Some encouraging reports have come out of Michie Stadium regarding Army's situational scrimmage yesterday. Optimism for the upcoming season is good, but improving in all phases is better. It looks like Army has done just that, as Coach Ellerson had this to say about the upperclassmen in Army's press release.
“I think you see that there is a group on offense and a group on defense who have done this before,” Ellerson said after the scrimmage. “We have some guys with ability who have been in the systems for a year or more, and it looks like that. You can see that discrepancy I’ve talked about between the veterans and the relatively inexperienced guys. It was good to see those veteran players go out and execute with the speed and efficiency and confidence.”
Everything points to this being a break through year for Army, and with such positive reports coming from practice the pressure is on for the top units, but that doesn't mean overlooking the young guns...
Sal Interdonato gives us a look at a few of the freshmen who are getting involved on the field.
Slotback Raymond Maples is probably the freshman closest to seeing steady time early this season.“We are going to see how far Raymond can come along,” Ellerson said. “He’s going to get a lot of turns there. In terms of a guy who’s in the two-deep, Raymond is probably the closest. But Raymond frankly isn’t there right now.”
Freshman middle linebacker Reggie Nesbit impressed Ellerson and senior captain Stephen Anderson in the scrimmage.
“Reggie did a great job today,” Anderson said. “I think he had more tackles than I did.”
Sal Interdonato has a good notebook of events from the scrimmage- it's worth a look like all of Sal's stuff.
Looking at the amount of seniors on the depth chart who will graduate after this season it is necessary to get the younger players ingrained with the offensive and defensive schemes right now.
A lot of teams on the 2010 schedule are poised for good years, 4 out of the 12 teams on Army's schedule - Hawai'i, Ball State, Kent State and Notre Dame- make Phil Steele's most improved teams list. A lot of things line up for a potential great season at West Point, but there will be competition. That got me looking down the line a little bit... This year should be great, I'm more optimistic about the upcoming season than ever... but looking toward 2011, if Army can get some of the young guys up to speed - particularly on the line and on the defensive side of the ball, I feel that next year can be a another important step in the right direction.
The more I hear out of Army's practices the more I like Rich Ellerson's approach. Earlier today I rewatched the Tulane and Vanderbilt games and was appalled at the overall ineffectiveness of Army's special teams. It was to my relief to hear that the emphasis of Saturday's scrimmage was placed on situational play and special teams. A winning record this year depends on improvement in all phases of the game, it's clear that Rich Ellerson understands that and I have to believe that the team is making those improvements daily.
Just one aside: this one is a season preview from Bleacher Report. Nothing special, talks option football and calls for a 6-6 season.
