Youngbloods

Stopped by last night for part of practice. I was focusing mainly on qbs and receivers. The receivers seem to be coming along, however there still were a lot of dropped passes. The receiver's coach kept "encouraging" them to make sure to catch the ball. There are some good sized tight ends, it looks like. Heberlin, Ryan and Dickinson look to be the mainstays at that position. Dowdy, Caines, Roberts, Taylor, Sally, Gillium, Conley, Coburn and Fannin seem to get the majority of the wide out duties. They are all coming along nicely. As for the quarter backs, Ratliff and Adkins alternated taking the snaps. Both have impressive arms. I would give Adkins the edge in accuracy. During 11X11, Ratliff and Adkins both did well. Ratliff would scramble early if he felt pressure. Adkins tried to stay in the pocket and deliver the pass. There were times he broke out of the pocket and delivered the pass. As it's been said throughout this thread, it just depends on what type of system you run. Adkins seems to be a pocket passer who can extend the play and has good accuracy. Ratliff seems to be a one read scrambler who can break the big play. Again, this was one observer's opinion at one practice. As of last night, it looks like Ratliff will be under center come Aug. 26. Go Cats!!!

Sounds like numbers are up. I think their first scrimmage is against Spring Valley, not sure of the date. I saw where Aaron Snyder tweeted that Dowdy HAS moved to slot receiver and Adkins or Ratliff one will be the qb. I know they went to a couple of 7x7's. Anyone know how they looked? I plan on stopping by practice this evening, hopefully I can get a side by side comparison. Excited about this season.

Freshman were there there today, and there were 54 total.

I was able to show up for the later part of practice. Lineman were working on one end and backs and recievers were on the other. Some nice size lineman, but only a couple. I saw a lot of dropped balls by the receivers. Dowdy looked consistent catching passes. Ratliff and Adkins were rotating throwing. In 7x7, it looked to me like Adkins had the edge throwing the ball, he just had a lot of dropped passes. Ratliff, on the other hand, did have some nice throws, but seemed to miss quite a few recievers. I will say, on the last part of practice, going up tempo, up and down the field, Ratliff and Adkins both looked good with only one under thrown ball. But other than that, they both looked good.

Well, spill the details, how'd they look? O-line look big, who was throwing, were receivers catching the ball, who was running the ball?

The best I can guess, some of the names you should hear on the line this year are: TJ Love, Michael Burgess, Will Carol, Tamir and Bryce Wright. Hopefully, these "hogs" can blow open some holes and protect the qb to allow playmakers to make plays.

My biggest concern isn't who is going to be the qb. My biggest concern is who will protect the qb. With the entire offensive line graduating, what will this years line look like. It all starts with them. You could have Peyton Manning back there, but if you don't have a line, it doesn't matter whose calling the plays. JMO

Not sure which way they'll go with. I like your reasoning, I think Adkins is a pure passer and Ratliff would be a weapon other places, but I don't think they brought him in for anything other than qb. He took quite a few snaps last year behind Dowdy. I think if they look at both qbs during camp, they should pick the best choice. Go Cats.

I love it. Good way to observe what a player's motives are.

Add Paintsville to the open list. Saw it in the Ashland Daily Independent.

Congrats to the young man from Tomcat country. I hope to see a lot from him this year.

They are the real deal, and, a lot of them are coming back next year. They have all the respect I can give, if that means anything. Good luck from Tomcat nation.

Braxton Ratliff and Will Adkins, Ashland Blazer, both sophomores to be. Ratliff, a transfer from Paintsville is a great athlete. He took some snaps at qb for the Cats last year as well as playing corner. Could be a dual threat as a qb this year and a defensive lockdown coverage man. Adkins is a big qb with a big arm. If they go with Adkins at qb, Ratliff would be a tremendous threat in space as a running back or receiver. Adkins took the majority of snaps during spring ball and looked really good. Excited for what the Tomcats have coming up. Ready for the season to begin.

Congrats BatCats. Good luck at regionals. Take care of business.

Sorry it's taken me so long to get an answer to this question, spent some time out of town. It's always good to get away for a while. As for the question, it is safe to say, we are starting over from scratch. Here's what I think will happen. Love will do the majority of snaps, Burgess will be at one tackle. I've heard that Hall is moving from tight end to line. The Wright twins might round out the line. Heaberlin will probably take over tight end responsibilities. That is how I see it, if I'm wrong... Sorry.

WOW!!!

I agree with that assessment. They only beat Ashland by 1 and then were blown out in the championship game. I don't really count the Belfry game. Losing some key players. Hopefully some players can step up and fill in some holes... except for one, maybe two games this coming season.

Hate to hear this. Prayers going up for him and his family.

Welcome back, GolfRev. Nice info. Sure sounds like you're proud. I saw the video a while back. Looks like he's headed in the right direction. You can't teach size and arm strength. When I saw him the other day, Ratliff wasn't there, but he really impressed me. How was he invited/contacted to attend the camps?

One thing I forgot to mention while I was in attendance, was that former Tomcat head coach Leon Hart was at practice overlooking some things. Not sure what he was doing, but he was hanging around the QBs and receivers. It was during his tenure that the CATS did throw the ball around. Wonder if he was offering up any suggestions.

I was able to stop by for a little bit yesterday. Adkins and Ryan were taking snaps. Adkins looked really good throwing the ball, hit a couple nice long throws with some strong out routs. O line was working hard, They've got a lot of big boys, should be interesting. Dowdy was catching passes, and did a good job. Some receivers had a hard time catching the ball. I guess when you haven't passed in 3 years, developing receivers wasn't a big priority. Hopefully my CATS can surprise some people this year.

I saw Adkins dad at the store this evening. He said that he's enjoying it. Said he's gotten complements from the coaches and players. Eightdigits might be right, might be a couple good ones to chose from.

One of the moms told me that there was a coach from EKU there yesterday. She wasn't sure who they were watching though. As well, Dowdy has moved from QB to receiver with Ratliff and Adkins taking snaps.

Anyone heard anything? 3 days in... Just curious. I've only gotten a little info on things.

I heard that Ashland coaches went to Cincinnati and Notre Dame. Hope they come back ready to get it started. Spring practice begins tomorrow.