Renegade Report: 1st Week Spring Practice Re-Cap
Oct 27, 2012; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin (1) catches a touchdown pass past Duke Blue Devils cornerback Tony Foster (31) during the second half of the game against the Duke Blue Devils at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports
Your favorite podcasters, Herc and NolebraKai, went back on the airwaves Tuesday with another podcast. We break down the podcast and provide some of our own analysis as well.
Very passionate person and compared Jimbo’s offensive mind to Mike Shanahan’s. Typically, a recruiting coordinator is a bit younger, who has more energy, but energy is no issue with Brewster. He’s using social media and has adapted to the new-age recruiting.
Talked about playing in the NFL has helped him identify with the running backs because it gives him more credibility as a coach. He should be a home-run hire because of his ability to recruit and coach players, using his NFL experience. Because Eddie Gran was so good—FSU needed to hire a high caliber running backs coach.
- Kevin Haplea was catching a lot of passes. He may be in line to provide a significant contribution. We have three very good tight ends on the roster.
- Short yardage and goalline offense has been doing well—one of Jimbo’s achillis heel is not being able to convert short yardage situations.
- Quarterbacks continue to battle. It is difficult to gauge where the quarterbacks are, but Clint Trickett is the most impressive so far, his touch and accuracy. With respect to Trickett, the arm strength issue is whether you can made the short-to-intermediate throws on a rope. You can also make up for arm strength with anticipation and time your passes. Winston has been doing well, but has shown his youth.
- Jimbo is working with 1s and 3s—Trickett and Winston, whereas Coker and Maguire are working with Sanders. This might be accelerating Winston’s development. The players Jimbo has watching are 1s and 3s, so the question is: does this give Trickett and Winston an upper hand over the other two?
- The receivers look strong. Our skill players are so good that the quarterbacks don’t need to be the biggest weapon on offense. You have some players like Christian Green and Willie Haulsted working their way back, but we need someone strong to play alongside Rashad Greene. Kenny Shaw will play in the slot, but we need such a strong player, who might be Greg Dent, to play on the other side of Greene to keep the defense honest.
- Shouldn’t expect too much from Marvin Bracy because he is focusing on track. Jimbo doesn’t seem particularly pleased, partly because he may have wanted to use packages designed for Bracy. Jimbo had to know this was going to happen—Bracy’s future is probably in track. He’s a world class sprinter. We wouldn’t have Bracy if it weren’t for the track team. He is on a football scholarship and has not been to a single practice. You have to be careful how you treat this because this shows how you are going to handle two-star athletes. Jimbo handled baseball with Winston well. May be better to wait and see—Bracy can be used for screens and returns.
- James Wilder Jr and Mario Pender interviewed. Wilder . The Pender redshirt is paying dividends. Helped him overcome his injury, learn from Chris Thompson, and mature. Pender looks like a legitimate 5-star running back; he doesn’t have the pressure of being the main attraction—he can come in and do his thing. He needed that extra season. He’s coming across very mature.
- On defense, everyone seems to agree that the players are more aggressive in Pruitt’s scheme. The blitzes are going to come from everywhere. Everywhere. The pre-snap reads will be crucial to determine who’s going to blitz. The defense will apply more pressure, in general, but it is a testament to Stoops. The defense was extremely solid, so Pruitt only had to come in and layer on his touch. There was nothing to fix. With aggressive schemes, it keeps the players in the game. This may not be a blitz happy team, however. But the blitzes may be more productive because the defense is going to confuse where the pressure is going to come from. Well timed blitzes. Aggressive with a purpose—not to blitz just to blitz.
Listen to the podcast for more.