The good stuff from scrimmage

Parsing the tea leaves from the reports of yesterday’s scrimmage, there’s justification for optimism in certain areas.

• Tray Matthews seems to have made quite the impression for a freshman at a key position.  Chris Conley’s quote is pure Dawg porn:  “He’s fearless. He’s got a great sense of where the ball is going to be even if you can’t see it. He’ll be going the right direction even if there’s a misdirection play. His sixth sense and his football IQ is out of the roof as a freshman.”  But the coaches had Matthews playing with the first unit and he held up his end of the deal, so there’s more there than just teammate gushing.  Given the departures at the position, this could turn out to be a big deal.
• Likewise, it was good hearing that Ray Drew had a dominant day.  (“From what I noticed, Ray Drew was really unblockable today,” quarterback Hutson Mason said.)  It’s his time to shine.
• While the defense didn’t give up a run longer than 13 yards all day, it’s worth noting that Gurshall averaged better than 6.5 yards per carry.  Not missing a beat.
• By all accounts, Mason looked like he knew what he was doing out there running the first team offense.  It’s what you’d expect, given his experience level, but it’s still good to have confirmation.
• Speed on defense.  My favorite quote of the day belongs to Ramik Wilson:  “We’re much faster and quicker,” he said. “They’re throwing screens to Malcolm (Mitchell) and we’ve got our D-ends already out there. It’s crazy, our team speed.”

C’mon, G-Day, get here.