First UNT Practice of 2014 Observations

[Christopher Walker]

The following thoughts are completely uninformed and should not be taken as knowledgable evaluation... whatsoever.

----

Hey, practices are actually open! The dozen or so of us outsiders who showed up were initially relegating ourselves to outside the fencing, but Dir. of Operations Scott Conley called us all in, welcomed us, and graciously answered some personnel questions we had.

The overall group chemistry was electric as we thought it would be - certainly helps to have the season we just had though.

The Defense is feisty, loud, and talkative. They got the goat of the offense all day - James Jones was especially motivating on the sidelines. The jibing on a particularly beautiful pick-six was awesome.

On the QBs:

• #5 - McNulty: same MiniMac as we've always known
• #6 - Dajon: it might have been just the instances I was watching, but it looks like DW got the most reps with the 1's today
• #7 - Means: a bit fresh-faced, some under-thrown balls for sure
• #8 - Greer: looks to step into a veteran-style of leadership role right off the bat, has some wheels for sure
• #13 - Cousins: still an unknown and didn't see too much from him
• #19 - Shanbour: holy. cow. though undersized, he's got the absolute tightest, quickest, and most consistent throwing motion out of the group
• No one guy completely separated himself from the five others, as there were some definite errant passes thrown and other mental mistakes.

There were a lot of fundamentals mistakes on Offense today, especially in the 2's and 3's when snapping or just plain holding onto the ball.

On the coaches, Hicks seems to be feeling out his new position amongst a group of strong position players, but Kevin Patrick has certainly already taken over the reigns of the Defensive Line in dominant fashion. I'm not sure I saw Perry Carter, or at least didn't recognize him.

Anyway, it was fun. I'll definitely come out to a few more of these.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Christopher Walker

[NorthTexan95]

Wow ... that's a lot of quarterbacks to be giving time to.

[UNT90]

The following thoughts are completely uninformed and should not be taken as knowledgable evaluation... whatsoever.

----

Hey, practices are actually open! The dozen or so of us outsiders who showed up were initially relegating ourselves to outside the fencing, but Dir. of Operations Scott Conley called us all in, welcomed us, and graciously answered some personnel questions we had.

The overall group chemistry was electric as we thought it would be - certainly helps to have the season we just had though.

The Defense is feisty, loud, and talkative. They got the goat of the offense all day - James Jones was especially motivating on the sidelines. The jibing on a particularly beautiful pick-six was awesome.

On the QBs:

• #5 - McNulty: same MiniMac as we've always known
• #6 - Dajon: it might have been just the instances I was watching, but it looks like DW got the most reps with the 1's today
• #7 - Means: a bit fresh-faced, some under-thrown balls for sure
• #8 - Greer: looks to step into a veteran-style of leadership role right off the bat, has some wheels for sure
• #13 - Cousins: still an unknown and didn't see too much from him
• #19 - Shanbour: holy. cow. though undersized, he's got the absolute tightest, quickest, and most consistent throwing motion out of the group
• No one guy completely separated himself from the five others, as there were some definite errant passes thrown and other mental mistakes.

There were a lot of fundamentals mistakes on Offense today, especially in the 2's and 3's when snapping or just plain holding onto the ball.

On the coaches, Hicks seems to be feeling out his new position amongst a group of strong position players, but Kevin Patrick has certainly already taken over the reigns of the Defensive Line in dominant fashion. I'm not sure I saw Perry Carter, or at least didn't recognize him.

Anyway, it was fun. I'll definitely come out to a few more of these.

Thanks for the update.

In regards to Shambour, is he dual threat and how are his wheels?

[Mean Green 93-98]

Thanks for the observations. Wish I could be there.

[Greenrex]

Thanks so much for the update, CW...I surely do wish I could join you!

[NT03]

Greer has wheels ? Nice , I wasn't aware.. Should make the QB race even more interesting

[Harry]

Greer has wheels ? Nice , I wasn't aware.. Should make the QB race even more interesting

I'm hearing he's faster than DT and has a little better arm.

[NT03]

I'm hearing he's faster than DT and has a little better arm.

Awesome.. Can't wait to make it out to practice

[Mean_Green09]

Thanks for the update.

In regards to Shambour, is he dual threat and how are his wheels?

Dual Threat. 4.6 range. Very Athletic

[Christopher Walker]

Greer has wheels ? Nice , I wasn't aware.. Should make the QB race even more interesting

I say that based solely on the one passing play where his receivers were wrapped up and he made the best of a hole for 30ish yards. Again, I'm not an expert opinion.

Thanks for the update.

In regards to Shambour, is he dual threat and how are his wheels?

Dual Threat. 4.6 range. Very Athletic

I wish we could of had an actual chance to see him in the pocket, but he was mostly in play-calling mode for those times. My comments come strictly from the static-passing motion drills they were doing. He was certainly the most consistent.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Christopher Walker

[Christopher Walker]

Oh, and thanks to SilverEagle, the two Air Force JROTC guys, and others I met today for making this fun beyond just the practice watching.

[Ben Gooding]

Whoa, whoa, whoa...who has the practice schedule and are most practices open?!?!? I feel neglected. I need to get to these practices.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Ben Gooding

[Christopher Walker]

Whoa, whoa, whoa...who has the practice schedule and are most practices open?!?!? I feel neglected. I need to get to these practices.

http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/030314aaa.html

[FirefightnRick]

Thanks for the updates.

Rick

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

Sweet, good update! Shanbour has interested me since he showed up on the work out reports. The QB battle this spring should be awesome.

[Ben Gooding]

http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/030314aaa.html

Sweet, so we can just go and watch? They don't have an issue with it?

[UNTLifer]

Sweet, so we can just go and watch? They don't have an issue with it?

You have to be on the guest list.

[GMG_Ryan]

Oh, and thanks to SilverEagle, the two Air Force JROTC guys, and others I met today for making this fun beyond just the practice watching.

Hey I was one of those guys!

[UNTLifer]

Welcome to North Texas and GMG.com.

To the former Daily writer, what bird makes the "Caw, Caw" sound? Hint: It is not an eagle.

[Harry]

Thanks for the updates Christopher. As for Silver Eagle my message is as follows:

[Christopher Walker]

You have to be on the guest list.

Don't let him pull your leg if you don't catch it; we were all walk-ups today.

Thanks for the updates Christopher. As for Silver Eagle my message is as follows:

Seriously, Bill! He was the one who initially pointed Shanbour's pretty passing to me.

[UNTLifer]

You have to be on the guest list.

Ha, ha. Oh no, a negative vote for being sarcastic.

Seriously, thank you for the update. BTW, who do you know to get on the guest list?

[greenminer]

SO they're not giving up on DW, despite some concerns about his grading under FW.

[SilverEagle]

Thanks for the updates Christopher. As for Silver Eagle my message is as follows:

Sorry for the delay, I've been busy with family.

One quick comment and I'll come back later with something more.

The QB's looked this way to me.

#5, Mini Mac.....meh. Average throwing/delivery. Didn't see him move around much so I can't assess that part of his game.

#6 DW, good arm, good delivery, and he even did a good job of putting some touch on a pass over the middle.

#7 Conner Means, needs some work, but pretty good potential. Good arm, needs some work on his throwing motion.

#8 Greer, good arm strength, but his throwing motion is too deliberate and getting the ball off takes a bit too long. Pretty good wheels. I don't see him as being faster than DT.

13. Cousins(?) walk-on. Pretty good arm strength and delivery. As of yesterday a little better than Means and Greer.

19. Shanbour. The shortest but the best of the lot. I haven't seen a quick release like his since Steve Ramsey. It almost looks like he's throwing side-arm it's so fast. And the trajectory is flat (Scott Hall his freshman year flat). Only DW comes close as far as the speed of the pass. I only saw him in passing drills. For some reason when they were running the two minutes at the end of the practice, Shanbour followed on the sidelines and sent in signals to the QB's. So I didn't get to see how he moves around.

More later

Edited March 5, 2014 by SilverEagle

[Harry]

Thanks and good stuff Silver. I appreciate your thoughts.

Here Is a good story on Shanbour who had been a walk on at OSU: http://debartolosportsu.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/quinn-shanbour-prepares-for-his-chance-at-his-dream-school-oklahoma-state/

Also as noted Josh Cousins played under Kenny Evans at Northeastern. He is supposed to be pretty good.