Brian
PANEM ET CIRCENSES
Ok folks, I've been at camp for awhile now and I have to apologize for not doing daily updates. I type painfully slow and I dread these long posts. What I'm going to give you is my overall impressions so far. I will explain it to you like I explained it to Coach Whiz this morning: I don't know what the coaches are looking for. I don't know gap assignments, I don't know what routes are supposed to be run, and I don't presume to know coverages. So what I will give you is the fans naked eye test on natural athleticisim and raw ability.
OFFENSE
It all starts with the line. Levi Brown looks fantastic! I was a huge Levi hater but man does he look good on the left side. Fanaca has been absolutely blown up in one on ones, BUT he seems to be doing just fine in 11 on 11's. Lyle is Lyle. Rock solid. The big question mark is the RG spot. Wells has been destroyed by Darnell time and again. The same with Deuce. Neither looks good. Brandon Keith has been solid at running downs and average at pass pro.
As far as the backups: Rex Hadnot is rock solid. I love what I have seen from him. Herman Johnson looks great as well. Ben Claxton is holding down the backup center spot adequately. Moose is a great name for a lineman, and he has looked fine, but he'll become a numbers casualty. Jeremy Bridges is still an adequate backup.
QB's
I told DCR when he came up that the problem seems to be that we really don't have any pure starting qb's. Matt was awful when camp first started. Derek was CLEARLY out playing him, but the last 2-3 practices he has been solid.
Derek has been ok. In the Red/White scrimmage he CLEARLY out performed Matt, but has been average since. He is with out a doubt the front runner for #2.
Where it gets interesting is the battle for the 3 spot. Skelton was a draft pick but Max Hall is out performing him. Skeltons foot work and accuracy is pathetic. What Skelton does have is pure raw ability. He has an instant release and great arm strength. He literally just "flicks" the ball and it goes.
Max on the other hand has command of the offense. He just succeeds when given the chance. If it were up to me, They go with Matt, DA, and Hall. Skelton goes on the PS. In the 2 minute drill today Skelton threw three (count em..3) picks. Just terrible.
RB's
Tim is running with the first unit. My eye says mostly because of his superior pass catching ability, and his pass pro. He appears shiftier than in camps past. He is running hard.
Beanie seems un-godly faster than last year. The guy is going to bust some big runs this year.
LSH is a joy to watch. He gets lost in the scrum, and suddenly appears. Love that guy.
The guy who has been getting alot of reps as of late is Alfonso Smith from Kentucky. He has been stealing reps from Jason Wright but I fear he will still be a camp casualty. Hopefully PS.
Recievers
Fitz is Fitz. Nothing new. Breaston and Early have spots locked down.(As a side note, neither Stevie or Early can make it through full practices, they both seem to have nagging injuries). Where it gets interesting is the 4 and 5 spots. Ed Gant, Onrea Jones, Max Komar, Andre Roberts,Moog and Stepehen Williams are all battling for the final two. Ed, Onrea, Max, Moog,and Andre all seem to be cut from the same cloth: catch everything, but zero spectacular. They literally are a clone of one another. Very average wide recievers. The exception is Stephen Williams. He does what the others do AND he does things they can't do. I watch him and all I see is Randy Moss. He makes a sensational play every practice. In the Red/White scrimmage he stood alone, and yet somehow he appears buried on the depth chart. Gant is hurt and limping in a boot cast, so 14 is getting more reps. I spoke with Whiz about him before practice and he admitted that 14 is really impressing. Youtube the guy. You will be wowed.
TE's
Becht and Spach are solid. Becht in protection and Spach recieving. Byrd has been hurt as well as Patrick. Dray........meh. Nothing special. One thing to note is that Spach has gotten nastier at the line. Bringing attitude.
DEFENSE
9-0 is 9-0. An absolute beast. He has destroyed every lineman he has gone up against, particularly embarassing Reggie and Deuce. The most improved has to go to Calais. He looks great. Bryant is still holding the NT spot, which is disapointing (I'll explain in a minute). Iwebema, Gabe, and Branch are doing nothing special. Taking up space I guess. Levi has owned Iwebema in one on ones, and Lyle has stoned both Gabe and Branch. Now, on to Dan Williams. This altitude is killing him. He gets gassed every practice. He does not appear to be the NT of the future. He has flashes, but they are far in between. He is expected to take on the Center and a Guard, but he is getting owned by one or the other. He left practice early today with some sort of lower leg injury. That being said, as a group the DL has made the o-line their ******.
At the LB spots, it gets interesting. Paris is solid. He is where he needs to be when he needs to be there. Nothing more. Clark and Joey still have gas in the tank, that is obvious. Joey will have double digit sacks this year. Cody has been getting praise for being in the right spot at the right time (finally!) Daryl Washington has obvious athletic ability, just needs to get the playbook down. The guy can play. Will Davis has been getting alot of praise. Both on special teams and during LOS plays. Reggie Walker looked good early, but he has been hurt. Jesus is Stevie Baggs pidgeon toed!! He looks hilarious running downfield. He will make the roster on special teams alone. Bank it. Beisel will be cut. Big whoop.
DB's
DRC looks bigger upper body, but is still frail.Either way, he is shut down. Toler seems to have locked down the other side. I asked Greg about his ankle and he said he was 50/50 on it. Seemed limited today slightly. Matt Ware and Mike Adams seem to be locks. Marshay Green is getting alot of reps and attention from Donnie Henderson. Fighting for spots are Calvin, Rouse, McBride, Miller, Ford, and others. I have been most impressed with Trevor Ford but he seems buried down the depth chart.
Adrian is Adrian and is a leader out there. Folks, we finally have a FS!! Kerry looks great out there. He is the anti-Rolle. Always in position, and appears to be blitzing alot.
ST's
Ben Graham is unbelievable. Today, he was punting from the 30 and trying to drop it in a trash can set on the goal line. Crazy accurate, although he never dropped it in.
Jay Feely LOVES the game of football. He can't get enough of it. He kicked off from the 30 trying to drop it in the can, he actually THREW it in the can from the 30, he fielded punts behind his back, he ran as a blocker for Beanie, etc. etc. I love that guy!
LSH and Andre Roberts appear to be the front runners for return duties. They had DRC returning kicks for quite sometime (which made me sick, I'm glad cooler heads prevailed) Justin Miller has also seen some return duties.
NOTES
Kevin Spencer...what a great special teams coach, leaves no doubt where players are supposed to be and when they are supposed to be there. Awesome coach, can be heard everytime the ST's are on the field.
Ditto with Donnie Henderson, leaves no doubt. Great coach.
Hardest hits: 3 of them.
3) Steve Williams caught a pass in the Red/White scrimmage, got absolutely laid out by a linebacker (not sure who)....held onto the ball.
2) LSH goes off center and meets Gabe Watson....lights out LSH. Kinda funny.
1) Calais tries to run a stunt in the A gap and is met by Timmy. Tim literally lifted him off the ground. The shot heard round the world.
That is all for now. One more practice and they head down the hill for the Texans game.
I'll answer any questions as they come. So far I have had talks with Whiz, Wolfley, Graves, Calvisi, Mike B, Toler, Washington, Baggs, Matt, DRC, Trevor, and Max Hall so I'll relate what I can.
BTW- They are looking forward to the 9'ers game.
That is all for now.
Brian
OFFENSE
It all starts with the line. Levi Brown looks fantastic! I was a huge Levi hater but man does he look good on the left side. Fanaca has been absolutely blown up in one on ones, BUT he seems to be doing just fine in 11 on 11's. Lyle is Lyle. Rock solid. The big question mark is the RG spot. Wells has been destroyed by Darnell time and again. The same with Deuce. Neither looks good. Brandon Keith has been solid at running downs and average at pass pro.
As far as the backups: Rex Hadnot is rock solid. I love what I have seen from him. Herman Johnson looks great as well. Ben Claxton is holding down the backup center spot adequately. Moose is a great name for a lineman, and he has looked fine, but he'll become a numbers casualty. Jeremy Bridges is still an adequate backup.
QB's
I told DCR when he came up that the problem seems to be that we really don't have any pure starting qb's. Matt was awful when camp first started. Derek was CLEARLY out playing him, but the last 2-3 practices he has been solid.
Derek has been ok. In the Red/White scrimmage he CLEARLY out performed Matt, but has been average since. He is with out a doubt the front runner for #2.
Where it gets interesting is the battle for the 3 spot. Skelton was a draft pick but Max Hall is out performing him. Skeltons foot work and accuracy is pathetic. What Skelton does have is pure raw ability. He has an instant release and great arm strength. He literally just "flicks" the ball and it goes.
Max on the other hand has command of the offense. He just succeeds when given the chance. If it were up to me, They go with Matt, DA, and Hall. Skelton goes on the PS. In the 2 minute drill today Skelton threw three (count em..3) picks. Just terrible.
RB's
Tim is running with the first unit. My eye says mostly because of his superior pass catching ability, and his pass pro. He appears shiftier than in camps past. He is running hard.
Beanie seems un-godly faster than last year. The guy is going to bust some big runs this year.
LSH is a joy to watch. He gets lost in the scrum, and suddenly appears. Love that guy.
The guy who has been getting alot of reps as of late is Alfonso Smith from Kentucky. He has been stealing reps from Jason Wright but I fear he will still be a camp casualty. Hopefully PS.
Recievers
Fitz is Fitz. Nothing new. Breaston and Early have spots locked down.(As a side note, neither Stevie or Early can make it through full practices, they both seem to have nagging injuries). Where it gets interesting is the 4 and 5 spots. Ed Gant, Onrea Jones, Max Komar, Andre Roberts,Moog and Stepehen Williams are all battling for the final two. Ed, Onrea, Max, Moog,and Andre all seem to be cut from the same cloth: catch everything, but zero spectacular. They literally are a clone of one another. Very average wide recievers. The exception is Stephen Williams. He does what the others do AND he does things they can't do. I watch him and all I see is Randy Moss. He makes a sensational play every practice. In the Red/White scrimmage he stood alone, and yet somehow he appears buried on the depth chart. Gant is hurt and limping in a boot cast, so 14 is getting more reps. I spoke with Whiz about him before practice and he admitted that 14 is really impressing. Youtube the guy. You will be wowed.
TE's
Becht and Spach are solid. Becht in protection and Spach recieving. Byrd has been hurt as well as Patrick. Dray........meh. Nothing special. One thing to note is that Spach has gotten nastier at the line. Bringing attitude.
DEFENSE
9-0 is 9-0. An absolute beast. He has destroyed every lineman he has gone up against, particularly embarassing Reggie and Deuce. The most improved has to go to Calais. He looks great. Bryant is still holding the NT spot, which is disapointing (I'll explain in a minute). Iwebema, Gabe, and Branch are doing nothing special. Taking up space I guess. Levi has owned Iwebema in one on ones, and Lyle has stoned both Gabe and Branch. Now, on to Dan Williams. This altitude is killing him. He gets gassed every practice. He does not appear to be the NT of the future. He has flashes, but they are far in between. He is expected to take on the Center and a Guard, but he is getting owned by one or the other. He left practice early today with some sort of lower leg injury. That being said, as a group the DL has made the o-line their ******.
At the LB spots, it gets interesting. Paris is solid. He is where he needs to be when he needs to be there. Nothing more. Clark and Joey still have gas in the tank, that is obvious. Joey will have double digit sacks this year. Cody has been getting praise for being in the right spot at the right time (finally!) Daryl Washington has obvious athletic ability, just needs to get the playbook down. The guy can play. Will Davis has been getting alot of praise. Both on special teams and during LOS plays. Reggie Walker looked good early, but he has been hurt. Jesus is Stevie Baggs pidgeon toed!! He looks hilarious running downfield. He will make the roster on special teams alone. Bank it. Beisel will be cut. Big whoop.
DB's
DRC looks bigger upper body, but is still frail.Either way, he is shut down. Toler seems to have locked down the other side. I asked Greg about his ankle and he said he was 50/50 on it. Seemed limited today slightly. Matt Ware and Mike Adams seem to be locks. Marshay Green is getting alot of reps and attention from Donnie Henderson. Fighting for spots are Calvin, Rouse, McBride, Miller, Ford, and others. I have been most impressed with Trevor Ford but he seems buried down the depth chart.
Adrian is Adrian and is a leader out there. Folks, we finally have a FS!! Kerry looks great out there. He is the anti-Rolle. Always in position, and appears to be blitzing alot.
ST's
Ben Graham is unbelievable. Today, he was punting from the 30 and trying to drop it in a trash can set on the goal line. Crazy accurate, although he never dropped it in.
Jay Feely LOVES the game of football. He can't get enough of it. He kicked off from the 30 trying to drop it in the can, he actually THREW it in the can from the 30, he fielded punts behind his back, he ran as a blocker for Beanie, etc. etc. I love that guy!
LSH and Andre Roberts appear to be the front runners for return duties. They had DRC returning kicks for quite sometime (which made me sick, I'm glad cooler heads prevailed) Justin Miller has also seen some return duties.
NOTES
Kevin Spencer...what a great special teams coach, leaves no doubt where players are supposed to be and when they are supposed to be there. Awesome coach, can be heard everytime the ST's are on the field.
Ditto with Donnie Henderson, leaves no doubt. Great coach.
Hardest hits: 3 of them.
3) Steve Williams caught a pass in the Red/White scrimmage, got absolutely laid out by a linebacker (not sure who)....held onto the ball.
2) LSH goes off center and meets Gabe Watson....lights out LSH. Kinda funny.
1) Calais tries to run a stunt in the A gap and is met by Timmy. Tim literally lifted him off the ground. The shot heard round the world.
That is all for now. One more practice and they head down the hill for the Texans game.
I'll answer any questions as they come. So far I have had talks with Whiz, Wolfley, Graves, Calvisi, Mike B, Toler, Washington, Baggs, Matt, DRC, Trevor, and Max Hall so I'll relate what I can.
BTW- They are looking forward to the 9'ers game.
That is all for now.
Brian
