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Practice Observations

Buffnik

Buffnik

Real name isn't Nik
Club Member
Junta Member
Went over this morning. It was great to see the team working. Not a lot you can tell from seeing them in shells from a distance on the 3rd day of camp. But I do think you can see who is making plays and form some impressions on physicality.

QBs
Sefo looks in full command. Throwing a great deep ball, accurate on those short and sideline outs like he's always been, and still isn't someone who looks much to the intermediate routes between the hashes. Behind him, Gehrke still makes some bad decisions and doesn't have a big enough arms. Montez has a cannon but is still learning to make the right decisions. Lot of upside, needs to make progress this camp. Noyer is bigger and has a better arm with more accuracy than I expected out of recruiting. Looks like he'll be a solid player.

RBs
Didn't see a lot from them. I don't think Adkins was out there today. Lee probably had the best runs. Bisharat and the walk-on Lewis are much bigger than the other RBs.

TEs
The guy who stood out to me is Keeney. He's a mismatch out there and could be a huge weapon this year. Showed more willingness & effectiveness as a blocker, too. Sometimes loses a little focus on easy catches and doesn't run every route 100% when he's not a main option, so he has to take that next step and bring it every play.

WRs
Didn't see Shay out there. Bobo looked great and wasn't playing DB today as far as I could see. Ross has a level of athleticism that separates him. MacIntyre is a solid option out of the slot. Julmisse looked good but not real polished yet. Rakestraw has potential. Ento a very good athlete who should develop. Huntley is ridiculous for a freshman. Got him confused with Winfree because he's that far along physically. Faster than I thought, too. And Winfree is an absolute stud out there.

OL
So much shuffling of guys that it was hard to tell much. They look a lot bigger than last year. One thing I did notice was Callahan working a bit at OT. Starters were RT Kronshage, RG Lynott, C Kelley, LG Kough, LT Irwin.

I'll post defense tonight.
 
I had to give you a "like" since our strung out mods can't seem to locate the "rep" button.

Thanx anyhow, from a distance-challenged fan.
 
Buffnik said:
Went over this morning. It was great to see the team working. Not a lot you can tell from seeing them in shells from a distance on the 3rd day of camp. But I do think you can see who is making plays and form some impressions on physicality.

QBs
Sefo looks in full command. Throwing a great deep ball, accurate on those short and sideline outs like he's always been, and still isn't someone who looks much to the intermediate routes between the hashes. Behind him, Gehrke still makes some bad decisions and doesn't have a big enough arms. Montez has a cannon but is still learning to make the right decisions. Lot of upside, needs to make progress this camp. Noyer is bigger and has a better arm with more accuracy than I expected out of recruiting. Looks like he'll be a solid player.

RBs
Didn't see a lot from them. I don't think Adkins was out there today. Lee probably had the best runs. Bisharat and the walk-on Lewis are much bigger than the other RBs.

TEs
The guy who stood out to me is Keeney. He's a mismatch out there and could be a huge weapon this year. Showed more willingness & effectiveness as a blocker, too. Sometimes loses a little focus on easy catches and doesn't run every route 100% when he's not a main option, so he has to take that next step and bring it every play.

WRs
Didn't see Shay out there. Bobo looked great and wasn't playing DB today as far as I could see. Ross has a level of athleticism that separates him. MacIntyre is a solid option out of the slot. Julmisse looked good but not real polished yet. Rakestraw has potential. Ento a very good athlete who should develop. Huntley is ridiculous for a freshman. Got him confused with Winfree because he's that far along physically. Faster than I thought, too. And Winfree is an absolute stud out there.

OL
So much shuffling of guys that it was hard to tell much. They look a lot bigger than last year. One thing I did notice was Callahan working a bit at OT. Starters were RT Kronshage, RG Lynott, C Kelley, LG Kough, LT Irwin.

I'll post defense tonight.
Click to expand...
I normally watch the DL and OL, I love that we have Tupou back, I really like what I see from the DL and now we have the size and ability to have depth. I wanted to be equally thrilled with the OL but they worry me. Huckins was struggling with an injury or illness most of practice. Aaron Haigler is not quite ready at this time and whiffed on several OL/DL drills. The LT Irwin struggled in the scrimmage, he allowed several QB pressures and a sack,Coach Adams did not look happy. Weifels was 1st team RG n- Lynott was moved to 2nd team .I was impressed with Kaiser who was playing LG 2nd team and Callahan who was playing LT 2nd team. They both were getting atta boys from Coach Adams and the Grad Assist. especially during the OL/DL drills.
The biggest difference I see is with OL Coaching, Adams is intense and vocal, I never saw that with Bernardi.
 
WR competition should be hot this fall.

I hope Huntley can get on the field this fall.

Winfere, Huntley, Ento, Ross, Fields, and Bobo battling for playing time.
 
Moving on to the defense & special teams.

NT
Tupou is just huge. He is special in there. I didn't watch a lot of the second unit NT play, but Franke is a very active guy who will be a crazy change of pace. I heard whispers that Lopez's ankle problems are in the past and he's feeling great. Making a push after his lost year. Tuiloma looks the part, but is still transforming his body and learning technique after coming from such a small school. I think that there's going to be a bit more depth here than I had expected.

DT/DE
Carrell looks big. Surprisingly big versus how he looked last year. Same thing with Samson since the last time I saw him. If those 2 guys are the starting guys along with Tupou, that DL is going to be a load which should keeps the LBs clean to run & make plays. Coleman worked a lot with the 1s today. He's undersized for every down and I'm not sure he can hold up as an every-down guy. But on a 3rd and 8, he could be a very valuable guy with his speed & quickness. Another pleasant surprise was Mathewes. I don't know if being a 3-4 DT/DE is the scheme that suits him as opposed to being a SDE in a 4-3, but the guy has put in the work to add the size for the position. Viable rotation guy now. Wouldn't surprise me if he's legitimately over 260. Young guys like Umu and Roberts also bring good size, but I didn't see them play much. One theme in all of what I saw today was passing the eyeball test. Guys grew up a lot since last season and the new guys coming in are bigger as freshmen than in years past.

OLB
Continuing the theme, DMac got a lot bigger. I think he's about as big as he can get and still be able to do everything at that position. Looks good. Gilbert still looks lanky on the other side, but doesn't look as skinny. Falo is gonna be a player. So glad it's only a 3-week suspension because he's going to be good. I didn't really notice anyone else.

ILB
KO's got some guns now. He should hold up better this year. Gillam is still thin, but not like the last couple years. Seemed like the coaches were limiting his live contact today, as they'd said they would do. Lewis definitely looks the part athletically and is the right size. I was pretty impressed with Jones and think he has potential. I missed Gamboa, so can't comment there. I'm not sure if this is going to be a top of the Pac-12 type group, but it looks the best it has in years.

CB
Chido is crazy good. Not much to say here that everyone doesn't already know. Oliver is also an absolute stud. Great in coverage and also mixes it up. Spoon made some plays and likes to talk smack. Very long and athletic. Really need him to develop into what he's capable of during camp. Of the top 3 CBs, he the only one I'm not sure of right now. From the freshman, I think we're going to see Blackmon play early and do well. Udoffia not as polished as a CB, but could also play this year. Very good athlete. The surprise today was Bergner (the walk-on transfer who was a good HS player at Parker Legend and joined last spring as a soph). He might just work his way into the 2-deep and onto scholarship.

S
Tedric is better than ever. He'd always been a heck of a centerfielder as a zone safety and awesome in run support, but today I saw man coverage skills I'd never seen from him. Definitely been putting in the work. I'm expecting a big year. Moeller looks yoked and is really moving well out there. This is a very good safety tandem. I didn't notice Trego or Laguda, so maybe someone else can comment. Fisher is looking like a player, though. Had a nice pick in live play.

K, P, LS, Return
Not a lot of work that I could really evaluate very deeply. Partly because I don't know a lot about evaluating specialists. But Diego seemed to get the ball up quickly with a lot of power and accuracy. He looked good to me. Kinney was punting toward where I was and there was too much in between for me to see how quickly he was getting punts off, but he was launching them with a ton of hang time. Couldn't really tell distance. Looked like JMac & Lindsay were the return guys, but it's only the 3rd practice so I doubt that means much at this point. Wouldn't surprise me, though, if JMac is our PR guy. Reliable hands and has a lot more wiggle than Spruce did to make the first guy miss. Snaps didn't seem to have any issues on FG or P.

If I think of anything else, I'll post. That's all I can remember, though. Frankly, it's hard to judge where they are at versus other Pac-12 teams since I haven't seen anyone else practicing in shells. But I can compare them to other CU teams I've watched in camp over the years. This is the best looking team I have seen since the GB era was coming to a close.
 
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Also, was great to see Adam, Shapiro & Tyler there putting in the work. I didn't see a Kyle? WTF is up with that? I thought there was a law or something that there had to be a Kyle covering a CU Buffs sporting event?
 
badbone63 said:
The LT Irwin struggled in the scrimmage, he allowed several QB pressures and a sack,Coach Adams did not look happy.
Click to expand...

That's concerning. Hopefully he was just having a bad day and is still trying to work back into football shape. I think most people on here expected him to have a big season, myself included, and if he struggles it will really put a damper on our offensive line progress.

Having had two ACL reconstruction surgeries myself, I can say the mental barrier is often more significant than the physical one. For me, once I got past the mental barrier, I was just as physically able as before the surgery, and would even forget which knee was the repaired one. He seems like a good dude, and has gone through hell with injuries, so I'm rooting for him to succeed beyond just being a Buff fan.
 
Buffnik said:
Also, was great to see Adam, Shapiro & Tyler there putting in the work. I didn't see a Kyle? WTF is up with that? I thought there was a law or something that there had to be a Kyle covering a CU Buffs sporting event?
Click to expand...
you sure kyle h wasnt there?
 
@badbone63 thanks for your impressions, albeit different than the others I have read here and elsewhere.
OL should struggle early against a good DL. Hopeful that means Gilbert is ready to hit potential as a pass rusher?

Not in full pads yet, so a lot will change. Hopeful that Huntley can play as good as he looks. Need that position to make huge jump.
 
Buffnik said:
I don't think so. Brie was there covering the practice. I met her and we talked for a couple minutes. She's nice. Was doing it all for them, photography & interviews.
Click to expand...

Good for her. I hope she busts her ass and uses this opportunity to launch a great career.
 
Big Iron Buff said:
That's concerning. Hopefully he was just having a bad day and is still trying to work back into football shape. I think most people on here expected him to have a big season, myself included, and if he struggles it will really put a damper on our offensive line progress.

Having had two ACL reconstruction surgeries myself, I can say the mental barrier is often more significant than the physical one. For me, once I got past the mental barrier, I was just as physically able as before the surgery, and would even forget which knee was the repaired one. He seems like a good dude, and has gone through hell with injuries, so I'm rooting for him to succeed beyond just being a Buff fan.
Click to expand...
I was nervous watching him so I would agree that the mental piece plays into his recovery.
Not playing for a year also puts him behind in experience from others.
Actual play is hard to duplicate in the rehab process.
I assume it may take some time.
Also did not see Lisella participate, maybe an injury? Hunter Vaughn #77 looks like the real deal, it was good to get him into the program instead of a grey shirt.
 
Big Iron Buff said:
That's concerning. Hopefully he was just having a bad day and is still trying to work back into football shape. I think most people on here expected him to have a big season, myself included, and if he struggles it will really put a damper on our offensive line progress.

Having had two ACL reconstruction surgeries myself, I can say the mental barrier is often more significant than the physical one. For me, once I got past the mental barrier, I was just as physically able as before the surgery, and would even forget which knee was the repaired one. He seems like a good dude, and has gone through hell with injuries, so I'm rooting for him to succeed beyond just being a Buff fan.
Click to expand...
From cubuffs on Friday, so I don't think he has the same mental barrier:
PRACTICE TIDBITS: Quarterback Sefo Liufau continues to show no signs of the Lisfranc foot injury that sidelined him for the spring. Liufau is clearly not afraid to run and cut, and is having a solid camp throwing the ball thus far.
Click to expand...
 
Sefo showed no hesitation running the ball during Saturday's practice. Coaches had no hesitation calling zone read plays.
 
dS_spe.gif
 
zbuff said:
From cubuffs on Friday, so I don't think he has the same mental barrier:
Click to expand...
That conversation was regarding Irwin not Sefo. I was pleased with what I saw of Sefo. He was moving and throwing well in the scrimmage play. Full pads on Tuesday will reveal any issues with injuries.
 
Buffnik said:
Sefo showed no hesitation running the ball during Saturday's practice. Coaches had no hesitation calling zone read plays.
Click to expand...

I've been wondering if the coaches would call his number. His zone reads were very effective last year. You have to go to it. Opens up the run game which opens up everything. Don't have to do it a lot, but you have to show it.
 
buffaholic said:
I've been wondering if the coaches would call his number. His zone reads were very effective last year. You have to go to it. Opens up the run game which opens up everything. Don't have to do it a lot, but you have to show it.
Click to expand...

I agree. It has to be something the opposing DC has to plan for when facing us.

Too many times these last few years I've watched de's crashing and lb's flowing to the rb, while virtually no one paid any attention to the qb.
 
BehindEnemyLines said:
I agree. It has to be something the opposing DC has to plan for when facing us.

Too many times these last few years I've watched de's crashing and lb's flowing to the rb, while virtually no one paid any attention to the qb.
Click to expand...
Ah, the old Cody Hawkins zone read! I once saw an opposing DE pulled from a game by an irate DLine coach after actually playing contain on a Hawinks run zone read.
 
buffaholic said:
I've been wondering if the coaches would call his number. His zone reads were very effective last year. You have to go to it. Opens up the run game which opens up everything. Don't have to do it a lot, but you have to show it.
Click to expand...

You cannot run in a spread offense without the QB running.
 
Duff Man said:
You cannot run in a spread offense without the QB running.
Click to expand...

Only example I can think of that would contradict was Okie Lite a couple years. But that's just disagreeing with a declarative "can't". Spread offense running game need the QB to be able to do some things with his legs or the playbook gets cut a lot. Not just the run plays, but some of the rollout run/pass options along with the action off of those.
 
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