Practice update from Sat April 2

Aldo · April 3, 2016

My two cents.

All of the QBs have improved since last year.

Chumley gets most improved award. Better stance, better form, better throw (rocket arm). But his passes are still wobbly, and he can only complete it to a receiver going in a straight line (outs and posts). Other routes over the middle were batted, way off, or INT'd. Team was rallying around him whenever he made a positive play after a mistake. Still the #4 qb out there, but boy he is a physical specimen. Hope they at least get to use his athleticism out there one day.

Means still has some accuracy concerns, but in the intermediate range has a good arm. Daughter was being very distracting whenever he played so didn't get a fair assessment.

Shanbour showed great form on a pass on the run. Decision making is too slow. Needs to speed up progression. Form is fine. Definitely looks small out there.

Morris is the clear lead out there. Accurate and places the balls in the right spots. Won't add to what other folks have said.

Bendy looks big out there and was making plays. Goree was doing his thing, but Bendy was looking really good in drills. Rutherford too. Glad they were seeing so much time and using it to their advantage. Goree was being the touted Goree. Thompson has good frame and good hands, really want to see more of him. TEs were strong over the middle.

We got big receivers y'all, and I'm slobbery.

SilverEagle · April 3, 2016

3 hours ago, Aldo said:

My two cents.

All of the QBs have improved since last year.

Chumley gets most improved award. Better stance, better form, better throw (rocket arm). But his passes are still wobbly, and he can only complete it to a receiver going in a straight line (outs and posts). Other routes over the middle were batted, way off, or INT'd. Team was rallying around him whenever he made a positive play after a mistake. Still the #4 qb out there, but boy he is a physical specimen. Hope they at least get to use his athleticism out there one day.

Means still has some accuracy concerns, but in the intermediate range has a good arm. Daughter was being very distracting whenever he played so didn't get a fair assessment.

Shanbour showed great form on a pass on the run. Decision making is too slow. Needs to speed up progression. Form is fine. Definitely looks small out there.

Morris is the clear lead out there. Accurate and places the balls in the right spots. Won't add to what other folks have said.

Bendy looks big out there and was making plays. Goree was doing his thing, but Bendy was looking really good in drills. Rutherford too. Glad they were seeing so much time and using it to their advantage. Goree was being the touted Goree. Thompson has good frame and good hands, really want to see more of him. TEs were strong over the middle.

We got big receivers y'all, and I'm slobbery.

This is so true. I won't speculate on what the last part of that sentence means.

Bendy (at least for this practice/scrimmage) took on a more real look (as opposed to last year when you looked at him on the sideline and said "damn! who's that lanky guy?) and made some good catches.

Glad to hear (from BV's article) that Rutherford is getting more comfortable with D-1 football. It looked that way yesterday.

And to add something else about the passing game. It seems obvious from the live action part of the scrimmage that our current coaching staff is dedicated to having a very downfield passing game. You know all those games on TV in recent history when the QB throws it up for their tall, talented receivers to go after it and bring it down "Josh Doctson, Dez Bryant-style?" Well they are sending our tall receivers down on similar plays and looking to see who can fight for it upstairs and bring it down. Some of the basic QB drills address the same issue. At least two warm-up exercises have the QB's practicing their "touch" passes and/or throwing a fade pattern. One had them standing about 20-25 yards away from a plastic 55 gallon trash container and getting five shots per turn at lobbing it into the container. Morris and Shanbour did the best. They both just barely threw it over the container with Shanbour scraping the outside rim with two throws. Means and Chumley had a much harder time with that exercise.

Two mystery receivers #84 and #40. Neither were on the list. #40 made a spectacular one handed grab of an over-the-shoulder sideline pass that (before he brought it down) looked like an over throw.

Kahn (#81) was not out there, but Gavin Culberson (#83) was doing a pretty good imitation of him yesterday. He looks like a promising "possession" receiver.

Back to the QB's and their warm-up exercises. I suppose every coach has their own pet warm-up exercise for their QB's, but I saw one that was interesting yesterday. All four QB divided up two on one side and two on the other with a WR by their side and then threw back and forth to the WR. It all looked pretty standard except that all the QB's had to hold one of those foam flotation noodles (cut to one foot lengths) under their left arm while throwing.

addendum: Thaddeous Thompson (#11) also looked great out there yesterday. Another of our talented and tall (6'2") WR's.

Edited April 3, 2016 by SilverEagle

southsideguy · April 3, 2016

Morris did a good job on reading his receivers and would move to the next if the coverage was there. That what i really noticed about him. Hard to tell how good anyone is because we are going against ourselves-mini mac had a a good spring practice game against our defense last year. I hope it is all coming together but the d line needs more depth. watch the coach work with them on technique but there were only four of them.

Do we have any scholarships left? Can we call Tre Johnson back? I did notice the defense back coach was not cutting buyers any slack at practice.

North Texas Shep · April 4, 2016

It seemed good all around. I was impressed at times but it all comes down to translation to next season. Guys look to have bought into the new staff, practicing hard, and learning. The structure is what I was most impressed with. Reminds me of TCU practices I have seen. Pretty pumped.

Cr1028 · April 4, 2016

On 4/2/2016 at 5:39 PM, UNT90 said:

The difference was talent. Don't kid yourself. Talent at QB, LB, and DL being the glaring, kick your teeth in difference.

I understand the need to feel optimistic, but no competitor wants to lose.

Feel good talk.

On 4/3/2016 at 8:00 PM, Ben Gooding said:

You're right. Talent in the "role player" positions were superior in 2013. We had a big, nasty D tackle that just kind of went about his business and filled holes. We had a NFL LB. Maybe more importantly than all and still overlooked when talked about that team was a very good WLB in Will Wright. He hid a lot of mistakes on that defense with his athleticism. On O we had a work horse at RB in Byrd and a pure possession guy in Darnell. Those kind of players are always a taken for granted commodity. The common theme with all of those players though was swagger, specifically in the back end on D but they all had it and played with it. It was contagious. UT has a problem with it. They can recruit the players, but the confidence of a winner isn't there and hasn't been for 4-5 years.

Don't forget how vital our safeties were in Trice and Lee. They were light-years better than Downing and Shorter/Graham or Gray and McClain(so far).

Edited April 4, 2016 by Cr1028

Christopher Walker · April 4, 2016

On 4/2/2016 at 4:23 PM, UNT Mean Green said:

Observations

ENVIRONMENT: lots of energy from the staff, music playing the entire time, periods seem to be clearly mapped out, it appears players are settling into the new practice regimen

QB: 5 (Morris) is good, somewhat similar to Jeff Driskel; 19 (Shanbour) is a good backup; after these two, it's clear that Means and Chumly are there for merely enough arms to practice

RB: 26 (Wilson) is the best player on the field, and has a chance to have a big year in this offense; 29 (Ivery) is a solid complimentary back who can help in the passing game; not much depth after this; look for the freshman from Arlington Martin to provide immediate depth

WR: 1 (Smiley) has a cast and was not effective; 2 (Rutherford) had a good day, seems to be maturing; 3 (Goree) is probably the best one of the bunch currently, looks similar to Josh Doctson of TCU, had several TD catches ; 11 (Thaddeus Thompson) looked solid inside catching several drag, slants, flats; 80 (Bendy) has upside; after this there's nothing in terms of quality; young recruits (Griffin, Bussey, Wilson) will easily make two deep

OL: first group today is okay with exception of C; 64 (Sam Rice) plays hard; 67 (Miles) is decent; 54 (Barr) and 76 (Harrison Sorge) look completely overwhelmed and out of place; no depth here; signing of Cody Hayes is huge and may need another immediate impact guy to help this fall

TE: while it looks like this staff wants use the TE, there's a lot of development needed to have any effectiveness; 86 (Dillman) is the best athlete but looks lost

DE: 7 (Combs) looked very good, dominating 67 routinely; 30 (Jarrian Roberts) was solid; didn't notice 56 (Dilonga); 94 (Joseph Ozougwu) is quick; 95 (Wheeler) appears to have a chance to be best of group; 99 (Flusche) plays with a high intensity

DT: 15 (Tauaalo) was okay; 34 (English) is a difference maker; 44 (Sid Moore) wasn't good; 49 (Roderick Young) was solid; 98 (R.D. Weggman) was good

LB: 10 (Minor) was active; 17 (Finney) seemed to make plays here and there; 32 (~~Ezzard~~ Scott) was strong; 36 (~~Maki~~ Montgomery) was okay; 37 (Brandon Garner) made some plays; very thin position group that will benefit from addition of top recruits

DB: this is the best group on the team; 16 (Chad Davis) and 19 (Schilleci) made a lot of plays; 21 (Gray) and 23 (McClain) were solid; 31 (Buyers) was solid; 34 (Nate Brooks) was good; 41 (Ashton Preston) was a step slow

FTFThose who don't have the roster memorized yet.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Christopher Walker

untjim1995 · April 4, 2016

Great stuff, guys...Morris is probably the key to this upcoming season being remotely successful. Those WRs need a QB that can actually throw a ball downfield--to them. The lines will be the key, as usual. If they can keep Morris healthy and get Wilson some running lanes, they have a chance to put up some great numbers. The Defensive front seven is the biggest worry, but it sounds like a new regime has them playing harder. Maybe the scheme can get us some extra stops and TOs...

UNTLifer · April 4, 2016

Any sighting of #93, DT Julius Combes?

GOMG2013 · April 4, 2016

1 hour ago, Christopher Walker said:

FTFThose who don't have the roster memorized yet.

I think the #32 he was referring to was Fred Scott.

UNT90 · April 4, 2016

13 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

Don't forget how vital our safeties were in Trice and Lee. They were light-years better than Downing and Shorter/Graham or Gray and McClain(so far).

Right you are. A much more talented team. Those teams always seem to have more "swagger."

GrayEagle · April 4, 2016

14 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

Don't forget how vital our safeties were in Trice and Lee. They were light-years better than Downing and Shorter/Graham or Gray and McClain(so far).

Don't sell McClain and Gray short. Maybe it's because we were weak defensively last year but they each had more than 100 tackles. Because Trice was such a ballhawk his senior season, he and Lee had more interceptions and passes broken up. About the same in forced fumbles.

I hope that McClain and Gray won't have that many tackles this season, meaning that the stop troops in front of them will be doing their job.

Christopher Walker · April 4, 2016

1 hour ago, GOMG2013 said:

I think the #32 he was referring to was Fred Scott.

You are more thank likely correct. Updated.

GOMG2013 · April 4, 2016

24 minutes ago, GrayEagle said:

Don't sell McClain and Gray short. Maybe it's because we were weak defensively last year but they each had more than 100 tackles. Because Trice was such a ballhawk his senior season, he and Lee had more interceptions and passes broken up. About the same in forced fumbles.

I hope that McClain and Gray won't have that many tackles this season, meaning that the stop troops in front of them will be doing their job.

This.

The biggest drop off from 2013 to last season was LB. Trice and Lee would have looked similar if they had played with the LBs from last season.

From an athletic standpoint, gray and mcclain are probably better. Now just get some NFL quality LBs in front of them...well not even NFL quality. I'm being greedy. Just some solid D1 starters for now.

FirefightnRick · April 4, 2016

Did any of the QB's, RB's and WR's get hit Saturday?

Rick

SilverEagle · April 4, 2016

33 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

Did any of the QB's, RB's and WR's get hit Saturday?

Rick

Only the RB's and WR's.

FirefightnRick · April 4, 2016

2 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

Only the RB's and WR's.

Maybe next week then. I'd hate for us to go into the season next fall not knowing what we got.

Rick

GrayEagle · April 5, 2016

On 4/4/2016 at 10:43 PM, Cr1028 said:

Don't forget how vital our safeties were in Trice and Lee. They were light-years better than Downing and Shorter/Graham or Gray and McClain(so far).

Don't sell McClain and Gray short. Maybe it's because we were weak defensively last year but they each had more than 100 tackles. Because Trice was such a ballhawk his senior season, he and Lee had more interceptions and passes broken up. About the same in forced fumbles.

I hope that McClain and Gray won't have that many tackles this season, meaning that the stop troops in front of them will be doing their job.

Also, the 36 referenced with the linebackers is not Maki; it is Jalen Montgomery. Connor Maki is on offense.

UNT90 · April 5, 2016

12 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Maybe next week then. I'd hate for us to go into the season next fall not knowing what we got.

Rick

QB's don't get hit in practice or scrimmages. Never know what you truly have until your starter takes that first big hit.

See one Josh Greer.

FirefightnRick · April 5, 2016

1 hour ago, UNT90 said:

QB's don't get hit in practice or scrimmages. Never know what you truly have until your starter takes that first big hit.

See one Josh Greer.

Yup, and I hate it. One thing I liked about Dickey was we always were the tougher team. I thought him having Spring training in February and making the QB's get hit was an excellent way to prepare for the fall.

Now...who knows?

Rick

MeanGreenTexan · April 5, 2016

2 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

Yup, and I hate it. One thing I liked about Dickey was we always were the tougher team. I thought him having Spring training in February and making the QB's get hit was an excellent way to prepare for the fall.

Now...who knows?

Rick

Fine to have your QB's get hit in practice when you have Hall & Smith... both very capable QBs.

If Morris were to get hit too hard in Spring and was injured, we would be in a world of hurt in the fall.

UNT90 · April 5, 2016

1 minute ago, FirefightnRick said:

Yup, and I hate it. One thing I liked about Dickey was we always were the tougher team. I thought him having Spring training in February and making the QB's get hit was an excellent way to prepare for the fall.

Now...who knows?

Rick

But everyone would BBQ Littrell if Morris got hurt in practice, especially with the zero depth that is the UNT QB position.

Double edged sword, fo sho.

2 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Fine to have your QB's get hit in practice when you have Hall & Smith... both very capable QBs.

If Morris were to get hit too hard in Spring and was injured, we would be in a world of hurt in the fall.

We should hold hand and skip off into the sunset together...

MeanGreenTexan · April 5, 2016

6 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

We should hold hand and skip off into the sunset together...

... only if RV comes with us.

Wag Tag · April 5, 2016

19 hours ago, GrayEagle said:

Don't sell McClain and Gray short. Maybe it's because we were weak defensively last year but they each had more than 100 tackles. Because Trice was such a ballhawk his senior season, he and Lee had more interceptions and passes broken up. About the same in forced fumbles.

I hope that McClain and Gray won't have that many tackles this season, meaning that the stop troops in front of them will be doing their job.

With tighter coverage and a greater responsibility for run support especially on the edges, I think they should have a great year! GMG

UNT90 · April 5, 2016

10 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

... only if RV comes with us.

That won't happen until that stupid Eagle statute in the end zone is replaced with a sweatervest statute that RV carved himself from a Hattiesburg Redbud tree and weatherproofed with the blood of Darrell Dickey's and Todd Dodge's coaching career.

GrayEagle · April 5, 2016

I think that LB will be the most improved position this year.

It will start with better coaching. Also, our most touted linebacker, Will Johnson, will be here for fall practice. We'll also have a highly rated freshman, Ladarius Hamilton reporting then as well

. Finney seemed to improve with every game. Fred Scott has been a pretty solid player for the last two years. Brandon Garner is another player who began finding his role last year. Throw in Calvin Minor and maybe Montgomery; then add the possible development of newcomer Ejiya and we could have a very active group.

Edited April 5, 2016 by GrayEagle
word change