2010 Spring Ball News

Highlander

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I thought I'd start a discussion on some of the stories coming out of Spring practice.

Here's a story from a few days ago on a redshirt freshman named, Parker Orms, who is vying for a starting spot at Safety:

</span><h1 id="articleTitle" ="articleTitle aptureTMMion">Orms turning heads at CU spring practices</h1>http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_14683170?source=rss#axzz0iR34Yu0U

The article is riddled with caste-speak and I submitted a post critical
of it, but, of course, it was never allowed to be displayed, even though
I didn't use any obscene language or derogatory terms. So much for the
"Fourth Estate" and "free speech".

Excerpt:


One of those players is defensive back Parker
Orms, a deceptively speedy product out of Wheat Ridge High School who
seems to be doing well for himself one-third of the way through spring
ball.



Orms is getting first-team reps in practice at nickelback, in
part because of a minor injury to Travis Sandersfeld, but also because
he has earned them. It seems the more opportunities he gets, the more
coaches like what they see from him.



He made two interceptions in practice Friday and followed it up
with another solid day Monday
. Orms said he understands now where he is
supposed to be on the field in different situations.



"He`s really kind of a baller," Hawkins said. "He`s a very savvy
kid. I think he`s just been playing sports for so long -- football,
basketball and baseball -- that he`s a very heady guy. He understands
the game. He`s one of those gym-rat kind of guys
. He can run, too.</span>


What? He can run too? Simply Amazing!!!
smiley3.gif

</span></span>
Here's another article from today about the defense in their first scrimage, including Orms:
http://www.dailycamera.com/sports-columnists/ci_14705402#axzz0ik5YEQg8

Excerpt:

But if you had to pick the best player of the
day, it might have been Parker Orms.


Who? That would be
freshman safety Parker Orms, all 5-11, 180 pounds of him.


Orms was everywhere â€" well, at least everywhere the ball went. Orms
finished the day with a team-high 11 tackles, three tackles for losses, a
quarterback sack and three third-down stops.


Not bad for a
kid who started the spring at the bottom of the depth chart, but has
already found a home in CU's nickel package.

"He's a
baller," declared Buff cornerback Jimmy Smith, who turned in his usual
complement of nice plays, including a nifty interception on the goal
line. "We always knew he was speedy. But his instincts are really
surprising. He tackles, he's aggressive
... he's just a baller."

Healthy words of praise from a senior who could be hearing his name on
the first day of the NFL Draft a year from now.

But Smith
can afford to be gracious. While Orms might have stolen the show on
Thursday
, fact is, Smith might be the best player in a CU uniform every
time the Buffs leave the locker room.
</span><div id="Tixyy" style="overflow: ; color: rgb0, 0, 0; : transparent; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; border: medium none;">
</div>
 

Highlander

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Here's one...an anti-Caste position move. Nebraska Tight-End, Mike McNeill, is moving to Wide Receiver:

http://www.cornnation.com/2010/3/18/1380251/mike-mcneill-moves-to-wide-receiver

I think he'll do well, probably be their second "go to guy" after Niles Paul. Too bad he's a Senior. He's 6'4" 240lbs with good speed. I'm hoping he can drop 10-15 pounds and get even faster. That would make him a strong 6'4 225-230lb receiver with good speed, good hands and, of course, good "route running ability"
smiley2.gif
.
 

Highlander

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You beat me to the punch, Jack,
smiley36.gif
. Oh well, our links are different.
 

Jack Lambert

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Highlander said:
You beat me to the punch, Jack,
smiley36.gif
.  Oh well, our links are different.

No harm there, Highlander. It's important news.
smiley1.gif


Anyway, McNeill should be the No. 2 WR after Paul. But the DWFs seems set on Brandon Kinnie being the No.2. Nebraska will be a team to cheer for this year for sure. There are also a lot of talented white TEs to take McNeill's spot.
 

Jack Lambert

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Nebraska had it's first day of spring practice today, and no surprise, the two best recievers of the day were white.

Here is a little blurb on WR (Former TE) Mike McNeill.

From Scout.com
If you didn't believe it was true, Mike McNeill is now a WR. Nobody was making that up. McNeill dazzled his fellow receivers with a fantastic running catch, which drew everybodys attention.

And we have a RS Freshman, Ty Kildow, who caught everything thrown his way.

I watched the receivers for a little while. As expected on the first day of spring, there were quite a few dropped passes. One guy who deserves mention is Ty Kildow. Kildow, who sat out all last season with a leg injury, caught every pass thrown his way. The 5'7" sophomore even made a spectacular leaping catch to save a certain reporter from being hit in the grill. Thanks Ty!

A few other notes I've read.

With Zac Lee out of spring ball, QBs Cody Green (black or mulatto) and RS Taylor Martinez (white) were given chances to impress. Most of the hype is with Green, but according to reporters, Taylor has a shot to win the QB job. According to one reporter, Martinez throws a "hard and accurate ball."

One of Nebraska's new hyped up afflete DTs, Jay Guy came in, and people are already saying he looks bigger. Even the DWFs see that he is getting fat. Hopefully, this guy won't play until Crick and Steinkeuhler graduate. Also, another DT brought in was Chase Rome (white), who may vy for time this year as well.
 

ToughJ.Riggins

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Crick is almost as good as Suh already. Plus he may improve even more this year!

Good to hear about the two white WRs. I think Mike posted about Kildow in the H.S forum. He used to be, primarily, a tailback in H.S. He was a preferred walk-on last year.
 

Deadlift

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Speaking of Jay Guy, he does have a large frame, but Rivals didn't rank him high:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Jay-Guy-76146

His Senior stats are listed as 74 tackles and 5 sacks. The Caste-ites could make the argument that many other guys made tackles "because Guy had to be doubled up" - which could be true - but the 5 sacks is WEAK AS HELL!!

Not only that, but large-framed White men are notoriously chastised, and said to "lack mobility" and be "stiff" and "unable to provide a pass-rush"... Well, that description would fit many of these affletes perfectly.
 
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One interesting note is that backup MSU QB Keith Nichol--who at one time ranked the #4 QB prospect in America--has switched to WR. He initially played for OK, but Sam Bradford just barely beat him out. Then he transferred to MSU and Kirk Cousins--who went on to lead the Big 10 in passing--also beat him out. Most people believe he could still be a good QB, but he just happened to choose the wrong schools.

Nevertheless, he seems pretty pumped and the coaches are really high on him at WR. They actually made the switch before the bowl game and he caught two passes.

He has decent speed (probably 4.6 40), very good size (6'2, 215 lb), is pretty ripped and has a good vertical (37 inches). I could see him being anywhere between the 2nd option to 4th option. Black WR Dell is likely the most talented, been productive in the past, but drops too many balls. Keyshaun Martin is a small burner (probably legit 4.3 something speed) but drops half the passes thrown to him. BJ Cuningham, another black receiver, is very similar athletically to Nichol, runs precise routes and catches everything. He was the #2 option last year with Blair White being the #1. He's best suited for working underneath, yet may be good enough to be the #1 receiver overall if the other two remain inconsistent. If that happens--which wouldn't surprise me--Nichol could see a lot of action.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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according to this article, Keith Nichol starts spring ball as the #1 wide receiver AND the #2 quarterback. pretty cool.
also, i remember the announcers talking about him in the bowl game last season ... about how he was a bigger, faster version of Blair White. if THAT is true, he's one hell of an athlete.
 
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Jimmy Chitwood said:
according to this article, Keith Nichol starts spring ball as the #1 wide receiver AND the #2 quarterback. pretty cool.
<div>also, i remember the announcers talking about him in the bowl game last season ... about how he was a bigger, faster version of Blair White. if THAT is true, he's one hell of an athlete.</div>
He's likely #1 on the depth chart, along with Martin, because the other two receivers were involved in a fight, got suspended for the bowl game and this is a way to say, "you have to earn your way back." Since I haven't really seen Nichol play WR, there may be a chance he's better than those two (but they are actually really good, legitimate pro prospects), but there is no way Martin would be ahead of them. Martin has hands of bricks and when I said he drops half his passes, that wasn't an exaggeration. He literally drops half the passes thrown to him.

I would be shocked if he's faster than White. Nichol, from what I've seen, has avg. speed, but is a good runner and plays very strong. I think he's going to get a lot of yards after the catch, plowing and fighting his way to the first down marker, but also making good cuts after the catch. I really look forward to seeing him play WR. I think he's going to be good.
 

DixieDestroyer

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It looks like the UGA starting QB position is still (officially) "wide open" between (White) QBs Logan Gray, Aaron Murray & Zach Mettenberger. Also, I'm looking for Kris Durham (6'5, 205) to return from injury to be the #2 WR (behind caste favored AJ Green).

The unspoken question: Who leads the QB derby?

10:01 am March 26, 2010, by Tim Tucker

ATHENS â€"- Each day, Georgia's quarterbacks meet with their position coach, Mike Bobo. But one thing never comes up in those meetings: a pecking order among the three quarterbacks who are competing in spring practice for the starting job.

"Coach Bobo really isn't telling anybody, ‘You stand here,' ‘You stand here,'" Logan Gray said last night.

"No, Coach Bobo hasn't said anything, him or Coach Richt,"Â Aaron Murray said.

The three quarterbacks -â€" Gray, Murray and Zach Mettenberger â€"- have evenly shared snaps with the first-team offense in the six practices of spring ball so far. They've even alternated days taking the first snaps with the No. 1 offense.

"I think myself, Zach and Aaron are all competing,"Â Gray said. "I think everybody has had really good days and days there could be improvement."Â

There's a particularly important day coming up: tomorrow.

The Bulldogs will hold a closed scrimmage in Sanford Stadium, the first of three spring scrimmages.

"I'm looking forward to it,"Â Murray said. "Coach Richt was talking [Thursday] after practice that this is going to be the first test for everyone, to see where everyone is at, to see what we have learned, to see where we have come after two weeks of practice."Â

Said Gray: "This is my third spring, so obviously I've found out scrimmages in the spring are what are judged probably the most and the biggest. With this being our first one, and with the quarterback competition going on how it is right now, obviously it's going to be really important.

"But I don't want to make it the end of the world. If one of us has a not-so-good day, I don't think that's just going to kill us, or put somebody out of what's going on. But I think everybody is going to be excited to go out there and go live for a long period of time and make plays at all positions."Â

Gray believes all three quarterbacks have focused on day-to-day improvement, rather than fretting the competition.

"We're just all three of us trying to get better and correct the mistakes we're making,"Â he said. "I think all of us have done a good job of trying to come out and work hard every day and take care of our business."Â

For his part, Gray believes he has improved his passing accuracy.

"I felt like I've had some really good days where I've been hitting my targets better maybe than I did in the past,"Â he said. "I just have to keep on running the offense on a consistent basis so the coaches know every single time I'm in the huddle hopefully something good can happen."Â

http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2010/03/26/the-unspoken-question-who-leads-the-qb-derby/

Edited by: DixieDestroyer
 

JReb1

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I'll be surprised if Aaron Murray doesn't become the starter for UGA. Aaron is the best QB prospect from Fla since Tebow. He was a god In high school, I watched him play for years and I think he's going to be a stud and eventually an NFL QB.
 

Highlander

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DixieDestroyer

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"Unspecified reasons" usually equate to standard TNB (smoking weed, beatin' down their "lady", "dissin" the coaches, etc.). However, the PC universities try to bury the reasons under a vague label to protect the "afroletes".
smiley21.gif
I'm sure we'll see a steady stream of afflete dismissals through the summer & all the way to bowl season...yo.
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Edited by: DixieDestroyer
 

SteveB

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Rice held their Spring game and Taylor Cook, Taylor McHargue, and Sam Mcguffie made plays. Cook is a lot like Matt Jones (although not quite as fast, but with a better arm) and we all know about Mcguffie. Also, Klein Kubiak made some plays at WR.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/college/rice/6933205.html
Rice spring game turns into Taylor-made day
QBs McHargue, Cook show off passing abilities
By SAM KHAN JR.
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
March 27, 2010, 9:20PM
Brett Coomer Chronicle
Rice wide receiver Klein Kubiak leaps up over cornerback Martin Uwah for a touchdown reception.

Since transferring to Rice from Miami prior to the start of the 2009 season, quarterback Taylor Cook has been a point of interest for Owls observers.

But he wasn't the only Taylor who performed well in the Owls' annual Blue-Gray spring football game on Saturday at Rice Stadium.

Redshirt freshman Taylor McHargue showcased his abilities, too, throwing for three touchdowns in the Blue's 47-41 win. The game was an offense (Blue) vs. defense (Gray) setup, with a modified scoring system.

"Getting out here and getting some live action was very satisfying,"Â￾ said the 6-1, 195-pound McHargue, who's from Cedar Park Vista Ridge. "It's nice to have some success, but I think as an offense, we had a lot of success."Â￾

McHargue split time with Cook throughout the day running the first-team offense. McHargue finished 8-of-11 passing for 126 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 25 yards. Cook, a 6-7, 240-pound sophomore from Rice Consolidated, also was efficient, going 12-of-18 for 111 yards and a touchdown.

"McHargue showed he has a nice arm and good feet, and Taylor Cook made some big-time throws,"Â￾ Rice coach David Bailiff said. "You can see that at 6-7 he's not a slow kid â€" he can run."Â￾

Big run by McGuffie
Cook and McHargue got extra repetitions in the absence of junior quarterback Nick Fanuzzi, who was unable to play because of an undisclosed injury. Fanuzzi was one of a handful of injured starters not in action on Saturday, a list that included senior defensive end Scott Solomon and junior safety Travis Bradshaw.

Also of interest in spring drills has been the performance of sophomore running back Sam McGuffie. While he showcased his quickness and elusiveness early in the day, it wasn't until the fourth quarter that he was able to bust loose for a big play. He caught a short pass from Michael Poynter and scooted 65 yards. McGuffie, who transferred from Michigan in January 2009, finished with three catches for 73 yards and seven rushes for 10 yards.

"It's been good,"Â￾ McGuffie said. "As time goes on, I get more and more comfortable (with the offense). It's not much different from Michigan as far as the plays. It's still a spread-option type (attack)."Â￾

TE McDonald shines
Outside of the quarterbacks, Vance McDonald had the most impressive offensive performance. The sophomore tight end from East Chambers caught five passes for 69 yards and a touchdown.

"He has made a lot of plays all spring,"Â￾ Bailiff said. "He's one of the guys that has really enjoyed the changes offensively."Â￾

Defensively, junior defensive back Xavier Webb, a Montgomery product, led the team with five tackles and a pass breakup. Linebacker Justin Hill had a sack to go with his 31/2 tackles, and Tolu Akinwumi was impressive, with two tackles for loss and 31/2 total tackles of his own.

The Owls will conclude spring practice next week with workouts on Monday and Tuesday followed by a scrimmage on Wednesday at Rice Stadium.
 

celticdb15

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Great find Steve. Rice will be an exciting team to watch in the upcoming years!!
 

Riddlewire

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No reason to get excited about this, since it won't last, but how many white runningbacks in D1A begin Spring practice at #1 on the depth chart?

ASU junior Derek Lawson is currently penciled in as the Red Wolves' first-string running back. Junior Jermaine Robertson is second string while junior college transfer Da'Juan Cofield is getting plenty of opportunities to work his way into playing time.
Lawson, a 5-foot-11, 216-pound former Nettleton standout, had a disappointing season last fall after an impressive campaign as a freshman. He rushed for 254 yards and two touchdowns in 2010 after running for 695 yards and scoring four touchdowns his first year.[That's because he had his carries taken away in favor of Roberts's "new toy", who is no longer on the team (TNB). -RW]
With Robertson and Cofield pushing him, Lawson says the competition to replace former ASU running back Reggie Arnold has been stiff. Arnold set the bar high for whoever take his place, having rushed for 3,933 yards and 33 touchdowns over his career.
"In the spring, it's never set in stone who's the starter,"Â￾ Lawson said. "Every day I come out and just try to work to earn that starting position. Jermaine Robertson is a freak when it comes to being strong, fast and quick. Da'Juan Cofield is coming in from a JUCO and he's fast and quick. It's been tough. I've got to come and work my hardest every day."Â￾
While Lawson appears to be the front-runner, there's a couple of freshmen who Roberts believes could have an impact on the position when preseason practices begin in August.

Link
 

Colonel_Reb

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Some talk about who will be replacing Bo McNally at Stanford.
Stanford




Everybody is talking about: Who steps in to replace
Heisman Trophy runnerup Toby Gerhart at running back?



Bigger shoes than you think: Free safety Bo McNally



On the one hand, McNally represents the sort of player Stanford had
in abundance before coach Jim Harbaugh arrived -- smart, tough, runs a
4.66 40-yard dash. The Cardinal secondary has struggled in recent years
and, yes, it likely will upgrade its athleticism when McNally is gone.
But here's a hunch that Stanford just might miss its two-year captain
and three-time leading tackler. It's notable that even as Harbaugh
upgraded recruiting -- particularly in terms of team speed -- that no
one displaced McNally from the lineup and prevented him from starting 38
games and recording 294 tackles and grabbing 10 interceptions.



Who is stepping in: Fifth-year senior Austin Yancy,
who started 12 games at strong safety in 2007 and one game there in
2009, had 23 tackles last year. He has good size -- 6-foot-4, 219 pounds
-- and is a veteran player. Promising sophomore Harold Bernard,
McNally's backup in 2009, had just six tackles last year but has looked
good thus far in spring practices. It's possible both could see action
beside strong safety Delano Howell. [Edit note: As noted in a comment
below, a third option is Alex Loukas, who moved over from quarterback
this spring].

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac10/post/_/id/8995/bigger-shoes-than-you-think-stanford
 

Jack Lambert

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With incumbent QB Zac Lee out this spring, most people expected DWF favorite QB Cody Green to come in and take Lee's job. However, competition has been stiff in the QB race this spring, with RS Freshman Taylor Martinez making his case to be the starter. Bo Pelini has been impressed with Martinez so far during spring practice. Now even some DWFs think Martinez can win the job. Here are his High School Highlights. Martinez also earned many awards his senior year in high school.
 

Deadlift

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Cody Green seems to have been WAY over-rated by Rivals, and he's already a sophomore now, since he wasn't redshirted.

If you want black quarterbacks' to "develop"... you have to redshirt them!
 

TwentyTwo

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Looks like a strongfight for the Dawgsat QB....Murray's got "it"...some moxie you just can't coach...Mettenberger has looked solid as well...which leads me to the very athleticLogan Gray?? I have seen him return punts...if he can't win the QB position...is it possible for them to move him to WR...he could work wellin the slot with the 6'-4"Green &amp; 6'-5"Durham... Edited by: TwentyTwo
 

FootballDad

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Nebraska's Red/White Spring Game is scheduled for Saturday, April 17th, and Kansas has theirs on April 24th. I was reading an article on a Nebraska fansite about "recruitment rankings" and it noted that Bo Pellini's reaction to these are with amusement. I liked that. After all, the "recruitment rankings" are a stacked deck in favor of affletes, and should be looked at with amusement, or better yet, disdain.
 

FootballDad

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Speaking of Nebraska, of the 11 players currently listed on their roster as cornerbacks, 5 are WHITE (and 1 mulatto). Virtually their entire recruiting class of corners are white kids who played in the state of Nebraska.
 

Colonel_Reb

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FootballDad said:
Speaking of Nebraska, of the 11 players currently listed on their roster as cornerbacks, 5 are WHITE (and 1 mulatto). Virtually their entire recruiting class of corners are white kids who played in the state of Nebraska.

Great news!
 
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