Early Spring Practice Observations
by DrB on Mar 9, 2010 10:27 AM EST
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PrintJust a few notes and links as practice was open to the public. I usually like to wait a few days to get a better impression of how things are going so the blogs will be spaced out on the subject, but there are already many articles out.
- A couple on Tajh Boyd already from Sawchik and Greg Wallace.
"It's a lot of pressure to walk out there and take his first reps and be with the 1s," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "(There are) veteran offensive linemen, veteran tight ends, a couple senior wideouts, a couple veteran backs and he's out there trying to run the show.
"He was poised."
There's no question about Boyd's arm, release or charisma.
Teammate and roommate Bryce McNeal said, "I've never seen him throw a duck." Boyd's arm might not quite be at Parker's elite level, but Boyd gets the ball out quickly and with plenty of rpms.
Still, Swinney says there is fundamental work to be done with Boyd, including simple things like handing the ball off correctly and working on footwork.
- The Clemson BOT Compensation Committee approved raises for the assistant coaches, particularly the big ones for Steele and Harbison. This means that the cash is not coming from the stipulation in Dabo's contract that allows him to take his raise (to 1.8mil) and spend it on them. He can still and may have to take some of that money for the additional support staff positions he wants in S&C, which are currently part-time jobs. I also think you should keep an eye on the folks in the running for the open BOT seats. We're stuck with these dipshits, so you better look at what we end up with. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll can Barker.
- Dwayne Allen thinks he's the bomb now, even though he tried to catch with his body and not his hands yesterday, and ended up dropping passes. He's doing the same things Palmer did as the #1 TE now, all the motions and being flexed out.
- As of now Bryce McNeal weighs in at 179, and they want him at 185....Jacoby-sized basically. The rest of the WRs had the dropsies in practice, which isn't so big a worry on the first day of practice. They had the dropsies last year.
- Corico Hawkins is up to 235, running exclusively at MIKE he says, and B. Maye was out of practice with what Wallace says is his knee issue from before the bowl game. Someone else said it was his foot, so I'm not sure. Its not serious. A look at the spring depth chart hints at what we expected, Maye could end up at WILL. Note that those weights are not all right.
- Alot of other guys have bulked up, like Ellington, Maxwell, Hawkins, Rod McDowell. McClain might've lost some weight, while Hairston didn't listen to the NFL's suggestion about losing his gut.
I am honestly appalled that Booker made 1st-team All-ACC, kinda shows me where the big men are at this year in the conference. I have no idea why Jerai Grant didnt make All-Defensive either, he does his job pretty damn well if you ask me, better than Booker does his.
SCACChoops.com has a bracket contest for the ACC Tourney, you can win a subscription to ACCSports.com/ACC Sports Journal for 4 months. Big deal, I know. Realtime RPI has us entering as a 7 seed in the NCAA right now, as do some others. ESPN has us as a 7-10 matchup with Texas, but I can see no reason why we drop to a 10 with our RPI. If we beat NCSU then we're a lock for 7 I think.
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I think it is great that Tajh Boyd is getting to work with the 1’s in terms of his development, but does that mean the plays they run will have to be watered down so that he is not in over his head? I mean, how much can they do with a redshirt freshman QB, and will the rest of the offense effectively be held back because of Boyd’s limitations? Again, nothing against Tajh, and if KP leaves then the time he spent running the show in Spring will be invaluable.
I think we need to beat NCSU to really lock up a trip to the NCAA tournament, especially if they only invite five teams from the ACC. I think we are in, but I will be a little nervous on Selection SUnday if we drop the game to NCSU.
There is something in these Hills!
If they do it like most coaches
they’ll go over the plays with Boyd before theyre run, and while it is a smaller subset, they are right now working more on one-on-one technique issues than actual execution of the plays overall.
by DrB on Mar 9, 2010 1:03 PM EST up reply actions
Thankyou.
One more question…are they still trying to practice at a faster pace so that they get in more reps? I think I read last year that they turned up the pace from the Bowden years, which I think is smart. If the players are forced to focus and go full speed the whole time they are on the practice field then I bet that will show in the games.
There is something in these Hills!
Right now I doubt it
They should be taking less-than-breakneck to work on the technique.
Once they get that down they will pick up the pace considerably.
by DrB on Mar 9, 2010 3:41 PM EST up reply actions
So who do you think will make a move on the depth chart this spring, if anyone?
I agree with you that Smith could have made a move at RT if he had been given the chance, but I don’t see much movement on the rest of the OL. I think some guys like Williard and Christian could make some noise at linebacker, especially if Scotty Cooper never really recoveres from the knee injuries. I think Cumbie will push Jenkins and Thompson on the DL, but all of those guys will play a bunch of snaps regardless of who are officially named starters. Maybe Kortnei Brown could snag a starting spot at the DE spot opposite of Bowers.
The one position that seems to be wide open to me is WR. I could see Bryce McNeal making a big move just because no one else seems to be doing much. IMO, either Brown, Jones, Clear, Dye, Ford, and/or Ashe will step up this year and be the man, or some of the true freshman are going to get a chance to play some serious minutes.
I don’t see how Boyd beats out Parker if Parker stays, unless we get into the season and Parker is not getting it done. That being said, I don’t see why he would not do well since he would be in his second year behind a veteran line with some quality RB’s.
As always, yall do a great job.
There is something in these Hills!
Is Cumbie really that good?
I know some people that have always been high on him, but I think Thompson and Jenkins are both VERY good. I have not seen Cumbie play near their level. Is he a crowd favorite or am I missing something?
I think he is a pretty dang good player.
He may not beat out Thompson or Jenkins, but he will play a ton of snaps. The bottom line is that the DL is very deep this year, and if any one of them is slack in practice then they could make a quick move down the depth chart.
Cumbie could also make a move to TE, since I believe he was pretty good at that position in highschool, we have very little depth at TE, and we have a ton of depth on the DL.
There is something in these Hills!
by Tigerplowboy on Mar 10, 2010 9:29 AM EST up reply actions
Only thing I think that pushes Cumbie to 2nd string
is his lack of explosiveness compared to the other two. I think he’s very smart.
Kourtnei Brown is one I'm watching for to pop up more.
Marquan seems to do it in practice and not on gameday, so McNeal could steal one alot of snaps from him.
I’m hoping/praying that Jaron Brown does SOMETHING.
And I could see Christian pressing Cooper, but I bet its Hawkins/Maye in the other two spots in some combination. If Cooper does end up with the top spot, it means to me that we’re playing more Nickel next year.
recently found this site
and have been very intrigued by some of the indepth articles I have seen- some great stuff!
I just registered to post a comment and you will never hear from me again.
“I also think you should keep an eye on the folks in the running for the open BOT seats. We’re stuck with these dipshits, so you better look at what we end up with. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll can Barker.”
That is very disaapointing to read on a site like this. I volunteer my time and money to the university and have known Dr. Barker for many years as well as a number of the “dipshits” you are referring too. I am not saying that mistakes have not been made but to make those kind of statements belittles the creditibility of the entire site IMO.
Ask Jeff Davis what he thinks of Dr. Barker or Dabo Swinney – off the record – you might be surprised by their response.
good luck to the site.
Its a blog
if you dont like something you read, all you have to do is click something else.
Personally I think it shows someone has a small narrowminded view of the world if they can’t stand to listen to anything they disagree with.
I do not know the parties involved on a personal level and if I did, then it might change my opinion.
But, I do not like a lot of the things going on at Clemson, and I can only think it all falls back on the people at the top, as it should. IMO, the drive to become a top 20 public university has gotten out of hand, and at some point we need to be who we are and embrace the things that make Clemson a special place instead of trying to be like everyone else. Call me whatever you want, but at the end of the day, I would rather be top 20 in the final AP polls in football, basketabll, and baseball than top 20 in Time Magazine’s list of public universities. As far as I am concerned, Clemson is the number one university in America, and if others fail to see that then that is their loss, and not mine.
By the way, Dabo and Jeff Davis may like Barker and the BOT, but that does not mean that Barker and the BOT are doing all they can to support our athletic programs. Who is to say that they would not like the new president or the new member of the BOT even more?
There is something in these Hills!
by Tigerplowboy on Mar 10, 2010 8:36 AM EST up reply actions
TI
I have followed college FB and recruiting for years and am familiar with many of the Rivals sites. These would include Clemson, Bama, AU, LSU, GA and Tenn. The Clemson site is by far the most negative site I have ever visited. In other words, the writers actually criticize players and coaches, and actually seem to encourage it. Do you attribute that to Ard, Williams, etc. or is it a Clemson fan thing? If I were a recruit, I might rather go somewhere else, where the fans and the “homer” Rivals site actually appear to pull for the kids and the coaches.
I think every fanbase has sites like this
I know for a fact that LSU does, and I think some get more negative and it gets worse when you go 20 years without a title. SC fans get really negative really fast I know, maybe its more a byproduct of losing too much.
Ard lets a bit too much go in my opinion, but its not to the cult level that TNet is, and its not the homer site that CUTigers seems to be.
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