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lets all relax with the tight ends here. DPM is a good athlete, but I don't think there is any reason to quit on Malleck if he has had a bad scrimmage or something. There was a reason that Malleck spurned a redshirt as a true freshman, a reason he was pegged as the tight end of the future, and a reason that he played the most snaps at tight end last season. He is going to break out in this offense. DPM and McCray will also be factors, don't get me wrong, but a few dropped passes in a spring scrimmage is nothing to be too alarmed about. Malleck will be fine and he has a chance to made a major impact on this offense.
Duan? Is that you!?
I just wanna see us return to the solid ground attack we've come to love and expect from our Hokies.
That is going to awhile. My biggest concern right now is none of the tailbacks have separated himself from the rest. Coleman got banged up, and Edmunds still runs upright. One thing about Edmunds though, he won't make it easy to bring him down, because he keeps his legs churning. I am still not convinced that Holmes is the go-to back. He already pulled the wool over my eyes once, and fool me once...
I think Shane got his work cut out for him.
https://twitter.com/IAmSwag1/status/323527239293607936
@tajhb10 @dstewart_37 @sammywatkins7: 1. You know how I do, I'm just reminding #tigerclub bout my ExumIslandDayCare I run. Sammy signed up— Antone Exum Jr. (@IAmSwag1) April 14, 2013
here's the rest of that convo: https://twitter.com/DStewart_37/status/323534996608544768
#ExumIslandDayCare y'all
I'd say poor scheme and blocking had about as much to do with a lack of running game, personally. It didn't matter if you left one back in - they aren't getting into a rhythm in a 3-and-out...
when i see logan hit a perfect rainbow dart to knowles in stride for a td:
the 'breds is his influence. still a bunch of other 757 guys not in that group, especially on the peninsula.
didn't get that info
I don't think VT has the ball-handlers that Michigan has. With Green and Brown gone, all they have is Rankin. I don't know about the incoming class, maybe some good guards will help out. But I'm pretty sure VT will have a very hard time with VCU. Unfortunately, I would predict that VT will more likely mimic Akron than Michigan.
You made a valid point as to why DPM didn't start. It can't be because he played a couple of years as a DE, he had a year as a tightend. Now we all know coaches have there favorites and I truly hope this is not the case but , something to ponder.There is no way a kid with his talent is to sit the pine. I believe we as fans have to look and watch for ourselves and not listen so much to the media hype. The tightends are going to be a factor and as fans we want the best on the field. Let's pay special attention and take inventory of the tightends moving forward in hopes of finding the one or two guys who we think will impact this team for all it's worth.
Well obviously, but until we get in a real game, let's develop the toughness part first. Last year we were soft AND undisciplined, so I'll take improvement wherever I can get it.
I completely agree we have some upside. My only point was there is a lot of work to do with the tight ends. I have no experience truly analyzing a player's skills. So I cannot really comment on blocking or if someone is making a mental error. The best I can do is point out that the TEs need more practice catching the ball. DPM may have been the only TE who did not drop a ball, if I remember correctly. There must be a reason the coaches don't have him starting. My guess is because he played DE for a couple years and is still learning nuances of the position.
The TEs have a huge chance to make an impact in this new offense, especially from bootlegs.
this was shortly after
By far the greatest weekend of my life.!! Rose lehh goo!! Its time for a state ring!!And Coffee yall already know. #LETS DO IT BIGG.CO2014— Kentavius Street (@SupaStreet35) April 13, 2013
People have already given their views so I'll add to the pile too.
- First off, Antone Exum isn't in crutches anymore but he was wearing a knee brace and throwing balls to the other DBs. It's good to see that he's still involved with things
- Mark Shuman started got reps at LT today and he drew a holding call against Dadi Nicolas (who ended up throwing a punch).
- Lots of plays out of the full house. One of the fullbacks would usually motion either into a TE, H-back, or slot position.
- Agreed that the TEs need to step up. Ryan Malleck dropped an easy catch on a stick route and Redman fumbled the ball after the catch (but it went out of bounds, luckily.)
- If it were the season, Logan would have ripped off another 60 yard TD run on a QB draw. He slid around the 35 yard line, and Hokie Nation rejoiced.
- Similar to what the Redskins did last year, the PA Stretch Naked Boot will be a staple of the passing game. There was also one time where Loeffler wanted LT to run with it on one of the boots. Better to get a 4 yard gain than force it into coverage, I suppose.
- One time in the huddle, I could actually hear Logan give the play and it seems like Loeffler uses heavy verbage. It's good that he's getting exposed to that now.
I think the heavy verbage is part of why Auburn didn't succeed with Loeffler at the helm. Cam Newton said a few years ago to Jon Gruden that they would just get a number (eg 36) from the sideline and that would contain all the info for the play. It's hard to get to people who were used to that to know what "Brown Left Z Right Sprint Right G U Corner HB Flat" or any other 14 word play means and execute properly.
As you can tell, I was observing the offense more than the D, so someone who's more knowledgeable than me can fill in the gaps.
One last thing: When the 1st team O was coming onto the field in the red zone (or green zone) LT was getting the offense pumped up and ready to go. I freaking love that he (especially as a QB) is showing some leadership.
This is gonna be a fun team to watch
#BEATBAMA
I agree and believe that the tightends will be utilized more this year. From what I've had heard from the close practices is that Duan Perez-Means was catching everything in sight and showed ability of being a play maker. I am looking forward to seeing him involved in the passing game in the spring game. He can run routes and catch with the best of them.
Hey fans, I have said it before and I'll say it again, do not sleep on Duan Perez-Means, this kid can catch, block and run routes with the best of them. Zack had some good catches but, did you see the 17yard catch DPM caught. He is a play maker and I believe if given the opportunity in the spring game he will show his athletic ability. As a whole the tightends must step up for our offense, and become a complete package and a threat all over the field.
I've seen a fair amount of VCU games in person the past couple years due to moving bacn to Richmond after graduation... VCU is going to be scary next year because they return the majority of their team. They lose their PG and best glue guy (Theus) plus their best shooter (Daniels), but they have a lot of talent to replace them as some guys redshirted and they have a solid class incoming.
But yeah, VCU is going to be the best team in the state for the foreseeable future - the best way to beat them is having 2 or 3 capable ball handlers to break the press and get easy layups + wide open shots. That's going to be a question mark for VT next year, as I'm not sure we'll have enough firepower to handle the press and capitalize on open shots.
For the blueprint to beating VCU, look no further than the tournament game this year against Michigan. They were a terrible matchup for VCU and just destroyed the press to give McGary easy buckets, as well as draining open threes all over the place.
The majority of the scrimmage I spent focused on the offense. Here’s some of what I saw:
Logan has progressed tremendously since the first open scrimmage. After his perfect deep ball to Knowles, I saw Loeffler pointing out a mechanical flaw in his motion. I like to see them both striving to be perfect. On Knowles’ deep slant, he threw it through a tight seam and hit him in stride. I only saw one bad read the entire day from him.
I counted 7-8 drops (could’ve been more) by the wide receivers and tight ends. That’s been the theme from the last two scrimmages.
The tight ends were used a lot, especially in play action. It’s clear that they’re an integral part in Scot Loeffler’s offense. With that said, they didn’t play too well. There were multiple drops, a fumble, and play looked sloppy. The play-action was extremely effective when used. It looked like most of the tight end catches were where the H-back leaked out into the flat.
JC Coleman got very limited snaps today after getting banged up early. He broke a tackle and made considerable yards after contact, but that was all we saw from him. Trey Edmunds got some work with the ones today, but really didn’t do too much with it. Michael Holmes did the best of the running backs, but I attribute that more to the line giving him holes to run through than anything. We ran a few running back screens and they worked every time (gained at least 10 yards). Unlike under O'Cainspring, the catch was effortless for the running back, and none of them fell over trying to catch the ball. We saw a few plays with the running backs running routes with the receivers, too.
The offensive line got noticeably more push today. The guys looked like they competed a little harder, and also understood blocking scheme better. If they can continue to improve like they have in the five days since the previous scrimmage, we might be pretty good this year.
I think Aaron Moorehead is going to have a huge impact on the receivers. Knowles has been wide open all spring, but needs to work on his hands a little more. All of the guys are improving, and Logan has been able to spread the ball evenly because of this.
Just a side note, during a pride and joy session (special teams), I saw Shane Beamer was very vocal with the players, leading me to believe that he is taking more control of that from Frank.
The offense expanded the playbook, going from around 10 plays to 20 this time.
Like Brian said, I saw a lot of improvement compared to last Monday, and now I’m expecting to see even more progress before the spring game.
Did you hear which players he was recruiting?
Logan's mechanics and footwork looks tremendously improved.
The best qb's have very "choppy" feet - meaning they keep their feet shifting while in the pocket to help move into throwing lanes and eventually be able to quickly plant your back foot and deliver the football. Peyton Manning is a great example of a QB who is always chopping his feet.
Last year, Logan was often very flat footed - which led to him being slow in his delivery and with very poor mechanics. He would not get his feet set right, which did not allow him to square his hips, which led to him overcompensating with his shoulder. I believe this is why he had accuracy issues last season.
Fast forward to the last scrimmage, and his feet are chopping like Peyton's. Because of that, his entire throwing motion looked NFL caliber. Loefler is making a difference.
based on his performance thus far and assuming he keeps it up could we see dadi starting at d end in front of jr?
i really hope that the running back "rotation" is solidified by mid summer. the "rotation" they used last year and not having a clear #1 back, i think killed our run game because no one could get a groove going, ever. we need a clear starter and not what happened last year. hopefully with the oline getting more reps the better blocking will lead to someone breaking out and being that clear #1
Thats great! I was worried that Blanding would get all those 757 guys to UVA
It's definitely possible. However, coach Wiles was pretty high on JR this spring and Wiles is no sugarcoater. Whowever starts, the backup will probably play almost as much. At any rate, that's one position we probably won't have to worry about.