Open Practice Report

I just got back from the open practice. It answered a lot of questions.



Here are a few quick impressions I had...



1st things first, early bluezone drills had Nelson throwing into the back of the endzone and Heaps running the option (yes, thats correct).



If we do not have Payne kicking PATs and Field Goals we are in for a world of hurt, Stephenson just can't get his kicks up off the ground. I think he had 3 of 4 PAT/Field Goals blocked.



Chambers had an amazing catch, he's an amazing athlete, but he also had a few easy misses.



Quezada looks really sharp, but you can tell he's still a freshman out there. Lots of drops.



As far as QBs go...



We all know Heaps is a natural, he also is either a bit of a gunslinger or still has trouble reading some of the coverages, he threw into triple coverage a couple of times, including one that was very nearly picked. But man does he throw a pretty ball. He had one 25 yard "frozen rope" on the run to Jacobson that was a thing of beauty.



Nelson is much improved since last year in terms of his release, it looks much higher now. His balls flew down field a lot better today than they did last time I saw him in spring ball. That being said, any defense that stacks the box against him will find that he can stretch the field. Nelson had play that showed he could check through his receivers really well, finally hitting his 4th option a good 30+ yards down field.



Lark is looking really good too. He was making every throw.



Munns was looking pretty good too, he had one scramble that got him a first down when nothing else was open, but his throws seem to consistently be at the feet of the receivers. Plus it seemed to me like he was side-arming it a few times.

Good, that is great to hear that Nelsons release is higher. I wish I could have been there this morning, I had a work appt. I will be there this afternoon though. I am eager to verify Nelsons throws, and i hope that he has much improved. That would be great for BYU football to RS Heaps a year before he starts. What is your feeling on the difference of throws, hawk?

How did the guys look when they went O1's v. D1's? I see both went v. the 2's and 3's and that is a huge difference, especially in the passing game. easier to beat a 3 that is a freshman and gets lost in coverage, like happened today.

BlueIsBetter wrote:
Good, that is great to hear that Nelsons release is higher. I wish I could have been there this morning, I had a work appt. I will be there this afternoon though. I am eager to verify Nelsons throws, and i hope that he has much improved. That would be great for BYU football to RS Heaps a year before he starts. What is your feeling on the difference of throws, hawk?

Heaps clearly has a cannon for an arm, like I said that 30 yard frozen rope that hit Mckay in the numbers was amazing. He can make any throw on the field and make it look effortless.



Nelson can make any throw within 20 yards and make it effortless. Some of his longer throws will still wobble a bit, though he was making longer throws easier than he did at the blue and white game in the spring. His longest throws you could see him windup a bit.



The main thing I took away from this practice was that the freshman are freshman, and they looked nervous playing in front of the big crowd for the first time.

I was at the practice today as well and here are my thoughts:



Our DB's look fast and athletic. I was very impressed.



Chambers had a great day.



Drew Phillips was again held out of practice and he looks pretty lean. He's a little taller then Juice but Juice has more meat on him.



As far as the QBs I have said that I am reserving my judgement until I see them in person and I did today so here is my assessment.

Heaps:

The Good: I will echo Hawks statements in saying that Heaps definitely has a better looking ball and throwing motion over Nelson. He is a pocket passer. He had nice balls thrown to Jacobsen and Chambers for TDs. The one to Chambers was a nice fade route that was placed perfectly by Heaps in the corner of the endzone and a great catch by Chambers. He had a nice throw on the run to Jacobsen as well.



The Bad: He had one play where nobody was open and so he just got rid of the ball by throwing it up for grabs and it should have been picked but it was dropped. He looked indecisive at times and got sacked in moments where he should have scrambled.



Nelson:

The Good: He was able to move the ball. He had some nice scramble runs for 15-20 yards mixed with short passes that got them into the endzone. He had a nice ball thrown to Chambers.



The Bad: While Nelsons release is improved it is nowhere near what it should be. I have heard that he can't throw the deep ball and I see why now. It's his release. He kind of short arms it instead of throwing it over his shoulder like he should and so he has a hard time getting the ball deep. Nelson tends to tuck and run very quickly. If his first and second reads aren't open then he tucks it. Because of that he misses 3rd and 4th option receivers. Granted he gets yards when he tucks and runs but that is against 2nd and 3rd team defenses, I have to believe that a normal defense would stop that most of the time.

These reports are really getting me excited to see the open practice/scrimmage on saturday!

CannonCougar85 wrote:
Granted he gets yards when he tucks and runs but that is against 2nd and 3rd team defenses, I have to believe that a normal defense would stop that most of the time.

When I saw him during the scrimmage in spring ball, I thought he looked fast enough to be an effective scrambler against a real defense, but I agree, it's not good for a QB to have happy feet in the pocket. It affects his poise and decision making. His speed needs to be an extra offensive weapon, not a crutch to constantly fall back on.

tmoney35 wrote:

When I saw him during the scrimmage in spring ball, I thought he looked fast enough to be an effective scrambler against a real defense, but I agree, it's not good for a QB to have happy feet in the pocket. It affects his poise and decision making. His speed needs to be an extra offensive weapon, not a crutch to constantly fall back on.

That is exactly what I was getting at. He has excellent speed and is pretty shifty, I just think that he resorts to the tuck and run a little too early when there might be better options available. Defenses are going to catch on to that pretty quick.

Mars wrote:


Drew Phillips is #20



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Today he wasn't even in a helmet and ran no drills at all. I don't know why.

I think it's because he's still in the acclimation process. He can't do two-a-days, so perhaps he'll be participating this evening.

kitic77 wrote:
I think it's because he's still in the acclimation process. He can't do two-a-days, so perhaps he'll be participating this evening.

This is what I read. Tonight is shells only, which he is allowed in. So I suspect tonight will be his first full practice equal to everyone else. First full pads will be Tuesday.

5 of heaps' 6 reps were against the 1s today. 2 of Nelson's were against the 3s and 1 was against the 2s.



That is a relevant point to make in analyzing what you watched at practice. Wish I could have been there. Too swamped at work.



Happy to see that both quarterbacks continue to improve. Each day that goes by it is looking more and more like we are going to be playing two quarterbacks by the time the season starts.

When does the afternoon/evening practice start?

I'm excited to see him take a swing pass to the HOUSE! I hope he kept up that high school speed. His highlight video breakaways almost made me buy a new computer on account of all the drooling. Sooooo fast!

defenses will catch on way too quick to nelson, and I'd really like to have a qb who can take advantage of all of our deep threats.



btw, does it scare anyone else that our defense has allowed nelson to scramble for so many yards? We've struggled against and will be facing many scrambling qb's, so I really hope this isn't an indication of how the season might go.

Italics wrote:
defenses will catch on way too quick to nelson, and I'd really like to have a qb who can take advantage of all of our deep threats.



btw, does it scare anyone else that our defense has allowed nelson to scramble for so many yards? We've struggled against and will be facing many scrambling qb's, so I really hope this isn't an indication of how the season might go.

I would hope that has more to do with the fact that he plays mostly against the 2's and 3's. If not, we have a major cause to worry.

After watching today I am still fairly certain we will be seeing a 2 qb system, ala Leak and Tebow (Nelson). AND, though not ideal, I believe it will keep defenses off balance and allow Jake to come along without taking all the pounding.

As has been said by others, Jake still looks like a freshman at times. BUt the long term upside is huge.

AND, with a receiver-heavy line-up and RB's that are solid but not Unga-amazing, the ball will have to be thrown downfield. Which will include out routes that Nelson will struggle with IMO.

Watching drills closely, Nelson has a half-wind up where he is trying to release the ball quicker and he lacks velocity--noticeably! When he does a full wind up it takes too long to get in the air (same criticism as Tebow by pro scouts).

Watching Heaps, it is pure; its crisp, its a great looking ball. Hes still young. But his core of mental smarts will gradually lick in through experience. And then there will be a noticeable separation.

Defense: I am concerned about the open safety spot. Rich and Johnson really were a great tandom. Time will tell.

It was awesome to be out there on the sideline on a cooler day than normal watching fall football, with a relatively larger crowd than normal (i think). Be interesting to see tomorrow's scrimmage. I anticipate quite a few in attendance as fans try to see the qb battle and figure out all the new #'s with names.

Jan, who picked UW, said this morning, when asked what his biggest surprize about fall camp so far said this, and I summarize: I really thought this team would not make a bowl game this next year. But this team is good. It has the potential to be a really good team.

I would agree.

dmcougar wrote:
Jan, who picked UW, said this morning, when asked what his biggest surprize about fall camp so far said this, and I summarize: I really thought this team would not make a bowl game this next year. But this team is good. It has the potential to be a really good team.

I would agree.

Jan really said that? That BYU would win less then 6 games this year? What a joke! The guy thinks that since he's not on the team that BYU can't win or something. Does anybody on here think BYU will win less then 6 games? I mean seriously that is pathetic. I wish Jan was as much as a BYU homer as Gunther is a Utah homer. It shouldn't be called the Red and Blue Show it should be called the Red and Gray Show because Jan has totally lost it.

One other thing. As I expected, I see alot of potential, but this team does not beat a more seasoned UW team. Sorry. Some of you arent going to like my prediction and understandably call me out and ask me to defend with real numbers and not hunches or one observed practice. FOrtunately there is more camp left. BUt alot of gelling offensively and defensively needs to happen. I have full faith in Bronco and the coaching staff, its awesome to see how well oiled the system is. Must contain running qb's as stated above or a long preseason.

CannonCougar85 wrote:

Jan, who picked UW, said this morning, when asked what his biggest surprize about fall camp so far said this, and I summarize: I really thought this team would not make a bowl game this next year. But this team is good. It has the potential to be a really good team.

I would agree.

Jan really said that? That BYU would win less then 6 games this year? What a joke! The guy thinks that since he's not on the team that BYU can't win or something. Does anybody on here think BYU will win less then 6 games? I mean seriously that is pathetic. I wish Jan was as much as a BYU homer as Gunther is a Utah homer. It shouldn't be called the Red and Blue Show it should be called the Red and Gray Show because Jan has totally lost it.

He said he felt this way end of last year and in spring.