Monday, August 31, 2009

B-Rob, Francois and Purvis on Cut day

So August 31 is 75-man roster day in the NFL. I'm keeping an eye out for any surprising moves but I think most of the guys 1 year removed aren't in any danger (aside from Tribble, who is in the UFL now). This years hopefuls seem to be struggling though.

For those not following Chris Crane, Francois, Robinson and Purvis all got UFA contracts. By August 12 Crane, Francois and Robinson had been released. Crane was resigned when Sorgi got hurt but was then released again on the 22. Francois was released by the Vikings but picked up pretty quickly by the Lions who released him today. B-Rob hasn't seen any action since he was released by the Eagles earlier this month. That leaves Purvis as the lone member of the 08 hopefuls.

I watched the Buc game the other day and he looked pretty good, especially going against 3rd and 4th team guys. The only TE with more receptions is 2nd stringer Stevens and the other 2 guys have pretty much nothing. Things working against him however are at least one drop I've seen as well as the fact that Kellen Winslow is not getting cut anytime soon. He does have a pair of aces up his sleeve though, aces named Jagodzinski (the offensive coordinator) and Steve Logan (HB coach)

chances of making the 53-man roster: 10 : 1
practice squad: 3:1

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Depth Chart is out

So the depth chart's out and its got a few surprises, check out bceagles.com to take a peek at it.

Theres not a whole lot of surprises on offense, Cleary got the LG spot, and the Fullback position is more like a TE/FB hybrid. Pantale seems to have gotten the starting "TE" position which I love. Only other surprise is that the "or" was slid in between Tuggle and Marscovetra meaning Marscovetra might get his shot to start. I'm also still presuming Shinskie will be out for the game though that is indefinite at this point.

On defense we were given some real surprises, first up was Dillon Quinn redshirting, which didn't particularly surprise me, nor did the move to put Giles inside surprise me. I like it personally, I swore that I said to look out for that but I couldn't find it anywhere in the archives so you'll just have to take my word that I was thinking it. Giles was a bull-rush type DE so it makes sense to put him in at tackle, at worst he will be a poor-mans Ron Brace.

LB is where you see a real mess. The only not-entirely-surprising move was LeGrande at SLB, though I thought he was going to be Weak side but DiSanzo seems to have played his way into that role. The big surprise is Kuechly at MLB, while I fully expected Kuechly to be great I did not really expect him to play this year because McLaughlin is a beast. The news on Mac is that he won't be back for some time and may try for a medical 6th year but what surprises me was Thompson missing from the depth. I had heard that someone busted a knee at practice this week but I thought that was Momah and not Thompson, time will tell.

Friday, August 28, 2009

'09 Poster

So the 09 Football poster was just delivered to my room and.... Steve Aponavicious is the man at the top/front/center whatever you want to call it. I had mixed feelings about last years "grab them from the locker room and make them look intimidating poster" and I generally like the posters with the players in action better. However this years is just kind of meh. It still has me amped though.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Herzlich looking to be back in '10

Herz has been on campus for a while now and has even tweeted that he was working out again. The best news however is that he is even more optimistic that he will pick up where he left off this time next year. It's unfortunate I'll miss out (I graduate this year and don't know if non-student season tickets will fit in my post-college budget) I am absolutely ecstatic that this still looks like an increasing reality for Herzlich.

I'll have a guest writer try to fill in as I'm still going to be busy right up until kick off.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Scafe's got some hitstick

Scafe steamrolled Shinskie after Shinskie caught his own pass, resulting in a broken rib. The QB race has gotten more mired. Oddly enough I was very pessimistic at the beginning of the month and my inside info is that things look worse, yet I find myself feeling more optimistic, also couplebeers has heard rumors of a big-name transfer somewhere in our future...they'll have to sit out though so it doesnt effect this year.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Checking in

Check Couplebeers for his position by position breakdown. I did this earlier but as news is trickling in his are becoming much better than mine were. I'm only catching pieces of information but it seems like the True Freshman are getting a lot of looks.

Awesome . . . right? Wrong I have not personally gone but the media had painted it to be that the offense was struggling against the beastly defense. It seems that neither side is particularly impressive from the few people I spoke with who made it to the game.

On a positive note, we are getting positive press. Maybe it's the fact that we've been so underrated for the last couple years but people are saying that Spaz could be coach of the year and that BC is set up for success even on a very down year.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Busy, Busy, Busy

I'm super busy and will be pretty much right up until the end of the season so this will be quick hits for the next few weeks.

First up is the QB situation. Not looking great though Mascovetra is a bit of a surprise. I read something along the lines that he might be good but didn't buy much into it in the spring. right now Shinskie's # 1 on the chart.

Other than that Herzy's showing up @ Brace's New England debut (in Philly) and apparently Shinskie rocks a Cherry Red Caddy purchased with his '03 300k signing bonus.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Raji, Brace and B-Rob

Raji signed a deal with the Packers finally and he should be headed into camp soon. He got a bit more than I think a 9th round pick should get (40% more than Keith Rivers did last year) but ultimately he was the highest DT taken in a very long time and that is the position du jour right now.

In other pro news I watched the Patriots-Eagles game last night. Brace saw a fair amount of playing time and to be honest he looked alright but that's about it. I think he was used to being able to overpower everyone where now hes got some beasts to play against. One odd thing was that the Pats played a lot of 4-3 instead of their usual 3-4 which could be because of their weak backup LBs (who were awful in my opinion) Brace played mostly over the center. He was credited with two tackles, the second was a red zone stop, unfortunately he was falling backwards but he still bearhugged the RB and took him down with him. On a bright note... anyone remember that scene in the Two Towers where Aragorn opens to massive doors with one push, there was one play where Ron took the RG in his left hand and the C in his right and made like Aragorn with the O-lineman.

Did not see any signs of B-Rob unfortunately, which was kind of disappointing. News out of camp was that he was doing well. Most of the receivers got a chance last night though and B-Rob wasn't out there.

There's not much new news out of camp, just some pictures of the team stretching and doing drills and that's about it.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

I love Spaz

Raycom's piece on Spaz, you'll need to scroll over a bit

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Football in Chestnut Hill

Ooo it's exciting isn't it. Practice started up yesterday and you can almost taste the season. Notes from practice are encouraging with Shinskie seemingly stepping up @ QB and everyone else doing their thing. On the defensive side things are looking a little more confusing. Mac figures to be out for a while so there seems to be some need for Thompson to step up inside @ MLB, DiSanzo seems to be standing out at OLB and figures to either displace Clancy or back up either Outside spot. Along the line Deska has been moved to TE/FB leaving room for Giles, Ramella and Albright at the ends. Scafe is looking solid and should have a good year and Ramsey is starting next to hime, for now.

Apparently Shinksie's encouragement has provided a little bit of hope outside of Chestnut Hill as HD actually has us 10th on the power rankings. Rivals unfortunately has us as the dregs of the Atlantic. Speaking of Rivals though the folks over their just finished a solid unit ranking as well as a position by position evaluation of recruiting needs and prospects, if you have an account take a peak at it.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

ESPN 150 and some quick hits.

The ESPN 150 came out today giving us the long awaited scouting reports for all the top recruits. Unfortunately no commits cracked the 150. I didn't really expect any to but there is always hope. Betancourt, KPL and Rettig had been on the watchlist at one point. Betancourt came down last week and KPL and Rettig didn't scratch the 150 when it was announced though both were given 4 stars (something I believe to be new for ESPN this year.) Rivals has more news on the players and breaks more stories but I personally like ESPN for their scouting reports and evaluations. Also, not that I'm bitter or anything but Boisture did not crack the 150 either, in fact he was given 3* and a 77 rating where Rettig got 4* and an 80. Rettig (12) is also rated above Austin Hinder(13) and and Nick Montana(15), but ironically below Zach Lee(10) and fellow ACC commit Tyler Smith(9), two QBs I hadn't heard that much about.

There is really very little other news.

Herzlich's treatment is going very well and his chances of playing again got a real boost because the required surgery is going to be less weakening to his femur than originally predicted.

McLaughlin will likely be ready to go sometime in the first week. I don't know if he will be able to practice before that though, which could give him some trouble.

The globe failed to provide any coverage on the ACC media days but did make it to the Big East media day (where BC is supposed to return to any minute now, yeah don't hold your breath). A lot of people are really pissed but my take is that the cash-strapped globe probably felt like sending Blaudy down South wasn't worth the travel cost, whereas Newport is an hour away and he can just sleep in his car.

Raycom is running a sweet six part summer program featuring a segment on Matt Ryan (which has already aired but you can see it here, a segment with Spaz and a segment with Haden. Not that it airs anywhere north of the Mason Dixon but hey, it looks sweet. Check the same link for the TV listings to see if you can catch it, and then post it on youtube so I can watch.

Also I finished my season in NCAAF2010. I went 13-1 winning the Orange Bowl. The defense led the way, ironically enough still stout against the run (#1 Rushing, # 3 overall defense) but the biggest problem I had all season was getting to the QB. Offense relied on Harris and Haden who both did not disappoint and Shinskie wasn't half bad when defenses loaded up on the run. Harris and Mary Bowman were All-Americans, ironic because Bowman was actually one of the weaker DBs, DeLeon Gause made the 2nd-team All-American and Jeff Smith was returner of the year. What was really surprising though was the ensuing offseason. Gause left for the draft, Wes Davis took some convincing to stay and Josh Haden transferred out. The team however will still be beastly in 2010 with Herzlich back. Castonzo trained up to a 99 as well.