Pre-Game:
- The most obvious thing that I have noticed is simply how much bigger we are across all units. I have randomly attended practices over the years and I can tell you first hand that a noticeable difference in our overall size is beginning to take shape under Kugler. Even at the RB position, our top 3 RB's tonight(Hamm, Hughes, and Staudt) were all over 220 pounds.
- In Pre-Game warm-ups, I thought that Simpson was the best looking QB.
QB's:
- Being 100% honest, I was not overly impressed with any of our QB's tonight. I thought that it would be almost impossible and extremely unlikely for Kavika Johnson to make his way into the QB battle as a true Freshman, but depending on what happens early next year, he might gradually find a role on this team sooner rather than later. Where the QB's deserve a lot of credit is the fact that they all got hit tonight. They got hit hard and often, in fact there might not be another Spring Game in the nation, where all QB's will get hit as much as ours did, yet they all seemed to handle the hits well.
- Simpson: He got the Start, but had some early struggles. At this point, I think he might be our best chance to win and I thought that his pocket presence was actually good. That being said, probably my biggest concern was that he constantly fell into the bad habit of throwing off of his back foot & throwing while falling back way too much(in eerily similar situations to how Vittatoe used to do it).
- Leftwich: He was better than we remember. I actually think that he can be an above average QB in regards to running. But I still have my concerns about his passing effectiveness. As soon as he catches the ball he immediately locks into his first WR. His size is also something that we simply will have to work with. If he becomes our starting QB, then we will just have to accept that 2 or 3 passes per game are going to get knocked down at the line of scrimmage. Tonight, he had a skinny post route wide open(after there was a busted coverage and nobody was within 10 yards of the WR), yet Leftwich's pass got knocked down at the line of scrimmage and the drive ended.
- Metz: He was my personal hope to become the Starter, but I feel that Kugler and Staff have done the proper evaluation when they state that Simpson and Leftwich have pulled ahead of him. Metz unfortunately got injured tonight and did not return to the Scrimmage.
Offense:
- Probably the most disapointing thing about tonight's scrimmage was seeing how uneffective we still are at throwing the ball beyond 15 yards. We ran more of a Shotgun based offense tonight and tried to do some other things rather than just pound the rock, but unfortunately our results were as choppy and rough tonight as we all remember when we tried to do the same last season. We did have as many as 5 Offensive Starters out tonight(both TE's, RB, FB, and G) and it's comforting knowing that we should always be able to just pound the ball as a saftey net if we have to. So it might not be as bad as it first appears, but this uneasy feeling that most people appear to have about Patrick Higgins is likely to continue growing in my opinion. There is no Lee Mays running deep post routes for big plays in this offense, like there was in Higgins 2000 offense.
- The WR's struggled overall as a unit tonight. They mostly struggled to get seperation, there were some drops, and their performance would have to be considered a disapointment. White and Walker had the best nights. The 2 JC guys struggled(with the exception of 1 good catch and run by Juniel, which he followed up with a dropped pass). The leader of the unit(Batson) also struggled.
- Amongst the newcomers at WR, Warren Redix was a surprise for me. His game reminds me a little of former Miner WR Mike Edwards. I think he has potential to become a good player for us down the road.
- I thought that Hughes and Hamm were both solid. I think those 2(Freshman and Soph) have a chance to become really good over the next 3/4 years.
Defense:
- While there should be some anxiety over the offense, conversely there should be a nice calmness about our Defense. We have some very good players straight up the middle which should help create a solid defense. Breslin, Musgrave, Jones, and our 2 Veteran Safeties(Cockrell and Smith) are all layered on top of eachother and all 5 of these guys are players! These 5 guys really stood out tonight in competition against their teammates and I believe that they will likely be able to retain a similar high level of effectiveness when facing against other teams this fall. We should also have a productive pair of DE's(who were understandably held back for much of tonight) who will also be added to this core group. The best news is that out of this core group of 5 that I mentioned above, only 1 will be a Senior this upcoming season.
- Needham and Trammell both impressed me at CB. Needham(Freshman) is probably still a year or so away from playing a lot, but he will be one to keep an eye on.
- Justen Tatum is another Freshman to keep an eye on at LB. He has what it takes physically and also appears to have a good feel for playing inside. I watched him a lot and he seems to take some false steps at the snap, but that is to be expected as he is young. He has some good potential as he becomes more experienced and learns to read faster.
- I thought Carlile showed well and is a legit D1 Football player. He has a lot of resemblence to Wesley Miller(maybe because they wear the same number), except that Mookie is bigger. I liked how much he gets to the line of scrimmage from his Safety position.
- Brian Madunezim has a great motor at DL.
Overall:
- I loved the constant Pod Competition taking place during through out the Scrimmage. I love that type of constant physical competition. What a great idea by Coach Kugs!
- In watching our team, it really caught my attention that there appears to be A LOT of good young talent amongst the underclassmen. This staff has done a good job of Program Building, as I can name a Freshman/Sophmore at basically every single position who has a chance to become a good player.
- In summary, I like what Kugler and his Staff are continuing to do. The QB and Offense will continue to remain as question marks over the summer, but hey, I imagine that any Offense will look better once we add Aaron Jones and MJ McFarland to it.
This post was edited on 4/11 1:06 AM by UTEPDefense
- The most obvious thing that I have noticed is simply how much bigger we are across all units. I have randomly attended practices over the years and I can tell you first hand that a noticeable difference in our overall size is beginning to take shape under Kugler. Even at the RB position, our top 3 RB's tonight(Hamm, Hughes, and Staudt) were all over 220 pounds.
- In Pre-Game warm-ups, I thought that Simpson was the best looking QB.
QB's:
- Being 100% honest, I was not overly impressed with any of our QB's tonight. I thought that it would be almost impossible and extremely unlikely for Kavika Johnson to make his way into the QB battle as a true Freshman, but depending on what happens early next year, he might gradually find a role on this team sooner rather than later. Where the QB's deserve a lot of credit is the fact that they all got hit tonight. They got hit hard and often, in fact there might not be another Spring Game in the nation, where all QB's will get hit as much as ours did, yet they all seemed to handle the hits well.
- Simpson: He got the Start, but had some early struggles. At this point, I think he might be our best chance to win and I thought that his pocket presence was actually good. That being said, probably my biggest concern was that he constantly fell into the bad habit of throwing off of his back foot & throwing while falling back way too much(in eerily similar situations to how Vittatoe used to do it).
- Leftwich: He was better than we remember. I actually think that he can be an above average QB in regards to running. But I still have my concerns about his passing effectiveness. As soon as he catches the ball he immediately locks into his first WR. His size is also something that we simply will have to work with. If he becomes our starting QB, then we will just have to accept that 2 or 3 passes per game are going to get knocked down at the line of scrimmage. Tonight, he had a skinny post route wide open(after there was a busted coverage and nobody was within 10 yards of the WR), yet Leftwich's pass got knocked down at the line of scrimmage and the drive ended.
- Metz: He was my personal hope to become the Starter, but I feel that Kugler and Staff have done the proper evaluation when they state that Simpson and Leftwich have pulled ahead of him. Metz unfortunately got injured tonight and did not return to the Scrimmage.
Offense:
- Probably the most disapointing thing about tonight's scrimmage was seeing how uneffective we still are at throwing the ball beyond 15 yards. We ran more of a Shotgun based offense tonight and tried to do some other things rather than just pound the rock, but unfortunately our results were as choppy and rough tonight as we all remember when we tried to do the same last season. We did have as many as 5 Offensive Starters out tonight(both TE's, RB, FB, and G) and it's comforting knowing that we should always be able to just pound the ball as a saftey net if we have to. So it might not be as bad as it first appears, but this uneasy feeling that most people appear to have about Patrick Higgins is likely to continue growing in my opinion. There is no Lee Mays running deep post routes for big plays in this offense, like there was in Higgins 2000 offense.
- The WR's struggled overall as a unit tonight. They mostly struggled to get seperation, there were some drops, and their performance would have to be considered a disapointment. White and Walker had the best nights. The 2 JC guys struggled(with the exception of 1 good catch and run by Juniel, which he followed up with a dropped pass). The leader of the unit(Batson) also struggled.
- Amongst the newcomers at WR, Warren Redix was a surprise for me. His game reminds me a little of former Miner WR Mike Edwards. I think he has potential to become a good player for us down the road.
- I thought that Hughes and Hamm were both solid. I think those 2(Freshman and Soph) have a chance to become really good over the next 3/4 years.
Defense:
- While there should be some anxiety over the offense, conversely there should be a nice calmness about our Defense. We have some very good players straight up the middle which should help create a solid defense. Breslin, Musgrave, Jones, and our 2 Veteran Safeties(Cockrell and Smith) are all layered on top of eachother and all 5 of these guys are players! These 5 guys really stood out tonight in competition against their teammates and I believe that they will likely be able to retain a similar high level of effectiveness when facing against other teams this fall. We should also have a productive pair of DE's(who were understandably held back for much of tonight) who will also be added to this core group. The best news is that out of this core group of 5 that I mentioned above, only 1 will be a Senior this upcoming season.
- Needham and Trammell both impressed me at CB. Needham(Freshman) is probably still a year or so away from playing a lot, but he will be one to keep an eye on.
- Justen Tatum is another Freshman to keep an eye on at LB. He has what it takes physically and also appears to have a good feel for playing inside. I watched him a lot and he seems to take some false steps at the snap, but that is to be expected as he is young. He has some good potential as he becomes more experienced and learns to read faster.
- I thought Carlile showed well and is a legit D1 Football player. He has a lot of resemblence to Wesley Miller(maybe because they wear the same number), except that Mookie is bigger. I liked how much he gets to the line of scrimmage from his Safety position.
- Brian Madunezim has a great motor at DL.
Overall:
- I loved the constant Pod Competition taking place during through out the Scrimmage. I love that type of constant physical competition. What a great idea by Coach Kugs!
- In watching our team, it really caught my attention that there appears to be A LOT of good young talent amongst the underclassmen. This staff has done a good job of Program Building, as I can name a Freshman/Sophmore at basically every single position who has a chance to become a good player.
- In summary, I like what Kugler and his Staff are continuing to do. The QB and Offense will continue to remain as question marks over the summer, but hey, I imagine that any Offense will look better once we add Aaron Jones and MJ McFarland to it.
This post was edited on 4/11 1:06 AM by UTEPDefense
