2017 Scrimmage #1 Early Impressions

Harry · August 5, 2017

1). Fine looked good at QB and to me is showing no ill effects from the shoulder. I actually saw some nice things from Isadore today. All the QB's have red jerseys so you have to take that into account but he has a good arm and decent wheels. His height gives the inside passing game a different dimension.

1a). Next time they need to unlock the front gates. The only entry point was on the Athletic center side. No big deal but would make things easier.

2). Good to see Sam Rice there. He will be missed. Also saw former coach Chuck Mills.

3). Coach Littrell looks like he could line up and play. He is in great shape.

4). Hearing big things about White #16 the kid from Georgia. Looks the part although he dropped an easy one.

5). Deon Hair Griffin is going to help us this season. Great speed and routes.

6). Starting oline looked like Left tackle Big Jordan, guard Elex Woodworth, Creighton Barr at center, TJ Henson right guard Riley Mayfield at tackle.

7). Mayfield is a big dude but he got beat a couple times around the edge by guys like Wheeler which is no crime. Looks physically like a big time I-A tackle to me.

8). Saw a lot of Wilson and Nic Smith both lining up in the backfield. Was nice to see a lot of attention to Wilson with swing type passes and misdirection. My sense is we will see a lot of Smith and Tucker to spell Wilson this season and keep him healthy.

9). Tucker had some nice plays and may be a darkhorse to keep an eye on this season.

10). Saw one play where the had TE Kelvin Smith lining up in the backfield sort of like an H-back.

11). As far as first impressions on defense #4 Khari Muhammad made the biggest initial statement with a couple of key blow-ups against the 1st team offense. He looks like a player.

12). Jeff Wilson looks great. He had an impressive inside run on the 1st team D for about 7 yards where he showed he has some power.

13). 1st good hands award went to Deon Hair-Griffin who made a nice one handed grab.

14). Practice was very high intensity and up tempo. Loved hearing the music on the loud speakers. Another one bites the dust by queen, Tom Sawyer by Rush and some Beat box when I was listening.

15). I saw some nice things from #5 Mylam Peters from an standing end technique. Put a lot of pressure on the QB's.

16). Again, Muhammed (#4) breaks up passes very athletic.

17). 2nd team oline looks like Jalen Thomas left tackle, Gunter at guard, Mose at center, Pahinui at RG, Chandler Anthony at RT

18). Big Chum #15 had a nice curl reception while I was there.

19). #50 Hambone had a nice sack and just blowing up some linemen.. He just looks dominant out there folks. Exciting!

20) Bussey looked like he tweaked his leg on a play near the end zone but seemed fine after and walked off.

21). Kemon Hall the Itiwamba juco transfer had the biggest hit I saw while I was there.

22). Former QB Connor Means has really paid his dues in the weight room. He looks like a linebacker now.

23). Bryce English was very active and looks like he will help us a lot.

That is all for now. I know there were others and I hope they will share their thoughts.

Good to see @AustinFromUNT there as well as others.

Good to see @SilverEagle as well.

Harry · August 5, 2017

Good to see @BeyondTheGreen doing his thing as well.

GrayEagle · August 5, 2017

Harry, one correction. Darden (#16) is from Houston. The player from Georgia is White (#14). He runs good routes but needs better concentration as he has dropped a couple of would-be scores. I believe that he and Darden both play this year.

AustinFromUNT · August 5, 2017

I was surprised that Isadore was getting as many reps as he was getting. The staff must think he has a chance to play at least in some capacity. Pearson had a few good throws, but he also threw some wobblers after about 20 yards. Fine started off slow but he really picked up about 1/2 way through. Shanbour did the opposite starting hot and finishing not so great. Mason could have had a few solid runs if it were a real game rather than a scrimmage. There were a couple plays where he could have made a 10-15 yard run but was blew down because a hand was placed on him. I would think that as of now it's 1) Fine 2) Shanbour 3) Isadore & then Cade is going to get his RS. Connor Means looks like a big dude, much bigger than I remember, he was also with the first team defense at linebacker. I stayed around for a bit after practice to talk to a few friends I have on the team and they said the hype is real this year. Also, I heard someone talking to Coach Harrell and all he could do was talk about Mason, so I think GH has made up his mind now about the starter. All in all not bad at all. I would say we look better now than we did at this time last year. Also, it was great seeing you there @Harry

Harry · August 5, 2017

4 minutes ago, GrayEagle said:

Harry, one correction. Darden (#16) is from Houston. The player from Georgia is White (#14). He runs good routes but needs better concentration as he has dropped a couple of would-be scores. I believe that he and Darden both play this year.

Yeah the jersey numbers were throwing me off today. Darden is the real deal and I heard from several insiders that he was really making a huge impression to the staff. White from Georgia is impressing them as well. He may have dropped a couple of passes in the scrimmage but his size and showings in practice are turning heads.

BTG_Fan1 · August 5, 2017

Great to hear about the progress that some of these RS Fr made, in Nic Smith with him playing a larger role in keeping Wilson healthy, Griffen going to be another tool at WR, and Muhammad at S looking like he will step in and replace gray...

Muhammad will be an interesting guy to watch, hopefully he can play well this year and then be the guy after McClain leaves to led the safety's.

Also, is anyone else starting to worry about Rico's ability to stay healthy? Seems to get nicked up and banged up often.

UNTLifer · August 5, 2017

Thanks Harry. Point #16 was confusing to me unless Hair-Griffen has moved to DB.

Harry · August 5, 2017

1 minute ago, AustinFromUNT said:

Pearson had a few good throws, but he also threw some wobblers after about 20 yards

Yeah he had that one wobbler to the end zone but it seemed like there might have been a whistle blown. I had to leave early so I am hoping some of the others there will fill in the blanks etc. All in all I thought it was a very productive 1st scrimmage and there is a lot to be excited about this season.

BTG_Fan1 · August 5, 2017

Just now, AustinFromUNT said:

I was surprised that Isadore was getting as many reps as he was getting. The staff must think he has a chance to play at least in some capacity. Pearson had a few good throws, but he also threw some wobblers after about 20 yards. Fine started off slow but he really picked up about 1/2 way through. Shanbour did the opposite starting hot and finishing not so great. Mason could have had a few solid runs if it were a real game rather than a scrimmage. There were a couple plays where he could have made a 10-15 yard run but was blew down because a hand was placed on him. I would think that as of now it's 1) Fine 2) Shanbour 3) Isadore & then Cade is going to get his RS. Connor Means looks like a big dude, much bigger than I remember, he was also with the first team defense at linebacker. I stayed around for a bit after practice to talk to a few friends I have on the team and they said the hype is real this year. Also, I heard someone talking to Coach Harrell and all he could do was talk about Mason, so I think GH has made up his mind now about the starter. All in all not bad at all. I would say we look better now than we did at this time last year. Also, it was great seeing you there @Harry

Izzy is the highest rated QB in the QB room by 24/7 (believe he was an .8000 or above, was in the top 10/12 JUCO QBs). He is the wildcard at QB. He has all the tools, but can he make the smart choices and be accurate..

Harry · August 5, 2017

Just now, UNTLifer said:

Thanks Harry. Point #16 was confusing to me unless Hair-Griffen has moved to DB.

Sorry I meant to say Hair Griffin on that it was #4.

AustinFromUNT · August 5, 2017

2 minutes ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

Great to hear about the progress that some of these RS Fr made, in Nic Smith with him playing a larger role in keeping Wilson healthy, Griffen going to be another tool at WR, and Muhammad at S looking like he will step in and replace gray...

Muhammad will be an interesting guy to watch, hopefully he can play well this year and then be the guy after McClain leaves to led the safety's.

Also, is anyone else starting to worry about Rico's ability to stay healthy? Seems to get nicked up and banged up often.

Yeah I saw the pass. He kept running (but hobbling) for as long as he could after it happened. It was the same hamstring that he hurt last year. I saw home towards the end of practice with pads off. He needs to keep icing it and doing what he can to stay healthy, because when he's healthy he's good.

1 minute ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

Izzy is the highest rated QB in the QB room by 24/7 (believe he was an .8000 or above, was in the top 10/12 JUCO QBs). He is the wildcard at QB. He has all the tools, but can he make the smart choices and be accurate..

Also he seemed really hesistant about taking a hit. He would stop anytime a LB or safety got close to him. And he'll likely be cautious until he takes that first big hit, but the question is will he regain confidence after that.

Harry · August 5, 2017

10 minutes ago, GrayEagle said:

Harry, one correction. Darden (#16) is from Houston. The player from Georgia is White (#14). He runs good routes but needs better concentration as he has dropped a couple of would-be scores. I believe that he and Darden both play this year.

Thanks for the correction. I was speaking specifically of White -- I had forgotten that we added him late and he was getting a lot of reps early. He doesn't look like a late pick-up guy. We need to do some more research on him, especially coming from Georgia. Looks like we may have picked up a very nice player although he did have some drops today. Can anyone confirm his offer list or what the story was there. I remember us picking him up but could not recall the details as to why. We have had some juco's from Georgia but I don't recall a HS player we ever landed from Georgia.

AustinFromUNT · August 5, 2017

1 minute ago, Harry said:

Thanks for the correction. I was speaking specifically of White -- I had forgotten that we added him late and he was getting a lot of reps early. He doesn't look like a late pick-up guy. We need to do some more research on him, especially coming from Georgia. Looks like we may have picked up a very nice player although he did have some drops today. Can anyone confirm his offer list or what the story was there. I remember us picking him up but could not recall the details as to why. We have had some juco's from Georgia but I don't recall a HS player we ever landed from Georgia.

http://247sports.com/player/gregory-white-81322

He was originally committed to Grambling and then 2 days before NSD we offered and he chose us on NSD instead. Overall he had 8 offers (including us) with 2 being from other FBS schools (Tulane & Ohio). Not sure how we came about getting a guy from a Georgia HS but glad he is here.

Harry · August 5, 2017

9 minutes ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

Izzy is the highest rated QB in the QB room by 24/7 (believe he was an .8000 or above, was in the top 10/12 JUCO QBs). He is the wildcard at QB. He has all the tools, but can he make the smart choices and be accurate..

The deal is they put him in early today and he got way more reps than I expected. To me that may be the story of the scrimmage. We know that Littrell and Harrell will go with the best guy after last season so this is pretty telling to me. Perhaps this was an audition to see if he was worthy of more looks? It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Let me say this, he looked the part today. You could see why teams like TCU/Baylor etc were giving him looks. Like @AustinFromUNT said how will handle actual contact remains to be seen. This was a big step forward day for him though for sure.

1 minute ago, AustinFromUNT said:

http://247sports.com/player/gregory-white-81322

He was originally committed to Grambling and then 2 days before NSD we offered and he chose us on NSD instead. Overall he had 8 offers (including us) with 2 being from other FBS schools (Tulane & Ohio). Not sure how we came about getting a guy from a Georgia HS but glad he is here.

Thanks. The Tulane and Ohio offers are impressive. Those coaches don't mess around with idle offers. Would love to know the inside story on him and which coach landed him etc. Wonder if Ek was involved on him before he bolted and threw us a bone?

BTG_Fan1 · August 5, 2017

19 minutes ago, AustinFromUNT said:

Also he seemed really hesistant about taking a hit. He would stop anytime a LB or safety got close to him. And he'll likely be cautious until he takes that first big hit, but the question is will he regain confidence after that.

Just the rust of getting injured and not wanting to risk it. He will regain confidence, just gotta give it time.

11 minutes ago, AustinFromUNT said:

http://247sports.com/player/gregory-white-81322

He was originally committed to Grambling and then 2 days before NSD we offered and he chose us on NSD instead. Overall he had 8 offers (including us) with 2 being from other FBS schools (Tulane & Ohio). Not sure how we came about getting a guy from a Georgia HS but glad he is here.

T. Choice had insight on the kid because Choice is from GA. Believe the Tulane and Ohio offers had expired, and he was committed to Grambling at the time we offered then he flipped.

Siggers, White, Darden were added within the last 7 to 10 days (I believe) of NSD.. Reasons to believe and trust in this staff when it comes to getting kids.

10 minutes ago, Harry said:

The deal is they put him in early today and he got way more reps than I expected. To me that may be the story of the scrimmage. We know that Littrell and Harrell will go with the best guy after last season so this is pretty telling to me. Perhaps this was an audition to see if he was worthy of more looks? It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Let me say this, he looked the part today. You could see why teams like TCU/Baylor etc were giving him looks. Like @AustinFromUNT said how will handle actual contact remains to be seen. This was a big step forward day for him though for sure.

Agreed, we should not just assume it is a 2 man race between Quinn and Fine like it has been thought of. As bad as it sounds, Izzy has likely the most talent in that QB room even with a bad/healing knee right now. I really hope they can give him some playing time this year, because he was getting p5 looks before his injury. If can adjust to this offense, he could be a world of improvement to this offense.

Kid has a world of talent and is great to see that he was added as a PWO, a true-boom or bust...

Also, it should be a positive that Izzy was in that early.. that hopefully means he has been impressing people in camp so far.. But it could be that they did it early to see how his body would respond incase he had some type of flare up (swelling, etc. with the knee?) for him to get treatment?

Edited August 5, 2017 by BTG_Fan1

GrandGreen · August 5, 2017

Great reports Harry and others. A lot of very positive views that give hope of a lot of progress to come in the season. Playing against yourself is not a good predictor of the season, but the hope comes from reports of more players that may make a big difference.

UNT 90 Grad · August 5, 2017

2 hours ago, Harry said:

1a). Next time they need to unlock the front gates. The only entry point was on the Athletic center side. No big deal but would make things easier.

It's a cultural thing instilled by the previous staff. It'll take some time to work its way out.

GMG24 · August 5, 2017

1 hour ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

It's a cultural thing instilled by the previous staff. It'll take some time to work its way out.

A good friend of mine is the main "rapper" for this. He kicked at USF when they got up to #2 in the nation. He's a good dude.

MeanGreen_MBA · August 6, 2017

Did Pirtle get any time on the field?

GMG24 · August 6, 2017

3 minutes ago, MeanGreen_MBA said:

Did Pirtle get any time on the field?

Yes made a nice catch on a very crisp corner route, Shanbour dropped it in over his shoulder where only he could catch it. If Pirtle could get a tick faster he'd be lethal. Every route he ran was textbook.

MeanGreen_MBA · August 6, 2017

3 minutes ago, GMG24 said:

Yes made a nice catch on a very crisp corner route, Shanbour dropped it in over his shoulder where only he could catch it. If Pirtle could get a tick faster he'd be lethal. Every route he ran was textbook.

Possession guy?

TreeFiddy · August 6, 2017

Pirtle will have to make a living at running precise routes where the QB can count on him to be at a certain spot because he is not going to outrun a D1 DB.

Early signs look promising

Ben Gooding · August 6, 2017

7 hours ago, TreeFiddy said:

Pirtle will have to make a living at running precise routes where the QB can count on him to be at a certain spot because he is not going to outrun a D1 DB.

Early signs look promising

I would think what we're trying to do on O would be catered to just this.

Edited August 6, 2017 by Ben Gooding