NDinL.A.
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(Mods feel free to move this into a different thread.)
Took the day off of work and made it to the practice today. I'll leave the technical football stuff to the experts, but here are a few observations.
* Accidentally sat where the defense was, so I mostly saw the defense work. I didn't get a look at all at the offensive line.
* Carlo looks slimmer to me, in a good way.
* The defensive coaches are all teachers. Cooks, Elston, Diaco, Elliot...all doing a ton of teaching. Fun to watch.
* Diaco is a rock star out there. He is super intense, and the players play really hard for him. He would be a really fun guy to play for. Fun to watch.
* Russell is a lot thicker, and is just much more fluid than all of the other defensive backs out there. Bennett was out injured of course. But I expect big things from Russell this year.
* Early on, in the up-tempo drill, golson was really sharp. Koyack with the 1st team, even split out wide once and caught a button-hook.
* Saw a lot of option today, which was great to see. CJ on one play lined up in the slot, motioned to the backfield and then ran the option w Golson. TJ Jones later did the same thing (Golson kept the ball on both plays). I can see Amir running that play next year to a lot if success.
* For me, Josh Atkinson still has a long ways to go IMO. He needs to turn and locate the ball much earlier, and was called for a couple flags because of pass interference calls by the refs.
* They worked on a ton of screens, which was good to see. Both to backs and inside screens to receivers.
* On the flip side, I have never seen so many fades in my life! I am wondering if this was just an emphasis in today's practice, or if this will be a major emphasis throughout the season. But man, they threw a ton of fades. Golson is better at it than last year, but still needs work with it.
* For me, Golson was up and down, hot and cold today. But his athleticism and jukes are going to be such a weapon this season. Any time the defense had great coverage, he would take off for long runs.
* I think we're going to be really good at WR this year. Daniels has the most talent and could be in for a really big year, and TJ is our best receiver and looks even better than last year. I'm telling you, if they stay healthy, they'll have bug years. TJ caught everything today, including an incredible over the shoulder catch on a (guess what?) fade with a man draped all over him right in front of us.
* Procise had a couple of bad drops today, but he really looks the part on offense. Great body, fast, and fluid. Later in practice, he caught a couple of crossing routes in a row from Golson and had nice separation from the defense. And on the very next play, he burned Russell on a corner route in the end zone to the point that Russell had to hold him and was penalized.
* Corey Robinson is as good as advertised. Other than a couple of drops on some short routes, he caught everything, especially (wait for it) fades, which they through to him a lot of course. He's going to be a beast in the red zone. He had one catch that was absolutely insane over Josh Atkinson, that got everybody fired up.
* GAIII looked REALLY good. Totally different back IMO. He runs with a lot lower of a pad level now. I was never impressed with him last year as a RB, but I was today. Last year he looked like a track athlete playing RB, and now he looks like a true RB. He also ran a lot inside today, which is huge. He even had a fantastic over the shoulder catch on a wheel route falling out of bounds while blanketed by his man. Very impressed with him.
* You know who else I was extremely impressed with (and surprised by)? Ben Koyack. He started off by making a really nice catch in nice coverage on a fade, then a couple of plays later ran a jerk route and made a nice catch. This continued throughout practice. Then in one one-on-one blocking drill, he drove back his man (couldn't see who) to the cheers and hollers of many. It was just one practice, but he looks well on his way to becoming the player we thought he'd be out of high school.
* Whenever they went shell, Fox always started next to Calabrese, with Grace and Moore on the 2nd team. Probably means nothing, but it was still interesting to see. Grace was on the starting team when they went 11 on 11. Counsell also ahead of Spond all day as well. Again, probably means nothing at this point.
* Freshmen - Huerman looks good but he really needs to bulk up if he wants to play effectively this year. Zaire really does have a lonnnnnnnng, Tebow-like throwing motion, but he's going to be a good one if he continues to work. In 11-on-11, he made a poor throw to no one, but then the very next play he ran a nice play-action and threw a dart to Welch. Onwalu had an up and down day from what I saw, but ended it on a high note with a couple of fade catches from Golson, one if them over Russell.
* Cam McDaniel got a lot of work with the second team. And there even was a Will Mahone sighting! He looks like he could be a player down the line.
* Troy is going to get a lot of looks in this offense if today's practice is any indication. Catches everything that hits his mitts.
* TJ, CJ, Amir and Collinsworth worked on catching punts. Amir looks sooooo comfortable and smooth catching the ball. Didn't get to see him much at practice today, unfortunately.
* Grace to GAIII after chasing him on a crossing route, "You're fast man!" Grace can definitely run.
* Near the end of practice, I wrote down that Kelly was surprisingly quiet in practice, and really let his coaches do their jobs. And then on literally the very next play, Massa didn't do something right on a (wait for it...) fade route in the end zone and Kelly LIT into him for everyone to see/hear LOL. Reminded me how invested Kelly is.
Gotta run, having lunch with the wife in a minute. This is typed from my phone, so my apologies for any errors...I'll fix it later this afternoon, and I'll try to add anything else I can remember.
Sent from my iPhone
Took the day off of work and made it to the practice today. I'll leave the technical football stuff to the experts, but here are a few observations.
* Accidentally sat where the defense was, so I mostly saw the defense work. I didn't get a look at all at the offensive line.
* Carlo looks slimmer to me, in a good way.
* The defensive coaches are all teachers. Cooks, Elston, Diaco, Elliot...all doing a ton of teaching. Fun to watch.
* Diaco is a rock star out there. He is super intense, and the players play really hard for him. He would be a really fun guy to play for. Fun to watch.
* Russell is a lot thicker, and is just much more fluid than all of the other defensive backs out there. Bennett was out injured of course. But I expect big things from Russell this year.
* Early on, in the up-tempo drill, golson was really sharp. Koyack with the 1st team, even split out wide once and caught a button-hook.
* Saw a lot of option today, which was great to see. CJ on one play lined up in the slot, motioned to the backfield and then ran the option w Golson. TJ Jones later did the same thing (Golson kept the ball on both plays). I can see Amir running that play next year to a lot if success.
* For me, Josh Atkinson still has a long ways to go IMO. He needs to turn and locate the ball much earlier, and was called for a couple flags because of pass interference calls by the refs.
* They worked on a ton of screens, which was good to see. Both to backs and inside screens to receivers.
* On the flip side, I have never seen so many fades in my life! I am wondering if this was just an emphasis in today's practice, or if this will be a major emphasis throughout the season. But man, they threw a ton of fades. Golson is better at it than last year, but still needs work with it.
* For me, Golson was up and down, hot and cold today. But his athleticism and jukes are going to be such a weapon this season. Any time the defense had great coverage, he would take off for long runs.
* I think we're going to be really good at WR this year. Daniels has the most talent and could be in for a really big year, and TJ is our best receiver and looks even better than last year. I'm telling you, if they stay healthy, they'll have bug years. TJ caught everything today, including an incredible over the shoulder catch on a (guess what?) fade with a man draped all over him right in front of us.
* Procise had a couple of bad drops today, but he really looks the part on offense. Great body, fast, and fluid. Later in practice, he caught a couple of crossing routes in a row from Golson and had nice separation from the defense. And on the very next play, he burned Russell on a corner route in the end zone to the point that Russell had to hold him and was penalized.
* Corey Robinson is as good as advertised. Other than a couple of drops on some short routes, he caught everything, especially (wait for it) fades, which they through to him a lot of course. He's going to be a beast in the red zone. He had one catch that was absolutely insane over Josh Atkinson, that got everybody fired up.
* GAIII looked REALLY good. Totally different back IMO. He runs with a lot lower of a pad level now. I was never impressed with him last year as a RB, but I was today. Last year he looked like a track athlete playing RB, and now he looks like a true RB. He also ran a lot inside today, which is huge. He even had a fantastic over the shoulder catch on a wheel route falling out of bounds while blanketed by his man. Very impressed with him.
* You know who else I was extremely impressed with (and surprised by)? Ben Koyack. He started off by making a really nice catch in nice coverage on a fade, then a couple of plays later ran a jerk route and made a nice catch. This continued throughout practice. Then in one one-on-one blocking drill, he drove back his man (couldn't see who) to the cheers and hollers of many. It was just one practice, but he looks well on his way to becoming the player we thought he'd be out of high school.
* Whenever they went shell, Fox always started next to Calabrese, with Grace and Moore on the 2nd team. Probably means nothing, but it was still interesting to see. Grace was on the starting team when they went 11 on 11. Counsell also ahead of Spond all day as well. Again, probably means nothing at this point.
* Freshmen - Huerman looks good but he really needs to bulk up if he wants to play effectively this year. Zaire really does have a lonnnnnnnng, Tebow-like throwing motion, but he's going to be a good one if he continues to work. In 11-on-11, he made a poor throw to no one, but then the very next play he ran a nice play-action and threw a dart to Welch. Onwalu had an up and down day from what I saw, but ended it on a high note with a couple of fade catches from Golson, one if them over Russell.
* Cam McDaniel got a lot of work with the second team. And there even was a Will Mahone sighting! He looks like he could be a player down the line.
* Troy is going to get a lot of looks in this offense if today's practice is any indication. Catches everything that hits his mitts.
* TJ, CJ, Amir and Collinsworth worked on catching punts. Amir looks sooooo comfortable and smooth catching the ball. Didn't get to see him much at practice today, unfortunately.
* Grace to GAIII after chasing him on a crossing route, "You're fast man!" Grace can definitely run.
* Near the end of practice, I wrote down that Kelly was surprisingly quiet in practice, and really let his coaches do their jobs. And then on literally the very next play, Massa didn't do something right on a (wait for it...) fade route in the end zone and Kelly LIT into him for everyone to see/hear LOL. Reminded me how invested Kelly is.
Gotta run, having lunch with the wife in a minute. This is typed from my phone, so my apologies for any errors...I'll fix it later this afternoon, and I'll try to add anything else I can remember.
Sent from my iPhone
