[Snorlax94]

Biggest surprises for me were Patu at QB, and Filkens at RB.  Both looked slight/small when they came out, but both played like future starters.  (As an aside, I watched the game on TV when I got home and laughed out loud when the announcers said it took McKee the same time to become fluent in Portuguese as it did for him to learn the Stanford playbook.).  EJ Smith also looked great, but expectations were high for him, so less of a surprise (for me) than Patu and Filkins. 

Yeah, that reminds me, I was struck by Filkens as well. I was sitting in the stands wondering, who is this guy, incorrectly Googling "Pilkens." Though, I see now he had action last year, often in KR.

I really like Filkens's patience and burst. There was one play where I think a couple linemen pulled and gave him lead blocks and he ran it so well, staying patient, hiding himself between his blockers, letting his blocks develop, then turning on the jets with a great burst and getting a nice gain out of it. It reminded me of how some backs can just disappear in their line -- Jacquizz Rodgers used to give Stanford conniptions doing that.

I was looking at him and he looked small -- like 170 lbs, so I dismissed him thinking he wouldn't have the durability for a season-long pounding yet. But he's listed at 205 lbs and he played 6 games last year.

Very exciting to have so many weapons at RB.

[Snorlax94]

Biggest surprises for me were Patu at QB, and Filkens at RB.  Both looked slight/small when they came out, but both played like future starters.  (As an aside, I watched the game on TV when I got home and laughed out loud when the announcers said it took McKee the same time to become fluent in Portuguese as it did for him to learn the Stanford playbook.).  EJ Smith also looked great, but expectations were high for him, so less of a surprise (for me) than Patu and Filkins. 

Yeah, that reminds me, I was struck by Filkens as well. I was sitting in the stands wondering, who is this guy, incorrectly Googling "Pilkens." Though, I see now he had action last year, often in KR.

I really like Filkens's patience and burst. There was one play where I think a couple linemen pulled and gave him lead blocks and he ran it so well, staying patient, hiding himself between his blockers, letting his blocks develop, then turning on the jets with a great burst and getting a nice gain out of it. It reminded me of how some backs can just disappear in their line -- Jacquizz Rodgers used to give Stanford conniptions doing that.

I was looking at him and he looked small -- like 170 lbs, so I dismissed him thinking he wouldn't have the durability for a season-long pounding yet. But he's listed at 205 lbs and he played 6 games last year.

Very exciting to have so many weapons at RB.