Hold on, wait a second. I'm trying to contain my excitement...can't...stop...smiling...IT'S OFFICIALLY FOOTBALL SEASON AGAIN!
Yesterday I went out to watch some classic spring football, a Tech vs. Tech scrimmage that wetted my unquenchable thirst for Hokie football, a thirst that last year's debacle of a season couldn't even quench.
I heard everything that everyone else had. The new coaches were energized, focused on the little things and have quickly become media darlings, much different than their predecessors. While that is great, I still wanted to see it. I wanted to see the progress Logan Thomas was making under Scot Loeffler and that the entire offensive line was making under Jeff Grimes.
I came away from the scrimmage with many different thoughts about the offense, most of it good.
Logan Thomas: I know the thing that stuck out to everyone on Twitter was that he threw two interceptions. To me, that's not a huge concern right now. He looked more relaxed in the pocket, and if he missed a throw he would actually come out the next pass and correct his mistake. His pocket footwork is already a little cleaner than it was last season. It's early, but I expect him to improve, at least to the median, from a disappointing 2012.
Running Backs: I'm not going to spend much time here, because what the running backs do depend on two huge things; offensive line play, and how many risks Foster takes each scrimmage. Remember when Michael Holmes was supposed to be the next great Tech back because he hit a 60-yard run in an early scrimmage? Yeah, sorry about that. The one thing I will say is that Trey Edmunds runs like a man, I wrote about it in the first scrimmage piece, so that's really all there is to it.
Wide Receivers: Again I'm not going to go over this but so much, as we talked a lot about it in yesterday's piece. Josh Stanford and D.J. Coles were Logan's go-to targets. If that keeps up it stops being a trend and starts to be a theme of scrimmages, as it was with Corey Fuller last year. All of the young guys that I saw yesterday looked good. Knowles, Asante, and Stanford all had big catches. Coles was able to beat Kyshon Jarrett over the middle for a huge gain. I didn't see Joel Caleb at all, and I don't know if I missed him or if he didn't participate. Again, I expect this year to be a bumpy one for Caleb as he continues the transition to receiver, but he is in MUCH better shape with Aaron Moorehead than he was last season.
Offensive Line: This was what I was looking at the entire time, which means I may have missed a play or two as I was focused on the dudes in the trenches. No one position, not even quarterback, will be tested as much by the coaching changes as the offensive line will.
It's a new system, and when an offense transitions from one system to another some guys just fall out of favor or don't fit the scheme perfectly. It will be interesting to see who doesn't transition, because the new zone blocking scheme does not favor the skill sets for some of the current guys which could be a problem because this system is purely zone blocking. To hammer this point home, there were ZERO plays that I saw where guards were pulling or kicking out.
I feel for Grimes, I really do. He has to take about 12 guys and fit them into his two-deep depth chart. Let's just say he has his work cut out for him. I'm going to take the twelve guys that I saw take first or second team snaps yesterday, and order them in terms of performance.
Laurence Gibson
Mark Shuman
Both of these guys stood out yesterday. While Gibson missed a block which lead to a sack, it was obvious that both guys were the class of the line. Shuman looked slow at times with his footwork, something that you never want to see as a left tackle, but also played the run very well. I have always thought Gibson should be on the left side, just from an athleticism standpoint, but no matter where he lines up I think the team will have a solid guy to block ends. His feet were pretty quick, and he showed a nastiness that was refreshing to see. Also, Gibson went against James Gayle in the ever-popular bull in the ring drill and looked to hold him to a draw, which was that was very encouraging to see. It looks like the strength of the line will be the tackles again.
Andrew Miller
It's hard to put guys in the middle slots because most guys stuck out for having good days (see above) or bad days (which you will definitely see below). Miller was the only other guy other than the two tackles to work solely with the first team, be it at center or guard. For a guy coming off an injury to his left ankle, his movement seemed to be solid, though he did get beat a few times—as did everyone else on this list. Depending on how other guys shake out, I'm wondering where we will see more of Miller. Obviously he has the most experience at center and also is a little smaller than most lineman, but if he can show tenacity in run blocking situations, it may be smarter to move him to one of the guard spots. That being said, it is good to see him back from injury.
Caleb Farris
Brent Benedict
Yes, I understand ties are just me coping out, but I don't care. Again, I don't feel great putting either guy this high, but then looking at their competition it only makes sense. Benedict surprised me with his ability to work in space better than last season. I was afraid that taking him out of his pulling comfort zone would put him behind the others in terms of development, but he looked decent. Farris got work at both center and guard (primarily left guard) and looks to be the early leader for the last starting spot on the line. He seemed okay, but there were many times in pass blocking that Thomas got pressured up the middle (not good) and a bunch of it can from Farris.
Adam Taraschke
The definite surprise of the group. For a guy listed at third team o-line, Taraschke got a ton of work with the first unit at both guard spots. Again, I think he is still adjusting, but he seemed pretty comfortable. It will be interesting to see how much of his first-team work he gets in the future, because we could be seeing a guy that is liked by the coaches and fits the system (6-5 296, as French has pointed out Grimes favors taller guards). We could also be seeing a guy that simply took advantage of some horrendous play from guys above him on the depth chart. Only time will tell.
Jonathan McLaughlin
Worked solely with the second-team as a left tackle. McLaughlin surprised me with his ability to get out and move his feet against pass rushers. Needless to say he had a little more success against J.R. Collins and then struggled a little against Dadi Nicolas, but he put himself in position to potentially be a contributor, or at least a promising backup to Shuman and Gibson.
Jake Goins
I'm not sure if the fact that I didn't really notice Goins that much is a good thing or a bad thing. The entire second team line struggled, and I'm sure Goins was a part of that, but I also know McLaughlin and Conte got many of the second unit snaps, and took up the majority of my attention.
David Wang
What I noticed the most about Wang was that he actually fit as a center. Until he got hurt (ankle), Wang got work at both left guard and center on the first and second teams, but looked better in the middle of the line. He obviously has his flaws, with size being the biggest one of them all, and struggles blocking stronger defensive tackles, making guard not the ideal position for him. I think if the injury bug stays away from him he will be able to grab the second center position behind Miller.
Augie Conte
I was on the Augie-watch all scrimmage, hoping to see him take some snaps with the first team at guard. That wasn't the case. Conte took every snap with the second team, rotating with McLaughlin and Goins, and gave up a couple of huge plays in pass protection. I think Joe, French and I agree that Conte will more than likely end up at guard, where he can use his size and not worry about space as much, but it is unclear whether or not Grimes agrees. I think he has nowhere to go but up from his performance, and I expect him to. He was very solid in run blocking already, and if he improves some in the pass protection (or at least not get poor Mark Leal killed) he will shoot up the depth chart.
Matt Arkema
To say that Arkema was overpowered would be an understatement. There were multiple times where I saw him just get bulldozed by one of the defensive tackles, but then on top of those he also whiffed on a ton of pass blocks. I'm not the blocking expert, but if Derrick Hopkins gets by you with a stutter step normally used by defensive ends, you didn't have the best of scrimmages. It happened to Arkema twice.
Nick Acree
This is a family friendly website, so let's just say that there was no question in my mind who went at the bottom of my list. While blocking next to Arkema for a ton of snaps may have made him look even worse than he played, it wasn’t pretty. Acree looked lost in pass blocking, often ending up blocking air, and didn’t look particularly physical in the run game either. Is Acree having trouble picking up the new scheme, or is he still working back from injury? I know the coaches still have faith in him, and I really hope he pans out because he his a mountain of a man...but it's definitely an uphill battle for him now.
My biggest takeaway from yesterday was this: no matter how good the coaching is, the players are going to need to play. Can they get five guys to have at least a decent offensive line? I think so. Can they get seven to eight guys to have line depth? I'm not going to say no...but it does not look promising at the moment.
While this all sounded rather negative, there was a noticeable change in the feel of the practice from the line. There was no lollygagging or people giving up on plays, but instead people playing right to the whistle (and in some cases, after it). This is a very positive shift from the rather casual feel of practices in prior years, and it was very clear that if you didn't bring it on a play, you were going to be pulled over to the sideline to get an earful from Grimes. This looks to be step one in making the line a "point of attack" and I think it will lead to a better overall unit.
I am going to be watching a few guys closely this Saturday, but my next report will probably be a little more inclusive of the other positions on offense, much to French's chagrin.
Until then, hope we've provided enough information to fill y'all's football addiction.
Comments
Great analysis. I wish I could've been there myself, just glad I'll be there for the Spring Game.
nice work .. you spent a lot of time on this ... slack semester?
What, the fact that I had time to write 2,000 words means that I have a lot of free time? I mean if you think only having class on Tuesdays and Thursdays (with one of those being a pass/fail wine class) provides free time...you'd be right.
Man geography of wine was awesome. Wasn't even in the class, but I brought a few bottles of wine to drink with friends who were.
When can we expect another episode of whiskey lane? Looking forward to it..
Although there was effort...not sure of the results. What qualifications do you have to make these analysis?
I suggest leave all that in the hands of the new coaches. Everybody on here completely shredded the old coaches. Everyone got what they wanted...new coaches.
Now Brian is capable of an analyzing every player at every position from somewhere in the bleachers...... Too funny!!
I say just let the coaches do there job.....If someone on here can do better, they failed to prove it to CFB.
Are any of us professionals? No, probably not, though there are plenty of people on this site with varied experiences and backgrounds. The common thread? We all love VT athletics, and I applaud Brian's analysis and effort to bring the fanbase some new insight and information. We've all been hungry for information for a long time, and I think this post is an exceptional insight into what's going on. Are any of us going to be perfect in such observations? No. Are we going to have all the answers? No, because if we did, we'd be coaching and VT would be undefeated due to our sheer excellence. The best we have is an eager community with some members that are willing to make an effort to inform everyone here with whatever they can. If you don't like it, that's your opinion, but you shouldn't denigrate others' efforts.
This.
He's simply providing analysis and observations for discussion among the community. He's giving his thoughts and insight of the first scrimmage, helping the people not fortunate enough to go, to picture how everything looks. He didn't call out any players or anything like that. If no one is allowed to provide analysis and their thoughts, their would be no blogs, TKP wouldn't be here. The comments that don't help the discussion here are the type that you just posted.
Easy, he's just voicing his observations, most of which seem perfectly valid. People were quick to shred the old coaches because, quite frankly, they didn't do a great job. I can't tell you how excited I am to see Loeffler get on a guy (Asante I think) because he overran his motion by a step or Grimes call out a player for not getting his first step right off the snap of the ball. These new coaches have some fire, are focused on details and fundamentals, and demand excellence, which has only been seen on one side of the ball here at Tech for a while. Back to my point, Brian is letting the coaches do their job, he's just commenting on how good of a job he thinks they're doing and offering some thoughts on what he's seen from the bleachers (which, let's face it, is the exact same spot from where everyone else not on the roster watches the games). I say, good post, Brian.
"these analysis"?....you might want to leave the grammar to others
Lol.... UVA
This isn't an analysis as much as it is a string of observations. I'd love for the coaches to swing by and give us their analysis, until then, this is the best we can do.
Come on Charlie, this is a ridiculous post for a fan website. I appreciated the analysis.
Before I even read the comment I saw -15 turkey legs and thought to my self, "Damn this charlie guy really sucks at TKP." Now I see why.
I've felt similar to charlie on this site before because some people try to over analyze and act like they're football geniuses, but that's clearly not the case here. Marcolini provided us with observations and some detailed info as to what happened at the first scrimmage of our new era. I'm glad he did because as someone not able to attend, I'm interested to learn what happened. He may not be the most credible source ever (no disrespect intended, just being honest), but he has two eyes, a clear understanding of the game, and a love of VT football so it's a whole lot better than nothing. Brian, haters gonna hate, keep up the good work.
I guess Charlie don't Surf! Lighten up dude, its opinion take it for what it is worth. As my Mom used to say "If you don't have anything nice to say it is better to say nothing at all."
No body needs to be qualified on this website to write an analysis of the players. The coaches that are being paid by the university are making the personel decisions. Nobody here is. Its not like anything that is written on TheKeyPlay or even TSL for that matter will impact this.
Im not saying that people here have the football IQ or knowledge of Bill Walsh, but I feel the staff of writers and community of posters here offer very intellectual points and opinions. And while they might not know everything, as a forum community we are all learning together with different points of views from different posters. Honestly, I have learned more about the X's and O's of the game thru some of the game breakdowns on this site then any other VT or even football related site. The Key Play team in my opinion have alot of drive and passion for the football, basektball, and sports programs and to Virginia Tech as a whole and its a shame that you dont have more of an open mind.
Thanks to TKP staff. Keep doing what your doing.
One of the best X's and O's pieces not by French about Virginia Tech that I've read is this one about how the Defense Evolved in the early 2000s, while keeping some of the same principles.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Deconstructi...
Unfortunately the pictures in the article don't appear to be working anymore, but its still an interesting read.
Chris Brown is the best in the game at explaining the X's and O's of football. Bar none.
If you start from his earliest articles and read from there, you will learn so much about football it's crazy. Highly recommend for anyone with "offseason-itis".
Of course, this comes from a poster that has quite the repertoire of "Expert Analyses" such as:
"Logan Thomas's lack of ability to overcome mistakes and not be tough"
"coaches not letting lineman get in a groove, and switching their positions which ruins their confidence and they don't play well"
but it's "not the coaches faults, because the players have "Loser syndrome", in which Virginia Tech's 2012 season was completely due to "comfort in losing", and not "acting like winners".
Other classics from his posting history include:
"That bomb Timble and Rody made was basically a hydrogen bomb and one that size could level a house, so it's basically like that Indianapolis explosion that destroyed 30 some-odd houses. The prosecutor needs to throw the book at him" (so he's an expert in thermonuclear physics)
"Bench and Power Clean don't really mean much when it comes to gauging a lineman's potential and how those lifts translate to on-field success" (so he's an expert in strength and conditioning and Gentry doesn't know what he's doing).
And finally, "Address the O-Line coaching issue and the O-Coord. issue and you will have a 6-6 2013 season with a better O-line, better O-line coach, and VT will score more points, just like you want.
It is not all about scoring points. It is all about winning." (Yes. Winning is all about "Winning")
Maybe don't attack the site moderators and contributors on the very site you're reading. If you want inarguable expert analysis, then find a blog run by a current coach. Otherwise, appreciate what Joe and Brian and others do for us with what they have, appreciate it, and understand that ANALYSES ARE SUBJECTIVE BY DEFINITION.
Well, Sco just dropped the mic.
Did you ever actually make -38 turkey legs the level at which you can't talk anymore?
You have to have at least -25 turkey legs to do anything on the site (I'm still not sure if that number needs to be lower), but as of right now the community essentially banned Charlie.
Sorry, Charlie...if you're going to live in a glass house, don't throw stones. Looks like you've created your own little double standard here...
Good read .. It's an opinion so If u don't like it Charlie, don't read it .. How bout that?
From those of us named "Charlie" who really enjoyed Brian's post and cannot get anywhere near a VT scrimmage let alone a game cuz we live overseas, let me just say, "Thank You Sir!" and "keep up the good work." I would love to hear as much analysis as possible from trained and untrained observers b/c TKP and a few other sites are the only continuous sources of information on our beloved VT football team that us "Good Charlies" around the world are able to get ahold of and enjoy. Looking forward to hearing LOADS of analysis from the next open scrimmage and especially the spring game. Trusting that TKP will keep us all well-informed through the honest work of Joe, French, Brian and anybody else who can share their observations. Thanks guys!
I concur.
I would like to thank the contributors (TKP staff & otherwise) for reporting observations from spring ball, for the many of us that can't be there. We really appreciate your efforts, and it's making me real excited for things to come later on.
thanks brian....and every other tkp staffer you guys do some kick ass work. to the recap, wang kind of confuses me, last year i felt like newsome just liked wang so he always got time and he stuck out to me being a weak point on the line(i know he was injured), i wonder if this move to center could help him contribute in the new system, i want him to do well...i cant wait to see the final line
I certainly hope Acree figures it out soon. He is an absolute monster.
well after reading charlies other comments can we safely assume that the fellow is trolling us pretty hard...
So jacked for the start of the season...
SOMEBODY HIT SOMEBODY!!!