A few things stood out during the Aggie spring football game.
• Victor Johnson could play a role in this year's Aggie offense.
He's a big running back that can be utilized as a ball carrier and a blocker.
• I'm still concerned about the team's linebackers, who are undersized. They'll need something this year from junior college transfer Alexander LaVoy who will be here in the fall.
In general the defense looked slow off the ball. That's why the perimeter of the defense was hurt on Saturday, because the defense is slow. If the Aggies want to be better this year their defense is going to have to be better and it starts on the front seven.
• I thought the defensive line outplayed the offensive line during the scrimmage but I also think it was an aberration. If the Aggies offensive line stays healthy — a big if — they'll be OK.
• Andrew Manley was up and down at the quarterback position.
He was off on some deep throws and on target on others.
Andrew showed a propensity to run hot and cold last year. He needs to be more hot than cold for the Aggies to be better.
I thought Matt Christian played OK on Saturday.
I still think the Aggies have a nice one-two punch there.
• I think Doug Martin has done a good job implementing his offense considering he's been at NMSU for just over a month. And it's a fun offense.
He has found a home for the certain players as well — i.e. Taveon Rogers and Kenny Turner.
The offensive playbook is basic. Will it expand as the season gets closer?
• Taveon Rogers had a good game and is the team's No. 1 receiver.
He was double teamed last year down the stretch of the season. Manley was looking his way often on Saturday.
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8 comments:
Freddy I was at the game and was not very impress with Manly, I do like the new O C hell help us put points on the board. I hope that by opening day his new offense will be ready I want to be optimistic and say we can win 5 games your thoughts on W and L s for the year.
First off it's Teddy not Freddy. Moving on....
This team's success comes down to the play up front. Can the offensive line stay healthy? If so, the unit will be ok. Will the defensive line play better? Will the team have more than nine sacks and will the defensive tackles draw double teams in the interior? There is no choice here.
And are the linebackers adequate? I have questions here. They are undersized and looked slow. I think BJ Adolpho has potential but wonder outside of that.
If the o-line stays healthy, the d-line plays better and the linebackers are adequate the aggies can win 4 games.
If the defense doesn't play better - and again it starts up front - the team won't be any better.
I had stopped in at the spring scrimmages and it was generally Adolpho, Aoelua, and Bonilla at the three linebacker positions. At the spring game Joyner took almost every rep until the very last series when they went all back ups. Joyner has the best size of all the linebacker core measuring at 6' 2" I believe if this kid has a good summer workout (Needs to work on strength) he could be a legit play maker on this defense.
Another note, the defensive line looked the best it has since I've been watching the Aggies rallying around 9 sacks? That's is something to build on going into the summer.
Secondary wise, they look to have more depth then last year but are going to miss Houses shut down skill. With projected starter Callender out of the mix on Saturday the back ups stepped in and didn't do bad in my opinion at all. Green looked better than last year, after teams seemed to pick on him. With one notable big touchdown play against Rogers. Johnson looked good too.
The game overall seemed to be an improvement on last year. Love how the offense looked although the scoring seemed a bit unfair with drives starting on the 25 yard line. Excited to see how this season turns out.
The freshman, Shapiro WR, looks like he may be an upcoming asset. He was in the clear several times in the spring game. Any info?
He had a good spring.
I think he could play a role this year.
After seeing this team play last year and from the spring game, I think this team is in real trouble. Linebacker, as you mentioned, is a huge hole on defense. D line looked better but is not athletic enough to compete in FBS football. Without House the secondary is going to be picked apart at will. Callendar has the best skillset. I am not at all convinced that Jonte Green will be a big time college player.
Offensive scheme is the same as a D2 team that I watched scrimmage 2 weeks ago. This particular team was in the D2 playoffs last fall and I have to say Aggies really looked terrible running the same offense compared to this D2 team. In the Aggies defense they haven't had a lot of time to implement all the schemes but there are real holes in personnel. The Aggies are week all across the line at the point of attack. I would suggest it is athleticism with O line and tight ends. The tight ends are terrible blockers and their pass catching would put them on the bench of the teams I have seen this spring. I see musical chairs happening at QB again this fall. Taveon Rogers and Robert Clay are the only real threats on this offense. This offense requires a 3 or 4 pronged threat in order to spread defenses across the field and unless some real studs show up this fall I see defenses loading up on Rogers and Clay and shutting it all down.
Now for a question... I saw several other spring scrimmages and those teams gave every player several reps in the scrimmage. One coach was quoted as saying he needed to see every player in game conditions to evaluate their skills. I didn't see this in Cruces. Do you really think Walker and his staff know the players so well they didn't need to look at everyone? I don't see much improvement in this team so get ready for another 2-3 win season.
Hey Teddy how does Clay look, no one has said much about him and his potential, i think he can be in for a good year and even bigger things next year.
Clay's going to be in for a big year if he stays healthy. He's a good player.
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