Here’s the notes from what we saw today during the media viewing period:
- Quarterbacks we saw today were Dampier, Ficklin, and Wilson.
- Dampier: Continued to demonstrate his ability to throw on the run and make quick decisions on when to run or throw. He’s especially good at throwing while rolling to his right.
- Dampier had a fantastic pass today to Creed rolling out to the left for a 30+ yard gain. That play was unfortunately negated by an offensive penalty.
- A lot of the snaps to Dampier from #79 Alex Harrison were low today. A couple of these Dampier was able to pick up quickly and run the play, but there was at least one play where the result was a 5-yard loss.
- Dampier did take one sack today
- Ficklin: Had a good showing today as well. He orchestrated a productive drive and appears to be developing good command of the offense.
- He had solid completions to Zacharyus Williams and Hunter Andrews
- He demonstrated a natural ability to avoid pressure/sacks. One play in particular, it looked like the D-Lineman had him pinned, but Ficklin made him miss. (Byrd is not wearing the white non-contact jersey)
- Byrd also had nice gains on a run, including one 10+ yard run and another where he had about 5 yards after taking contact. Byrd is a true dual-threat QB who seems to fit in very well with Beck’s system
- Wilson: Had the best showing we’ve seen so far this spring, taking the offense on a 60-70 yard touchdown drive.
- He was connecting very nicely to #5 Otto Tia today. One of these passes was just a beautiful throw to hit Otto perfectly in stride in tight coverage down the right sideline for a 30-ish yard gain.
- This play was followed up a few plays later by a pass on the scramble and a fantastic catch and toe tap by #19 Luca Calderella to put the team on the 1 yard line, where Wilson ran in a touchdown to the left after taking the snap under center.
- Running:
- We really started to see some of the capabilities Wayshawn Parker has as contact ramps up. He broke from multiple tackles today that left the defense not sure how he got away. He’s fast and hard to tackle. He’s definitely a guy that will keep the defense honest.
- Hunter Andrews also took some runs today including a direct snap for a nice gain.
- Daniel Bray also had some runs today.
- Offensive Penalties are still an issue. It’s hard to catch what some of the calls are (they don’t announce it) but there was at least 1 false start and what I believe was an illegal man downfield. I don’t think this is too much cause for concern yet, given the Offensive line is working with an unfamiliar style of offense and likely a different snap count, but something that definitely needs to get worked out.
- Defense seems to be able shutdown most pass attempts over the middle. The offense is finding the most success passing to the outside.
- D-line and O-line is a battle. Defensive line did manage to get multiple pressures but only one definitive sack that I saw.
