Former TE Max Wright saw 'mature' looks from Marcel Reed last Saturday

Key notes from Max Wright interview

• As soon as I saw Max Johnson go in the game, I texted him saying I was rooting him on from Texas. Max and Jake Johnson are two really good friends of mine. They will be friends for life. They were really great Aggies. I know it didn’t work for them here, but I am so happy for the things they are doing at North Carolina.
   
• I have a few takeaways. I was most impressed with the wide receiver room with KC Concepcion and Mario Craver. The overall depth in that room is great. I love what Holmon Wiggins has been able to do. There is no speculation as to why he never had bad wide receiver rooms at Alabama. The whole wide receiver unit performed fantastically this past weekend. We passed more than I lot of people expected us to in the opener. People expected us to hammer the run game, and that's our bread and butter for the offense, but Collin Klein went ahead and let Marcel Reed show off his arm and the growth he has made this offseason. This was a good opener for him. He had over 30 pass attempts, which is high per what he did last year.
   
• Defensively, there are some things we need to pick up on. The rushing defense, first-half adjustments need to be made. Second half, we made good changes though. Overall, it was a good win. I thought we saw a lot of positives in the offense. I think the talent is there, and offensively, we could be a more explosive unit than we’ve had in recent history.
   
• I really like the play of the tight ends this weekend. Theo Melin-Öhrström’s maturity and growth in the blocking game were good to see. He’s digging his nose into things. He’s stepping into the true Y tight end role, being able to run good routes and catch passes. But also be a good threat in the run game. Nate Boerkircher, I was impressed with. That first catch he had, he took two tough hits on the deep end route he ran. He showed his versatility there. Amari Niblack had a great play as well. This unit is deep. They all can play at a high level. In the SEC, when you have multiple tight ends, you can bring into the game that all can make plays and all can catch the football. It makes your offense so much more dynamic.
   
• With Melin-Öhrström’s touchdown, I love the play scheme by Coach Klein. We would practice little under routes like that when I was there, but actually using a heavy run scheme, looking at the offense usually runs, being in the tight zone, and using the misdirection to get Melin-Öhrström out the backside and open, it was great.
   
• Reed’s growth is something you can visually see. I know he had some issues with the deep ball. We all saw the Concepcion deep ball miss. I was in the stands to see that throw. He just got a little jumpy. It would’ve been the first big touchdown pass of the season, and he let it fly out of his hand a little hot.
   
• As a whole, I thought Coach Klein used this game to rely on Reed. The game ran through him, not just his legs. His short and medium throwing game looked fantastic. I thought he did a great job getting the ball to his wide receivers when he needed to. His pocket presence showed maturity and patience.
   
• A key play I saw in the game for me was the first big third down in the second quarter. It was the most NFL-type of rep I’ve seen in his career here. He worked through his progressions, stayed calm and delivered a dart to Concepcion. I had to make sure to write that down, so I could remember to talk about it. It was the most mature I’ve seen him in the pocket, not hurrying to rush after a progression doesn’t work. That is where I got it really excited. If he is able to balance his legs and his arm, that is where you are going to see Reed step to another level.
   
• Defenses won’t be able to just stack the box, and if Reed can get defenses to spread out a lot more, then the run game can be successful, too. I really expect Reed to make some big jumps over the next few weeks. It is going to be a good year for him.
   
• We want to be a high-level team, and to do so, we need to use this game against Utah State as a building block. I need to see a more dominant rushing attack. It wasn’t as impactful as I expected it to be. There weren’t enough big plays. I need to see the offensive line dominating all game. They need to set the tone and just bully the other team.
   
• I am looking for the front seven to dominate on both sides of the ball, which will get me more excited going into the Notre Dame game. Building on last week's progress, the improved passing attack was evident, with Craver and Concepcion showcasing their value as key transfers for the team. Now, let’s show that we have one of the best running back trios in the country. This is the week we get the other side of the offense rolling, so we have both parts of the offense rolling going into our game in Week 3.
   
• I want to see the defense dominate. Getting pressures up front, secondary continuing to play well. They didn’t allow any passing touchdowns until the last few seconds. I want to see them being consistent. For this defense, the rush defense needs to be much cleaner, and with Mike Elko and the team looking at film, I think they will be a much crisper defense this week.