I read this post on 247....I dont knowwho the poster is....his screen name is ducksinarow....I applaud him. I cant post over there, so I hope he sees this post so I could tell him how much I liked it. This was his observation:
Mr. Foreman...I had the pleasure to meet both of your sons today, and you should be a very proud man. Both were extremely polite and welcoming to my 10 year old son's questions. Not to mention their obvious gifts on the field.
I spoke with Deshon Elliot after practice, and he mentioned it was "just a toe and nothing to worry about". I hope this is true as he has a place in the two deep at a minimum.
Others who I spoke with that impressed me the most were freshman DBs. Holton Hill was a very positive and confident gentleman to my wife and son, Chris Boyd was just as pleasant with fire in his belly to lose to no one, ever. Not even for just a play. As far as Locke was concerned, I'm a big guy with a solid hand shake, and he gripped me life a man who weighed 300 pounds and lifts tall buildings. Davonte Davis seemed painfully shy, but when we started talking about shocking the nation this year, he perked up and became a chatter box, exuding confidence that his normal soft spoken personality may not immediately reflect. I met these guys and walked away with two things on my mind, confidence and ability to back it up. I think we have something special in the future of DBU.
As QB, I agree 100% that Swoopes seemed light years ahead of Heard during passing drills, period, but especially deep balls. Heard seems to not really even consider attempting, much less completing a ball downfield, and his short and medium high completion ratio was to a running back last option behind the line of scrimmage,which did not generate positive yards, or to the GA when he just gave up looking for someone he felt confident throwing to and threw it to the guy who would be snapping to the next QB in line to run the drill. There is plenty of time to remedy this deficiency, and I hope he will provide more real competition to Swoopes when the lights come on during game day in South Bend, but as it sits, it would seems easier to teach Tyrone how and when to use his legs, as opposed to teaching how to get Heard to complete passes outside of the 0-10 yard range. Also, Merrick threw a beautiful ball which landed on target more times than it didn't. Definitely not an immediate contributor, or even someone I could see doing much without a year or two in the system and under Moorer ' s tutelage/torture chamber.
Defense line played solid for the most part, but the fight that started on the field was started by Connor Williams I believe, and it was just nastiness that caused the entire offensive line come out to face off against the entire defense line after the Williams incident. It was way after the whistle was blown, but something pissed off Williams, and he was defermined to prove a point by continuing his block with the defender was on his back and Connor on top of him relentlessly and savagely continuing his "block".
One thing I did take note of that I felt was a continuation of previous concerns regard alpha vs beta personalities of our two quarterbacks . The quarterbacks has enough open seats to sit all of them for autographs, but the observation which seems to speak volumes, at least to me, was the placement where quarterbacks seated themselves in line to do their autographs Guess who took the first seat in line. To no surprise it was Heard. Guess who was on the opposite end in the last seating position. Swoopes. It sucks because it signals to me at least, Tyrone is not comfortable demanding and expecting the head of the table in every situation. Heard feels the spot was given to,and pre-selected with his placement in mind at the front of the line. It's just the difference of someone who feels they are the rightful owner of the crown, versus someone who is not sure if he was to be given the crown, if he has deserved the crown, and doesn't know what to do when he could potentially be given the crown. Very strange observation which could have meant nothing, or could say everything.
One last comment is one I'd like to make regarding DeAndre McNeal. After I looked everywhere in WRs and RBs I found him in tight ends. I wanted to thank him for his involvement in putting the 15 class in place, as well as continuing he recruitment of future players. I also wanted to tell him I could see a multiple player like him could revolutionize recruiting by the time he leave the forty acres. I love the Aaron Hernandez comparison minus the 1st degree murder charges. He has a unique opportunity with a unique skillset, and depending on how effectively the coaches find ways to benefit from his mismatch potential, he could be a staple position to fill on their board of wants during every following recruiting cycle. I was impressed by him as much as any freshman today. By the end of the day, a line gathered for him alone, and I saw picture after picture of kids standing with him, a baby being put in his arms without even asking him, then more kids, then more families, etc. He had rock star status and deserved every bit of it in my opinion.
This was my first post since I've been here, so please excuse my long winded, inexperienced, contribution. I've never been as excited about a recruiting class, and hopefully at a time and place where we find a way to make the little things go our way, instead of settle for creating opportunities to beat ourselves. I think that could be the difference of a repeat performance of last year, and shocking the country. My fingers are toes are crossed for the latter. Thank you for your patience and understanding what happens when an amateur opens his mind to tell his thoughts/opinions, without the experience or vocabulary to effectively make a digestible read for the rest of the contributors.
Mr. Foreman...I had the pleasure to meet both of your sons today, and you should be a very proud man. Both were extremely polite and welcoming to my 10 year old son's questions. Not to mention their obvious gifts on the field.
I spoke with Deshon Elliot after practice, and he mentioned it was "just a toe and nothing to worry about". I hope this is true as he has a place in the two deep at a minimum.
Others who I spoke with that impressed me the most were freshman DBs. Holton Hill was a very positive and confident gentleman to my wife and son, Chris Boyd was just as pleasant with fire in his belly to lose to no one, ever. Not even for just a play. As far as Locke was concerned, I'm a big guy with a solid hand shake, and he gripped me life a man who weighed 300 pounds and lifts tall buildings. Davonte Davis seemed painfully shy, but when we started talking about shocking the nation this year, he perked up and became a chatter box, exuding confidence that his normal soft spoken personality may not immediately reflect. I met these guys and walked away with two things on my mind, confidence and ability to back it up. I think we have something special in the future of DBU.
As QB, I agree 100% that Swoopes seemed light years ahead of Heard during passing drills, period, but especially deep balls. Heard seems to not really even consider attempting, much less completing a ball downfield, and his short and medium high completion ratio was to a running back last option behind the line of scrimmage,which did not generate positive yards, or to the GA when he just gave up looking for someone he felt confident throwing to and threw it to the guy who would be snapping to the next QB in line to run the drill. There is plenty of time to remedy this deficiency, and I hope he will provide more real competition to Swoopes when the lights come on during game day in South Bend, but as it sits, it would seems easier to teach Tyrone how and when to use his legs, as opposed to teaching how to get Heard to complete passes outside of the 0-10 yard range. Also, Merrick threw a beautiful ball which landed on target more times than it didn't. Definitely not an immediate contributor, or even someone I could see doing much without a year or two in the system and under Moorer ' s tutelage/torture chamber.
Defense line played solid for the most part, but the fight that started on the field was started by Connor Williams I believe, and it was just nastiness that caused the entire offensive line come out to face off against the entire defense line after the Williams incident. It was way after the whistle was blown, but something pissed off Williams, and he was defermined to prove a point by continuing his block with the defender was on his back and Connor on top of him relentlessly and savagely continuing his "block".
One thing I did take note of that I felt was a continuation of previous concerns regard alpha vs beta personalities of our two quarterbacks . The quarterbacks has enough open seats to sit all of them for autographs, but the observation which seems to speak volumes, at least to me, was the placement where quarterbacks seated themselves in line to do their autographs Guess who took the first seat in line. To no surprise it was Heard. Guess who was on the opposite end in the last seating position. Swoopes. It sucks because it signals to me at least, Tyrone is not comfortable demanding and expecting the head of the table in every situation. Heard feels the spot was given to,and pre-selected with his placement in mind at the front of the line. It's just the difference of someone who feels they are the rightful owner of the crown, versus someone who is not sure if he was to be given the crown, if he has deserved the crown, and doesn't know what to do when he could potentially be given the crown. Very strange observation which could have meant nothing, or could say everything.
One last comment is one I'd like to make regarding DeAndre McNeal. After I looked everywhere in WRs and RBs I found him in tight ends. I wanted to thank him for his involvement in putting the 15 class in place, as well as continuing he recruitment of future players. I also wanted to tell him I could see a multiple player like him could revolutionize recruiting by the time he leave the forty acres. I love the Aaron Hernandez comparison minus the 1st degree murder charges. He has a unique opportunity with a unique skillset, and depending on how effectively the coaches find ways to benefit from his mismatch potential, he could be a staple position to fill on their board of wants during every following recruiting cycle. I was impressed by him as much as any freshman today. By the end of the day, a line gathered for him alone, and I saw picture after picture of kids standing with him, a baby being put in his arms without even asking him, then more kids, then more families, etc. He had rock star status and deserved every bit of it in my opinion.
This was my first post since I've been here, so please excuse my long winded, inexperienced, contribution. I've never been as excited about a recruiting class, and hopefully at a time and place where we find a way to make the little things go our way, instead of settle for creating opportunities to beat ourselves. I think that could be the difference of a repeat performance of last year, and shocking the country. My fingers are toes are crossed for the latter. Thank you for your patience and understanding what happens when an amateur opens his mind to tell his thoughts/opinions, without the experience or vocabulary to effectively make a digestible read for the rest of the contributors.
