Daily Short #31, Wednesday, July 26th, 2017: Three For Wednesday
1) I picked a random snap from the Texas 2017 spring game that had an interesting array of marks on my OL grading log:
(Better quality html gif here)
No.71 J.P. Urquidez takes what looks to be a vertical set in pass protection and shows immediately the importance of keeping your hips square coming into engagement with your outside hip pointers facing upfield at an angle more acute than 45 degrees. The minute he gets his outside hip pointer facing the sideline, he's mincemeat against Malcolm Roach's outside-in conversion move.
No.63 Alex Anderson does a solid job. To be honest, he's usually actually pretty solid. His first step in his jump set aims his knee at Chris Nelson's crotch and puts him in good position to win the leverage battle, despite getting no real inside help from the center Terrell Cuney. Anderson keeps his hands inside and his feet chopping to win this rep. He may be a guy we aren't talking enough about as a factor regarding immediate depth at either guard position in 2017 based on his above-average play while filling in for Kent Perkins last year.
No.51 Terrell Cuney does a bad job here in not realizing how the defensive front is manipulating him and subtly stretching the A-gap to his right side. Upon getting hip-to-hip with Anderson to ensure Anderson gains leverage on Nelson who's aligned in a one-technique between them, he needs to keep the right-half of his body free to the A-gap on the other side in case Poona Ford does what he does here in managing to cross Patrick Hudson's face. His right arm should have been extended into the A-gap allowing him to "feel" the distance created between him and Hudson as a function of Ford's initial jab step straight upfield to the B-gap, and then eventually get an earlier hand on Ford than he did.
No.73 Patrick Hudson shows in this rep that he still has footwork issues to overcome. As mentioned, he overcommits to Poona Ford's initial jab-step to B-gap and gets his weight out over the balls of his feet and becomes overextended. When he's out of position against a player like Ford, a player who'll almost always win with his violent hands and excellent swim, rip and chop-moves, he's dead meat. This is the kind of rep you like to see Hudson flourish in because it is one where he is able to immediately get his hands on the defender. In situations where he can get his hands immediately on the defender in a similar set to the one taken by Anderson at the other guard, it should be game over as he is stronger than most anyone he will face. As the feet come along, so will the balance and Texas will have a great one on its hands. Reps like this show there is still work to be done, though.
No.78 Denzel Okafor didn't have the best spring game but this was one of his more impressive reps that shows there is something there to work with. Okafor takes more of a vertical set similar to Urquidez but you'll notice the difference in the angle of Okafor's outside hip when he comes into engagement with Hughes. Once engaged, he fights to keep his hands inside and overcomes some swatting to get them off. He moves his feet well and runs Hughes off when he attempts to convert. As mentioned in Monday's Short, Okafor is the frontrunner to push Tristan Nickelson for the starting RT job in fall camp.
2) Book Review: Woolly: The True Story of the Quest to Revive One of History's Most Iconic Extinct Creatures by Ben Mezrich
This was an interesting book that reminds you a little of Jurassic Park if Jurassic Park was real. In fact, it is explained in the book exactly why Jurassic Park can't happen but the revival of the Woolly Mammoth most certainly can -- and will. Soon. While the book's most redeeming attribute is its educational detailing of the processes and advancements in genetic engineering (especially the disruptive genome editing technology CRISPR) that appear capable of changing the way we view life over the course of the next few generations, it's also a great story. The characters associated with the Human Genome Project, and especially those -- ranging far and wide geographically -- who will be bringing back the Woolly Mammoth before the end of the decade (if not sooner) are memorable and eclectic. The story in told in a way that makes it seem like you're reading a work of fiction with all of the elements of plot and character development paid special attention to. I would recommend reading it or listening to the audiobook and I give it 4 stars.
Alex's 2017 Reading List So Far
T1) The Undoing Project (5 stars)
T1) The 4-Hour Work Week (5 stars)
T1) The Accidental Superpower (5 stars)
4) Dueling With Kings (4.5 stars)
T5) The North Water (4 stars)
T5) The Summer That Melted Everything (4 stars)
T5) Woolly (4 stars)
T8) American Gods (2 stars)
T8) The Graveyard Book (2 stars)
10) Stay Interesting (1 star)
3) I'll be hosting Orangebloods Radio today with @Anwar Richardson on 104.9FM the Horn here in Austin and streaming worldwide at HORNFM.com. Make sure and tune in from 1-3 central for radio gold.
1) I picked a random snap from the Texas 2017 spring game that had an interesting array of marks on my OL grading log:
(Better quality html gif here)
No.71 J.P. Urquidez takes what looks to be a vertical set in pass protection and shows immediately the importance of keeping your hips square coming into engagement with your outside hip pointers facing upfield at an angle more acute than 45 degrees. The minute he gets his outside hip pointer facing the sideline, he's mincemeat against Malcolm Roach's outside-in conversion move.
No.63 Alex Anderson does a solid job. To be honest, he's usually actually pretty solid. His first step in his jump set aims his knee at Chris Nelson's crotch and puts him in good position to win the leverage battle, despite getting no real inside help from the center Terrell Cuney. Anderson keeps his hands inside and his feet chopping to win this rep. He may be a guy we aren't talking enough about as a factor regarding immediate depth at either guard position in 2017 based on his above-average play while filling in for Kent Perkins last year.
No.51 Terrell Cuney does a bad job here in not realizing how the defensive front is manipulating him and subtly stretching the A-gap to his right side. Upon getting hip-to-hip with Anderson to ensure Anderson gains leverage on Nelson who's aligned in a one-technique between them, he needs to keep the right-half of his body free to the A-gap on the other side in case Poona Ford does what he does here in managing to cross Patrick Hudson's face. His right arm should have been extended into the A-gap allowing him to "feel" the distance created between him and Hudson as a function of Ford's initial jab step straight upfield to the B-gap, and then eventually get an earlier hand on Ford than he did.
No.73 Patrick Hudson shows in this rep that he still has footwork issues to overcome. As mentioned, he overcommits to Poona Ford's initial jab-step to B-gap and gets his weight out over the balls of his feet and becomes overextended. When he's out of position against a player like Ford, a player who'll almost always win with his violent hands and excellent swim, rip and chop-moves, he's dead meat. This is the kind of rep you like to see Hudson flourish in because it is one where he is able to immediately get his hands on the defender. In situations where he can get his hands immediately on the defender in a similar set to the one taken by Anderson at the other guard, it should be game over as he is stronger than most anyone he will face. As the feet come along, so will the balance and Texas will have a great one on its hands. Reps like this show there is still work to be done, though.
No.78 Denzel Okafor didn't have the best spring game but this was one of his more impressive reps that shows there is something there to work with. Okafor takes more of a vertical set similar to Urquidez but you'll notice the difference in the angle of Okafor's outside hip when he comes into engagement with Hughes. Once engaged, he fights to keep his hands inside and overcomes some swatting to get them off. He moves his feet well and runs Hughes off when he attempts to convert. As mentioned in Monday's Short, Okafor is the frontrunner to push Tristan Nickelson for the starting RT job in fall camp.
2) Book Review: Woolly: The True Story of the Quest to Revive One of History's Most Iconic Extinct Creatures by Ben Mezrich
This was an interesting book that reminds you a little of Jurassic Park if Jurassic Park was real. In fact, it is explained in the book exactly why Jurassic Park can't happen but the revival of the Woolly Mammoth most certainly can -- and will. Soon. While the book's most redeeming attribute is its educational detailing of the processes and advancements in genetic engineering (especially the disruptive genome editing technology CRISPR) that appear capable of changing the way we view life over the course of the next few generations, it's also a great story. The characters associated with the Human Genome Project, and especially those -- ranging far and wide geographically -- who will be bringing back the Woolly Mammoth before the end of the decade (if not sooner) are memorable and eclectic. The story in told in a way that makes it seem like you're reading a work of fiction with all of the elements of plot and character development paid special attention to. I would recommend reading it or listening to the audiobook and I give it 4 stars.
Alex's 2017 Reading List So Far
T1) The Undoing Project (5 stars)
T1) The 4-Hour Work Week (5 stars)
T1) The Accidental Superpower (5 stars)
4) Dueling With Kings (4.5 stars)
T5) The North Water (4 stars)
T5) The Summer That Melted Everything (4 stars)
T5) Woolly (4 stars)
T8) American Gods (2 stars)
T8) The Graveyard Book (2 stars)
10) Stay Interesting (1 star)
3) I'll be hosting Orangebloods Radio today with @Anwar Richardson on 104.9FM the Horn here in Austin and streaming worldwide at HORNFM.com. Make sure and tune in from 1-3 central for radio gold.
