Colorado held its first spring scrimmage this evening, a short one to be sure, as it lasted about 20-25 plays, but nevertheless, there was a lot to observe and take in from the action.
I admit here and now that the notes I compiled are heavier in terms of the offense (we were standing at ground level on Franklin Field at the opposite end of where the action was happening; was hard to get a full personnel rundown for the defense, but I tried my best overall.
The scrimmage was a brief, red zone situational exercise for both the offense and defense.
Brendon Lewis, JT Shrout and walk-on Grant Ciccarone handled the QB duties; Drew Carter did not partake, but Karl Dorrell said he expects to toss him into the mix for next Friday's scrimmage.
Suffice to say, the defense won the day handily. Throughout the duration of the scrimmage as well as a bit prior, when the regular practice was going on, both Lewis and Shrout got picked off. Nigel Bethel had an interception on Lewis while Ray Robinson picked off Shrout.
As far as the running backs were concerned, Jarek Broussard handled first team duties, while Ashaad Clayton took the second-most amount of handoffs.
Alex Fontenot wasn't seen as much, although he did have a pretty nice rush up the middle before the scrimmage proper began that was without doubt the offensive highlight leading into the scrimmage proper.
I wouldn't bet the bank on this, but from what I saw out of the tailbacks, I'd say Clayton currently is up higher on the rep/depth chart than Fontenot. We'll see if that sticks, but Clayton definitely was in there more regularly than Fontenot.
A final note on the tailbacks: I sincerely hope Colorado develops some goal line packages for Jayle Stacks. That young man is a tank and it is very obvious how difficult a guy he is to bring down. He was inserted for a few carries Friday and looked the part of a tough and quicker-than-he-appears back.
The only touchdown of the day by the offense came off Ciccarone's arm, as he connected with wideout and fellow walk-on Michael Harrison for a score of about 18 yards.
Matt Lynch was the main guy out there at tight end for the first team snaps and looked good going up against the first team D, while Jared Poplawski and CJ Schmanski also were in the mix.
I was interested to see the offensive line Colorado has been rolling with, given that the position is banged up, and from left to right, it looked like this: Frank Fillip, Kary Kutsch, Colby Pursell, Kanan Ray and Jake Wiley.
Wiley in particular is a guy Dorrell mentioned as wanting to get significant reps and that appears to be the case this spring based on his grouping with the first team Friday.
As for the wideouts, the first team featured Vontae Shenault, Dimitri Stanley and Daniel Arias. Shenault made one grab in the leftside flats that he turned upfield for a nice gain; other than that, it was a pretty quiet day for the likes of Arias and Stanley.
Dorrell went with a freshman rotation at wideout for the No. 2 unit, comprised of Keith Miller, Chris Carpenter and Montana Lemonious-Craig, the latter of whom made a pretty nice catch and run in the scrimmage.
Carpenter, along with Stanley, also was the main guy returning punts, from what I observed.
As for the defense, Carson Wells looked sharp, notching a few QBPs and a sack (no tackling of the quarterbacks took place) of Lewis. Devin Grant also got in the action and had a few loud, crackling tackles.
Jon Van Diest and Quinn Perry were the primary inside linebackers, with Van Diest at the Mike position, calling the huddles and relaying the play calls from the sideline.
Christian Gonzalez and Mekhi Blackmon, as expected, took the first team reps at cornerback, while Nigel Bethel definitely impressed, as well. Tyrin Taylor held his own in some limited action, too.
One guy I certainly was looking to keep an eye out for was Robert Barnes. I admit, from my vantage point I didn't get to watch him in as meticulous a manner as I'd hoped, but he did not appear to be playing in a traditional ILB spot, even though that's how he is listed.
I'm not sure if he has been seeing reps at STAR, but Barnes seemed to be playing more of a hybrid role Friday than say Van Diest or Perry.
As expected, I saw a lot of Mark Perry and Isaiah Lewis on the back end of things.
Finally, with respect to the d-line, Jalen Sami, Janaz Jordan and Na'im Rodman I saw out there a lot. Rodman was interesting to see out there; I think he fell a bit down the depth chart in 2020 following his essential baptism by fire campaign in 2019.
As for additional non-participants, Brenden Rice and Brady Russell both were not suited up and didn't partake.
Nate Landman and Mister Williams spent a lot of time together; it's clear that Landman has taken him under his wing and took the time to break down various plays as they happened.
While Carter didn't get into the scrimmage, he was tutored by Sam Noyer, with a similar dynamic that Landman and Williams shared being visible with Noyer and Carter.
Both Casey Roddick and Chance Lytle were also at the practice and neither of them had any boots or braces on, which seems to be a good sign.
.....
Overall, the defense won the day, without question. It was a condensed scrimmage, focused only on redzone offense/defense, but there definitely was a lot of notable happenings to observe and repot. Next Friday I'll have a better vantage point and it'll be more of a full scrimmage, but above is what I saw from earlier this evening. Dorrell seemed pleased generally speaking.
I admit here and now that the notes I compiled are heavier in terms of the offense (we were standing at ground level on Franklin Field at the opposite end of where the action was happening; was hard to get a full personnel rundown for the defense, but I tried my best overall.
The scrimmage was a brief, red zone situational exercise for both the offense and defense.
Brendon Lewis, JT Shrout and walk-on Grant Ciccarone handled the QB duties; Drew Carter did not partake, but Karl Dorrell said he expects to toss him into the mix for next Friday's scrimmage.
Suffice to say, the defense won the day handily. Throughout the duration of the scrimmage as well as a bit prior, when the regular practice was going on, both Lewis and Shrout got picked off. Nigel Bethel had an interception on Lewis while Ray Robinson picked off Shrout.
As far as the running backs were concerned, Jarek Broussard handled first team duties, while Ashaad Clayton took the second-most amount of handoffs.
Alex Fontenot wasn't seen as much, although he did have a pretty nice rush up the middle before the scrimmage proper began that was without doubt the offensive highlight leading into the scrimmage proper.
I wouldn't bet the bank on this, but from what I saw out of the tailbacks, I'd say Clayton currently is up higher on the rep/depth chart than Fontenot. We'll see if that sticks, but Clayton definitely was in there more regularly than Fontenot.
A final note on the tailbacks: I sincerely hope Colorado develops some goal line packages for Jayle Stacks. That young man is a tank and it is very obvious how difficult a guy he is to bring down. He was inserted for a few carries Friday and looked the part of a tough and quicker-than-he-appears back.
The only touchdown of the day by the offense came off Ciccarone's arm, as he connected with wideout and fellow walk-on Michael Harrison for a score of about 18 yards.
Matt Lynch was the main guy out there at tight end for the first team snaps and looked good going up against the first team D, while Jared Poplawski and CJ Schmanski also were in the mix.
I was interested to see the offensive line Colorado has been rolling with, given that the position is banged up, and from left to right, it looked like this: Frank Fillip, Kary Kutsch, Colby Pursell, Kanan Ray and Jake Wiley.
Wiley in particular is a guy Dorrell mentioned as wanting to get significant reps and that appears to be the case this spring based on his grouping with the first team Friday.
As for the wideouts, the first team featured Vontae Shenault, Dimitri Stanley and Daniel Arias. Shenault made one grab in the leftside flats that he turned upfield for a nice gain; other than that, it was a pretty quiet day for the likes of Arias and Stanley.
Dorrell went with a freshman rotation at wideout for the No. 2 unit, comprised of Keith Miller, Chris Carpenter and Montana Lemonious-Craig, the latter of whom made a pretty nice catch and run in the scrimmage.
Carpenter, along with Stanley, also was the main guy returning punts, from what I observed.
As for the defense, Carson Wells looked sharp, notching a few QBPs and a sack (no tackling of the quarterbacks took place) of Lewis. Devin Grant also got in the action and had a few loud, crackling tackles.
Jon Van Diest and Quinn Perry were the primary inside linebackers, with Van Diest at the Mike position, calling the huddles and relaying the play calls from the sideline.
Christian Gonzalez and Mekhi Blackmon, as expected, took the first team reps at cornerback, while Nigel Bethel definitely impressed, as well. Tyrin Taylor held his own in some limited action, too.
One guy I certainly was looking to keep an eye out for was Robert Barnes. I admit, from my vantage point I didn't get to watch him in as meticulous a manner as I'd hoped, but he did not appear to be playing in a traditional ILB spot, even though that's how he is listed.
I'm not sure if he has been seeing reps at STAR, but Barnes seemed to be playing more of a hybrid role Friday than say Van Diest or Perry.
As expected, I saw a lot of Mark Perry and Isaiah Lewis on the back end of things.
Finally, with respect to the d-line, Jalen Sami, Janaz Jordan and Na'im Rodman I saw out there a lot. Rodman was interesting to see out there; I think he fell a bit down the depth chart in 2020 following his essential baptism by fire campaign in 2019.
As for additional non-participants, Brenden Rice and Brady Russell both were not suited up and didn't partake.
Nate Landman and Mister Williams spent a lot of time together; it's clear that Landman has taken him under his wing and took the time to break down various plays as they happened.
While Carter didn't get into the scrimmage, he was tutored by Sam Noyer, with a similar dynamic that Landman and Williams shared being visible with Noyer and Carter.
Both Casey Roddick and Chance Lytle were also at the practice and neither of them had any boots or braces on, which seems to be a good sign.
.....
Overall, the defense won the day, without question. It was a condensed scrimmage, focused only on redzone offense/defense, but there definitely was a lot of notable happenings to observe and repot. Next Friday I'll have a better vantage point and it'll be more of a full scrimmage, but above is what I saw from earlier this evening. Dorrell seemed pleased generally speaking.
