[NU Sports] Alviti, Spring Game

[Tom Maycock]

If you haven't watched Alviti's highlight reel, check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4InLxDUm4_8&feature=player_embedded


I'm not usually one to even watch these high-school highlight reels, partly because I don't follow HS football enough to understand the level of competition, and partly because they are "highlight" reels, not "balanced overview of entire season" reels, but Matt's sure seems impressive. My favorite moment is about a minute in, where he ends up going upfield as a lead blocker. He completely outruns his own running back and then pancakes a defender 30 yards downfield. With signings like this on top of the 2012 class, you get the feeling that we've really turned a bit of a corner in terms of the ability to recruit elite HS players. 

As for the Spring Game, not much to say given that everyone could see it for themselves on BTN. 

I know some folks on the rivals board were down on Colter's performance (and on his passing abilities in general), but I still expect huge things from him this year. I haven't watched the broadcast yet, but as far as I could tell, Kain was mostly playing against the 1s, while I believe Siemian was mostly running against the 2s, so that was a factor. Oliver looks like a talented guy who probably isn't ready yet. 

On Saturday at least, I'd say the top DL significantly outplayed the top OL. Given that both areas were something of a weakness last year, I'm not sure how much of that is good news about the DL or bad news about the OL. I suspect a mix of both, but if I had to guess, I think the DL will be significantly better than last year, while the OL performance will depend on how well those guys learn to play together over time. 

The running game is still a question mark. Will Trumpy be the starter? How much of a role will Malin Jones play? Jordan Perkins looked good, we've seen some good things from Green, and Venric Mark will make some plays--I actually would be interested in seeing him get a lot of reps in that role. But will the OL open holes? 

As for the DBs, I'm guardedly optimistic, as Dugar looked decent, and VanHoose may turn out to be very good. Neither they or there backups are very tall, so we're probably still going to see some downfield completions to tall receivers even when our guys have good coverage. Such is life. But I'm hopeful we won't see guys running around completely uncovered like we did last year. 

As for the receivers, Kyle Prater immediately jumps out at you as being much taller and rangier than any receiver we've had in a long time, and seems to have great hands. And we appear to be absolutely loaded at this position. We know about Fields, Lawrence, and Christian and Tony Jones, but Youngblod-Airy, Dickerson, and Jensen all looked great. And if Prater is eligible and is as good as advertised, things could get very interesting. 

Tom