Let\u2019s add as much context as we possibly can to Saturday\u2019s first scrimmage. It\u2019s great to hear about who is making plays, but we need to know the situation\u2014namely, who they were going against. It\u2019s a nice little bonus when we learn some of the play calls as well.<\/p>\n
A quick glossary.<\/p>\n
The main team portions were\u00a0Move the Field (MTF)\u00a0and\u00a0Red Zone Lockout (RZL).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to note that MTF, basically just \u201crun of play,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Quarterback<\/p>\n
Arch Manning<\/a>\u00a0threw 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).<\/p>\n We were hearing\u00a0KJ Lacey<\/a>\u00a0was having a good day before his touchdown pass to\u00a0Raleek Brown<\/a>\u00a0(RZL). \u201cKJ is legit.\u201d<\/p>\n Dia Bell<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0touchdown to\u00a0Kohen Brown<\/a>\u00a0was in RZL. Notable because Dia and Brown were with the twos.<\/p>\n MJ Morris<\/a>\u2018\u00a0touchdown was to a walk-on.<\/p>\n Running Back<\/p>\n 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\u00a0Hollywood Smothers<\/a>. Nifty little play that picked up some yardage (MTF).<\/p>\n Smothers earned praise from one onlooker for his vision and quickness to get to where his eyes take him.<\/p>\n Brown looked good in both team settings, showing excellent patience, in addition to a one-handed catch for a touchdown.<\/p>\n \u201cRaleek with a crazy one-handed grab. Looked like Cam.\u201d<\/p>\n The co-starters are the real deal. The scrimmage had barely started before we received a text: \u201cBacks are so much better.\u201d<\/p>\n We also heard\u00a0Michael Terry<\/a>\u00a0is a huge target out of the backfield, and\u00a0James Simon<\/a>\u00a0had some nice runs.<\/p>\n Wide Receiver<\/p>\n Ryan Wingo<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0deep touchdown was a straight vertical, beating\u00a0Wardell Mack<\/a>\u00a0(MTF).<\/p>\n Cam Coleman<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0deep-ish touchdown (edit: not a touchdown) was on\u00a0Jonah Williams<\/a>. The offense was in empty, with Coleman in the slot. This got him on Williams deep for the \u201cMoss\u201d (MTF). Coleman had a couple of other short receptions and a couple of good blocks.<\/p>\n Emmett Mosley<\/a> blocked well. <\/p>\n Tight End<\/p>\n Spencer Shannon<\/a>\u00a0had a pretty good day blocking inline. Some of it was having favorable matchups, like blocking down on\u00a0Richard Wesley<\/a>\u00a0when Wesley was at 4i, but he still did his job while looking stronger and maybe even a little more athletic. By now, he\u2019s about fully grown into that massive framework.<\/p>\n That\u2019s about all we heard on tight ends.<\/p>\n Offensive Line<\/p>\n Obviously, our focus is largely on\u00a0Laurence Seymore<\/a>. It\u2019s a bit of a mixed bag, but he\u2019s talented.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s picking up when they\u2019re being blitzed. <\/p>\n However, he moves well and was called a \u201csmaller DJ Campbell\u201d by one onlooker. <\/p>\n Takeaway:\u00a0There remains a learning curve, but these were his first live bullets in a long time.<\/p>\n They like\u00a0Dylan Sikorski<\/a>\u00a0at guard. He does just about everything right, but they want Seymore to continue to grow into the position and think he will.<\/p>\n Connor Robertson<\/a>\u00a0had some good pulls and squared up\u00a0Rocky Cummings<\/a>\u00a0a time or two on a key block.<\/p>\n Overall, the OL was better in pass pro today, but it\u2019s hard to know if that\u2019s a function of Will Muschamp<\/a> only having things dialed to 6.5.<\/p>\n There are some run calls that sound different than in the past\u2014calls that seem suited for the smaller interior OL personnel. We\u2019re putting Ian on the case.<\/p>\n We didn\u2019t hear much else. They rested\u00a0Trevor Goosby<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Melvin Siani<\/a>\u00a0for a long spell.<\/p>\n Defensive Line<\/p>\n Almost all of the talk was about the defensive tackles.\u00a0Maraad Watson<\/a>\u00a0was one of the day\u2019s standouts, and\u00a0Alex January<\/a>\u00a0wasn\u2019t far behind. A source marveled at the depth.<\/p>\n They had the guys in some three-down looks that we haven\u2019t heard much about in camp. <\/p>\n Linebacker<\/p>\n It was a youth movement out of necessity.\u00a0Rocky Cummings\u00a0had some struggles but certainly looks the part.<\/p>\n Didn\u2019t hear much about anyone else, at least as it relates to the field. <\/p>\n Secondary<\/p>\n Jonah Williams\u2019\u00a0interception 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.<\/p>\n