The first scrimmage of the spring went pretty much as expected.
The defense dominated. Not much timing is needed to exploit vanilla offenses with offensive lineman missing due to injury. It wasn’t pretty at times for the offense. But a few players did stand out to me:
QB Brett Rypien: After he settled down and found some rhythm, I thought he led the team pretty well. He had some nice throws to what appeared to be his favorite target Chaz Anderson. Chaz caught 5 balls and I think all of them were from Ryp. At times, Rypien threaded the needle and at others he showed off his big arm on out routes. Yet, he still threw a long ball interception to Moxey from his own end zone. The accuracy on deep balls is still a work in progress.
QB Ryan Finley: Maybe a little rusty but still he moved well. Finley showed the ability to run the outside zone read play and actually keep the ball and turn it up inside. He wasn’t throwing the ball downfield much with only 7 completions for 34 yards but he was accurate and decisive. I think he lacks some timing with receivers but can run the ball and if Ryp ever got hurt, fans would be thrilled Finley was #2.
TE Jake Knight: Made the play of the day with a 53 yard TD catch. Outran everybody and made two defenders miss. The play would have been the longest from scrimmage by any TE last year. Good promise.
DE Jabril Frazier: Made some tremendous pass rush moves and started to dominate at one point. Made a big tackle but was called for a facemask penalty. Seemed explosive at times.
RB Jeremy McNichols: Was kept under wraps for the most part. I don’t think they are really that interested in using him this spring. But, he did make a few defenders miss and turned the ball up field deep in his own territory.
RB’s Ryan Wolpin and Cory Young: These guys got the bulk of the run plays and seemed durable but not explosive or that outstanding. They combined for an average of about 3 yards per carry. Boise St will need Mattison or Mahone to play as a true freshman in my opinion. It is time to develop the one two punch they need not seen since Ajayi and Baltazar in 2013.
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