I thought it would be nice for those who attended the spring so-called game to share their observations from this sort of glorified controlled scrimmage. And, if you can explain that scoring scheme you get bonus points! :-)

OK, I'll start out with a few very non-professional observations on the offense, which is what I concentrated on when watching this event:

1. My surprise player of the day: Jerrid Marhefka, WR. He made some really good catches, one of which was Sports Center quality.

2. Sprague seemed more fit than last year. It looked to me like he had lost a little belly fat and, perhaps, had grown an inch taller. Regardless, he seem to pass better and he moved with his feet better around the pocket to find a receiver. IMHO, he was always better at this than Vick, though Vick has the better arm deep and is probably more athletic. Vick did not suit up today because of a sore arm.

3. Papi White looked to be back in form after his injury. Made some nice runs.

4. Maleek Irons is the real deal. He scored the first TD and made some other nice runs. One particular run for about seven yards for a first down showed his speed and athleticism as he hit the hole very fast at full speed after just a few steps and then made the perfect cut down a small seam to the left for another four or five yards.

5. AJ looked good too, had some good runs. He has a very different style than Irons. AJ as everyone knows likes to just brute force run and knocks folks over with great abandon. Irons while he's strong and doesn't go down on first contact, is more of a skill runner rather than a brute force guy. At least that's my take after seeing the performance today.

6. Duckworth and Windham looked to me like they might not be quite ready for primetime. Though each of them showed some good play at times.

7. The best QB on the field today looked to me to be Conner Krizancic, the transfer from Minnesota who I don't believe will be eligible until 2016. This dude has a rifle for an arm and made some very difficult throws down the sidelines for big yardage.

8. We seem to have a good stable of TEs, with several making good plays. A transfer from the Evil Empire, Carter Ryan, 6-6, seemed to be to have some intriguing possibilities. Is he eligible this year?

Click the links.

http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/04041...

http://www.ohiobobcats.com/view.gal?id=177972

Video & images. Confidence inspiring.

Monroe, please note this possible two-back set.

Doesn't sound like much has changed at QB for 2015. Vick and Sprague are going to be #1/#2. That isn't completely a bad thing as they are decent MAC QB's. The TE news is very good. Frank's best two teams had Mooney and Thompson at TE with near misses in the MAC title game. Control the first 10 yards after the line of scrimmage with your offense and everything else follows from there.

Well said OCF.... My thoughts exactly.

I always like to listen to the people I come with...both of them watched quite a few games last year. Some of their thoughts:

*Irons looks like the real deal.

*Sprague seems to have improved his passing.

*Marhefka # 80 knows how to get open...he was a stud in high school.

* McCray at RT looks huge.

*Sad to see remains of The Union.

*Spring sale as crazy as ever...prices a little
higher on some stuff...but still good buys.

It sure doesn't. I saw one his passes go for at least 20 yards. Perhaps, it was ruled a non-catch for some reason, but it looked like a catch from my vantage point. The guy who caught it was right along the sidelines. I thought they moved the chains after the pass, but with some of the crazy rules they had in place it's hard to remember the sequences of some of the things. Any one else had memory of the pass that I'm talking about?

With Irons sounding to be the real deal it'll be interesting to see what happens to Daz. Hustle Belt mentioned he didn't play but I hope we find a way to incorporate him. There has to be somewhere for a player that athletic to fit in. Anyone think he'll move to WR?

There was one image of 65, 75 & 67 blocking together. Did you notice much of 75 & 67 as a guard combination?

I still think Irons is going to be a very good back, and I think Dorian Brown is better than most realize, so there is a lot of depth at RB. It will be interesting to see how they use the backs this fall. Daz was a good back when the offensive line made him some room to get started, but he couldn't make his own space. The offensive line will be a lot better this fall, so he'll look a lot better. Also, he's a very effective ball carrier in the open field, where he can use his speed and elusiveness. Daz would make a great wishbone halfback, where he could work mostly outside, I think.

Per Ted's thread on receiver stats, http://tinyurl.com/o5punnc
AJ - targeted 25 times, caught 21 (84%), gained 123 yards, 5.3 yards/target
Daz - targeted 23 times, caught 12 (52%), gained 116 yards, 5.0 yards/target
Edmond - targeted 2 times, caught 2 (100%), gained 18 yard, 9.0 yards/target
Brown - targeted 3 times, caught 2 (67%), gained 9 yards, 3.0 yards/target

Daz was very effective in space when the did catch the ball, but there were a lot of incomplete passes, and I seem to remember that a lot of them were catchable.


I think he's asking, will McQueen shift to guard so that Lowery can start at LT?

While I'm often one of the first to jump on Albin for putting together a boring and predictable gameplan, I don't think that's totally fair to the staff. Daz was given lots of chances early last year and we were met with drops and fumbles. Not singling him out because it was an epidemic last season. We know he can be an electric player in the open field, but there has to be trust to fully open up the playbook, between a coach and his players and between a QB and his RBs and receivers. if you ultimately believe that drops and fumbles also come back to the coaching then I would say it's fair to call them out there. I hope that will subside with more experience across the board this season.

Edit: I expect that Daz will get the ball plenty and have plenty of chances to prove his worth.

I drink my Kool-Aid green no question but I though Saturday the team looked really good. I saw a lot of good things and physically this team looks stronger and faster than I have seen in a while. Just a couple random thoughts.
LB's- really fast, get to the football and when they blitzed they got to the QB. Jovon Johson and Blair Brown seem to give you so much speed and ability to cover that I can't see as much reliance on the nickel as in the past. Dicillo and Grillot are very capable as reserves.
D-line- A ton of different rotations, there seems to be a decent amount of versalititlity. One play Sayles was in a three technique the next play a rush end. Same with Purdum. He looked trimmed down. D Tackle still a concern. Just a bunch of unproven guys.
QB- Vick has to be the starter, it's a shame we didn't get to see him. Sprague IMO though looked more settled and made a couple good throws.
RB- AJ played well. Irons is intriguing. He was more physical than I thought. I think Dorian Brown ran hard.
I liked the variety of formations. Hopefully it transfers over to the season. There was a lot of different personnel groupings. Papi and Robbie Walker are dangerous in space. Tight ends were much improved and deep.
It seemed like there was a ton of energy and talking. Excited after that display.

I agree that our LB's looked extremely tough and when you look at our best past teams our LB's were studs who carried the D. What is awesome is that they don't have to carry this D. We have athletic ends, run-stuffing ends and returning AND new DBs. Last year it was A.J. in the backfield and that was IT. This year after seeing Brown and Irons I feel like we need to utilize some 2-back sets and let the defense guess. All 3 guys can block and all three can run. I loved Irons up the middle. We will score in the redzone, not a problem. And if we are putting any hope into Sprague we are doomed. Has turned into a solid backup but Vick is the man. Too bad we have to wait on Krizancic, but think of him with Irons, Brown and Oulette in 2016! And the 0-line looks good too.

I'm a fan of big RBs. I just get tired of getting stuffed in the backfield when we give it to guys who are 5'7 or smaller. Those guys need room to use their speed and quickness. That space isn't created in the offensive backfield. The teams that dominated us last year were the teams with big backs and big receivers. It's that simple.