Zaire has to get that younger group together up front...how well they progress will determine how well the team does all year.

65 Porotesano LT (So.)
60 Hasson (R Fr.)
52 Collier (Jr.)
75 Fanua (Jr.)
66 Thurston (So.)

David Main is the lone Senior offensive lineman on this year's squad. I would suspect that when he's 100% he is the starting LG or RG, and could see him sitting out a lot of spring ball to keep that knee out of harms way.

Ideally, you have eight OL that can play/travel. Play your "next-best" as the #2 LT, a swing T/G type, then your #2 Center. If that's a guard, then you travel his back-up. Nobody has a true 2-deep on the o-line, at least not one that can play. OL depth at all levels of football is a very fragile entity.

Wed 15 April

What an absolutely beautiful day at Davis today. Both squads came out with good energy.

QB Cleeland had an fantastic practice today. He was on target all day making plays with his arm and feet. Great footwork. He has a very RB build, similar to Christian McCaffery or Lan. Footwork is there. Decisions are quick after reads. He struggle with passes out in the flat missing a couple but other than that he was pretty good today.

QB Kollack had a tough day. He still ran with the first team, but had multiple picks and a fumbled snap. Can't always be perfect but today was probably his worst day I've seen so far.

The OL looked better today. #78 the FR was moving a bit better today. While the line wasn't dominating it wasn't getting blown off the ball. Couple sacks given up but overall the play was improved from previous practices.

#30 K with a booming kick into the endzone. Special teams looks vastly improved. Great drills in kicking, blocking kicks, and returns.

#13 Tyler Hennessy stood out with some great hands. He is a bit small but quick.

#22 WR PIckett with some great catches. The 6'4 WR could be a real weapon with his length.

#86 Pohlman looks good. He is being used and targeted frequently.

#2 LB Madruga looks good. He and #15 Jackson Sievers are fun to watch. They stand out on many plays.

#26 DB Brown with a couple nice plays.

#21 DB Slone with a nice pick off Kollack

#1 DB John the transfer out of Idaho looks the part. Tall and athletic he had some great breakups and was a missle slicing through the line for a tackle behind the line. Keep an eye on this kid.

#98 Ikegbu DL is the perfect compliment to #92 Mayo. He and #99 DL Parker look to solidity the interior defensive line. I like what I'm seeing here.

-SG

Is Madruga playing an edge position, or an inside linebacker? If edge, thats where Goligoski and Garretson play. Some were thinking we need a larger inside linebacker than P.Connors and Sievers.

Good question. He was mostly lined up on the edge.

This is great. Thank you!

Solid write up. Hennessy played in all 13 games last year as a true Frosh so they must like his speed and hands. His drinking game too easy.

Inside linebacker doesn’t need more size than those two guys but whoever takes the two spots needs to improve in the run game. Look back historically, many of the best inside linebackers the program has had (Sindell, Spraker, Valaau, Elbanna, Meyer) weren’t huge dudes, but they all had great instincts and tackled well.

Great input. Saw a bit and 92 looks binge all American. He’s a force. Hayden John looked really good. With Rex, this DB unit can be special. Only negative I’ve seen from Defense is outside run/breaking containment but that could be because we are a spill defense.

Isn't Saturday April 18th?

I actually dont get how our pr teams are so all over the place (across athletics) :cry:

Jeeze. Someone should message them

Good catch Finn. I just messaged them.

We all need a reminder of Tax Day, lol!

Great job, as usual. Isn't it wild how one day, one QB looks like the heir apparent, then can stink up the joint the next day while the other guy performs well? Solid reminder that you are dealing with 18-21 year old kids mostly.

Refreshing to hear of a 6'4" WR playing well! Hennessy was a tremendous HS talent and will be an all-Big Sky performer at some point. Kid is a football player.

#2 is an Edge player, probably listed as an Outside Linebacker but plays predominantly like a Defensive End. Seivers is plenty big at 6'1"-6'2" 220 or so. If he isn't, then someone needs to tell the coaches because there are a bunch of guys that size on the roster in that range. Porter, from what I recall, does look undersized out there, but he is close to that same size. As long as guys can fit gaps and drop effectively, the 220-230 pound range is just fine. The length of a kid like the transfer Middle LB last year is nice in the pass game, but he wasn't a downhill LB. I can recall several picks and PBUs, but not once did I think, 'that dude brings it!" That (in my opinion) is what this unit was lacking.

Excited for the D-line group. Almost as excited to have a kicker!

Right? If I never witness a squib kickoff ever again I'd be fine with that/

The kicking game last season was death by a thousand cuts. Squib kicks, poor kickoff placement, missed field goals, blocked punts. Somehow, we were a Top 10 team in spite of it. I don't think I will ever get over the blocked punt vs. Idaho State.

Sievers is listed as 6’0” and Porter is listed 6’1. Both 220lb. I’m not saying that’s a factor in whether they should start, I think they are likely our two best inside linebackers, certainly the most experienced and good tacklers too.
SailorGabe report that Madruga was a standout just made me curious where he was playing, although last year he was a backup at rush linebacker, behind Goligoski and Garretson when healthy. Lots of experience at that spot.

Got it. That rush LB position was productive last season with those guys. Those guys will be an effective presence.

I was speaking mainly to the body type more than the depth chart, that takes care of itself. We will need two at each position, and it will be interesting to see how it shuffles the first time one comes out. That size range seems to be what the DC and LB coach are looking for with speed being the premium. I only thought the linebackers were manhandled in one game (the last one), but so was the D-Line. 42 rush attempts by ISU is all you need to hear. There were times in other games where they were manipulated out of the box based on scheme/formation and a Safety was asked to fill in the space against the run, but hopefully that is something they looked at in the winter. Plenty of programs at both the FBS and FCS levels play with 6'-6"2" 220ish LBs, even if they fudge their roster heights. Those bodies need to be able to stand up in the playoffs when a team from Middle America decides to roll up it's sleeves and challenge you with inside zone for two thirds of their offensive snaps in a football game

We were decimated by then, without the Connors, several other players, and our stud DE.

Rhode Island ran successfully against us, 6.3 yards a carry after only 3.2 against Central Connecticut.
Teams late in the season thought rushing defense was our weakness.

I liked that Rhode Island RB, he popped a couple long ones if I recall. Someone, I think SailorGabe, mentioned some contain issues at practice and the spill phiosophy of the D. I think those outside runs were what URI got us on, while Illinois State just shoved it up our tailpipe with inside zone. Could be wrong, my memory has been known to go hazy at times.

Coach Plough pitching the Spring game:
https://fb.watch/GxcfsJ3iGP/?fs=e

I wish these guys would quit with the Facebook posting. Many of us don’t want to use facebook anymore and they could just use the uc davis app for free. Don’t get it.

I think it’s on other portal; AgAlum and I are old timers who still use FB

It’s on all of their social feeds not just fb.

So they practice today, Spring Game tomorrow, and all the Picnic Day activities? Last year featured an evening drive-by at a local park if I recall, good times. Hoping for sideline reporter SailorGabe to keep bringing it with the breakdowns.

Rep distribution tomorrow will maybe tell us something about where the QB competition stands heading out of spring ball and into training camp. Sounds like it will likely be 50/50 with a lot of neutral coachspeak after. This thing is going to last until approximately the weekend of August 8-9.

You'll also have a feel for what the O-line is really going to be tomorrow. The Defense will crank it up and you will see pressure unlike they've seen in the last couple weeks, unless the head ball coach puts a governor on them. Things will really speed-up for the OL tomorrow; we'll know where the cracks in the wall are after tomorrow. It will also be an opportunity to see the mettle of the QBs because they will be live and they will be harassed, hurried, and hit. That is what I would be evaluating; how does he respond, how does he lead, when the stuff hits the fan. Because it will. It's spring ball and rare is the Offensive Line anywhere that ever dominates the spring game.

TE depth concerns me at this juncture. SailorGabe likes Pohlman, that's good to hear, but nothing is really ready yet behind him it sounds like. Still have a few months to go and develop, big summer for the young guys. What sort of shape will Williams return in?

I'm looking forward to hearing about the Safeties. We're elite at Corner, we hopefully have a healthy, All-American candidate playing for pro scouts returning at one of the Safety spots, and it sounds like there's a solid group of suspects to fill the spots around him. The Idaho transfer is the one I really want to hear about. You need 5 that can play in Coombs' scheme.

Tomorrow will be fun. Prayers up for the Ags to come out healthy these next two days!

I watched the qb drills today on Biggs field then on to the stadium. I thought kollock was throwing the better balls today. But on the mobility drills I thought Traynor had the edge. Anybody’s guess at this point.
Troy Taylor out there today.