Impressions from Yesterday's Open Practice/Scrimmage

I was at the open scrimmage/football scrimmage yesterday and here's what stood out to me:

  • Brandon Facyson is huge. Definitely looks like Kam Chancellor reincarnated out on the field, and showed some quickness in one-on-one coverage drills.
  • KYLE FULLER VS. KENDALL FULLER IN TACKLING DRILLS. Kyle definitely had the upper hand in these drills, and the last one involved T-Gray getting the entire #DBlock to crowd around and cheer them on, which effectively got the crowd involved.
  • Logan is still putting the ball too high on some short throws, but it was nice to see Loeffler run over following the throws and show LT what he was doing wrong. You can see the fire Loeffler has from the stands, and it makes me excited to see.
  • Leal had some really good balls, Bucky already looks like an NFL quarterback in sheer size (also...nice to see another QB in the #7)
  • For some reason, Wyatt Teller wasn't involved very much in first team or second team D...he spent most of the time on the sideline with his helmet off. Not sure if this was just a coincidence or what. I'm thinking the coaches will probably end up red-shirting him.
  • #ALLOFTHEFULLBACKS. Hoepner had a really good practice-- he threw some nice blocks up the middle and had some very good catches out of the backfield. My boy Sam DRAGO Rogers had a nice practice too, but needs to improve sealing off the right end when the QB drops back. Jerome Wright didn't really stand out in any one aspect, but had an overall solid practice.
  • The starting offensive line that Grimes had out was....green, to say the least. Too many times LBs came untouched to the QB, and you could hear Grimes's disappointment clearly from the stands. Seeing as how most of it was a communication problem, I'm hoping that they come together in the next couple weeks.
  • D.J. Coles had a slight limp and it was easy to see that his right knee was bothering him some after practice and sprints. Hopefully it's nothing serious.
  • Demetri Knowles was beating Kyle Fuller in one-on-ones more than I like to see, but couldn't catch anything. the biggest problem with our WR's was the drops, and that seriously needs to be improved.
  • Mangus at wide receiver might actually be the best position change experiment thus far. The one play that stood out to me was a quick WR screen to Mangus, who shot up the field, juked out a corner and a safety, cut across the middle and broke a LB tackle until finally being gangtackled after a 10-15 yard gain. The coaches definitely need to find a way to get him on the field.
  • Coleman, Edmunds, and Caleb didn't really have the opportunity to stand out at all, but they were getting a pretty equal number of reps.

Does anyone know who #40 in the practice jersey was on defense at OLB? On the opposite side of RVD? He was on starting D, but I wasn't sure if it was Tariq or Devin Van Dyke.

In other news, football is back and I'm happy.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.

Comments

40- Deon Clark?

'Its easy to grin, when your ship comes in, and you've got the stock market beat,
but the man worthwhile, is the man who can smile, when his shorts are too tight in the seat'

Boom. Looks like he's running with the 1's.

Tariq was given the day off, so that gave Deon the opportunity

I highly doubt Wyatt redshirts considering our lack of depth at DT and Beamer's comments about redshirting stud athletes. Did you notice anything else about Bucky other that his size? Arm strength? Accuracy?

"Go Hokies!" - Thomas Jefferson
@HaydenDubya

Bucky has a very weird throwing motion that will def need to be worked on. Don't forget about Brendan Motley local kid and from the looks he's coming along quite well. Made several good throws and has athleticism to spare

D-Block
#BEATOHIOST

Yup, the ball looks a little weird coming out of Bucky's hands and he doesn't put that tight of a spiral on it. Guess that's why we hired Lefty. On the other hand, I was very much not a fan of Motley at QB until last night. Kid definitely looked pretty good, even considering he was a wing-T QB in high school. While he may never be the next Tyrod or Andrew Luck, I think he at least deserves a shot in the next couple years.

Yep he had a lot to learn and he has made a ton of progress. He always had an arm even in high school just didn't use it much. I think he had a lot of potential though and hopefully lefty gets it out

D-Block
#BEATOHIOST

Would love to see us use these T Drills at mid field during warm ups for game day in Lane. Would really make the opposing team crap themselves IMO.

@VTimHokie85