My opinion of what I saw...
We don't have any SEC level DTs. I spoke to a HS coach from So. Car. who has worked for Ellis Johnson before. He was at USCe's practice last week, and says none of our DTs look like they could start there. Said Whitaker looked "dumpy and unathletic".
DEs might be ok, but not great due to no DTs.
LBs
DBs might be, MIGHT be average.
Bottom line for Defense: We don't have a soul on that side of the ball that strikes fear in the heart of any SEC team. No play makers.
Offense: We don't have a QB on campus. Wallace ran with what appeared to be the 1st team. The OL that ran as the first team (Orange team) consisted of (L to R) Robinson, Kozan, Dismukes, Slade, Miller. Shon Coleman ran with the second team (Blue) at LT. I believe Fariyake Young and Diamond were in this group too.
OL is TALL! But lean. Avery Young is a big fucker, and Dismukes is solid too. Miller looks more like a TE than a RT. This group, IMO, will mature well, though it will take a year or 2. This year may be average or less, next year good, and in 2 years this group could produce a dominate OL much like 2010s.
We have some nice looking WRs, but all unproven as y'all know.
We don't have a real RB. Mason is hurt right now, but not big enough to carry the ball 25 times a game. I didn't see a stud among the bunch.
Prosch is a stud for a FB, and can do everything you'd ask of a FB/HBack/TE. He has nice hands (made a pretty one hand catch on a wheel route) and he gives 100% effort every play, and ever rep in practice.
Fulse and Uzomah are both huge TEs. HUGE! They line up wide alot right now.
Neither QB looked very good to me. Wallace's motion looks funky at times, like he's aiming the ball. Frazier missed a wide open corner route to Uzomah that should have been a TD.
Any success the offense had today, likely due to the defense sucking.
Practice for now is nothing but going fast, and trying to regain that tough edge. They move fast, never walk, and they hit. Scheme is secondary for now. They only have in a hand full of plays on offense (4 base runs, and PAP off each), and a few coverages/calls on defense. I talked to Kodi Burns last night for a bit, and he said that their progression is learning to go fast first, getting tough and in shape, then adding scheme a bit at a time. Also reminded me that they don't do a whole lot, they try to get good at a few concepts, go fast, and disguise it with formations, shifts, and motions.
JMO, YMMV...if we break .500, it will be a good job all the way around.
Caveat: they're only 6 practices in with the new staff, and one scrimmage in. Much of my opinion is based on just not seeing any "players" on the field. Some of the ones that do look like players have either proven they're not (Holland) or have yet to prove anything at all (Pick a WR).
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