My Take | Syracusefan.com

My Take

sutomcat

No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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I arrived on campus around 12:40, knowing Coach Babers likes to start on time or earlier. The Stadium was full. The Fine Lot was full. Had no choice to but to park at the Standart Lot. And I ended up way in the back. There were almost no spaces left.

Parking at this site has probably been a problem since the days of horse driven carriages. It continues to get worse.Last fall, there were games i arrived 90 minutes early and could not park in the Fine Lot.

On the positive side, this is largely driven by bigger crowds. Which is great. But the lots are shared with the students and in the fall, SU has to do a better job getting them to leave these lots on game day.

On to the game. First, sorry i didn’t do a stream of the game. I thought it was bee in streamed. It should be streamed. Hope it is treamed in the future.

I really wanted to just sit there and enjoy it. That is what i did.

Second, i sat with a bunch of the Fine Mess Crew. Always a pleasure to send time with the gang. We have so many now it was hard to talk to everyone...

General observations:

The size, strength and speed of the team continues to improve. This applies to the freshmen and upperclassmen. Some will say wwe say this every year. Well, maybe since Dino took over.

This season, SU will have a roster full of true BCS level players, plus a few really promising walk-ons. I think the last time this was true was 20 years ago. The staff ran 3 units on offense and defense today, with little overlap. We struggled to field 1.5 units on each side of the ball a couple of years ago.

For the freshmen, everybody is going to rave about Jawhar Jordan, and he deserves the attention. The bad news first. He was listed at 5’9, 161 lbs on the roster, and that looks legit. But that great speed is very real. He does it using an effortless upright gliding motion, taking huge strides that bely his diminutive frame. He played RB exclusively and it looks like that is where he will stay. Perhaps just as impressive as Jawhar was Courtney Jackson. He looks to be a favorite of Tommy Devito. Got targeted a lot, got open a lot, great hands, looks like he is going to be a future star.

On defense, Andrew Tuazama was really impressive. He has jacked arms, plays hard and fast and no one could block him. My guess is that he will grow into a DT down the road but when Robinson and Coleman leave Syracuse for the NFL, look for Android to be one of the replacements. Adrian Cole is a little light but can fly and was very impressive as well.

Offense:

Tommy is the undisputed starter at QB. He throws a beautiful ball. He has a powerful arm. His throwing mechanics are text book. He made some great throws and didn’t have lots of time with the inexperienced, banged up OL in front of him. Go pointed out how well he threw the inside crossing route to a slot WR (Riley beat Cisco on one for a long TD). Saw the field well, looked solid except for a pass to he flat where he didn’t see Trill, who ended up in the endzone 10 seconds later.

Nykeim looked noticably stronger and more mature. He had a long TD too. Going to put up some nice numbers this year. Sean Riley...same thing. Anthony Quelley didn’t get a ton of snaps but looked veery good when in. Nice size. They threw to him on a sideline patter in the end zone. The ball was underthrown and closer to the CB than Anthony. No problem. He jumped over the corner and grabbed it anyway. Thompson-Bishop barely played. I didn’t see Sharod Johnson out there. Cooper Lutz got some run and looked promising.

Taj rarely had the ball thrown his way. I think they know what he can do. Trish looked very good when targeted but didn’t get many touches. Cam didn’t get many chances and didn’t stand out while in. Has nice size.

Looks like Hackett is going to be featured at TE. He brings a nice blend of blocking and catching to the position.
On the OL, Servais played center and looks very good. His body looks NFL ready. Red and Vettorello had tough days dealing with the vet DEs and will likely need to wait another year to claim starting positions at OT. Clark struggled too. Gotta feel Servais and Alexander will be our tackles in 2019, with Heckel at center.

Evans and Dakota looked good. They are big people. Clark looked okay at OT. No one else stood out except Duerig, who is clearly the backup center. It looked like the first team defense DL dominated play against everyone. McKinley Williams, Josh Black, Kingsley Jonathan, Alton Robinson and Kendall Coleman are pretty damn good. Ruff is no slouch either.

It was more even with the other units of OL vs DL. Cooper Dawson needs some work in the weight room but is a heck of an athlete.

For special teams, there were no FGs, punts or even kickoffs. Szmyt tried a 51 yarder just before the scrimmage started and just missed it. We should be all set here; the best in the ACC and maybe the best in the country.

I already talked about the DL and how impressive it was.

Looked to me as though they had Williams the first team at middle linebacker, with Armstrong at the weak side LB. They did well. I saw Richards and Wallace get some reps here. Trotter played some as well. Lee Kpogba get a few snaps, but I didn’t; see Mikel Jones play.

At secondary, Frederick missed the first half but took over a CB spot with the first team when he returned. Iffy and Trill started with the first team initially. Iffy got beat a couple of times but made some good plays. Trill looked like the best athlete on the field. So big, so smart, so fast. I already mentioned Cole, who looks very fast and nimble in coverage. We have some depth at corner now for the first time in forever.

Cisco was of course the starter at FS and got an interception, as is his wont, and scored a TD on it. I believe the backup FS was Cam Jonas. He is imposing looking and looks like he can run and hit. Got beat deep at least once. His physical skills are there. Stritzinger was the first team nickel. Not sure if Scoop is going to fill that role in the fall...he is out right now. Either should be excellent in the role.

At SS, I think Evan Foster is banged up. Didn’t see him play. Devon Clarke filled in. He is probably the hardest hitter on the team but he missed a couple of tackles trying to crush people. He has talent for sure. The backup SS was Eric Coley, who had a couple good plays and a couple of bad ones.

Where are the low number players? A few years ago, it seemed everyone...QBs, WRs, LBs, RBs all wanted a single digit number. Today, only one player Chris Frederick, was listed on the roster with a number less than 10, and he missed the first half fo unknown reasons.
 
Gun to head, after Spring, how many wins projecting for season? 7-10?
 
Thx, Tom. I will add that before the scrimmage, Fan Zone tents and concessions were set up between the Dome and the Quad. It was fun relaxing with the Fine Mess crew near the LOOOONG line for Coughlin/Little/Cz autographs. Food trucks and ice cream were on hand, and my family got selfies and an autograph from Eric Dungey - who was very gracious. He was in Brent Axe's TK-99 booth and Brent did a nice job creating conversation with Dungey, Dan Conley and James Mungro ... a big crowd quickly gathered.

Post-scrimmage the players sat patiently at a long table to sign autographs and chat with fans. As we left the field I turned around to locate my 7 year old and saw Tyrell Richards running around with him on his shoulder. Cat is BIG and was great with my son.

This was a well-organized, well-attended event (given it was the weekend before spring break) with perfect weather. We even got a RB commit at the end (and possibly more on the way).

;)
 
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I arrived on campus around 12:40, knowing Coach Babers likes to start on time or earlier. The Stadium was full. The Fine Lot was full. Had no choice to but to park at the Standart Lot. And I ended up way in the back. There were almost no spaces left.

Parking at this site has probably been a problem since the days of horse driven carriages. It continues to get worse.Last fall, there were games i arrived 90 minutes early and could not park in the Fine Lot.

On the positive side, this is largely driven by bigger crowds. Which is great. But the lots are shared with the students and in the fall, SU has to do a better job getting them to leave these lots on game day.

On to the game. First, sorry i didn’t do a stream of the game. I thought it was bee in streamed. It should be streamed. Hope it is treamed in the future.

I really wanted to just sit there and enjoy it. That is what i did.

Second, i sat with a bunch of the Fine Mess Crew. Always a pleasure to send time with the gang. We have so many now it was hard to talk to everyone...

General observations:

The size, strength and speed of the team continues to improve. This applies to the freshmen and upperclassmen. Some will say wwe say this every year. Well, maybe since Dino took over.

This season, SU will have a roster full of true BCS level players, plus a few really promising walk-ons. I think the last time this was true was 20 years ago. The staff ran 3 units on offense and defense today, with little overlap. We struggled to field 1.5 units on each side of the ball a couple of years ago.

For the freshmen, everybody is going to rave about Jawhar Jordan, and he deserves the attention. The bad news first. He was listed at 5’9, 161 lbs on the roster, and that looks legit. But that great speed is very real. He does it using an effortless upright gliding motion, taking huge strides that bely his diminutive frame. He played RB exclusively and it looks like that is where he will stay. Perhaps just as impressive as Jawhar was Courtney Jackson. He looks to be a favorite of Tommy Devito. Got targeted a lot, got open a lot, great hands, looks like he is going to be a future star.

On defense, Andrew Tuazama was really impressive. He has jacked arms, plays hard and fast and no one could block him. My guess is that he will grow into a DT down the road but when Robinson and Coleman leave Syracuse for the NFL, look for Android to be one of the replacements. Adrian Cole is a little light but can fly and was very impressive as well.

Offense:

Tommy is the undisputed starter at QB. He throws a beautiful ball. He has a powerful arm. His throwing mechanics are text book. He made some great throws and didn’t have lots of time with the inexperienced, banged up OL in front of him. Go pointed out how well he threw the inside crossing route to a slot WR (Riley beat Cisco on one for a long TD). Saw the field well, looked solid except for a pass to he flat where he didn’t see Trill, who ended up in the endzone 10 seconds later.

Nykeim looked noticably stronger and more mature. He had a long TD too. Going to put up some nice numbers this year. Sean Riley...same thing. Anthony Quelley didn’t get a ton of snaps but looked veery good when in. Nice size. They threw to him on a sideline patter in the end zone. The ball was underthrown and closer to the CB than Anthony. No problem. He jumped over the corner and grabbed it anyway. Thompson-Bishop barely played. I didn’t see Sharod Johnson out there. Cooper Lutz got some run and looked promising.

Taj rarely had the ball thrown his way. I think they know what he can do. Trish looked very good when targeted but didn’t get many touches. Cam didn’t get many chances and didn’t stand out while in. Has nice size.

Looks like Hackett is going to be featured at TE. He brings a nice blend of blocking and catching to the position.
On the OL, Servais played center and looks very good. His body looks NFL ready. Red and Vettorello had tough days dealing with the vet DEs and will likely need to wait another year to claim starting positions at OT. Clark struggled too. Gotta feel Servais and Alexander will be our tackles in 2019, with Heckel at center.

Evans and Dakota looked good. They are big people. Clark looked okay at OT. No one else stood out except Duerig, who is clearly the backup center. It looked like the first team defense DL dominated play against everyone. McKinley Williams, Josh Black, Kingsley Jonathan, Alton Robinson and Kendall Coleman are pretty damn good. Ruff is no slouch either.

It was more even with the other units of OL vs DL. Cooper Dawson needs some work in the weight room but is a heck of an athlete.

For special teams, there were no FGs, punts or even kickoffs. Szmyt tried a 51 yarder just before the scrimmage started and just missed it. We should be all set here; the best in the ACC and maybe the best in the country.

I already talked about the DL and how impressive it was.

Looked to me as though they had Williams the first team at middle linebacker, with Armstrong at the weak side LB. They did well. I saw Richards and Wallace get some reps here. Trotter played some as well. Lee Kpogba get a few snaps, but I didn’t; see Mikel Jones play.

At secondary, Frederick missed the first half but took over a CB spot with the first team when he returned. Iffy and Trill started with the first team initially. Iffy got beat a couple of times but made some good plays. Trill looked like the best athlete on the field. So big, so smart, so fast. I already mentioned Cole, who looks very fast and nimble in coverage. We have some depth at corner now for the first time in forever.

Cisco was of course the starter at FS and got an interception, as is his wont, and scored a TD on it. I believe the backup FS was Cam Jonas. He is imposing looking and looks like he can run and hit. Got beat deep at least once. His physical skills are there. Stritzinger was the first team nickel. Not sure if Scoop is going to fill that role in the fall...he is out right now. Either should be excellent in the role.

At SS, I think Evan Foster is banged up. Didn’t see him play. Devon Clarke filled in. He is probably the hardest hitter on the team but he missed a couple of tackles trying to crush people. He has talent for sure. The backup SS was Eric Coley, who had a couple good plays and a couple of bad ones.

Where are the low number players? A few years ago, it seemed everyone...QBs, WRs, LBs, RBs all wanted a single digit number. Today, only one player Chris Frederick, was listed on the roster with a number less than 10, and he missed the first half fo unknown reasons.
 
Tom, thanks for the report. For those of us that are distant, it's great to get the kind of perspective you offer. It seemed as though Welch performed well. Is that the way it seemed in person?
 
Great read as always. I was up there and there was a great showing by fans. Not sure how much Dino liked being interviewed during the scrimage but I give everyone credit for trying to make it a better experience. The oline is big but will need some gel time. Love the rbs and Jordan definitely is fast. I also saw him wif on one guy coming up the middle and seemed partially missed on another. If we are going to enjoy Jordan’s speed it won’t happen until Dino sees him able to throw a block if needed or Devito will end up horizontal. Plenty of time but the young guy needs some work. Neal and Howard looked beastly. Didn’t see Abdul today.
Trill looks bigger...the whole defense looks bigger. Linebacker will be fun to see develope in August. Lots of talent there. If our dts can play stout, our linebackers should do just fine. Robinson and Coleman are big and fast. Those guys are going to make qbs and o coordinators miserable again next year. Knock on wood if our dline stays healthy we could be in good shape on that side of the ball.
Kickers started things off and Schmizt Happens nailed them smooth as usual out to 52 yards before missing from 60. Some other guy was also kicking and showed huge leg on the 52 yarder he made. Easily would have made it from 60 on that kick. Fun time overall and good tunes and scratched the old football itch.
 
If we remain healthy we have a chance to beat win every game next year. There isnt one team on our schedule we cant beat. My guess is that we are the favorite in all except Clemson NCS and FSU.
It is extremely good news that we have a solid back up in Welch. The kid has the size and arm strength of an NFL QB, great running ability and by all accounts has some swag to him.
The only other concern is at the tackle positions. Between Serv and Alexander we will be ok but if one of them gets hurt the drop off is significant. Fortunately we have the best set of RBs seen on the hill in over a decade.
On D we are a tad thin on the interior.
Im not concerned about the LB position as we have some pretty amazing talent.
So with the exception of Tackles and interior DL i believe that we are minimally 2 deep. This is a big strong physical group that can play with any team this year. If we stay healthy and get a few bounces we might just be in for one heck of a year.
 
I thought all the quarterbacks threw well. Was really impressed with the speed of the defense from sideline to sideline. That bunch seems primed for a big season. Trill in particular looked fast, strong and confident.

JJ and Courtney look special - and fast. Anthony Queeley made a fine catch in the corner if the end zone. The WR room seems stacked.

Loved the Q&A with Floyd, Tom, and Larry.
I had never seen him speak before, and I was really impressed with Larry Csonka's humility.

Finally, the TD pass from Clayton to Nykeim was a thing of beauty. Aside from Tommy D, I'm not sure any of the recent back up QB's could have made that throw.

I am really looking forward to the upcoming season-even more than I was on Friday.
 
We are noticeably larger and fitter. My son and I felt we were walking amongst trees with biceps. Except Riley. But he is fit as hell.
 
I was impressed with everything but the crowd. 3,700 people showing up is kind of embarrassing. It’s less than the past two years. With everything going on and with the excitement with the program, I was hoping for 8-10,000 showing up. Well, I guess people were raking their lawns.
 
I was impressed with everything but the crowd. 3,700 people showing up is kind of embarrassing. It’s less than the past two years. With everything going on and with the excitement with the program, I was hoping for 8-10,000 showing up. Well, I guess people were raking their lawns.
I had folks tell me they thought it was more like 5-6K in there. The good news is I think it grows next year.
 
I was impressed with everything but the crowd. 3,700 people showing up is kind of embarrassing. It’s less than the past two years. With everything going on and with the excitement with the program, I was hoping for 8-10,000 showing up. Well, I guess people were raking their lawns.
Not worried about it. The season ticket sales are a much bigger deal. That's a commitment made with dollars.
 
I thought all the quarterbacks threw well. Was really impressed with the speed of the defense from sideline to sideline. That bunch seems primed for a big season. Trill in particular looked fast, strong and confident.

JJ and Courtney look special - and fast. Anthony Queeley made a fine catch in the corner if the end zone. The WR room seems stacked.

Loved the Q&A with Floyd, Tom, and Larry.
I had never seen him speak before, and I was really impressed with Larry Csonka's humility.

Finally, the TD pass from Clayton to Nykeim was a thing of beauty. Aside from Tommy D, I'm not sure any of the recent back up QB's could have made that throw.

I am really looking forward to the upcoming season-even more than I was on Friday.
That it was. Right in the basket. Welch isn't just a practice stiff ... he's got great size and a live arm. I agree with your comments about JJ and Queely. JJ's speed sticks out, and he did ok with the backfield protection assignments they gave him (given his size). Downfield blocking isn't there yet. Queely is going to fit in nicely .. there's obvious chemistry between him and TD. His routes looked crisp after spring practice - and he wasn't the only one. Riley, Harris, (N.) Johnson, (C./T.) Jackson, Cherry ... there are so many options with this offense ... ball goes to every part of the field like a gatling gun. As far as the OL, no way to judge with jumbled personnel in a scrimmage ... so Alton and Co. had their way. It was nice to see Shy out there ... I gave him the thumbs up and reminded him we're all rooting for him. Good sign he was in attendance. Having him, Wallace, Richards and Williams available will reduce what little uncertainty there is about the defense going into the fall.
 
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I was impressed with everything but the crowd. 3,700 people showing up is kind of embarrassing. It’s less than the past two years. With everything going on and with the excitement with the program, I was hoping for 8-10,000 showing up. Well, I guess people were raking their lawns.

Spring break for many schools in the area next week. Lot of families used the weekend to get outta Dodge.
 

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