I’m starting to get a glimpse of how it is going to be for the boys this football season. I expected hard work and the need to fight for their spot, but given the lack of depth on the offensive line, I am seeing my boys either put to work on the line in practices or left as a running back facing the number one defense with a line composed of–literally–the smallest kids we have.
On one snap the D-line beat the ball to the QB.
Under those conditions our #1 back would look horrible, but what really has me concerned is my mid kid who is playing for the first time and discovering–the hard way–that it sucks being the new kid. He’s trying to learn all the plays and find his place on the field. As one of the smallest on the team you wouldn’t expect him to be on the line but there he was tonight. He was on the o-line and the d-line and struggled to make plays. He took a couple of big hits too–kind of a welcome to the game situation. Still, he fought through. I wonder if he is still going to like the game after the season. He’s already talking about the upcoming soccer season–a sport he’s been dominating for years now.
Monday is our first team scrimmage, which will give him a chance to play against the kind of competition he will face this year and perhaps make a few plays to build confidence. He’s used to being wildly successful at all that he does and this is a new challenge for him. I’m curious to see what is going to come of it all, and I look forward to being an interested observer vs. a helicopter pop waiting to swoop in and save him.
Some Thoughts:
- With NanoWrimo quickly approaching I’m doing the front end work for a solid run. I expect my students to work the month too, all of us trying to hit big numbers and maybe crank out an entire draft.
- Tyrod Taylor looked legit out there today.