Alright guys, a few interesting things today:
1- The secondary had an impressive showing during the media session and I'm told it was the same way throughout the day with plenty of INTs. Tyrone Smith did get beat for a TD on a nice pass to the goal line and Kenric Young had a moment where he would have been bured for a TD, but the ball was thrown out of bounds. He yelled at the WR, "You can't do anything when you run out of real estate!" And a media member looked at me and said, "No, Kenric was just lucky it was a bad pass." Lol. Young's effort and drive are there, it'll be interesting to see his progress by kickoff, but it's not where it needs to be for consistent PT, yet.
2- From the very first play the media saw, the defense had Huntley flustered, as Afia got an INT due to the defensive pressure. It just wasn't a good pass. Later, Blackmon jumped a route for a pick-6--if we haven't said it a million times yet, he's a stud. There was also anoth near INT and it was apparent that the line as well as the coverage, just really got in Huntley's head.
3- Sharrieff Shah informed me that Josh Nurse was moved to the defense today. He's getting reps at safety and he also had a near INT. They like his potential there and think it's his quickest way to the field.
4- A name that I'm starting to hear a bunch as someone who could really emerge is Pita Tonga. Then, Leki Fotu brought him up in our interview today and his eyes lit up as he was saying how good he can be and how well he played today and so far all fall.
5- Circling back to the defensive backs, when I was talking with Shah today, the always-enthusiastic coach said that their fall camp performance doesn't make him comfortable at all. Basically, it's stressful for him knowing that he doesn't have a lot of experience with the group, regardless of their early play. However, he was very complimentary about his guys. He said he'll feel comfortable when they show positive results in a real game.
1- The secondary had an impressive showing during the media session and I'm told it was the same way throughout the day with plenty of INTs. Tyrone Smith did get beat for a TD on a nice pass to the goal line and Kenric Young had a moment where he would have been bured for a TD, but the ball was thrown out of bounds. He yelled at the WR, "You can't do anything when you run out of real estate!" And a media member looked at me and said, "No, Kenric was just lucky it was a bad pass." Lol. Young's effort and drive are there, it'll be interesting to see his progress by kickoff, but it's not where it needs to be for consistent PT, yet.
2- From the very first play the media saw, the defense had Huntley flustered, as Afia got an INT due to the defensive pressure. It just wasn't a good pass. Later, Blackmon jumped a route for a pick-6--if we haven't said it a million times yet, he's a stud. There was also anoth near INT and it was apparent that the line as well as the coverage, just really got in Huntley's head.
3- Sharrieff Shah informed me that Josh Nurse was moved to the defense today. He's getting reps at safety and he also had a near INT. They like his potential there and think it's his quickest way to the field.
4- A name that I'm starting to hear a bunch as someone who could really emerge is Pita Tonga. Then, Leki Fotu brought him up in our interview today and his eyes lit up as he was saying how good he can be and how well he played today and so far all fall.
5- Circling back to the defensive backs, when I was talking with Shah today, the always-enthusiastic coach said that their fall camp performance doesn't make him comfortable at all. Basically, it's stressful for him knowing that he doesn't have a lot of experience with the group, regardless of their early play. However, he was very complimentary about his guys. He said he'll feel comfortable when they show positive results in a real game.
