Yet again, I did not see Whaley or Matthews do a whole lot. Interestingly enough, I saw the H-Back in use quite a bit via Greg Smith, but I can’t imagine that Matthews won’t be the starter when the season opens. As for Whaley… I don’t know. My theory is that those two were being held back in the open practices, because neither looked injured or out of shape. It has been reported that Whaley was held out for sore knees, so I suppose thats possible. But in all my years of following football, I’ve never heard of someone being held out of practice because they are just sore.
At running back, I saw more of Fozzy. He still has great speed, but I question his durability. Although he is technically the second string back, I imagine you will see more of Cody than you will Fozzy. Cody isn’t an every-down back, but he’s good for at least half of the carries in a game. Third string RB Jeremy Hills also looked pretty good out there. I think the success of the running backs is more of a statement about the blocking rather than the backs themselves. The blocking from the offensive line is much more straight-up, and seems to be working really well
WRs were great. Especially some of the new guys. Hales was VERY impressive. Chiles is going to be a standout this year, I am sure of it. He was involved in my favorite play of the night. They lined up in shotgun, Cody offset to the right of Gilbert. Ran an off-tackle to the left, but tossed it to Chiles coming around the back, who then threw a perfect ball downfield to Kirkendoll.
Defense was more fun to watch this time around. I swear they are better than last year. The interior line is the only question, but I think they will be okay.
September can’t come soon enough…
