Observations on the 3/16 spring scrimmage written on 3/12.
General: Organization of the warmups and group practices reminds me of the early Tedford years. Since spring ball has been closed to us for several years I don't know if the same detail was adhered to in the later yrs. I do recall that Stanfurd was much more organized in their pre-game warmups last season than Cal appeared to be. I always felt a team plays a lot like it warms up. Loose, sloppy warmups usually equal a sloppy effort in actual game situations.
Offense
1 Quarter backs. Seems Cal has gone from having .5 Qbs to 3 pretty much equal players. Each seems to have their good and bad points depending on what day it is. Kline continues to display that golden arm with strong, very quick release throws. Impressive. Hinder has better touch but not flashy. Goff gets it done but needs more time to become a physical presence. What I can't evaluate since I'm not that close to the players and the field is which QB is the real LEADER the team can rally around when push comes to shove. Most likely this is a two man race Kline vs Hinder. I'm also guessing we'll see both play extensively against NW on openning day. Hinder in the first Qtr, Kline in the 2nd Qtr. 2nd Half will be a toshup.
This position is a major improvement from what we've seen the last several years. (pretty easy to say that by the way)
2 - Offensive Line. Just watching some of the videos posted on this site last spring ball I thought and posted that this was going to be a disaster for Cal. Lots of posters thought this unit would improve a lot and didn't think my comments were warrented. I think this years version is better than the version I saw last spring, but there are still real problems. The left side of the OL needs work. Tag is big but will have problems with speed rushers. Needs to lose 25# and work on lateral footwork. LOG needs a LOG. OC is physically ok, but when a RS FRSH is a starter calling cadence and blocking assignments well, not good. Things are better on the right side but we'll see. Cal really needs another yr of good OL recruiting here and we'll see some results starting in 2014. Till then..
3 Offensive Backfield. With the starting rotation out I'm not thinking too much about this unit. I wouldn't hold high expectations here because of 2 above. Tough to run consistently w/o good OL play no matter what the offensive scheme is going to be. Cal seems to have found a good FB so I expect to see some wrinkles on that position showing up on the field.
4 WRs. Probably the deepest and best overall unit on the team. Cal has people that one would call "players". Bryce is even better than Brian who was the best WR Cal had when he was a frosh. The best part is Cal can rotate in lots of players here since they are going to be doing a lot of fast paced running in this offense. Fresh legs all the time. This area will be fun to watch I hope.
5 Most important position on the team. Who will be the LS? This should be fun to watch in warmups.
Defense
1 Defensive Line. This unit looks pretty good. Hopefully Cal will miss the injury bug here. Kragen reminds me a lot of (referring to his play only) Tosh. (spit 3 times). I expect this unit to be more aggressive this coming season assuming Cal gets good CB play.
2 Linebackers . Probably the second best unit on the team. Lots of speed, depth. Surprised they don't move one of these guys into the bone formation if they can catch the ball.
3 Defensive backfield. Know the old saying 'Lean & Mean'? Well this unit really is lean. Starters are good, 2nd string probably a bit too aggressive so they make some mistakes. Call is out for the 3rd string.
Now for the actual post scrimmage comments
I like the warm up where all 4 QBs throw on the same play to different receivers. There's no defense on this warm up but one can get an idea of how fast each QB reacts. I think the QBs get a lot more overall training under Sonny vs. JT.
QBs Cal has a QB, A real QB. The problem is which one is it? All have flashes and their moments and all have a hiccup as well. I did notice they ran more plays where Hindder could use his legs. My knock on him is that the ball doesn't seem to come off his hands 'live'. Kline also isn't quit as accurate as one might like and the ball seems to 'take off'. Kind of like gaining altitude when it shouldn't. Saw a nice deep throw where the WR out jumped the DB for a reception. Kline is also a bit shorter than the others and that would tend to make his throws a bit high. Goff seems the smoothest of the bunch. Maybe because he knows the system from HS. So as far as I can tell it really is a pick'em situation. If I was forced to make a decision with my arm behind my back I'd give a very, very slight edge to Goff. But really, it's that close overall to me.
Offensive backfield pretty much what I said above. Most of the plays where with Copich and Hodges. These aren't very big guys but they seem quick. They broke a few plays for nice gains but most were of the 2-4 yrd variety. The fans will like Gingold. Good FB type. I expect to see him a lot on the 'bone'/diamond' or whatever one wants to call it. Lasco played, but not in contact drills.
Offensive line comments similar to above, except Tag needs to lose only about 15#. Tyndall injured his leg it seems when Hinder sort of ran him down on a run play. Shotgun snaps could be better with a bit more velocity. Still, probably the weakest unit on the field. They did run one play with Goff? In a moving pocket. Not pretty, but nice to see anyway. This unit needs a lot of work. For the record they do look much better than what I watched last year. Grade wise..C- to C+ depending on the play call. Another area of recruiting need this fall.
WRs don't recall seeing Treggs but some of these guys look pretty good. Stephen Anderson and Whitehurst will be players to watch.
One thing to note this is spring ball which means practice time. QBs will attempt throws they wouldn't or shouldn't in a real game. Several nice plays where made into triple/quadruple coverage. Do that in a real game and a coach may pull the QB by the kohones off the field.
Defense
See comments above. Usual suspects continue to make good plays. I don't really notice any 'big dog' out there. There really isn't any one/two player(s) that really scare me. McCain not suited upso whats new there?
LS guess the man is Shepardson? Anyway the snaps get there, but could use a bit more velocity. Guess we've been spoiled for a while. Kicking game needs work.
Other notes. Cal ran a lot of silver screens around midfield. Some pretty, some ugly. Ran a 'jump' pass from the bone formation. There's something new. Hinder seems to be a good runner. Slow to get up on one play. That's one way to narrow the QB competition. The offense looks a lot smoother than what we saw the last two seasons. Cal will have a real QB. Team will be improved, but don't expect much. 5-7, 6-6 the most likely this coming season. Talk of 9-3, 8-4 is really unrealistic. Love it to happen but I'm trying to keep it real.
:beer:
General: Organization of the warmups and group practices reminds me of the early Tedford years. Since spring ball has been closed to us for several years I don't know if the same detail was adhered to in the later yrs. I do recall that Stanfurd was much more organized in their pre-game warmups last season than Cal appeared to be. I always felt a team plays a lot like it warms up. Loose, sloppy warmups usually equal a sloppy effort in actual game situations.
Offense
1 Quarter backs. Seems Cal has gone from having .5 Qbs to 3 pretty much equal players. Each seems to have their good and bad points depending on what day it is. Kline continues to display that golden arm with strong, very quick release throws. Impressive. Hinder has better touch but not flashy. Goff gets it done but needs more time to become a physical presence. What I can't evaluate since I'm not that close to the players and the field is which QB is the real LEADER the team can rally around when push comes to shove. Most likely this is a two man race Kline vs Hinder. I'm also guessing we'll see both play extensively against NW on openning day. Hinder in the first Qtr, Kline in the 2nd Qtr. 2nd Half will be a toshup.
This position is a major improvement from what we've seen the last several years. (pretty easy to say that by the way)
2 - Offensive Line. Just watching some of the videos posted on this site last spring ball I thought and posted that this was going to be a disaster for Cal. Lots of posters thought this unit would improve a lot and didn't think my comments were warrented. I think this years version is better than the version I saw last spring, but there are still real problems. The left side of the OL needs work. Tag is big but will have problems with speed rushers. Needs to lose 25# and work on lateral footwork. LOG needs a LOG. OC is physically ok, but when a RS FRSH is a starter calling cadence and blocking assignments well, not good. Things are better on the right side but we'll see. Cal really needs another yr of good OL recruiting here and we'll see some results starting in 2014. Till then..
3 Offensive Backfield. With the starting rotation out I'm not thinking too much about this unit. I wouldn't hold high expectations here because of 2 above. Tough to run consistently w/o good OL play no matter what the offensive scheme is going to be. Cal seems to have found a good FB so I expect to see some wrinkles on that position showing up on the field.
4 WRs. Probably the deepest and best overall unit on the team. Cal has people that one would call "players". Bryce is even better than Brian who was the best WR Cal had when he was a frosh. The best part is Cal can rotate in lots of players here since they are going to be doing a lot of fast paced running in this offense. Fresh legs all the time. This area will be fun to watch I hope.
5 Most important position on the team. Who will be the LS? This should be fun to watch in warmups.
Defense
1 Defensive Line. This unit looks pretty good. Hopefully Cal will miss the injury bug here. Kragen reminds me a lot of (referring to his play only) Tosh. (spit 3 times). I expect this unit to be more aggressive this coming season assuming Cal gets good CB play.
2 Linebackers . Probably the second best unit on the team. Lots of speed, depth. Surprised they don't move one of these guys into the bone formation if they can catch the ball.
3 Defensive backfield. Know the old saying 'Lean & Mean'? Well this unit really is lean. Starters are good, 2nd string probably a bit too aggressive so they make some mistakes. Call is out for the 3rd string.
Now for the actual post scrimmage comments
I like the warm up where all 4 QBs throw on the same play to different receivers. There's no defense on this warm up but one can get an idea of how fast each QB reacts. I think the QBs get a lot more overall training under Sonny vs. JT.
QBs Cal has a QB, A real QB. The problem is which one is it? All have flashes and their moments and all have a hiccup as well. I did notice they ran more plays where Hindder could use his legs. My knock on him is that the ball doesn't seem to come off his hands 'live'. Kline also isn't quit as accurate as one might like and the ball seems to 'take off'. Kind of like gaining altitude when it shouldn't. Saw a nice deep throw where the WR out jumped the DB for a reception. Kline is also a bit shorter than the others and that would tend to make his throws a bit high. Goff seems the smoothest of the bunch. Maybe because he knows the system from HS. So as far as I can tell it really is a pick'em situation. If I was forced to make a decision with my arm behind my back I'd give a very, very slight edge to Goff. But really, it's that close overall to me.
Offensive backfield pretty much what I said above. Most of the plays where with Copich and Hodges. These aren't very big guys but they seem quick. They broke a few plays for nice gains but most were of the 2-4 yrd variety. The fans will like Gingold. Good FB type. I expect to see him a lot on the 'bone'/diamond' or whatever one wants to call it. Lasco played, but not in contact drills.
Offensive line comments similar to above, except Tag needs to lose only about 15#. Tyndall injured his leg it seems when Hinder sort of ran him down on a run play. Shotgun snaps could be better with a bit more velocity. Still, probably the weakest unit on the field. They did run one play with Goff? In a moving pocket. Not pretty, but nice to see anyway. This unit needs a lot of work. For the record they do look much better than what I watched last year. Grade wise..C- to C+ depending on the play call. Another area of recruiting need this fall.
WRs don't recall seeing Treggs but some of these guys look pretty good. Stephen Anderson and Whitehurst will be players to watch.
One thing to note this is spring ball which means practice time. QBs will attempt throws they wouldn't or shouldn't in a real game. Several nice plays where made into triple/quadruple coverage. Do that in a real game and a coach may pull the QB by the kohones off the field.
Defense
See comments above. Usual suspects continue to make good plays. I don't really notice any 'big dog' out there. There really isn't any one/two player(s) that really scare me. McCain not suited upso whats new there?
LS guess the man is Shepardson? Anyway the snaps get there, but could use a bit more velocity. Guess we've been spoiled for a while. Kicking game needs work.
Other notes. Cal ran a lot of silver screens around midfield. Some pretty, some ugly. Ran a 'jump' pass from the bone formation. There's something new. Hinder seems to be a good runner. Slow to get up on one play. That's one way to narrow the QB competition. The offense looks a lot smoother than what we saw the last two seasons. Cal will have a real QB. Team will be improved, but don't expect much. 5-7, 6-6 the most likely this coming season. Talk of 9-3, 8-4 is really unrealistic. Love it to happen but I'm trying to keep it real.
:beer:
