Scrumptious Scrimmage Surprises Not Reported....

You know me....if I can find some tasty tidbits out there--I lap them up and share what I can. This is not public information, and should probably be classified as "rumors," but I'll take it as any scrap of OBD entertainment with 2.5 weeks to wait.

I cannot share all of it, but here are a few...

Offensive Line: The position group most of us are watching closely, and apparently they are nowhere close to determining a depth chart beyond Poncho. They are moving players around to see who fits best, and looking for the chemistry of working well together. The word is that David luli has has sparse number of snaps, and thus other players have had a good shot.

In Saturday's scrimmage--Douglas Utu, a sophomore guard from Las Vegas stood out, as did sophomore tackle Ziyare Addison...which is a surprise to me. I saw him get chewed up by our defensive line in the past, but that goes to show that freshmen get good coaching and improve! The rumor is that there may be starters that we do not expect due to an emphasis on chemistry over pure talent to start the season on the O-Line.

Tight End: The surprising emerging player is not the transfer Marcus Dixon, or the 5-Star transfer from Penn State, Andrew Olesh. It is the true freshman, the 5-Star tight end and basketball player from North Carolina, Kendre' Harrison, who is 6'7" and 250 pounds. For some..."Greatness and Weakness Emerge Early."

Running Back: Another surprise even bigger to me is what most would think is the 5th string running back from Fresno, true freshman Brandon Smith. Rumor is--he had a really good day, and has more speed and jukes that anticipated. In high school, he ran a 10.67 100 meter, and also played defense with 88 tackles last year...and FOUR interceptions. Sounds like quite an athlete at 6'0 and 190 pounds...

Wide Receiver: The BIGGEST surprise of the scrimmage is a player you have watched me promote endlessly here....and about his physical tools and upside. Word is that Gatlin Bair had the MOST catches in the scrimmage, was thrown to often, and shouts high immediate upside and playing time. He is 6'3" and 205 pounds, runs a 10.15 100 meters, and jumps so high that the top of his head lines up with the basketball rim. He SHOUTS TOUCHDOWNS!

And you know me...I maintain that all of us are 50/50 on our predictions, but when I am right...."you will never hear the end of it!"