Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Posey among standouts in the Owls’ 1st scrimmage
FAU football coach Willie Taggart may need more time before naming a starting quarterback for the 2020 season, but it appears one Owl stood out above the rest during their first scrimmage.
Redshirt juniors Nick Tronti and Justin Agner, redshirt freshman Javion Posey and true freshman Willie Taggart Jr. are in the midst of a competition to see who’ll replace Chris Robison as FAU’s starting quarterback due to Robison no longer being on the team.
“If I had to pick someone that probably stood out the most,” Taggart said, “it would be Posey.”
Posey was highlighted multiple times in the information about the situational scrimmage released by Florida Atlantic, including a 65-yard touchdown pass graduate transfer wide receiver Aaron Young.
Taggart also commended the play of the running backs, especially senior tailback BJ Emmons, who recorded three scores.
Emmons was recently named to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Top 250.
“Our running backs have been
showing what they can do all training camp,” Taggart said. “We’re really loaded back there. BJ had a really good scrimmage. I’ve been really impressed with how he’s been practicing.”
Defensively, Taggart highlighted the play of defensive linemen Evan Anderson and Alvin Dempsey, safeties Zyon Gilbert and Jordan Helm and linebacker Ahman Ross.
He referred to Helm as “Mr. Reliable” because “he is going to be exactly where he is supposed to be when he is supposed to be there and make plays for us.”
“I thought this week our defense stepped up big time,” Taggart said. “I thought the first couple of weeks the offense had the advantage over our defense. This past week they have been doing some really good things on the defensive side of the ball. I thought they did well in the scrimmage, especially having the offense backed up and then at the end of the game, I thought our guys stepped up big time.”
Taggart said FAU will hold another scrimmage next weekend, adding that “eliminating mental errors” will be key for the team this week. He expects for that scrimmage to provide greater insight into who the starters will be, with the Owls’ season opener nearly three weeks away.
FAU will kick off its season at Georgia Southern at 6 p.m. on Sept. 19.
“The first scrimmage made some plays, but we are nowhere near where we need to be from a game-ready situation,” Taggart said. “I thought it was a good first scrimmage and something that I thought we could build off of, especially teaching our guys and making sure that they understand the situations that we are in and not just running the plays.
“You could see at times where we need more work at that, luckily we have time to get that in.”