Thoughts from the Spring Game

Well I returned in Dallas tonight at just the right time...in time to see the Stars punch in 2 early 3rd period goals and finish with a 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks that sends them to the Western Conference Semifinals vs either San Jose or Calgary later this week. Now...onto the spring game.

First off, here are the posts that I made from the Jones on Saturday. I'm going to break my review down into PROs and CONs.

- The defense recorded 9 sacks lead by Brandon Jones with 3, Daniel Howard with 2, and McKinner Dixon with 2.
- The defense only had 1 TFL (Tackle For a Loss) on 47 rushing plays.

- Michael Crabtree had 6 catches for 54 yards and 1 TD.
- Michael Crabtree had 2 drops on VERY catchable balls.

- Blake Kelley and Adam James likely played themselves into the WR rotation in 2008.
- Todd Walker went from the most talked about WR in spring practice to a virtual afterthought on Saturday. He had 1 catch for 3 yards in "bonus time" on Saturday.

- The offensive line was without 3 of it's Top 7 on Saturday. Rylan Reed, Louis Vasquez, and Lonnie Edwards all sat out with injuries.
- The perceived depth at OL might not be exactly what we once thought. The OL looked very average for most of the spring game.

- Sam Fehoko was an absolute stud on Saturday. He flew around the field making play after play.
- He's likely to be 2nd on the depth chart at MLB but should earn significant playing time in Ruffin's defensive rotation of 22-26 guys.

- McKinner Dixon continued to show his exceptional athletic ability in his return to the Hub City.
- Jake Ratliff who??? He was a total non-factor on Saturday just as he has been all spring. Look for Daniel Howard and/or Brandon Sesay to move ahead of him in the fall.

- Aaron Crawford and Baron Batch ran very well at times.
- Baron Batch lost 8 yards in his last 3 carries, Crawford was shutdown except for a 19 yd burst followed by a 12 yd run 2 plays later.

- Shannon Woods showed why he lead the Big 12 in all purpose yards gained in 2007 and is a 2 year starter at RB.
- Shannon Woods continued to show his tendency to not hit the hole and take what the defense gives him. Instead, he kept trying to bounce it outside but was only able to turn the corner 1 time for a nice 18 yard gain.

Ok. That about sums up my thoughts on the spring game. If anything else comes to me tomorrow I'll add it to this list.