Thoughts on the Spring Game

[KUlawJack]

Just thought I would start a thread and get some input from those of you who were there.

A friend at the game just called me. Apparently O'Brien has a howitzer hanging from his shoulder by the way he described some of the throws he was making. Also said that Aaron Rollin will be a beast.

[RowdyRabbit]

Re: Thoughts on the Spring Game

Ahh crap. I was about to make fun of you for having your dates wrong.....you silly fool...the spring game isn't till April 25th......oh.....wait....*$^$....here I am sitting in my living room.....&%*^!!!

[2002jack]

Re: Thoughts on the Spring Game

I just got home, I left a little bit before the scrimmage ended. I'm not much of a talent evaluater, but I'll give it a shot.

QB's--O'brien was the most impressive. None of the four looked terrible. It didn't appear that Crawford's arm was very strong, and Whittier's release and flight of ball are not traditional.
RB--Paula, Monke, Kool, and Eversly all got some time. Kool looked the best.
WR-Too many drops and then fumbles...that's never good.
OL-Seemed like the DL beat them up front.

DL-Looked good and deep. Beat our OL up.
DB-got beat a few times.
LB-Looked good as well.

I'd like to hear from somebody with more football knowledge than myself.


Nice crowd-Maybe 3-400???

[WestSideRabbit]

Re: Thoughts on the Spring Game

QB- O'Brien was hands down the best qb TODAY... it seems like they change every day.
RB- Kool I was very impressed
WR- Rollin looked good.. Mitchel to many drops and
TE-Cochart and Sheehan looked good! Daughters needs to work on his blocking he got wooped pretty good a couple of times today
OL- Looked a step slow today. Hopefully they figure it out
DL- We will be tough! The rotation is going to be great!
LB- This is our deepest position man are we scary!
DB- Young but super athletic. Julian Wagner and Anthony Wise are going to be good I just think they need some experience! Conrad, General, and Brodie are going to be solid.
K- Reifenrath looked good!
P- I can't believe I booed Priddy when he was a freshman... what a weapon!

[LakeJack]

Re: Thoughts on the Spring Game

Story from the SF paper

http://www.argusleader.com/article/2...25/1002/sports

[jackrabbit1979]

Re: Thoughts on the Spring Game

My observations from Saturday....Let's preface this by admitting that it is only one practice of 15 this spring and another 30 this coming fall. With that said:

QB: I don't really believe there is a competition - I think it is posturing by the staff to keep everybody from becoming complacent. O'Brien was at another level. He throws such a nice ball it's ridiculous. He also looked somewhat elusive in the pocket, which was a nice surprise. Unless he just has no grasp of the offense at all, or makes just unbelievably bad decisions, I can't see a scenario where he isn't the starter. Whittier, although nimble, and Mondol looked average by comparison. Crawford didn't look completely healthy. But I have a hard time believing even a healthy Crawford can throw as well as O'Brien did on Saturday.

RB: We are deep here. Kool looked good...he will be a good one in the future. Eversley did some good things. Paula is a big RB - outside of the handful of dropped passes he had, he played well. Monke looked decent too.

WR: Rollin was pretty impressive, although he needs to keep his mouth shut as the coaches were getting after him to get back to the huddle. Montague looked decent, but had a few drops. Mitchell had too many drops and too many fumbles.

TE: Cochart is a beast...Daughters is large.

DL: Lots of bodies, were in the backfield all day.

LB: Lots of bodies, lots of talent. There are a number of good young LB's I think (Shafrath, Tracy, Kool), and our vetaran group should be at the top of the conference this year.

DB: Were impressive too...they come up and hit hard - especially Wise, Wagner, and Parnell. I'm sure Brodie and Kjerstad will be solid, and Jeske played a lot as well and looked very athletic. Got called for a few pass interfernce calls on Saturday, but some of them were horrible calls too.

[Jacked_Up]

Re: Thoughts on the Spring Game

I agree that O'Brien looked best at QB. He stands out in passing situations. Really good arm. Whittier looked smooth and mobile. Quick feet. Mondol looked OK. Pretty composed. Crawford was OK, but I think he threw two interceptions, including one in a potential scoring situation.
Hard to tell about the RBs, with Minnett and Duffy both hurt and not playing. Paula played a lot. A workhorse type.
Hard to judge the wide receivers too because of injuries. The backups dropped and fumbled quite a few balls. That is probably a credit to the defense.
DL and LB looked tough. Not sure what the final mix will be in the defensie backfield, but it should be pretty good unit too.
Priddy had one punt, with the wind, that went nearly 60 yards. Reifenrath's line drive place kicks look odd but seem to go through the uprights regularly.
The scoring system was hard to follow, but the defense won handily.
Cinder block walls are up about a floor high on the Dykhouse Center. So the north end zone looks better than it did last year, when a bunch of bushy tree stumps gave it a trashy appearance. The playing field itself didn't seem to winter very well. But I guess it doesn't have to look good for another five months.

[jackrabbit1979]

Re: Thoughts on the Spring Game

Didn't know exactly where to post this, but as I was leaving the baseball game today at "The Erv" I saw Thomas O'Brien and one of the WR's (I think Rollin) running routes and practicing by themselves on the football practice field. Maybe this is standard procedure for the QB's and WR's and I just happened to see O'Brien, but I thought it was pretty interesting beings that spring practice just ended on Saturday.

Whether they have a big impact in 2009 or not, I would expect good things from these two the next four years if this is any sign of their dedication and work ethic as freshmen - especially since it seems the physical tools are there as well.