Texas Day 1: Impressions
Quarterbacks Group Overview: The first day for Texas quarterbacks was poor to say the least. Given that the weather conditions were rough and freezing cold, I still had a difficult time finding an accurately thrown pass. All the quarterbacks' lack of timing was apparent and I understand this should be expected, however to not even be able to have the ball come off smoothly is just not good.
Good Impressions: Taylor Potts was the best of the bunch. Had a good weigh in, coming in at 6'4 22 lbs, and he was the only one of the group who had the ability to throw a remotely catchable deep ball.
Bad Impressions: Josh Portis and Ryan Colburn struggled mightily with their releases, although both improved as the day wore on. Portis rocks at the end of his drop and doesn't get much velocity on his throws in general. Colburn just struggled to spin the ball today and really needs to have a strong rest of the week
Wide Receivers Group Overview: As you previously read, the quarterbacks for Texas were not exactly giving good passes. Nevertheless there were a few standouts as well as disappointments. The main thing was concentration and the lack thereof. Stephen Burton and Joe Morgan really struggled to catch the ball, Kris Adams ran sloppy routes, and Chris Matthews looked more like a tight end.
Good Impressions: Denarius Moore of Tennessee dominated, as he very well should; the cornerbacks on Texas were weak as a whole, and I will look at that group more closely tomorrow. Jeremy Ross of Cal to me was very impressive, making catches all across the field, and showing an ability to run the entire route tree. Ross looked short but stacked; 5'11 212 lbs, Ross is a very talented kid who has speed, physicality, and gets in and out of his breaks quickly. Ricardo Lockett showed straight line speed and really can stretch the field, but a major criticism is his lack of ability to run precise routes- Raw athlete
Bad Impressions: I came in expecting alot from Kris Adams of UTEP but was disappointed by his lack of polished route running and drops. Another poor performance came from highly productive WTAMU prospect, Stephen Burton. Burton really could not catch the ball today. Chris Matthews looked big, lumbery, and lacked in the speed category.
Tight Ends Group Overview: The tight ends started off slowly, but really picked up steam towards the end of practice. All three had a good day of practice, showing ability to snag poorly thrown balls.
Good Impressions: Rob Housler looked the part of a strong TE, big and able to break off coverage against smaller LBs. Cam Graham was the most athletically gifted, his size speed combo is intriguing. And finally Stephen Skelton (John's brother?) got separation consistently and had a quiet but solid day.
Running Backs Group Overview: Matt Asiata surprisingly switched over to wideout and looked like a natural route runner. Jay Finley was not overly impressive and weighed in at a light looking 198 lbs. Mario Fannin looked great at weigh ins (5'10 225 lbs), but did not show a lot of effort during the freezing cold practice.
Linebackers: Group Overview: A lot of these players were in the midst of positional changes and struggles in coverage are to be expected. The thing about this group that I liked, was how they flew to the ball in run fits.
Good Impressions: Spencer Paysinger of Oregon showed he was instinctive and can make tackles sideline to sideline. Brian Duncan of Texas Tech also played well, making good run fits and looking natural at MLB.
Bad Impressions: Quentin Davie looks more like a safety, a tall linebacker who lacks bulk to take on blockers and shed. Improved as the day went on and I look for him to have a much better Day 2 of practice.
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