Saturday Thoughts

[Harry]

Some initial thoughts from the scrimmage Saturday -

Oline is coming together nicely. Kelvin Drake jumped out to me as being a man among boys. He's healthy, and active and I think he may turnout to be one of the better guards we have ever had at UNT before it is all said and done. Soph JJ Johnson at center is the new leader of the line and he looked really good to me on Saturday. Santiago looks rock solid and Feeley is huge, he really looks like a division I linemen. There is depth, as former starters are running with the second team. I am going to go ahead and label this the strength of the team in 2009 although 2010 they could potentially be even better. We may not see the benefits from this until conference play however.

Riley looks very comfortable. I commented that he seems to have a better sense of the pressure than Gio did. There was one play where Riley went on a three step checked off a couple different routes, then stepped in the pocket which was starting to collapse and smartly threw the ball to the right sideline for a 17-yard gain. I think if it was last year, it would have taken Gio a second longer and he would have taken a huge hit and we would all be shaking our heads and saying what a tough guy Gio was. I saw good things from Tune and feel like he will be a capable backup. The freshman from Glen Rose has a big time arm and shows the inconsistency you would expect from a young one.

Running back was weird because everyone was wondering where Cam was. Dunbar showed terrific speed that will keep the defenses honest. I really, really liked Jeremi Mathis - he runs downhill and has a nice combo of speed and size. Micah even had one of his patented runs where he hurdles the defender. I like the numbers and ability we have a running back.

Wide receiver is more of a question mark. Of course both of the JUCO guys were out. The guy that surprised me the most was probably Forrest Rucker. He could be a very interesting possession receiver and he's so tall that he makes it really tough on the defensive backs. I also really like Darius Carey from New Orleans. I also liked Willie Taylor in the slot. The problem, still remains that we don't have a speed burner with some height that can stretch the field vertically. Perhaps Outlaw is that guy?

Last comment is on the defensive line. It was really interesting, they had Atkinson playing at nose and often time went with Weber at the DT. Gilmore was running 2nd team for most of the day. Weber looks like a player that will help us right away. The player that I was most impressed with was Cantly. He looks big-time at end. I was disappointed that LaChristopher Anyiem was out with a minor injury so I could not evaluate him. They look like they will go with Cantly at strong side end and AK47 at rush end. AK47 is very quick and I saw him make plays down the line which is nice. I do agree with greyeagle that AK47 will get beat to death by tackle and pulling guards over the course of the season. Keep an eye on Tyler Washington who was getting some looks at defensive end. He has explosive speed and while undersized could help spell AK47 during the season. Right now, with them moving Weber and Gilmore (who I projected to be the starting defensive ends) to the inside it leaves some question marks at end.

My biggest issue with the defense is there is really only one guy that had a monsterous hit and that was - you guessed it - Derrian Williams. We need more big time plays from the defensive side of the football to beat teams like Ball state and I sometimes wonder where they will come from. On a positive note, I do believe this offense is a lot better than what we had last year which will take some pressure off the defense. Don't be surprised to see Dodge commit more resources to the running game early this season as it will buy him time to get the defense together.

Last comment, I really like the Serrano kid at place kicker. He has a smooth form and I thought he looked better than Jeremy Knott on this particular day.

[BIG DAWG]

I am not concerned in the least about the smallish DE's or Gilmore's move.

With the DL this year, who is starting at DE isn't going to matter because we are going to rotate players, big, small, and every combination at DE. We will have rush ends, and run-suffing ends playing at all different times of the game.

As far as the Gilmore move...for these coaches, this is their life, their financial stability...they are going to make decisions that they believe wil ensure they continue to get paid.

Now I know there have been decisions made in recent years that have had us scratching our heads, but those decisions haven't come from Gary DeLoach and Mike Nelson, two people that have been doing this for a long time, and have MANY skins on the wall, unlike thier predecessor.

I guess my point is trust in the folks that do this for a living...even though many of you have been doing from an arm chair for many more years.

(for those of you who have been pulling up posts of mine from several years back recently, YES, I have been guilty of this a time or two in the past...I am turning over a new leaf)