Very late but here are my notes from yesterday's scrimmage. Practice will get going again tomorrow.
-I was worried about how the scrimmage would look when I first showed up because both Ryan Agnew and Neil Boudreau were both very cold during 7v7s to start practice. If they couldn’t make accurate throws with nobody rushing them, how would they look at the scrimmage?
-Agnew started warming up by the time the live action began and he looked very comfortable with the first team. The two big takeaways for me were when he 1) showed big improvement looking off safeties rather than staring down his man and 2) when he dropped a bomb over the top of the field to Fred Trevillion on a post route. It was a play action fake with Agnew unloading it from within the pocket with great rhythm right as he turned his head upfield.
Agnew has real talent when he’s playing with confidence and in a rhythm but he’s inconsistent and his accuracy can really drop off at times (although not as often as last fall).
Ex: He ran a similar play action call later in the scrimmage but hesitated and ended up under throwing the pass to Mikah Holder on a go route. Holder beat Ron Smith deep but Smith had enough time to close on Agnew's late ball. I'm not sure what took him so long to let it fly.
-I feel like Agnew has a little bit better anticipation when he’s facing a zone defense though. There was one play where Kahale Warring ran up the seam and straight toward Ronely Lakalaka. Lakalaka wasn’t in a good position to turn up field and Warring flew right past him before he could alter the route. Agnew threw a rope right when Warring was approaching Lakalaka, likely because of the size mismatch and Lakalaka's stiff positioning. It was an easy 25 yard gain up the seam.
Note: This play was particularly funny because LB coach Zach Arnett showed great anticipation too. He yelled “dammit Ronley” as Agnew began his throwing motion.
-We all know he's a runner, but Agnew stayed in the pocket much more than I thought he would in the actual scrimmage. I remember him running like crazy last fall at the start of camp when the OL wasn’t really gelling at first. Him not looking to scramble so quickly, even with an inexperienced line, is a VERY good sign. Running will continue to be in his blood though.
Anyway, there was one play where he was targeting Juwan Washington on a short route over the middle, but Washington slipped and fell when he made his break. Agnew started to put his head down and run like usual, but then he suddenly pulled up and then made a side arm throw to Washington for a first down gain. Washington got up very quickly and was wide open because the linebacker covering that zone had written him out of the play when he slipped. It was a Johnny Manziel-like play.
Agnew did it again on a play where blitzes came fast around the edges. He began to sprint up the middle before suddenly planting his foot at the line of scrimmage and throwing it to TE Troy Artepeous running across the middle. It wasn't such a great decision because the angle was bad and the throw went behind Artepeous but it was another sign of Agnew looking to pass rather than run.
-The most exciting play of day also only happened because Agnew made a bad decision. The defense was in zone and Warring ended up in single coverage way down field. Agnew let it fly toward him even though FB Nick Bawden was completely wide open near the sideline. With the ball midair, Warring gave his DB a bit of a push and came down on his back with the ball. The momentum of the fall jarred the football straight into the air and right into Bawden’s hands.
Just like they drew it up!
-I’m not sure of Agnew’s arm got a little sore or what but his accuracy issues popped up again during the second half of the scrimmage. He particularly struggled with his timing on longer throws, like corners and outs. They were always wide and the receivers had no shot of getting to them.
-One thing that really impressed me yesterday with Bodreau is that he’s very very good at playaction handoff fakes. He made a bunch of defenders completely bite and it buys him valuable time to get those throws off on the rollout.
-I also love how Bodreau doesn’t just fire out throws all over the field and puts extra touch and passes when needed. He’s not afraid to put a little more arc on the deeper throws to the taller receivers and it’s led to some good down field opportunities.
I would expect a walk-on QB like him to let those balls sail a little too much but you can tell he’s actually putting the ball right where it needs to be.He’s also not giving the defense that much extra time to close on the ball because his arm’s good enough to adjust.
-I think the fullbacks all had really good days. Bawden has become such a good lead blocker and his pass protection has improved (sometimes he struggles against some of the quicker guys like Lakalaka and Henderson).
-Isaac Lessard can run and has good hands (he had one of the longer catch and runs of the day on bootleg call) but he’s still developing as a lead blocker. He definitely hits guys hard though.
-The defense didn’t allow the RBs to break any long runs but I was happy to see Chase Jasmin making something out of nothing on several runs. His cutting ability isn’t as drastic as DJ Pumphrey’s was but it’s probably better than Penny and Washington. I still want to see how he looks in open field situations though. I feel like that’s where he’s most dangerous.
-It’s weird not seeing Juwan Washington motion in and out and all over like he used to. I thought it was extremely effective last season but I didn’t see it much at all yesterday. Hopefully it comes back in the fall when Penny gets more reps at running back.
-Fred Trevillion still needs to show a little more consistency but his cutting ability helps him gain solid separation during his routes. SDSU hasn’t had a lot of receivers like that in recent years but Holder, Truxton and Trevillion are a good top three when it comes to shaking off defenders. Tim Wilson is getting there, too.
-Wilson’s still learning though. There was one play where SDSU called a screen pass to Washington and Anthony Luke laid a big hit on him right after the catch. It was a great play call by Gonzales because Luke dropped back in coverage while the two linebackers behind him blitzed.
Wilson was the crack back block, and when he saw the two LBs blitzing, he went to go block the deep safety instead. He didn’t ensure that Washington had room to work with by recognizing that Luke dropped back out from his stance on the defensive line.
There’s a lot to like about his pure receiving ability though. He runs hard, breaks hard and uses physicality. His hands are just OK.
-I was worried about how the scrimmage would look when I first showed up because both Ryan Agnew and Neil Boudreau were both very cold during 7v7s to start practice. If they couldn’t make accurate throws with nobody rushing them, how would they look at the scrimmage?
-Agnew started warming up by the time the live action began and he looked very comfortable with the first team. The two big takeaways for me were when he 1) showed big improvement looking off safeties rather than staring down his man and 2) when he dropped a bomb over the top of the field to Fred Trevillion on a post route. It was a play action fake with Agnew unloading it from within the pocket with great rhythm right as he turned his head upfield.
Agnew has real talent when he’s playing with confidence and in a rhythm but he’s inconsistent and his accuracy can really drop off at times (although not as often as last fall).
Ex: He ran a similar play action call later in the scrimmage but hesitated and ended up under throwing the pass to Mikah Holder on a go route. Holder beat Ron Smith deep but Smith had enough time to close on Agnew's late ball. I'm not sure what took him so long to let it fly.
-I feel like Agnew has a little bit better anticipation when he’s facing a zone defense though. There was one play where Kahale Warring ran up the seam and straight toward Ronely Lakalaka. Lakalaka wasn’t in a good position to turn up field and Warring flew right past him before he could alter the route. Agnew threw a rope right when Warring was approaching Lakalaka, likely because of the size mismatch and Lakalaka's stiff positioning. It was an easy 25 yard gain up the seam.
Note: This play was particularly funny because LB coach Zach Arnett showed great anticipation too. He yelled “dammit Ronley” as Agnew began his throwing motion.
-We all know he's a runner, but Agnew stayed in the pocket much more than I thought he would in the actual scrimmage. I remember him running like crazy last fall at the start of camp when the OL wasn’t really gelling at first. Him not looking to scramble so quickly, even with an inexperienced line, is a VERY good sign. Running will continue to be in his blood though.
Anyway, there was one play where he was targeting Juwan Washington on a short route over the middle, but Washington slipped and fell when he made his break. Agnew started to put his head down and run like usual, but then he suddenly pulled up and then made a side arm throw to Washington for a first down gain. Washington got up very quickly and was wide open because the linebacker covering that zone had written him out of the play when he slipped. It was a Johnny Manziel-like play.
Agnew did it again on a play where blitzes came fast around the edges. He began to sprint up the middle before suddenly planting his foot at the line of scrimmage and throwing it to TE Troy Artepeous running across the middle. It wasn't such a great decision because the angle was bad and the throw went behind Artepeous but it was another sign of Agnew looking to pass rather than run.
-The most exciting play of day also only happened because Agnew made a bad decision. The defense was in zone and Warring ended up in single coverage way down field. Agnew let it fly toward him even though FB Nick Bawden was completely wide open near the sideline. With the ball midair, Warring gave his DB a bit of a push and came down on his back with the ball. The momentum of the fall jarred the football straight into the air and right into Bawden’s hands.
Just like they drew it up!
-I’m not sure of Agnew’s arm got a little sore or what but his accuracy issues popped up again during the second half of the scrimmage. He particularly struggled with his timing on longer throws, like corners and outs. They were always wide and the receivers had no shot of getting to them.
-One thing that really impressed me yesterday with Bodreau is that he’s very very good at playaction handoff fakes. He made a bunch of defenders completely bite and it buys him valuable time to get those throws off on the rollout.
-I also love how Bodreau doesn’t just fire out throws all over the field and puts extra touch and passes when needed. He’s not afraid to put a little more arc on the deeper throws to the taller receivers and it’s led to some good down field opportunities.
I would expect a walk-on QB like him to let those balls sail a little too much but you can tell he’s actually putting the ball right where it needs to be.He’s also not giving the defense that much extra time to close on the ball because his arm’s good enough to adjust.
-I think the fullbacks all had really good days. Bawden has become such a good lead blocker and his pass protection has improved (sometimes he struggles against some of the quicker guys like Lakalaka and Henderson).
-Isaac Lessard can run and has good hands (he had one of the longer catch and runs of the day on bootleg call) but he’s still developing as a lead blocker. He definitely hits guys hard though.
-The defense didn’t allow the RBs to break any long runs but I was happy to see Chase Jasmin making something out of nothing on several runs. His cutting ability isn’t as drastic as DJ Pumphrey’s was but it’s probably better than Penny and Washington. I still want to see how he looks in open field situations though. I feel like that’s where he’s most dangerous.
-It’s weird not seeing Juwan Washington motion in and out and all over like he used to. I thought it was extremely effective last season but I didn’t see it much at all yesterday. Hopefully it comes back in the fall when Penny gets more reps at running back.
-Fred Trevillion still needs to show a little more consistency but his cutting ability helps him gain solid separation during his routes. SDSU hasn’t had a lot of receivers like that in recent years but Holder, Truxton and Trevillion are a good top three when it comes to shaking off defenders. Tim Wilson is getting there, too.
-Wilson’s still learning though. There was one play where SDSU called a screen pass to Washington and Anthony Luke laid a big hit on him right after the catch. It was a great play call by Gonzales because Luke dropped back in coverage while the two linebackers behind him blitzed.
Wilson was the crack back block, and when he saw the two LBs blitzing, he went to go block the deep safety instead. He didn’t ensure that Washington had room to work with by recognizing that Luke dropped back out from his stance on the defensive line.
There’s a lot to like about his pure receiving ability though. He runs hard, breaks hard and uses physicality. His hands are just OK.
