Day Three of preseason practice is in the books. Here's what I'm hearing about how things are going:
- Maybe it's the quarterback / receivers or maybe it's the secondary, but the down-field passing game has yet to take off. It appears to be a little of both; I hear that receivers are having trouble getting open sometimes, but other times Garcia and his targets just aren't connecting. Hopefully the latter is just rust, but after the last two years, I'll admit it's worrying. I do hear that Garcia has gotten better about throwing it away when he needs to. That's welcome news to me; if he can't measure up to Tim Tebow or Jevan Snead this year, I'll deal with it. However, if he persists in throwing it into traffic when no one is open like he and his cohorts have in the past, we could be in for another brutal year.
- The running game is going to be much better. First of all, the line is getting movement and opening holes in the run-blocking schemes. The backs are also doing their job. Brian Maddox is apparently playing very well and looks to be ready for an 800-1000-yard season. Jarvis Giles has played well, but he's also dropped passes and fumbled some. My guess is that he will contribute this year, but I don't think he's ready to supplant Maddox or Eric Baker when Baker returns. Kenny Miles also appears ready to contribute a few carries a game.
- Spencer Lanning has looked very good kicking the ball and will likely handle field goals and extra points. I hear he's got a powerful leg and is consistently knocking in 45+ field goals. Adam Yates may handle kickoffs. This is welcome news; if Lanning has improved this much, we may not miss Succop so much, after all.
The other news of note is that Addison Williams suffered a minor hamstring pull. Hopefully this won't keep him out when the season begins; Addy might have been about to lose his starting job to one of the younger guys, but he's still one of our most experienced defenders and is slated to play a major role in the CB rotation. Get well soon, buddy.