It was an ugly afternoon but ended up being a beautiful night in Naples. Great meeting Canefan87 and seeing Cans4life, courcy75 and Hurcaneman.
To me, there were two main takeaways from this scrimmage. The first was Rashawn Scott. With the emergence of Herb Waters, Scott was quickly becoming a forgotten man. But tonight he reminded everyone just how talented he is. He went up and over a Tracy Howard, caught several passes in traffic and had two long runs after the catch. His pure athleticism is what stands out. He's known to be one of the best basketball players on the team, and you can see that coordination when he goes up and gets the ball.
The other takeaway was the play of the backup quarterbacks. Ryan Williams and Gray Crow both played pretty awful in the Bishop Verot scrimmage last year. They've come a long way, especially Crow. His first drive was a thing of beauty. He got things going by connecting on a deep sideline throw to Rashawn Scott. Then, he stepped up in the pocket and delivered a strike to Crawford over the middle for a TD. His accuracy wasn't as good later in the scrimmage, but was much improved overall. Williams has really nice chemistry with Scott dating all the way back to last spring. The two connected on several big plays tonight, including a couple passes over the middle that went for 6. Even though Williams doesn't have Morris's velocity, his throws to Scott have better ball-placement and anticipation which allows Scott to do his thing after the catch.
Stephen Morris played OK, not his best. He overthrew a sure TD in the seam to Waters and missed a couple other throws. The most encouraging thing about his performance tonight was some of the throws he made in the redzone. He connected on a tight corner route to Hurns for a TD, as well as a fade to Hurns. The tempo was noticeably quicker than last scrimmage. The first-team offense got off several snaps while the defense was still lining up.
Preston Dewey only got one series and played fine. The Lassiter kid made a strong throw over the middle to a fellow walk-on.
Fort Myers native Dallas Crawford did his best work as a receiver, including a TD catch over the middle and TD catch-and-run in the flats. IMO, the slot receiver position is the best place for him once RB depth returns to normal. Danny Dillard ran hard until suffering a minor shoulder injury. He is not patient enough for the real big runs, but he always gets positive yards. Maurice Hagens got several carries out of the one-back set and did well with them. This is good news, as we can't rely entirely on a true freshman like Gus Edwards to fill this role.
Asante Cleveland and Jake O'Donnell started the game at tight end, while Beau Sandland came into the game as the third tight end on goal line. O'Donnell didn't have as good of a scrimmage as he did last time, as he was whistled for a false start and failed to come down with a couple catches. No idea why Clive Walford wasn't there. Standish Dobard is enormous and made a couple tough catches over the middle.
The interior offensive line for the ones had some tough moments, but held up fine overall. Hunter Knighton has a better frame than I expected. One guy that caught my eye was Taylor Gadbois at left tackle. I've always liked his talent, and it looks like he is maturing. He's not there yet but the breakthrough could be coming soon if he sticks with it.
Curtis Porter popped the lid off of Malcolm Bunche in pre-game drills and got the defense hyped. Olsen Pierre got a sack against the ones and continues to separate himself. I thought the linebackers all looked good and active. Raphael Kirby in particular was all over the field, including a hit on Dobard over the middle that left him shaken up for a couple minutes.
Rayshawn Jenkins didn't start, as he was replaced by AJ Highsmith. Walk-on safety Jordan Golson from Inglewood was hammering guys and was probably the hardest hitter of the day.
The most important thing is that there were no real injuries. The team executed well and the vibes were good throughout. Much more polished performance than this time last year.
To me, there were two main takeaways from this scrimmage. The first was Rashawn Scott. With the emergence of Herb Waters, Scott was quickly becoming a forgotten man. But tonight he reminded everyone just how talented he is. He went up and over a Tracy Howard, caught several passes in traffic and had two long runs after the catch. His pure athleticism is what stands out. He's known to be one of the best basketball players on the team, and you can see that coordination when he goes up and gets the ball.
The other takeaway was the play of the backup quarterbacks. Ryan Williams and Gray Crow both played pretty awful in the Bishop Verot scrimmage last year. They've come a long way, especially Crow. His first drive was a thing of beauty. He got things going by connecting on a deep sideline throw to Rashawn Scott. Then, he stepped up in the pocket and delivered a strike to Crawford over the middle for a TD. His accuracy wasn't as good later in the scrimmage, but was much improved overall. Williams has really nice chemistry with Scott dating all the way back to last spring. The two connected on several big plays tonight, including a couple passes over the middle that went for 6. Even though Williams doesn't have Morris's velocity, his throws to Scott have better ball-placement and anticipation which allows Scott to do his thing after the catch.
Stephen Morris played OK, not his best. He overthrew a sure TD in the seam to Waters and missed a couple other throws. The most encouraging thing about his performance tonight was some of the throws he made in the redzone. He connected on a tight corner route to Hurns for a TD, as well as a fade to Hurns. The tempo was noticeably quicker than last scrimmage. The first-team offense got off several snaps while the defense was still lining up.
Preston Dewey only got one series and played fine. The Lassiter kid made a strong throw over the middle to a fellow walk-on.
Fort Myers native Dallas Crawford did his best work as a receiver, including a TD catch over the middle and TD catch-and-run in the flats. IMO, the slot receiver position is the best place for him once RB depth returns to normal. Danny Dillard ran hard until suffering a minor shoulder injury. He is not patient enough for the real big runs, but he always gets positive yards. Maurice Hagens got several carries out of the one-back set and did well with them. This is good news, as we can't rely entirely on a true freshman like Gus Edwards to fill this role.
Asante Cleveland and Jake O'Donnell started the game at tight end, while Beau Sandland came into the game as the third tight end on goal line. O'Donnell didn't have as good of a scrimmage as he did last time, as he was whistled for a false start and failed to come down with a couple catches. No idea why Clive Walford wasn't there. Standish Dobard is enormous and made a couple tough catches over the middle.
The interior offensive line for the ones had some tough moments, but held up fine overall. Hunter Knighton has a better frame than I expected. One guy that caught my eye was Taylor Gadbois at left tackle. I've always liked his talent, and it looks like he is maturing. He's not there yet but the breakthrough could be coming soon if he sticks with it.
Curtis Porter popped the lid off of Malcolm Bunche in pre-game drills and got the defense hyped. Olsen Pierre got a sack against the ones and continues to separate himself. I thought the linebackers all looked good and active. Raphael Kirby in particular was all over the field, including a hit on Dobard over the middle that left him shaken up for a couple minutes.
Rayshawn Jenkins didn't start, as he was replaced by AJ Highsmith. Walk-on safety Jordan Golson from Inglewood was hammering guys and was probably the hardest hitter of the day.
The most important thing is that there were no real injuries. The team executed well and the vibes were good throughout. Much more polished performance than this time last year.
