Observations from a poster on another site who is seeing the practices:
I liked our IDL co-starters and depth (Kanu, Geffrard, January, Watson, Charles and Sharma). Now add a healthy Justus Terry being disruptive. This elevates my expectations for our IDL.
I really liked our DE/Edge starters and depth (Simmons, Jackson, Spence, Zina, Vasek, Orogbo). Now add Terry at big end, Wesley at either spot and Okpala at Edge. Love the talent, versatility and depth to mix and match.
The DL is our strength.
Expecting Biles to be disruptive. Spence is probably not talked about enough. Good combo of versatility with Cryer and Smith. Hoping when the pads come on, we hear more good things about LB. With 5 to play 5, might as well challenge Atkinson, Cummings and Okpala, maybe they can contribute ahead of schedule.
Mascoe is proven at CB/NB. Littleton sets a nice floor for a true sophomore at NB/CB. We don't move Kobe Black to Safety if we don't like Phillips and Roberson at CB. I feel good with these 4 to play CB and/or NB. Mathews may not be in line for heavy snaps this year but he looks like a good CB for what we want to do. In case of emergency, break glass and we have Black back to CB. Mack can backup NB or CB. Filsaime rounds out the competing depth at NB. Meredith and Hayward can focus on development in fall camp. CB/NB is talented, versatile and deep.
Gideon is back. McDonald is a star. D Williams and Black form a complementary duo to compete for the open position, division of snaps may be situational or opponent based. If Jonah Williams can stay healthy, he may get a real chance. JJR can be our in the box safety enforcer. Filsaime can move back to play safety if necessary. Davis, Hicks and Riley can focus more on development. This is the area of the defense that needs to be solidified.
I will be surprised if our defense is not good. To be great or elite we need our LBs and DBs to take the next steps.
I am in more of a wait and see mode for our offense.
Can we run block well enough? Can we pass block as a cohesive unit? Can we better avoid penalties? If we do these things consistently, we begin to unlock our potential as an offense.