Practice opened up today boys and girls!! I've never had luck embedding a tweet, but Wells had a smooth pass to Lane! Also does anyone know why it seems certain players are wearing a helmet on top of their helmets, seems like it could be heavy.
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I think that is an extra safeguard to protect players who have had concussions.
Don Beebe?
I'm 90% sure it's the Great Gazoo
"That's gold, Jerry, GOLD!"
Got a chuckle out of this.....are you old enough to know who the Great Gazoo is (was)?
I am- though it was reruns in the early '70s, not the original time in the mid 60s ,that I remember seeing him.
No, I was not alive in 1965. I did however watch reruns in the 80s and he was in the 2000 movie, not that I watched that.
Didn't know he was included in the live action version (I won't watch live action versions of classic toons/animation on principle...they just irritate me). I suppose that's how some could be familiar with the little green guy.
Beebe was a receiver this is Mark Kelso
Kelso with a helmet?
It's an option players can wear to provide more protection. Multiple players wore them during spring game also.
Are those white facemasks on maroon helmets I see!?!? 🤤🤤🤤
Yeah, those are pretty sweet
Sort of looks like those additional layers in maroon layered over the white helmets which have the white facemasks. Layne had a marron helmet and maroon face mask
I believe this is correct
I love how when you hover over the little X on the video, it says "view on twitter"
Like I said in my spring look at the WR room... I think Lane is going to be way better than people are expecting. He absolutely lit Miami up.
Also, I re-watched the spring game, and I can't envision a scenario where Brody Meadows isn't starting somewhere. It seems like that spot would be guard given Hanson's medical retirement, but comparing him with all the other candidates (including the Moore brothers) he was by far the most impressive.
saw on the X that you got the virus. Hope you don't feel too bad and have a speedy and smooth recovery
Monday was the worst... but still feeling pretty ragged
hydrate harder than a uva walk on trying to impress the coaches
Gatorlyte is the best, lower sugar and tastes better than other Pedialyte stuff
via GIPHY
Did you notice Lance Williams in your review?
100% agree on Lane. A true slot receiver/playmaker can make up for a lot of football sins (ex. pass protection inconsistency).
I'll be specific and say if mainly healthy, Lane is the leading receiver and it's not close.
indeed.
He was the early camp mover-n-shaker.
Looks like he took the summer S&C, seriously.
👊🏿
bigeiii
I sure hope that whoever our QB is gets that much time in the pocket in actual games, because I see the OL as our biggest liability until proven otherwise.
I'll drink Fireman.
Fall Camp points of interest for me:
1. QB battle
2. OL starting 5 in the wake of Hanson's retirement. Obviously worried about depth here too, but that part has been a steady concern for awhile now.
3. Best LB combinations, who starts at Mike? Tisdale, Snyder, Keller? Does Lawson start at Will? Does Keller move around? Does Lawson move around?
4. Secondary depth will be critical. Need the young players, particularly these freshmen and Jaylen Jones, ready to rock. The 1's are good, but 2-3 injuries and we are likely playing multiple true freshmen in the defensive backfield.
5. WR rotation. Jennings and Lane seem like locks. Felton, Lofton, Holloway, Gosnell though have experience and/or have been mentioned a lot this offseason. Would love to find a way to get Holloway's speed on the field consistently to keep the safeties back.
If Tisdale has a starting role, I would be absolutely stunned.
I'm interested to see how that situation goes for sure. I am not sure how it plays out, but I think it will probably be something like
STAR - Keonta Jenkins
MIKE - Stone Snyder or Jaden Keller (this is my hopeful choice in terms of athleticism on the field)
WILL - Keli Lawson, backed up by McDonald and Keller (if not playing MIKE)
However, I wouldn't be surprised if it's not it at all. There aren't many combinations that would "shock" me.
Man, I remember when we signed Tre Turner and Tisdale... I was super excited as both had huge upside. They've both had shining moments for sure, but neither really tapped into all that potential. No idea why but hopefully player development will be a strength going forward.
Turner was good. He fought some injuries and had to play in Corn's offense. He got a bad deal by the coaches with how bad they were. He also needed some more work in the S&C department to be more effective.
It isn't a knock on Tisdale, although he was really not good in the spring game. At this point, the staff knows his limitations. He isn't getting bigger, or more gap sound, or better at setting the edge... all requirements for the WILL in this defense. He should have been a WHIP/SAM/Star from day 1 going back to Foster and Hamilton. But, I think the ship has sailed. Lawson needs to be consistent, but of the crop on the roster in the spring, he is the sure fire starter somewhere... I assume WILL. We will see everywhere else.
Reminds me of Deon Clarke- couldn't get bigger, had his moments, but not really a good/better than average player.
Turner and Hazelton were both very good. Could have made a ton of plays for us if they were coached by competent people. Sad.
On a podcast, turner said he didn't even know where cornelsons office was.
If your leading receiver doesn't know where your office is, I don't know that the word "coached" is correct.
I imagine the scene from Waterboy when he first meets coach Klein and he's in a dark room reviewing film all by himself and trying to come up with plays but they all suck
He fakes to the left... No no! He fakes to the right! He doesn't fake... He thinks about faking. He pretends to fake...
This goes back to emotional iQ. Fuente could get away with being the introvert if he surrounded himself with people who made up for his flaws. Corny didn't want to be connected with his team which is an example of him being just like Fu - aka not engaged at a level that is meaningful. Less about football and more about people ...
Much has been made of the utter crapshow that #TX2VT became but Fuente's inability to develop and cement the VT-336 pipeline was arguably a bigger failure.
Mook Reynolds, Turner, Tisdale, Crossen, Hooker. Fuente never got nearly what was expected out of them. Granted both Reynolds and Crossen created problems for themselves, but Turner is really the only one who was a consistent contributor and he left with really the same skillset that he came in with.
Hooker situation speaks for itself.
I'm honestly surprised Tisdale has stuck around and didn't hit the Portal. Very rare these days.
Eh Mook and Turner both started a lot of football games and played well for the most part. I hate the way things ended with Mook, but he put up 165 tackles and 22.5 TFL's in his career before his dismissal. I think you'd be hard pressed to call that anything other than a significant contributor.
Same with Tisdale actually, he has over 200 career tackles for the Hokies. I'd agree his career overall has been a bit uneven in how it has played out, but he's certainly been a contributor as well.
Crossen was the odd one out there in terms of relative contribution.
True, Mook had a solid career, it's more about how things ended and the negative effect it had on area recruiting in his case.
Tisdale seems to have made himself a role thru athleticism and necessity. Much like Turner, he seems like the same player he was when he arrived.
Look no further to the whole program crashing down- not the least of which the locker room- in a big way when one decent safety was dismissed from the team. The fuente house of cards.
agry.
His headroom=does not exist.
Might as well go Coach Allen... "The Future is Now".
b.street
Well here's something interesting for the Sam...
Pry going with the late 90's VT model of DE's playing DT, Safeties playing LB, etc. Speed over size
STAR is almost exclusively a DB position nowadays at every school.
Alabama's STAR of the last three seasons: Brian Branch (6-0 190lbs at the combine)
Georgia's STAR last year: Javon Bullard, (5-11 195 on UGA's website) and will be playing deep safety this season.
Thank you - I was misunderstood on the Star role
The origin of the role was that you replaced the SAM LB in a sub package with the STAR (S names to keep it easy to remember), then for the 6th DB package your replace the MIKE LB with the MONEY (again, M names to keep it easy to remember).
Back then it was still more of a LB/box safety body. With the increase of the spread passing attacks, 4 and 5 wide formations that attempt to isolate those type of players in mismatches in space, the average team now plays their 3rd and 4th choice safety/nickelback player as the STAR and MONEY. It can vary a little bit, but most STAR players are basically a safety/corner body that you trust to handle covering slot receivers AND be comfortable in more interior run fits than an outside corner would be.
I haven't seen any confirmation officially that we will be calling our 6th DB the MONEY, but it would align with his current system and that's the only 6th DB I've heard associated with other systems that use the STAR terminology.
I miss watching speed
Serious Question.... is he on scholarship...honestly not trolling . https://twitter.com/AndyBitterVT/status/1687188648653901824
If he came back this year it was supposed to be funded through NIL, not a scholly.
Per bitter
https://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/1175756#comment-1175756
You called this 7 months ago lol
I mean he has probably has legit NIL from track. By legit I mean not just funnel money to football players and actual endorsements for his track skills.
I thought I'd you played another NCAA sport and were on scholarship for that sport you had to be on the football count if you played there too? So he isn't getting ANY scholarship money at all. Wow. His NIL must be decent.
It also helps the track team out big time since they have a very limited number of scholarships. Most T&F athletes only receive partial scholarships if any at all.
A little more info on Beck's role from Pry via Bitter.
Disappointed with the absence of an Oxford Comma, Andy (wish you could tag people on TKP)
Parker Clements interview.
Pry said passing game took a step back with Drones Thurs vs Wells Wed but they threw some defensive looks in Thurs.. They are alternating days with 1's.
Running 3 day minicamps with 4th day off to rest and study film, make changes in depth, etc. They did not run it this way last year.
https://hokiesports.com/sports/football
This makes me happy
Don't know how to embed a YouTube short on mobile so anyone more savvy than me feel free to.
Looks like our OL is getting whipped
It was only 3 reps and in the first rep the OL got a pancake.
And it's my understanding that the offensive linemen are at a severe disadvantage in 1 on 1s.
Good Lord! Who is #52?
#71 was not listed, so coils be the transfer, he pancakes Lemar Law #55
The Payne #0 Johnny Dickson #76
And finally, Powell-Ryland #52 the UF zfer destroyed Chaplin #65
So the two that won were transfers, Payne went up against a RS Frosh who is a backup. Powell destroyed a projected starter, which most of us thought he would.
Anyone have any fall camp news? Anxiously awaiting to hear news.
Same here!
Sounds like we should have some good content tomorrow. It just so happens I will be home tomorrow afternoon, so I will try to do another live Pry-ssr if my kiddo allows.
Really intently watching the QB battle (duh) and how it shapes up through camp. Most of the intel from around the boards/sites and the TSL pod is that Wells is clearly ahead in the passing game. But I think Drones adds such an element in the run/read option game that it's catching the coaches' attention. Drones is somewhat raw technique-wise in the passing game and obviously hasn't had as much time in the system as Wells. But I feel like Wells is a known quantity - when on script he can make all the throws, and when things break down he struggles and the offense stalls.
I really want to see how much progress Drones can make in camp. At this point I feel like Wells is a lock to start, but how much leeway does he have this year if things go south? Could be some packages early for Drones, but I'm really hoping I'm not getting AJ Bush vibes from those comments. QB play is going to be the variable on whether 5-6 wins is our ceiling or we can potentially snag a few more.
With Wells...
I think.
My guess is that we start with Wells. And the OL can't open holes for the run game enough to get the play action working. Without play action, few OL's can pass block effectively and we then turn to Drones and run him on every critical 3rd down- hoping for a missed tackle or punting, instead of being aggressive and trying to score on offense. I think that is how it will play out this season with this OL honestly.
Well that is a sobering outlook for this season. Unfortunately it is a realistic take. Hopefully we are blessed with healthy and reasonably sound OL play along with and an offensive plan that isn't completely predictable. Feel good about the upgrades in the skills positions. Comes down to OL execution and smart play calling as always.
That's my fear - we use Drones like AJ Bush or QP where everyone in America knows he's coming in on third down or short yardage situations to run the ball. If we do use Drones in packages, he needs to throw the ball. If we aren't comfortable enough to do that, we don't need a package. If we feel Drones' upside in the run game outweighs the net of Wells' knowledge of the pass game less the downside risk when plays break down, we need to go with Drones. A two-QB system just isn't going to work unless both are at least a threat to throw and run the ball.
Pry and Bowen are on record as not being 2 QB system guys. They want 1 QB taking the vast majority of the snaps. Having said that, we are going to live or die by the run game this season. If we can run the ball effectively, the offense will be better and competitive. If we can not, Drones, Jennings, Wells, etc won't matter. The entire offense is predicated on the power spread run game. Tebow's gators-lite. That's the plan. Let's hope it doesn't go up in smoke
Sglennon vs T-mobile II, the sequel you never wanted to wanted to see......
I was kind of confused why we went for Drones so quickly (apparently he was the #1 or 2 transfer QB on our board). Guys like Tanner Mordecai, Devin Leary and Spencer Sanders were still available. And even if we didn't get any of them I'm sure we could've found someone better to start over Wells
Based on comments in a few podcasts, someone on staff had to have a connection. They seem to be fairly keen on exploiting connections when it comes to the portal, because you have so little time to recruit the portal.
Drones also has a really high upside and I believe two years of eligibility remaining after this season, so better than a one-year starter and having to hit the portal again next year.
I think that's good roster management to start building some layered depth at positions. You have Wells with one year remaining after this season, Drones with two, Pop/Wittke as your upside freshmen prospects, and some walk-ons in between there. I feel like if you're a scholarship QB and you're not really in the conversation for the starting competition by your 2nd or 3rd year in the program with others ahead of you, it's probably best to move on. Which is what we saw with Bullock and Farrell.
I'm just gonna say it...
Wells is not a good QB. He may very well be the best option we have, and I'll support the dude, but he is not a good QB. Good OL or not, he doesn't read the defense well, he has little to no touch on short to intermediate routes and he has a tendency to lock onto his first read.
These aren't system IQ things. Can they be fixed? Certainly, but I'm not holding my breath. If a player his age is having trouble with basic fundamentals at this point, then he is who he is.
I would love to eat crow on this one by seasons end.
I'm in exactly the same boat. If we have any hope of our offense getting out of the 100s it's going to have to be because 1 of 2 things happens. 1) Wells is vastly improved and plays way way better than he's shown throughout his career (doubtful, imo. I think he is who he is and shame on us for not believing it) or 2) Wells is supplanted by a much more suited QB who can move our offense up the field with some amount of consistency.
Honestly, and unfortunately, I don't think either is true. Our offense is in the midst of a multi year rebuild. It's going to be ugly and a lot of the pieces that we need just aren't on campus yet. QB is one of them. Almost the most important one, in fact. Almost as important, if not moreso, is OLine. Which also isn't yet on campus.
LOL,
b.street
Is that Coney maybe getting run with the 1s?
Yes.
Good Eye too. +1.
He was one of our few spring-ball scoops.
They like him-- in space and in the throw-shapes as well.
hth's
b.street
Wrong thread