red desert
ASFN Addict
I'm posting my thoughts before reading anyone else's take on the practice so as to give it my most honest and unadulterated assesment.
Here it is -
You would think the main topic of discussion at practice this afternoon would have been the arrival of one Beanie Wells, but instead it was the gosh darn heat. Whew! It was hot out there today. 90 degrees in the shade. And I was exposed on a hillside with no shade whatsoever. Sitting there with my thin ass on the sharp edge of the exposed brow of a rock. Dufus some would say. Heck, I felt like a Tarahumara Indian Chief exiled to the fringes of the tribal lands looking down into the depths of the Copper Canyon and spying all my minions splashing around in the cool waters of a rushing canyon steam.
But yes, Beanie was there, and he looked just okay from what I saw, up until 4:30 when I had to get back to the family.
But first, how about that Kurt Warner? Practicing at less than 100 percent and still firing bullets. Encouraging teammates by example, and via his thousand-watt smile. And if that isn't enough, today, about a half hour into practice, he walked over to the western edge of the field and started bantering with the fans that were crammed more than 20 deep, even though those sissys were comfortably, and wisely, in the shade.
Regardless, he started imploring them to do the wave. And they did. And I did. I know some don't much care for this sporting event ritual, but I never get tired of it. In any case it got folks' minds off the heat, which i think was his intention.
Tyler Palko looked good.
In today's endzone drill the staff replaced the trashcan with a medieval looking metal cross with two small flags hanging down each arm of the cross. The point of the drill is to hit the flags. I saw Kurt hit it once, Leinart zero, St Pierre once, and Palko 4 times. He drew cheers from the crowd for his performance. Rightfully so.
The coaching staff focused on special teams quite a bit this session.
Early on, i saw DRC, Greg Toler and Michael Ray Garvin fielding punts. They stood dead center between the two playing fields and had at it. Garvin was inconsistent in this drill, but when he fielded punts from the full 11 on 11 drill, he looked fantastic. Dropped one that i saw in this later drill, but more than made up for it with a couple of great over the shoulder grabs.
DRC looked awesome fielding punts. He has a nice cradle to his catch. Effortless is really the only word that i can think of to describe how he looked out there. In his cornerback drills today, not so much. But more on that later. Toler, looked okay. Just a hint of a player-in-training in his manner.
As for the cannon behind all the punts, Ben Graham, he did a good job. Great height, solid distance, good placement, and the dude just kept going. But that's what you'd expect from a guy that measures in at a 6-5, 235, and hails from GEELONG, Victoria in Australia.
So yesterday i posted that the dbs and oline were of some concern to me. Happily, I inform you that the oline stepped up this afternoon. The dbs not so much. More on that later.
I was able to watch the same drill today that I referenced yesterday. The one where the oline lines up in full force and one dlineman attacks only one olineman. Yesterday, you will recall, I thought the dline had its way. Today, things were different. The oline not only held its own, but pushed back a time or two. Notwithsanding what Joeshmoe mentioned yesterday regarding this drill, these guys are going for it. If not 100 percent, certainly hitting the heat index of the temp in the shade. Damn it was hot out there today.
Offensive line wise, Brandon Keith looked tough. He not only looks the part physically, his footwork and strength are impressive. Twice he kept the d-lineman at bay. Elliot Vallejo also looked much better today than he did yesterday. He looked stronger. I also noticed that Russ Grimm really seems to be high on this kid. Just something about the way he addresses Elliot. And for good reason, IMO. Both he and Keith made me feel better about the state of the franchise, o-line wise.
The real star of the o-line today was Duece Lutui. He and Dockett had some heavy collisions this afternoon. This was science 101, class was in session, and today's lesson was the inevitability of plate tectonics.
Duece won the first battle that I witnessed. He absolutely damned up the Dockett bull rush with a textbook slam of the oncoming wildman. Second time around, however, Dockett exploded around Duece's right shoulder, swim move, end of story.
Enough of the big uglies. Let's talk our prized draft pick...
Cody Brown.
Gotcha. Beanie comes later.
But for now, its all about The Connecticut Iron.
To say that he is Freeny-esque, is not much of an exaggeration. The guy absolutely destroyed Mike Gandy again today. Damn he's hard. And fast. He is a freight train with a porsche engine. And any olineman standing in front of him today was simply the town drunkard standing on the tracks with his arms extending outward and shouting, "Hit me with your best shot."
Down on the field, Cody gives off the same vibe as Adrian Wilson. Tough. Business. Results. Enough said.
Moving to the gut of the defense, no pun intended, Branch and Watson also did well. Watson stood out a bit more. If not for his aggression, certainly for his effort. He is on the job for you, folks. Appreciate the man.
So let's talk about our dbs. They got rammed everywhich way. Again. Watching DRC lose battle after battle left me, well, nonplussed.
Today, this very afternoon, I watched him get beat 3 times in a row. Twice by (coach Wiz - HELLO) Lance Long, and once by Early Doucet.
The following is a true story, and despite my lawyers advice, the names have not been changed to protect the innocent, or guilty as the case may be. The crime took place down the eastern sideline of the practice fields, going south to north. Witnesses were many. But I suspect you will have a hard time finding any of them to talk.
First round. Lance Long juked, and i do mean JUKED, the former number one draft pick from Tennesse St. It gets better. Or worse, depending on your perpective. Having found daylight, Long took off quickly getting 7 or 8 yards on DRC. DRC took chase. DRC reeled him in to within about 2 yards. Then the most incredible thing occurred. Long kept the 2 yard cushion on Dominique Rodgers Cromartie. Can you believe it? Do. I saw it with my own two eyes. All this was able to play out because the throw had a ton of hangtime. Leinart launched it, I think.
DRC yanked his helmet off in frustration afterwards.
Second round, Early Doucet. He tried to run past DCR and ten yard out stopped on a dime and subtlely snuck his right arm underneath DCR and pushed him past as be cut back inside and beautifully swallowed up the perfectly thrown pass. Leinart again, I think.
And again, DCR yanked off his helmet in frustration.
Third round. Lance Long spanked Dcr again. This time not as mercilessly.
Fitz, rocked again. Q, rocked as well.
But what about Beanie? I though he looked mortal. Not quite pedetrian, but certainly mortal. His movements are stiff. And I saw him drop a very catchable ball. I remarked to Rand, a great fan that I ran into before practice, that he doesn't seem to have that elite athleticism you would expect from such a heralded player. Later in the running drills, however, both Rand and i saw a glimpse of world class athlete. Beanie sniffed out the hole and blasted past defenders. His short space quick twitch muscles stood out. Nice.
Although he doesn't seem to have the chug of Hightower, he'll do.
And with that, my brain is fried. It's been fun folks. Thanks for letting me into your living room this weekend.
I'm going to just sit back and read some threads the rest of the evening.
Peace -
Red Desert
Here it is -
You would think the main topic of discussion at practice this afternoon would have been the arrival of one Beanie Wells, but instead it was the gosh darn heat. Whew! It was hot out there today. 90 degrees in the shade. And I was exposed on a hillside with no shade whatsoever. Sitting there with my thin ass on the sharp edge of the exposed brow of a rock. Dufus some would say. Heck, I felt like a Tarahumara Indian Chief exiled to the fringes of the tribal lands looking down into the depths of the Copper Canyon and spying all my minions splashing around in the cool waters of a rushing canyon steam.
But yes, Beanie was there, and he looked just okay from what I saw, up until 4:30 when I had to get back to the family.
But first, how about that Kurt Warner? Practicing at less than 100 percent and still firing bullets. Encouraging teammates by example, and via his thousand-watt smile. And if that isn't enough, today, about a half hour into practice, he walked over to the western edge of the field and started bantering with the fans that were crammed more than 20 deep, even though those sissys were comfortably, and wisely, in the shade.
Regardless, he started imploring them to do the wave. And they did. And I did. I know some don't much care for this sporting event ritual, but I never get tired of it. In any case it got folks' minds off the heat, which i think was his intention.
Tyler Palko looked good.
In today's endzone drill the staff replaced the trashcan with a medieval looking metal cross with two small flags hanging down each arm of the cross. The point of the drill is to hit the flags. I saw Kurt hit it once, Leinart zero, St Pierre once, and Palko 4 times. He drew cheers from the crowd for his performance. Rightfully so.
The coaching staff focused on special teams quite a bit this session.
Early on, i saw DRC, Greg Toler and Michael Ray Garvin fielding punts. They stood dead center between the two playing fields and had at it. Garvin was inconsistent in this drill, but when he fielded punts from the full 11 on 11 drill, he looked fantastic. Dropped one that i saw in this later drill, but more than made up for it with a couple of great over the shoulder grabs.
DRC looked awesome fielding punts. He has a nice cradle to his catch. Effortless is really the only word that i can think of to describe how he looked out there. In his cornerback drills today, not so much. But more on that later. Toler, looked okay. Just a hint of a player-in-training in his manner.
As for the cannon behind all the punts, Ben Graham, he did a good job. Great height, solid distance, good placement, and the dude just kept going. But that's what you'd expect from a guy that measures in at a 6-5, 235, and hails from GEELONG, Victoria in Australia.
So yesterday i posted that the dbs and oline were of some concern to me. Happily, I inform you that the oline stepped up this afternoon. The dbs not so much. More on that later.
I was able to watch the same drill today that I referenced yesterday. The one where the oline lines up in full force and one dlineman attacks only one olineman. Yesterday, you will recall, I thought the dline had its way. Today, things were different. The oline not only held its own, but pushed back a time or two. Notwithsanding what Joeshmoe mentioned yesterday regarding this drill, these guys are going for it. If not 100 percent, certainly hitting the heat index of the temp in the shade. Damn it was hot out there today.
Offensive line wise, Brandon Keith looked tough. He not only looks the part physically, his footwork and strength are impressive. Twice he kept the d-lineman at bay. Elliot Vallejo also looked much better today than he did yesterday. He looked stronger. I also noticed that Russ Grimm really seems to be high on this kid. Just something about the way he addresses Elliot. And for good reason, IMO. Both he and Keith made me feel better about the state of the franchise, o-line wise.
The real star of the o-line today was Duece Lutui. He and Dockett had some heavy collisions this afternoon. This was science 101, class was in session, and today's lesson was the inevitability of plate tectonics.
Duece won the first battle that I witnessed. He absolutely damned up the Dockett bull rush with a textbook slam of the oncoming wildman. Second time around, however, Dockett exploded around Duece's right shoulder, swim move, end of story.
Enough of the big uglies. Let's talk our prized draft pick...
Cody Brown.
Gotcha. Beanie comes later.
But for now, its all about The Connecticut Iron.
To say that he is Freeny-esque, is not much of an exaggeration. The guy absolutely destroyed Mike Gandy again today. Damn he's hard. And fast. He is a freight train with a porsche engine. And any olineman standing in front of him today was simply the town drunkard standing on the tracks with his arms extending outward and shouting, "Hit me with your best shot."
Down on the field, Cody gives off the same vibe as Adrian Wilson. Tough. Business. Results. Enough said.
Moving to the gut of the defense, no pun intended, Branch and Watson also did well. Watson stood out a bit more. If not for his aggression, certainly for his effort. He is on the job for you, folks. Appreciate the man.
So let's talk about our dbs. They got rammed everywhich way. Again. Watching DRC lose battle after battle left me, well, nonplussed.
Today, this very afternoon, I watched him get beat 3 times in a row. Twice by (coach Wiz - HELLO) Lance Long, and once by Early Doucet.
The following is a true story, and despite my lawyers advice, the names have not been changed to protect the innocent, or guilty as the case may be. The crime took place down the eastern sideline of the practice fields, going south to north. Witnesses were many. But I suspect you will have a hard time finding any of them to talk.
First round. Lance Long juked, and i do mean JUKED, the former number one draft pick from Tennesse St. It gets better. Or worse, depending on your perpective. Having found daylight, Long took off quickly getting 7 or 8 yards on DRC. DRC took chase. DRC reeled him in to within about 2 yards. Then the most incredible thing occurred. Long kept the 2 yard cushion on Dominique Rodgers Cromartie. Can you believe it? Do. I saw it with my own two eyes. All this was able to play out because the throw had a ton of hangtime. Leinart launched it, I think.
DRC yanked his helmet off in frustration afterwards.
Second round, Early Doucet. He tried to run past DCR and ten yard out stopped on a dime and subtlely snuck his right arm underneath DCR and pushed him past as be cut back inside and beautifully swallowed up the perfectly thrown pass. Leinart again, I think.
And again, DCR yanked off his helmet in frustration.
Third round. Lance Long spanked Dcr again. This time not as mercilessly.
Fitz, rocked again. Q, rocked as well.
But what about Beanie? I though he looked mortal. Not quite pedetrian, but certainly mortal. His movements are stiff. And I saw him drop a very catchable ball. I remarked to Rand, a great fan that I ran into before practice, that he doesn't seem to have that elite athleticism you would expect from such a heralded player. Later in the running drills, however, both Rand and i saw a glimpse of world class athlete. Beanie sniffed out the hole and blasted past defenders. His short space quick twitch muscles stood out. Nice.
Although he doesn't seem to have the chug of Hightower, he'll do.
And with that, my brain is fried. It's been fun folks. Thanks for letting me into your living room this weekend.
I'm going to just sit back and read some threads the rest of the evening.
Peace -
Red Desert
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