Had a chance to watch it in it's entirety just recently, and I'm sticking to my guns about not getting too high or too low on what was basically the third week of tryouts.
I do like to watch the players that we haven't seen a lot of, or those who are looking at an expanded role this year.
I started out at the LT spot with Baker and Fisher. The first thing that I made sure that I did was to not compare these 2 to Eichenberg, McGlinchey or Stanley etc. In my opinion, I would have to say that Fisher would hold a slight edge, but keep in mind this is from viewing 1 scrimmage and not the 14 other practices. It wasn't so much of what Fisher did, but it was what Baker didn't do. I thought that Tosh let players get into him too much, and was put on skates. He also had problems with inside moves, and there were times were he was beat convincingly around the edge. I'm not here to hammer Baker because he's still a young player, and the guys he was blocking had a little bit to do with things, and it wasn't like Fisher "Won" the position this spring.
I thought that Jack Kiser looked the part. He has the speed, he's a good tackler, and he's certainly aggressive enough to be on the field, but what I saw of him was off the LOS, and acting the role of more of a 5th DB than a LB. It makes me wonder come FSU how much of that position see's the field.
Marist Liufau has gotten bigger, and he brings it on the blitz, but he still looked like an ILB trying to find his way around especially in pass coverage. He'll no doubt make some big plays this year, but I'm concerned about the plays that he doesn't make because he's late getting there, or he's out of position.
If there was ever a doubt about Howard Cross there won't be this year. His first step is as quick as any DE, and his low base makes him tough to block one-on-one. He's constantly in the backfield, and has developed enough strength to get a nice push when he's engaged. The arrow keeps pointing up for Howard as he's not reached his potential as a college player yet.
Rylie Mills won't be your edge rusher, but he did really well when he was on a stunt, and he gets a nice push, and this is something that has been lacking, with as good as this defense has been, is a push up the middle. I know everyone is high on Rocco, but I'm going to assume that he was glad his afternoon came to an end. Nothing against the, I should still be in high school Rocco, but Mills was just physically way ahead of him.
It was interesting the amount of fronts that Freeman threw out there. He liked to line up on occasion with all 4 D linemen outside of the the guards, and a lone LB in the middle who dropped into coverage. A lot of stunting going on up front in that look. I'm sure we've seen about 10% of what Freeman will do this year, but I will say that the tools are there.
I do like to watch the players that we haven't seen a lot of, or those who are looking at an expanded role this year.
I started out at the LT spot with Baker and Fisher. The first thing that I made sure that I did was to not compare these 2 to Eichenberg, McGlinchey or Stanley etc. In my opinion, I would have to say that Fisher would hold a slight edge, but keep in mind this is from viewing 1 scrimmage and not the 14 other practices. It wasn't so much of what Fisher did, but it was what Baker didn't do. I thought that Tosh let players get into him too much, and was put on skates. He also had problems with inside moves, and there were times were he was beat convincingly around the edge. I'm not here to hammer Baker because he's still a young player, and the guys he was blocking had a little bit to do with things, and it wasn't like Fisher "Won" the position this spring.
I thought that Jack Kiser looked the part. He has the speed, he's a good tackler, and he's certainly aggressive enough to be on the field, but what I saw of him was off the LOS, and acting the role of more of a 5th DB than a LB. It makes me wonder come FSU how much of that position see's the field.
Marist Liufau has gotten bigger, and he brings it on the blitz, but he still looked like an ILB trying to find his way around especially in pass coverage. He'll no doubt make some big plays this year, but I'm concerned about the plays that he doesn't make because he's late getting there, or he's out of position.
If there was ever a doubt about Howard Cross there won't be this year. His first step is as quick as any DE, and his low base makes him tough to block one-on-one. He's constantly in the backfield, and has developed enough strength to get a nice push when he's engaged. The arrow keeps pointing up for Howard as he's not reached his potential as a college player yet.
Rylie Mills won't be your edge rusher, but he did really well when he was on a stunt, and he gets a nice push, and this is something that has been lacking, with as good as this defense has been, is a push up the middle. I know everyone is high on Rocco, but I'm going to assume that he was glad his afternoon came to an end. Nothing against the, I should still be in high school Rocco, but Mills was just physically way ahead of him.
It was interesting the amount of fronts that Freeman threw out there. He liked to line up on occasion with all 4 D linemen outside of the the guards, and a lone LB in the middle who dropped into coverage. A lot of stunting going on up front in that look. I'm sure we've seen about 10% of what Freeman will do this year, but I will say that the tools are there.
