But I crave practice reports, no matter how incomplete
The problem is that media get to see very little of practice and even less for team periods.
I note that, other than the open practice, the scrimmages were completely closed this year. Even when you see a scrimmage it is so tightly scripted it is difficult to really get a feel for individual or unit performance.
I have little interest in watching the O&W game because it has turned into a football equivalent of the Rocky top league
One thing I've noted is the staff has really worked to dampen enthusiasm for the two DTs but has done little to reign in similar gushing with JJ and Phillips.
I've typed this much so, IMO:
Unless the ROT position becomes a liability I think Coleman is your starting Center going forward (look at tape of last years games as to why)
I think Jack Jones starts at ORG sooner rather than later. If he hadn't got nicked up I think he would have started Sat.
I think as a result of the above the OL will be better than last year. How much better is difficult to say but whether it is coach speak or reality the vibe out of the staff has changed the last week, roughly correlating to point 1
Defensively I think if Foreman performs adequately we will be OK. If not then as soon as Martin is ready we'll see Cam move to nickel
Unless injured or ill I see TK at safety along side Randolph. He really improved last year once he had a chance to play after the ill fated start at OU. He seems very instinctive but needed to get his playbook and reads down.
I think Mike will be improved from last year. AJ improved last year, some areas significantly. However, he was out of place in a Jancek defense. In the passing game he remained a liability for the most part. While the current top 2 at Mike are smaller, the increase in DT size compensates for that as well as the increase in overall speed and ability to range from sideline to sideline. A key unknown is their tackling ability, if it is remotely as good as AJs ability we will be more than adequate there.
One thing more, without the two DB injuries I think we would have spent a considerable amount of time in dime Saturday. While the talent level is better than last year we are back to a numbers issue.