. Perry in particular looked explosive with a 50+ yard TD run. Thad Franklin also had some slippery runs between the tackles.

- The throw of the day was a corner route TD from Jake Garcia to Jacolby George.

- The top overall performer on the day may have been freshman CB Chris Graves. He had at least four pass breakups and continues to tackle with physicality. He is young for his grade and the arrow is still pointing up.

- Jaleel Skinner had several nice catches-and-runs along with a TD in red zone work.

- The wide receivers had some drops and continued to have issues making big plays downfield in contested situations. However, Gattis seems to be doing a better job of scheming players open for chunk plays (especially Restrepo).

- Nyjalik Kelly and Leonard Taylor made nice plays in the backfield.

- The linebackers had another good day, with Caleb Johnson looking the best of the group. Chase Smith continues to flash unique twitch and strike ability, especially as a blitzer.

- Anez Cooper continues to flash with several pancake blocks.

- Malik Curtis got some opportunities with the ones and showed big-time speed running down Restrepo and preventing a TD.

- Justice Oluwasun is battling Logan Sagapolu at RG and got significant work with the 1s. He’s also getting work at RT.

Lots of good info in there without all the jabber from podcasts. Great news about Anez. No reports of any other OL pancaking cats. Glad to hear Chase showing his athleticism, Malik showing his speed and Taylor playing big boy DT.

 

[Billy D Williams]

Malik Curtis and Chris graves I like

Maybe they can help flip their homeboy Watkins WR at IMG from tamu to the U. Kid is quick as a hummingbird.

 

[rsa coral gables]

no, not putting gattis in this group, but i might if he doesn't adjust to the personnel.

 

[Canezum5]

Are these WRs all staying after to catch passes? I know we saw X was but this unit seems to be without a set group and I’m floored nobody is stepping up considering you have one of the nations best QBs

Best QB could be a gift and a curse!!

I remember when Matt Stafford was coming out and people were wary on him because of his numbers but all I had to do was watch 1 game to see the biggest issue was his arm was so **** strong them receivers couldn't catch the ball consistently

 

[mlw352]

He should move to TE in my opinion. He’s bigger than Skinner.

So we wasted a scholarship basically