Under Armour All-America Game Practice Scouting Notes, day 2 [Pictures added]

Because the first one was so extensive, and not a lot has changed with most of the guys FSU is involved with I have decided to make this shorter, and I don't want to push the exciting Matt Elam news off the front page so it is going to be as a fanpost. In today's notebook I will take a more in depth look at Jeff Luc as he was able to be a much more active participant, also I will look at a couple of our Rival's CBs Joshua Shaw and Cody Riggs. Finally I will talk about some overall great performers and I have some photos again.

Jeff Luc:

Something that I wrote about when Jeff Luc committed was that he has been evaluated as someone who was stiff. When he plays TE he looks more loose, but many question his flexibility. Count me as someone who is now concerned. During agility drills Luc was cutting off every corner and was unable to fly his hips over the cones in teh manner that was expected of him. He slides side to side very well, and once he is shooting in a direction he gets a full head of steam but he needs a good strength and conditioning coach to help him develop flexibility to become the player that many believe he can. In hitting drills it is fun to watch him though, he made every LB out there go directly backwards, including Christian Jones.

There is good that comes with this bad though. In the front 7 portion of today's practice Jeff Luc excelled. He was incredible at shedding blockers and finishing plays, dropping Michael Dyer easily on the very first play. On one particular play he threw an OL that had probably 30-35 Lbs on him away with his right arm then turned and tackled the RB in the A gap. He looked exceptional any time the other side was running the ball.

I question Luc's mental abilities on the football field as well. Not only did he look lost at times, he forgot snap counts on onside kicks, and verbally fought with coaches after he had missed an assignment that led to a 40 yd TD. Luc seems like he needs to grow up and realize he isn't the only great player on the field.

Florida's CBs:

I also got to see some of UF's players while I was down there. In particular Joshua Shaw and Cody Riggs. First, Joshua really impressed me a lot. He is a very large corner, but it doesn't hinder his flexibility in the least bit. He hasn't been asked to defend a lot of deep routes but he shows the ability to flip his hips and stay on the hip of receivers. He also is the most physical CB in the Under Armour game. He possesses elite athleticism to go with it. He is much better in man coverage than off-man right now and I expect that will continue to be the case as he needs technique coaching int he worst way. He can get away with using his strength right now, but when great route runners and practiced tecchnicians get out there with him he will need the coaching to stay at the elite level.

Cody Riggs doesn't impress me nearly as much. He is short (same height in cleats as LaMarcus Joyner) yet he doesn't possess the strength, physicality, or long arms that Joyner does. Riggs has great technique for his age, rarely having to be coached for something that he did wrong. However he just doesn't possess the vitals to stay with big, physical receivers at the next level. He makes good plays, but he doesn't finish, and doesn't have elite speed.

Notes from the rest:

Joyner: Struggled somewhat in the goalline portions of the day with Da'Rick Rogers able to beat him a couple of times, however Joyner stuck with larger receivers (including Rogers) all day and competed and won battles for balls that were in the air. The other thing is that he seems extremely receptive to coaching. Everytime he does something he goes and talks to his position coach. He cheated on an out and went for the pick but missed by an inch. I did like to see the confidence that he can get anything though.

Jones: Everything I said yesterday held true. He should receive his fifth star.

Lemonier: The fastest DL by far and it wasn't close. Think Dwight Freeney when he was at Syracuse. We all know that DL players need to have size, but when a kid has an elite skill like his pass rush they can get away with being a little lighter. He also possesses great upper body strength for his body. Scouts were raving about him in 1-on-1s and for good reason. He forced QB Blake Bell into an INT.

Shaw: He just gets open. He left one DB at the line of scrimmage today in the goalline session. Howevr he did struggle a couple times watching the ball into his hands and had drops. Regardless he was extremely impressive again.

Top Performers (Non-FSU)-

William Gholston was the best player on the White Team field today. He is a DE from Michigan who is going to Michigan State and he has every skill you can imagine for a great DE and he is 6'7'' with a great frame.

Da'Rick Rogers (WR, Georgia) gets my MVP trophy for the first two days (Joyner would probably be second), he shows blue chip skills in every regard. He is huge, has great hands, and runs good routes. One time though he was running a fade to the sideline and Joyner was on him. They both went up for the ball and Joyner knocked it away as Nick Dew (S, Virginia Tech) cleaned the play up. Joyner got up and said "AND YOU PUSHED OFF."

I'm glad Louis Nix decommitted from Miami to go to ND. The defensive tackle is an absolute bear to block with one man when he is focused, and he has been focused while he is down there.

OL James Hurst and OL JaWaun James have been the best Offensive linemen there, while Chaz Green continued to be hit and miss. Chaz Green was victim to Gholston on a number of plays today.