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Night Practice Gallery & Observations

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jwinslow

jwinslow

A MAN OF BETRAYED JUSTICE
Staff member
Tourney Pick'em Champ
8/21 Practice Gallery (link)

ATTN: Click on 'Slideshow' (top right of linked page) to see the pics. That should circumvent the server error for now.

Edit: My photohost decided to change systems today. While they update it, a few pages may not load (try hitting refresh). Also, I'm kind of annoyed that they have gone to a java slideshow program, so I can't post photos as easily.

<img valign=center width=525 src="http://images18.fotki.com/v287/file7h3v/05c54/7/798917/3937330/060821_0000_crowd.jpg">

Pictured is the east sideline (the west had a lot more people). I'm terrible at estimates, but I think there were at least 35k there (have they given an estimate yet?).

This was an absolute blast, I hope the coaches do this again. The crowd responded to every great move by our flashy WRs, and would congratulate the returners for taking it all the way during no contact drills :lol:

TBDBITL showed up at about 9:30, and the crowd exploded. In between plays they would blast away... it sent chills down my spine.


Observations (click the player names for pics):

Quarterbacks
  • QB Troy Smith - good rhythm, overthrew the fade routes, but had crisp passes everywhere else. It was pretty obvious he's nowhere near 6'1".
  • QB Justin Zwick - behind on too many throws, who will be #2 against Cinci will be interesting to me (I think Tress would stick with Zwick thru the UT game for experience alone).
  • QB Boeckman/Schoenhoft - didn't see enough of them to observe much.
  • QB Henton - didn't get many reps, moves great in pocket drills... looks like a taller Troy Smith (looked 3" taller to me).
Running Backs
  • RB Antonio Pittman - absolutely no question who is #1. Pittman is noticeably bigger, and hasn't lost a step.
  • RB Maurice Wells - the practice was very vanilla, so MWells was run unsuccessfully between the tackles. He could be good in space, but Robo/Hartline look just as explosive to me.
  • RB Chris Wells - had a few nice runs, but he seemed to wait for holes too often which were rarely there with our defense. Looked a step slower than normal. I may have missed some 11 man reps for Wells, as I had to take off with a half hour to go.
Wide Receivers
  • WR Teddy Ginn - simply cannot be stopped. Lightning quick, physical enough to use his body to gain separation. This kid is in for a monster year.
  • WR Anthony Gonzalez - same old steady gonzo... in a good way.
  • WR Roy Hall - had some nice grabs on redzone fade routes... the only time he kept up with the Brian's.
  • WR Brian Robiskie - Extremely explosive, simply cannot be covered in the open field. Catches everything thrown his way, including ridiculous twisting snags on the sidelines.
  • WR Brian Hartline - Smooth, glides all over the field, great body control. Not quite as quick out of his breaks as Robo, but his equal (if not faster) in straight line speed. Excellent hands as well.
  • WR Albert Dukes - good outing, but the guys above are simply too good for him to see the field often, imo.
  • WR Ray.Small - pretty quick but dropped a few passes. I was concerned about his size as a recruit, but he looks like a holmes clone in size/athleticism.
Defensive LineLinebackers
  • LB James Laurinaitis - excellent size, called all of the defenses in the huddle.
  • LB John Kerr - looked smaller than Homan, and a lot smaller than Laurinaitis.
  • LB Ross Homan - good to see him out there, didn't look 100%.
  • LB Tyler Moeller - still needs to get bigger, but he definitely looks larger than two months ago at the North-South game.
  • LB Thaddeus Gibson - raw but extremely explosive... easily the fastest LB in simple drills.
  • LB Larry Grant - a physical specimen, but I don't know that he's ready to contribute at LB yet.
  • LB Mark Johnson - jersey... and shorts.
  • LB Mike D'Andrea - not even wearing a jersey :sad2:
Cornerbacks
  • CB Malcolm Jenkins - tremendous corner... may become Tressel's best shutdown corner yet. Only guy who could occasionally stay in Ginn's zip code. If only youboty had stayed :(
  • CB Antonio Smith - strong, steady corner. Lacks the athleticism of other corners, but he makes less mistakes. Should be a steady boundary corner.
  • CB Kurt Coleman - extremely physical corner, great in bump coverage, strong coverage skills. He will replace Smith at the boundary before long.
  • CB Andre Amos - very athletic, but still a bit young. Good makeup speed, but he needed it a little too much.
  • CB Chimdi Chekwa - athletically he reminds me of youboty as a frosh. Lanky, athletic, but a bit raw...
Safeties
  • S Anderson Russell - 2nd best in 1v1 behind Jenkins... if he's not ready for safety, I'd love to see him as a nickel back. He's explosive, instinctive and loves to hit.
  • S Nick Patterson - great athleticism in drills, did not see enough of him in coverage. After the spring, I'm confident in him starting.
  • S Brandon Mitchell - did not watch him enough, but he is looking big.
  • S Jamario O'Neal - athletic, but still too raw. Streaky in 1v1 coverage... he'll be a demon on special teams until he matures as a safety.
  • S Donald Washington - looked good at times in 1v1, didn't watch him enough.
  • S Grant Schwartz - physically this kid looks like an upperclassmen (only Mitchell has that kind of muscle). Should contribute nicely on special teams, did not see enough of him in coverage.
  • S Aaron Gant - good athlete, quicker than I expected... will likely redshirt.
Special Teams
  • Both kickers were destroying the ball... I believe it was Pettrey who blasted a 54 yarder thru the uprights with distance to spare. Lots of kickoffs put in the endzone, a few 9 yards deep.
  • Trapasso looked excellent, serious hang time on almost every punt.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Bucks07 said:
Excellent write up. I didnt watch the QB's much, but I never saw Boeckman throwing. Anyone know if he threw at all or is he hurt and I am unaware of it?
Click to expand...
not sure... he definitely did pocket drills (lateral movement), but I did not see him throwing the ball (however there was a lot to watch at once).
 
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jwinslow said:
not sure... he definitely did pocket drills (lateral movement), but I did not see him throwing the ball (however there was a lot to watch at once).
Click to expand...

Thanks, I thought I might have missed it becuase there was a lot to watch and I was more interested in watching the DB's and LB's than the QB's. I talked to another friend who was there and didn't see him throwing either.
 
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