I haven't been to practices before today, so I'm not sure how they looked, but Whiskey Wednesday assures me that the offense performed much better today. The offense really did outplay the defense.
Jevan Snead - Got better as the day went along. He's still not at midseason form, but that's to be expected. He didn't throw any picks that we saw.
Nathan Stanley - appeared to be taking more reps than Tapp. Still has the problem of the well-thrown deep ball (that Richie Contartesi took for six) but the poorly thrown short route. He has to get better at that if he's going to hold off Raymond Cotton.
Billy Tapp - Consistent. He had one pass behind his receiver that would have been picked in a game, but he was generally accurate and got the ball away quickly.
Raymond Cotton - Still very unpolished, but he's got a ton of physicality. Cotton rolled out of the pocket a good bit today and threw bullets on the run. The guy has a cannon and takes a little longer to unload than Whiskey Wednesday reported. Still, he's good.
Tim Simon - This guy's staying at halfback unless it's just vital for us to have him at linebacker. He runs downhill quickly and is a one-cut runner with a BJGE-like stutter step.
Brandon Bolden - soft hands. We'll use him in the passing game.
Pat Patterson - Patterson stole the show today. He made at least three highlight grabs and didn't have a drop. There were several passes that looked uncatchable that he came down with. If today is any indication, he's going to be a star.
Jesse Grandy - unfortunately, Grandy hasn't gained thirty pounds in the past 24 hours. He's still pretty small. He's very fast though. Didn't have a lot of opportunities to make plays today, but he did fine with what he was given. He was unable to escape the press on a 1-on-1 drill, and indication of the work he has ahead of him in the weight room.
Ja-Mes Logan - runs excellent routes. He cuts hard and crisp. I think he's goign to be a reliable player for us down the road.
Melvin Harris - Caught two well-thrown fades today while well-covered. It's good to see that we're using him the way fans had hoped. Throw it up to him even when he's covered. He has a better than 50% chance to catch it.
Shay and Dex - Still incredible.
Derrick Davis - going to catch some balls in the flats and make the most of it.
Z Mason - slow. Sorry.
Ferbia Allen - surprisingly agile and maybe the fastest tight end. May be a better receiver than we thought.
Bobby Massie - Matched up with Jerry today in one-on-ones because "they're equal" according to Coach Markuson. They're not equal. Massie is still having a little difficulty adjusting to the phenoms we have at defensive end. He bounced around between left and right tackle today and looks to be preparing to play at whichever position needs help.
Reid Neely - a steady vet who didn't ever get noticably beaten.
Rishaw Johnson - gave little effort in drills today; got pushed back quickly by Brandon Green. Get it together Rishaw.
Bradley Sowell - didn't have a bad day. Didn't excel. His footwork appears quite good, but he's just not physical enough yet.
Greg Hardy - took some first team snaps. Played standing up a few times at DE. Had a sack.
Ted Laurent - collapsed the pocket on a few plays; caused a sack on one even though he wouldn't have been credited with it.
Linebackers - didn't do much today.
Jeremy McGee - McGee has come a long way since last year. He's a very capable backup and should fill in nicely once Marshay and Cassius graduate.
Charles Sawyer and Ryan Campbell - they're going to bring a physical presence that receivers will have to respect. It will take time before they're reliable though.
That's about all for today. Tomorrow is a full-pads scrimmage, moved to 4:30 PM. Let us know what you want us to watch out for.