I was at the practice today.
I have been going to these preseason scrimmages/practices pretty regularly over the last 25-30 years to get an idea of what we have.
My perception was that this was one of the more lightly attended events I can remember.
It was a nice idea that they had Chuck mic’ed up but there was not much content coming out of his mouth. Every once in a while he would call out who had carried the ball, made the catch or put pressure on the QB.
We would have gotten a lot more to just have a regular PA announcer. Big miss in my opinion.
My observations.
I noticed immediately during warmups that Gotkowski was not dressed during warm ups and did not see him on the sideline. I guessed that he had sustained a season ending injury or was doing a Daquan Finn imitation. Nothing said or uttered at the practice. Wouldn’t it have made sense for CM to mention that when McComb came in with the 1’s at the beginning of the scrimmage???
McComb looks to have a good arm but it was apparent he needs reps.
There was a fair amount of pressure put on by the defense against both McComb and Heavner. To me, Heavner looked like he was more comfortable which figures since he has played a lot more.
McComb showed a real nice arm on one pass into the end zone where he had to get the ball into a tight window on a line. Nice job.
This is the OL 1’s that I saw in there. I might be missing some that rotated in.
Evan Malcore
Jacob Schorsch
Greg Smith Jr..
Brian Beidatsch
Kris Manu
I don’t recall seeing Eric Smith in there. I might have missed him or he was hurt.
2’s were Mitchell Butler at C, Lawhorn Moore, Lucas Barnes and Ayden Annarino also got some reps.
I like the depth I saw at RB. Nelson started but didn’t see much in limited time.D’Shawntae Jones stood out for how much leaner and quicker he looked. He took one handoff designed to go inside for short yardage and burst outside with good speed for about a 15-20 yd TD.
I liked the way Yacamelli ran. Runs low and hard and is a punisher.
There is also a lot of depth at WR. Braylen Isom, Lynell Billups-Williams, Damarion Witten and Scoop Smith were all running with the 1.s. Maleek Huggins, Carl Jenkins were headlining the 2’s.
Scoop also was back on kick off returns as well as Lynell and Quintin Simmons who showed good speed on one kickoff return.
Christian Ross was the 1 tight end and Brendan Loftus rotated in with the 1’s.
DL 1’s included OJ Alexander, Willam Goodvine, Roosevelt Andrews. Grant Lyons, James Schott, Bai Jobe and Brach Rice. We seem to have more depth upfront than we have had in most years.
Zhaiylen Scott’s name was called out twice by CM playing with 2’s. He might be someone to keep your eyes on. Tyler Dikos also got a call out from CM.
McCain was a standout at LB which also saw CJ Young and Blaine Myrick out there as starters. Brock Uihlein started with 2’s but was with 1’s later.
Kaleb Martin and Mychal Yarborough look to be the top corners. I think Toney Coleman was held out. Amariyun Knighten had an INT of McComb.
Ben Minich was a starter at safety. Not sure who was on the other side although Jermaine Agee and Leo Colombi also were on the field a fair bit.
Kellan McLaughlin has a strong leg who gets the ball up a lot higher than Dziobian. He hit a 50 yard FG that had at least a 5-7 yard cushion.
Pierse Stainton looked good punting the ball.
I am sure I missed some names but I hope this helps fill in some of the gaps in information.
