Let’s add as much context as we possibly can to Saturday’s first scrimmage. It’s great to hear about who is making plays, but we need to know the situation—namely, who they were going against. It’s a nice little bonus when we learn some of the play calls as well.

A quick glossary.

The main team portions were Move the Field (MTF) and Red Zone Lockout (RZL).

It’s important to note that MTF, basically just “run of play,” was first-team offense vs. second-team defense, second-team offense vs. first-team defense, and threes vs. threes. There were about 50 plays during this portion.

RZL, where they keep score, was ones vs. ones and twos vs. twos. The offense won that segment thanks to a couple of touchdowns and field goals.

Other scenarios, though not as important, were 7-on-7 (more of a warmup), kickoff/kick return, punt/punt return, MTF thud tempo, and two-minute tag.

Quarterback

Arch Manning threw two interceptions but also had two beautiful deep passes. Sark mentioned he sat for a while before the first interception (MTF). It sounds like he rushed the second interception (RZL).

We were hearing KJ Lacey was having a good day before his touchdown pass to Raleek Brown (RZL). “KJ is legit.”

Dia Bell‘s touchdown to Kohen Brown was in RZL. Notable because Dia and Brown were with the twos.

MJ Morris‘ touchdown was to a walk-on.

Running Back

Sark operated in two-back sets early in the scrimmage and found some running room. Raleek Brown would wind up wide and motion across the formation as Manning handed to Hollywood Smothers. Nifty little play that picked up some yardage (MTF).

Smothers earned praise from one onlooker for his vision and quickness to get to where his eyes take him.

Brown looked good in both team settings, showing excellent patience, in addition to a one-handed catch for a touchdown.

“Raleek with a crazy one-handed grab. Looked like Cam.”

The co-starters are the real deal. The scrimmage had barely started before we received a text: “Backs are so much better.”

We also heard Michael Terry is a huge target out of the backfield, and James Simon had some nice runs.

Wide Receiver

Ryan Wingo‘s deep touchdown was a straight vertical, beating Wardell Mack (MTF).

Cam Coleman‘s deep-ish touchdown (edit: not a touchdown) was on Jonah Williams. The offense was in empty, with Coleman in the slot. This got him on Williams deep for the “Moss” (MTF). Coleman had a couple of other short receptions and a couple of good blocks.

Emmett Mosley blocked well.

Tight End

Spencer Shannon had a pretty good day blocking inline. Some of it was having favorable matchups, like blocking down on Richard Wesley when Wesley was at 4i, but he still did his job while looking stronger and maybe even a little more athletic. By now, he’s about fully grown into that massive framework.

That’s about all we heard on tight ends.

Offensive Line

Obviously, our focus is largely on Laurence Seymore. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but he’s talented.

He needs a lot more reps with the ones after missing the spring to ensure he becomes more assignment-sound. This is to be expected. He has to get the right guy when pulling and needs to understand who he’s picking up when they’re being blitzed.

However, he moves well and was called a “smaller DJ Campbell” by one onlooker.

Takeaway: There remains a learning curve, but these were his first live bullets in a long time.

They like Dylan Sikorski at guard. He does just about everything right, but they want Seymore to continue to grow into the position and think he will.

Connor Robertson had some good pulls and squared up Rocky Cummings a time or two on a key block.

Overall, the OL was better in pass pro today, but it’s hard to know if that’s a function of Will Muschamp only having things dialed to 6.5.

There are some run calls that sound different than in the past—calls that seem suited for the smaller interior OL personnel. We’re putting Ian on the case.

We didn’t hear much else. They rested Trevor Goosby and Melvin Siani for a long spell.

Defensive Line

Almost all of the talk was about the defensive tackles. Maraad Watson was one of the day’s standouts, and Alex January wasn’t far behind. A source marveled at the depth.

They had the guys in some three-down looks that we haven’t heard much about in camp.

Linebacker

It was a youth movement out of necessity. Rocky Cummings had some struggles but certainly looks the part.

Didn’t hear much about anyone else, at least as it relates to the field.

Secondary

Jonah Williams’ interception on Arch was in the end zone on the first drive (MTF). I need to get more details on that one. He also had a good downhill tackle.

Graceson Littleton’s interception was him blowing up a screen and coming up with the ball (RZL). His knee touched, but they played it like it was live. Sark called it a “pick six,” but I doubt he would if Devin Sanchez does the same thing in a month.

The secondary had heavy, heavy rotation. A handful of guys got some bumps and bruises (nothing serious) that forced guys in and out.

Closing

IT expects next Saturday’s scrimmage to be much more intense. It will be the last chance for some of these guys to force the coaches’ hand.

I hate to say there were no injuries and then have one pop up, but it sounds like the program came out of it unscathed.

Tomorrow is a recovery day, then they’re back out on the field Monday afternoon.