The Football Brainiacs

Managed to get some information from a few sources regarding the scrimmage OU held earlier today. So let’s begin.

Quarterbacks

– Was told that Trevor Knight “started” with the first team offense.

– Cody Thomas continued his late week surge and, again, appeared to be the best of the three quarterbacks, according to what I was told. While it wasn’t by a large margin necessarily, Thomas did seem to take the most first team reps.

– Was told Thomas seems to have the quickest release and is able to stand tall in the pocket, get the ball out quickly & hit receivers with consistent accuracy. Which really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise — setting aside the memories of Thomas struggling in last year’s offense, of course — considering Thomas ran a similar system in high school…quick slants, stop routes, bubble screens, etc. Just got the sense from what I was told that Thomas has a really live arm.

– Also told that Thomas had a nice TD on a deep corner route.

– Knight appeared to show the most field generalship, but one source still contended that Thomas was the overall better performer. Knight evidently also hit someone in stride on a go route for a long touchdown.

– Was told that Baker Mayfield seemed a little indecisive today and tended to want to get out of the pocket a little too much.

Running Game

– I asked a source how the offensive line looked and was told ‘it doesn’t matter because of how good the running backs are.’ they went on to say, “all they (the RBs) need is a crease.”

– Was told that Joe Mixon is scary good. If he’s given any space, you can forget about it because he’s gone.

– A source said the running game looks like it’s going to be really potent. They also said Lincoln Riley doesn’t not seem to shy away from running the ball, at all. It sounds like if they think they can run, they’re going to run. And today the defense didn’t seem to have an answer for the OU run game.

Offensive and Defensive Notes

– There were A LOT of defensive players out. I’m told that Jordan Evans only played the first series. Was told that Dom Alexander and Frank Shannon also didn’t go. Sounded like OU played a lot of back-ups. In fact I was told that while they did play Eric Striker some, he was virtually unblockable so they didn’t blitz him much or otherwise put in a back-up in his place.

– Generally the defense wasn’t dialing up heat today (because it’s a scrimmage), but was told the offensive line did a good job of communicating and pick up the blitz.

– Was also told the tackles did have trouble with some of the edge pressure that the defense brought. But they’ve still got time to get better in that regard, and you can always get a RB or TE to help out with that if need be.

– In terms of who won between the offensive and defensive lines, one source said they seemed to go back and forth but the defense had a hard time stopping the run because of the quality of the running backs. But the number of starters being held out also seemed to play considerable role today. But one source came away believing OU should generally be able to run on anyone.

– Defensive line was playing a single gap, which coincides with what we’ve heard and shared with you for some time now. But I was told that because there were a lot of the younger DL guys getting work today, the hurry up offense was getting to them at times. All that should be cleaned up by the season, though, especially when more veterans are in the game.

– Was told that all the DBs seem to have a good skill set. The only issue one source noted was the young safeties are not vocal with the calls as they probably could be, and that they’re still learning to align properly.

– Heard that Steven Parker is being much more vocal and overall really stood out in the secondary. No surprise there.

– Evidently Jordan Thomas had a nice INT today, and PJ Mbanasor had nice coverage on a deep route with a chance to pull in an INT but dropped it at the last minute.

– Continue to be told about how much more depth there is at WR compared to years past. One source shared that the inside receivers are doing a nice job of understanding coverages and sitting down in soft spots.

– Was also told, however, that the outside receivers are definitely big and physical, but still learning at times to really go up and fight for the ball. Didn’t get a sense that any of the big receivers really separated themselves today, though I was told that Dahu Green had a long catch on a post route.

If I get anything else worth updating, I’ll post it here later. But hopefully you enjoy everything above for now.