Or, rather, note. There is only one thing worth talking about, and that thing is our completely disgusting secondary.
The offense was vanilla, obviously, but I don't think I've ever seen so many check downs in a spring game before. There was just nothing available. Brown, Beasley and Williams might make up three of the best corners we've ever had at the same time. Curtis Brown is talented but you can tell he doesn't really know what he's doing yet. He'll make one good play, then get completely turned around the next.
It's hard not to get excited. Deon Beasley decided to fight for his job and might just earn it back. The only two thrown his way were under his close and personal supervision. He's got to be the quickest player on the team. Chykie Brown only gave up one catch, a 30 yard fade that landed out of bounds. I'd like to see him not coast at the beginning of plays. WRs can get behind him because he jogs for the first 3-4 yards. He's got the make up speed, but that's why there is always a shot or two against him every game.
I didn't really notice Aaron Williams, which is a good thing.
In the back we've only got one good (proven) player, Earl Thomas. The good news is twofold. One, Thomas is electric. His play of the day was jumping a short slant from Colt and taking it to the house. Safeties don't do that type of thing. He was all over the field cleaning up other people's messes and providing good coverage. He's not the type of person you'd want covering WRs (Aaron Williams was in the slot, mostly) but put him on a TE or as a rover and he's dynamite personified.
Two, Christian Scott was probably the second best safety. He's fast, aggressive and brings a load. He ran down Malcolm Williams on a crossing route, from behind, and still managed to deliver a blow. H played with Thomas for the majority of the day and I hope he starts.
Gideon was Gideon, but he did have a very nice pass break up. He then ruined it by doing that white boy head down trot. You know the one. "I'm white so I have to play it cool, but I know what I just did."
Ben Wells played with the walk ons, so I guess it's Chinatown for him. Not sure what's missing there.
There was a slot of switching and communication going on during the plays. We're comfortable with the scheme, and it was very impressive to watch. No blown assignments (stark contrast to last year) and nothing available past 15 yards aside from a couple nice corner routes by Brandon Collins. We're going to rival Florida for the best secondary in the country (which I think we'll end up having), and we know what that means. Big Game Bradford.
Having watched the secondary, assuming that people could catch a replay on TV and see the rest for themselves, I can only offer fleeting glimpses of any other players.
- Vondrell, other than an early fumble, looked fantastic. Fozzy is the best back on the team and did nothing to disprove that, but McGee was cat quick. He embarrassed Curtis Brown at one point, juking him so badly that my jock fell off.
- Sherrod Harris needs work. His mechanics and accuracy are there, but he's not in sync with the offense. He has 6 months to work on that before it's too late.
- Greg Smith dropped all three passes thrown to him.
- Malcolm Williams will have a big year. I'm calling that one.
- Ben Alexander is OK. I noticed him for the first time getting pushed 6 yards out of the way on a TD run, but he made up for it later. Not a pass rusher, obviously.
- Speaking of the pass rush, only Dravannti Johnson of all people did anything there. Our protection was solid as a whole. Sergio Kindle didn't play.
- Kheeston Randall might be an option. Lamaar Houston was good, but after him, Randall was the best DT. He's athletic enough to make noise, if not the play, which is all we need.
- The offense was even more vanilla than usual. I think they only ran a couple pass play, and the usual gamut of running plays. I want to say the run defense looked good, which it did, but I think we all know what's going on there.
- Mack addressed the crowd again, pregame. I think he's starting to get the spotlight itch or something. Look out for a prima donna season from him.
- Hunter Lawrence had a huge day. Not only did he nail a three year old in the endzone with a practice kickoff, he made a tackle on a real kick inside the 30 yard line. And he ran the returner down, too. Not sure I've ever seen that happen before.
- The snow cone man earns an F- from me for standing right in front of my row all afternoon. My vision was blocked for a good 15 minutes in total while every kid in the place stood in my way.
- Didn't personally see any recruits, but Lache Seastruck and Darius White were there.