Thursday August 09, 2007

Football Storylines

Football Storylines
The first day in pads is now in the books and some storylines have emerged. Here are a few notes on what I have heard so far early in the process:

Quarterbacks
Bowden says all of the quarterbacks have done well and the only major news to come out of practice is the pre-season move of Michael Wade to safety. This move leaves the Tigers with only three quarterbacks taking reps and the pecking order is pretty clear. The only separation so far comes from Willy Korn separating himself from Tribble Reese in the back-up role.

The gap between Cullen Harper and Willy Korn narrowed over the summer but Harper has a pretty strong grasp on the position at this time.

The other major news in recent weeks at this position is Kyle Parker’s emergence on the national scene due to his good performance at the Elite 11 camp. Parker was said to be a Willy Korn clone and he could have a chance to compete for playing time early in his career as well.

Running Back
Storylines at running back include James Davis’s leaderships, the sets that feature Spiller and Davis in the same backfield, Sadat Chambers role and Ray Ray’s state.

It was very evident early in the camp that James Davis is one of the leaders of this football team. Davis is the guy that tries to keep his teammates focused and you don’t have to try to find Davis because you can hear him at all times.

One of the things we will continue to hear more about is the idea of C.J. Spiller and Davis in the same backfield at the same time. We hear more about sets that do not involve a quarterback much like Arkansas uses with Darren McFadden in the shotgun.

Chambers has been a big hit in the first five days at his new position. First, he is in excellent condition. Chambers is very strong and is a physical player. He is still trying to understand his new position and that education will continue throughout camp but he has been a big surprise so far early in camp.

Ray Ray McElrathbey’s Clemson career has been noteworthy to say the least. He came to Clemson after playing quarterback in high school but moved to cornerback as a freshman. He then took on the saga of gaining custody of his younger brother, Fahmarr. He then moved to a new position, tailback. He then missed some time in the spring due to academics and now is trying to battle for playing time after coming off of knee surgery. It is fairly clear early in this camp that his role has been reduced because Chambers has moved ahead at this point.

Wide Receivers
Perhaps the biggest storylines coming out of the fall camp at this position is the emergence of the freshmen wide outs. Xavier Dye is a player that should see significant playing time based upon his strong performance so far. Also Brandon Clear is much more ready to play than the staff anticipated. He is smoother and more athletic than some believed. Clear is also a very hard worker who has impressed Dabo Swinney and the rest of the offensive staff with his hands.

Tight Ends
The news is good here so far. Durrell Barry is a major focus of Billy Napier and he has a chance to really increase his role with some consistency in the scrimmages. Michael Palmer continues to work hard and his consistency is evident. Akeem Robinson showed up in camp in great shape as he does every year and freshman Brian Linthicum worked hard in the off-season to improve his strength. Because of that work Linthicum has put himself into the picture this season.

Offensive Line
The only bad news so far is that true freshman Landon Walker will miss some time after his knee surgery today. This will have a major effect on his red-shirt status. The rest of the freshmen offensive linemen look like they will red-shirt at this time.

The staff has praised Barry Humphries early in this camp. The Belton, SC native is now the starter and the gap between his competition has widen.

Defensive Line
The Jamie Cumbie surgery is not good news. This has an effect throughout the entire defensive line because Kwam Williams will have to move to his position. Williams’ move means Kevin Alexander has a better chance at his new position, Bandit.

Rickey Sapp has not emerged fully from the dog house. Some are disappointed in Sapp’s work ethic and are concerned about his effort. Williams was benefitting from this but now Alexander and Kourtnei Brown have a better chance to see the field.

The other major storyline early in camp is the emergence of true freshmen Miguel Chavis and Jarvis Jenkins. Both have energy and both have a chance to play a little sooner than first anticipated.

Linebackers
A couple of days ago it was reported that Antonio Clay was too heavy and out of shape. One staffer told me he had already lost 20 pounds and I reported that in a blog earlier in the week. However, an assistant told me yesterday that he was not as heavy as I was told and Clay had not reached 260 pounds before he came back. The assistant still feels Clay has an excellent chance to get his playing weight down to his ideal spot by Labor Day and the staff thinks he can have a good year in 2007.

Courtney Vincent has been solid so far and he should see his snaps increase this upcoming season.

The two true freshmen are better than first anticipated. That is not surprising in the case of Scotty Cooper because he was highly rated. Some now feel he has a chance to be special.

The best news we have heard so far is on Brandon Maye. A staffer told me yesterday that he is taller, bigger, fastest, quicker and has better instincts than they thought. “He reminds me of a young Anthony Waters,” said one assistant.

Defensive Backs
The battle between Crezdon Butler and Byron Maxwell is a major story in the secondary. Some think both will play and this battle might continue throughout the season.

Marcus Gilchrist is smooth and athletic as the staff believed and Coty Sensabaugh has a chance to be better than they first thought.

Another storyline to follow in the coming weeks is the number of snaps at safety between Michael Hamlin and DeAndre McDaniel.

Special Teams
At the first practice I saw it was obvious Richard Jackson had worked on his punting hard in the off-season. Jackson and Jimmy Maners will have a good competition in this camp.

Word coming out of yesterday’s practice is that mark Buchholz’s leg looked strong and he is ahead in the place kicking competition.

Summary
All around the country you read positive reports about how good teams look and how much improved every team will be. This is the time for optimism. Today’s blog is probably just another in a long line of articles you can find on the web about a team’s positive early practices but I thought you might want to read what I have heard since the opening of camp. Also remember most of these notes concern personnel and I would hope most of the impression’s the staff has about their personnel should be positive.

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