Deciphering The Code
Trying to gauge the performance of the team in spring and summer practices from media reports and coach speak can be a dicey proposition. The media are bound by team rules that make it nearly impossible to report on the play of individual players. Furthermore, Coach Greg Schiano is selective in what he talks about and whom he praises. Compounding both of these issues is when you as a fan, finally get to see the team in action during the annual Scarlet-White game it is under controlled game conditions. Defensive blitzes, full speed special teams, and other elements you would see in a real game are not present. So how is a fan to know what he or she heard or saw is good or bad?

A Lesson Learned No News is Not Good News
If there was one lesson learned from last season in terms of media coverage is that if you are not mentioned, chances are you are not doing much. If you are not being praised by Coach Schiano, chances are you are not standing out. If you are not being made available to the media for interviews, chances are you are not in the mix. Last spring there was not a ton of praise being heaped on Tom Savage during the spring. His spring game performance was pedestrian but the wheels seemed to be in motion. Then in the summer, the media reports praising Savages play was missing. Neither was Schianos praise. However, it was being reported that freshman QB Chas Dodd was turning heads. It was then of little surprise when Dodd trotted on the field in the 4th quarter of the opening game, thereby burning his redshirt, to just hand off. Looking back it was clear the staff was no longer fully confident in the way Savage was progressing and it should have been no surprise when he was eventually replaced. It wasnt just Savage, there was very little praise for the offensive line and there was very little mention for highly recruited players that failed to see the field much during the season like RB DeAntwan Williams, DT Isaac Holmes or DB Darrell Givens.

Reading Tea Leaves
Working with the information we have both what we have heard and what we saw on April 30th we can try and decipher how each unit performed and what we can expect in the summer camp. Today will be the first part of a nine part series examining each unit on the team. The breakdown will be as follows:

Part 1 - Quarterback
Part 2 - Running Backs
Part 3 - Receivers/Tight Ends
Part 4 - Offensive Line
Part 5 - Defensive Line
Part 6 - Linebackers
Part 7 - Defensive Backs
Part 8 - Special Teams
Part 9 - Coaching

THE QUARTERBACK

Tags: Media Reports