UNT Football 2015 Spring Scrimmage Reports

greenit · March 11, 2015

The players were in shorts/jerseys and helmets. No Pads.

The following is only based on 1 practice, so take it with a grain of salt, but this is what I saw:

The first 1/4 of practice was primarily stretching/warmup, 2nd 1/4 was individual positional drils, 3rd 1/4 was team/group drills (QB/WR vs DBs, Linemen together, ST), and the last 1/4 was 11 on 11 touch with 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, and 3 vs 3 (although there were 5 QBs that saw action).

Not surprisingly, I spent a lot of time focused on the QBs, so I will just summarize them in this post. The good news is that I don't think there will be as much of a logjam as people thing. The bad news is that some of the people that are expected to be part of that log jam did not look like they were close to competing (at least for today). In terms of who was getting the most reps, it seemed pretty clear that McNulty was getting the most, then Greer, then I would say DW, then Means, then the rest (although Cousins did get a series during 11 on 11 and the rest of the rest did not).

McNulty - Looked pretty much like the end of last year. He did not get an arm transplant over the winter.

Greer - Seemed to get reps as the #2 most of the day. I hope he was just having a bad day, because IMO he looked bad. Really bad. Even in individual drills he took way too long getting rid of the ball and accuracy was not there. It did not get any better for him in the skill position drills or the 11 on 11. I would not even have him in the top 4 based on what I saw today. I am sure Greer will continue to get opportunity since he is starting out at 2 on the depth chart, but would not surprise me to see him drop down before end of spring if any of the guys below can push him.

DW - Looked similar to last year. Not much extra bulk from what I could tell. Some positive moments, but then would follow it up with mental mistakes, fumbled snaps, etc...

Means - Maybe just a bad day, but I did not think he looked good at all. His accuracy was off most of the day. Release was slightly quicker than Greer. Did not seem to have a lot of zip on the ball to me. I was disappointed by what I saw today.

Chumley - Man is he athletic, but raw/raw/raw. His mechanics make Jameis Winston look like Tom Brady. He was clearly lost during most of the early drills, could not throw a spiral, and was throwing everything high, real high. Maybe some of it was nerves. He settled down a bit, but not before setting a first impression. It would be hard for me to envision him making the top 3 or 4 of the depth chart by the start of the season, but not sure that is the plan anyway. I expect him to work his tail off during a redshirt season if he wants to play QB.

Wells - Lefty. Reasonably strong arm with decent speed. Not tall. Actually got in a series during the 11 on 11 drill. It would surprise me if he is ready to make the jump into the top 3 on the depth chart, but if he keeps working, he has some potential/ability down the road.

Cousins - Makes McNulty's arm look strong. Not sure the story here, but will need to continue working hard and increase arm strength to see time as a QB.

Shanbour - Did not participate in 11 on 11 so did not get to evaluate with active linemen rushing him. Of the drills he participated in, I would say he looked the most impressive. He seemed to be the smallest of the QBs. Maybe the same height as Wells, but not the girth. Strong, accurate arm. Kept the ball down. Looked very good in the WR vs DB drills where there were 3 or 4 WR in the pattern. Picked apart the defense in the drill. Quickest release of the QBs I saw today. Canales had him (only him) signalling plays during the 11 on 11. He was coaching up some of the new guys (Chumley for example) during the drills when they didn't know what to do. Showing leadership.

Grimm - Seemed to have a decent arm. Speed did not stand out to me. Did not get in 11 on 11 and I am not sure if he got in the WR vs DB drill. Kind of gets an incomplete since I did not see him enough to form a strong opinion. I say it was Grimm that I was watching. The payer had a red jersey with #16 on it. Grimm is listed on the roster as a WR. There was also a WR wearing #16 white jersey. I was not watching close enough to see if it was the same player and just removing the red jersey, but the WR #16 seemed to have a little something and definitely had some size on the outside. Would like to know who it was playing WR if it was not Grimm.

If I had to knee jerk rate the QBs after day 1, mine would be (I am sure others would see it differently):

McNulty
Williams
Shanbour
Wells/Means
Greer
Chumley/Cousins/Grimm

Edited March 11, 2015 by greenit

Mean Green 93-98 · March 11, 2015

Thanks for the observations. Based on your comments, I would have expected you to rank Shanbour #1.

greenit · March 11, 2015

Thanks for the observations. Based on your comments, I would have expected you to rank Shanbour #1.

He did have a really good day IMO, but not enough to put him ahead of McNulty and DW based on the one day. However, I did think it was enough to go in front of Means (since I did not see him practice last year it was the first I saw of him as well) and Greer (maybe I am being too harsh, but I thought he looked really bad, could be left over baggage).

SilverEagle · March 11, 2015

He did have a really good day IMO, but not enough to put him ahead of McNulty and DW based on the one day. However, I did think it was enough to go in front of Means (since I did not see him practice last year it was the first I saw of him as well) and Greer (maybe I am being too harsh, but I thought he looked really bad, could be left over baggage).

I was there as well and sat with a couple of guys who were doing QB evaluations at the request of the coaching staff. One of them described himself as a volunteer coach. He knew all the QB's except for Chumley. He confirmed what I observed last spring and what greenit has observed at today's practice about Shanbour. And that is that he has the quickest release of any of the QB's and he added that he throws one of the hardest passes out there. So I asked the volunteer coach the obvious question, "why has he been on the sideline all this time?" . The answer, turf toe. Sanbour has been battling turf toe for the last two years, and if he's completely healed, he is minimally going to push the rest of the pack to perform at a higher level. The volunteer coach added that Shanbour is constantly helping the other QB's with their techniques and reads. Supposedly, Shanbour is the smartest QB out there. In the drills that greenit described above Shanbour threw an absolute laser on a 20-30 yard crossing pattern, hitting the (well covered) WR in stride.

Other observations, #81 Kahn, is the real deal. He's at least as fast and quick as Chancellor and can catch it better. Actually he's more like Casey Fitzgerald. Both of the Carthage boys (#3 Goree and #80 Rutherford) looked real good, but the surprising thing to me was some of the moves the very lanky Rutherford (6'5" X 185) has after the catch. An unknown WR wearing #16 was getting a lot of reps and looked very good. He looked to be about 6'3". Lots of big targets out there in the WR corps.

RB's...Jimmerson and Wilson looked pretty much as they did last year. Others....Rex Rollins (#20) is back and looking as great as ever. If he can only stay healthy for a full season..... #32 (Ezzard) looked good. Good speed and a great burst when he cut upfield. Ivory #29, looked real fast. He needs to learn to make a decision quicker and not waste time dancing around before he makes his cut. I also saw Tucker (#25) out there and he was looking good as well. Unknowns who looked good at RB.....#34 and #44. Neither are on the roster and both looked pretty impressive. If everyone stays healthy I may be repeating my statement from last year about our depth at RB. Let the debates begin!

Defense. The DB's were getting real aggressive during the 11 on 11 drills and one fight broke out and one near fight almost happened. DE #90 was getting into the backfield a lot. #15 was showing a lot of aggressiveness and high energy.

NorthTexan95 · March 11, 2015

Very disheartening description of our QB play.

Marty · March 11, 2015

I saw a tweet from one of the players (maybe Fred Scott) a couple of weeks back praising Shambour for his work ethic and leadership.

Aldo · March 11, 2015

Thanks for those observations fellas.

greenit · March 11, 2015

I was there as well and sat with a couple of guys who were doing QB evaluations at the request of the coaching staff. One of them described himself as a volunteer coach. He knew all the QB's except for Chumley. He confirmed what I observed last spring and what greenit has observed at today's practice about Shanbour. And that is that he has the quickest release of any of the QB's and he added that he throws one of the hardest passes out there. So I asked the volunteer coach the obvious question, "why has he been on the sideline all this time?" . The answer, turf toe. Sanbour has been battling turf toe for the last two years, and if he's completely healed, he is minimally going to push the rest of the pack to perform at a higher level. The volunteer coach added that Shanbour is constantly helping the other QB's with their techniques and reads. Supposedly, Shanbour is the smartest QB out there. In the drills that greenit described above Shanbour threw an absolute laser on a 20-30 yard crossing pattern, hitting the (well covered) WR in stride.

Other observations, #81 Kahn, is the real deal. He's at least as fast and quick as Chancellor and can catch it better. Actually he's more like Casey Fitzgerald. Both of the Carthage boys (#3 Goree and #80 Rutherford) looked real good, but the surprising thing to me was some of the moves the very lanky Rutherford (6'5" X 185) has after the catch. An unknown WR wearing #16 was getting a lot of reps and looked very good. He looked to be about 6'3". Lots of big targets out there in the WR corps.

RB's...Jimmerson and Wilson looked pretty much as they did last year. Others....Rex Rollins (#20) is back and looking as great as ever. If he can only stay healthy for a full season..... #32 (Ezzard) looked good. Good speed and a great burst when he cut upfield. Ivory #29, looked real fast. He needs to learn to make a decision quicker and not waste time dancing around before he makes his cut. I also saw Tucker (#25) out there and he was looking good as well. Unknowns who looked good at RB.....#34 and #44. Neither are on the roster and both looked pretty impressive. If everyone stays healthy I may be repeating my statement from last year about our depth at RB. Let the debates begin!

Defense. The DB's were getting real aggressive during the 11 on 11 drills and one fight broke out and one near fight almost happened. DE #90 was getting into the backfield a lot. #15 was showing a lot of aggressiveness and high energy.

Agree with all of this. Khan looks like he could immediately contribute. The ball kept finding him. Goree seems to love to chirp. He does it a lot. Let's hope he backs it up with his play. Thompson is going to be at a big disadvantage missing Spring practice. I though Harris, Smiley, Kidsey, and Goree looked about as expected. However Khan, Rutherford and #16 were nice surprises. Would like to know the story behind #16 at WR (mentioned previously that there was also #16 at QB so not sure if it is Grimm or not). As Silver mentioned, #16 looked to be 6-3 or 6-4 (and I would guess 215-220lb range). He made some nice plays. Did not seem to be a burner, but was fast enough to get open and used his size to his advantage. Pleasant surprise.

Rollins may be the fastest RB with the ball in his hands. Good to see him apparently healthy. He was easily getting around the corner when he wanted.

Tuaalo plays was showing some emotion and attitude. Good to see. He should definitely push Zero. Johnson appears to have put on a little weight at DE. He looked good physically. Polk had a few 'sacks' during 11 on 11.

Did not think the OL had a good day as unit. During 11 on 11, there were lots of guys getting into the backfield. I suppose some of it is to be expected from a unit with so many new parts. Individually, there were some encouraging signs. Ochs looks like he may be able to contribute. If Rice's ability can match his attitude/confidence, he should be fine. Trussell appears to have has put on a decent bit of weight and was playing guard. Miles looks like he is physically ready to push for playing time. Barr was hustling, and seems to have some ability, but he needs some additional size. It may be unfair to say, but Epps looked out of shape to me. There seems to be a lot of decent parts, but will take some time to build continuity. However, I hope the QB that wins the job is mobile, just in case.

I was so focused on the other side of the ball that I did not pay a lot of attention to what the DBs were doing (other than chirping a lot).

**Knee jerk observations based on 1 practice in shorts/helmets.

Edited March 11, 2015 by greenit

SilverEagle · March 11, 2015

Couple of more thoughts/remembrances. As a possible example of Kahn's speed elusiveness they sent him over to the punt returners (#4 and #1) to return punts, but the drill ended before he could shag a few.

In addition to #90 making life miserable for the QB's, Polk #42 was in there just as much. He also had an int. I can't remember who was throwing it at the time.

I have to agree about McNulty. After one long successful sideline throw, one of the evaluators commented.."that would have been intercepted against teams like Texas". I agreed, it hung in the air entirely too long. He's also still trying to shoehorn throws into very tight coverage over the middle....also an "int" against most of our opponents.

I agree with greenit about Williams. Very impressive at times, then mental mistakes like dropping a couple of snaps.

Edited March 11, 2015 by SilverEagle

UNT90 · March 11, 2015

Question, can you even evaluate OL and DL play when they aren't in pads and there isn't any contact? If so, how so?

And I appreciate the updates.

Harry · March 11, 2015

Great insight and comments fellas! +1

FirefightnRick · March 11, 2015

Question, can you even evaluate OL and DL play when they aren't in pads and there isn't any contact? If so, how so?
And I appreciate the updates.

Speed and agility of their footwork and ositioning for leverage. These drills are very physical despite not having pads on. The DL's do everything they can to gets past, and the OL does everything he can to not allow him to get by.

It's a lot of fun to watch.

Rick

UNT90 · March 11, 2015

So they make contact like regular blocking? Interesting.

Army of Dad · March 11, 2015

So they make contact like regular blocking? Interesting.

At least some no pads football camps require linemen to bring a helmet and those are off season HS camps...

FirefightnRick · March 11, 2015

So they make contact like regular blocking? Interesting.

Here's individuals WITHOUT helmets. They get to this point in 11 on 11. Be sure to watch till the end for the Pancake of the Year play.

http://youtu.be/FPSOGM-TOQA

Rick

BillySee58 · March 11, 2015

Yeah, I could see Khan being a solid contributor if he sticks it out here and keeps performing well. He's not your average walkon. He had a lot of FCS and service academy offers. I also really liked his film.

greenit · March 12, 2015

Anyone go to practice today and care to share what you saw?

eddie from ark · March 12, 2015

Hello Mean Green Nation!: I did not see the first practice, but I have followed Quinn Shanbour since high school. He attended Heritage Hall in Oklahoma City and played with Sterling Shepherd (starting wide receiver at OU) and Barry Sanders Jr. (running back at Stanford). Many who watched believed Quinn was the best athlete of the bunch. He has tremendous arm strength and a lightning fast release...and he can run. He may be the fastest player in your backfield!

In Arkansas, I watched Quinn play a 7-man football tournament. He was every bit as impressive as the 4 star recruit, Austin Allen, signed by the Razorbacks and has all the tools to be a great addition to your team. I hope he gets the chance!

greenminer · March 12, 2015

Hello Mean Green Nation!: I did not see the first practice, but I have followed Quinn Shanbour since high school. He attended Heritage Hall in Oklahoma City and played with Sterling Shepherd (starting wide receiver at OU) and Barry Sanders Jr. (running back at Stanford). Many who watched believed Quinn was the best athlete of the bunch. He has tremendous arm strength and a lightning fast release...and he can run. He may be the fastest player in your backfield!

In Arkansas, I watched Quinn play a 7-man football tournament. He was every bit as impressive as the 4 star recruit, Austin Allen, signed by the Razorbacks and has all the tools to be a great addition to your team. I hope he gets the chance!

Great input. I would love to see this kid more. I hope this toe turf issue is behind him.

SilverEagle, I always appreciate your player observations. A big "Thank you!".

greenit · March 12, 2015

Just realized the 2nd practice is not until Thursday at 3:30pm.

GreenGonzo · March 12, 2015

Go Shanbour go! You can do it!

SilverEagle · March 12, 2015

Great input. I would love to see this kid more. I hope this toe turf issue is behind him.
SilverEagle, I always appreciate your player observations. A big "Thank you!".

You're so very kind to an old contrarian.

SilverEagle · March 12, 2015

Hello Mean Green Nation!: I did not see the first practice, but I have followed Quinn Shanbour since high school. He attended Heritage Hall in Oklahoma City and played with Sterling Shepherd (starting wide receiver at OU) and Barry Sanders Jr. (running back at Stanford). Many who watched believed Quinn was the best athlete of the bunch. He has tremendous arm strength and a lightning fast release...and he can run. He may be the fastest player in your backfield!

In Arkansas, I watched Quinn play a 7-man football tournament. He was every bit as impressive as the 4 star recruit, Austin Allen, signed by the Razorbacks and has all the tools to be a great addition to your team. I hope he gets the chance!

Eddie, please don't tease us like that. When it comes to QB's we're a desperate bunch.................

SilverEagle · March 12, 2015

Not to belabor the point, but does anyone with medical/sports-injury knowledge know how long it typically takes to get over turf toe?

SSP · March 12, 2015

Not to belabor the point, but does anyone with medical/sports-injury knowledge know how long it typically takes to get over turf toe?

I don't know his case specifically but I do know that if he has had turf toe for that long (probably had a dislocation, complete tear or fractures) he's flirting with a surgical fix to prevent a bone spur and a variety of other issues.

It most likely wasn't treated correctly the first time he acquired the injury and he continued to reinjure it.

Edited March 12, 2015 by SSP