Main Camp - Day Three Observations

[Mike]

Practice #1 for today is underway ...

 

Worth noting early is that DE Marcus Hyde is back on the field, so I guess he's fighting through injury.

 

Bob Irving already pointed out on Twitter that Etienne has looked good again today.

[voodoochylde]

Practice #1 for today is underway ...

 

Worth noting early is that DE Marcus Hyde is back on the field, so I guess he's fighting through injury.

 

Bob Irving already pointed out on Twitter that Etienne has looked good again today.

 

Does this mean I have to stop taking shots at Etienne now?

[Mike]

I have to admit I haven't paid much attention to him when I've been at camp but the thing I DO notice about him is he no longer stands out as *that* guy who is built like a twig compared to every other receiver.

 

He's never going to have a bulky lower body but you can really tell he's added a considerable amount of muscle in his upper body ... even his back looks wider.

[Atomic]

Dan West with two interceptions already this morning, according to Bob

[Mike]

Renaud just booted three beauties while Legacy is struggling this morning, also according to Bob.

[M.O.A.B.]

Im actually rooting for Etienne and Penser.

If those 2 can figure their way into the 42 (starter or backup) and will contribute in anyway, that will silence a lot of Mack's critics.

[Atomic]

Im actually rooting for Etienne and Penser.

If those 2 can figure their way into the 42 (starter or backup) and will contribute in anyway, that will silence a lot of Mack's critics.

 

I'd be surprised if either of them is NOT on the 42 to be honest.

[M.O.A.B.]

I'd be surprised if either of them is NOT on the 42 to be honest.

 

same here.

[Noeller]

Dunno if it'll ever silence 'em, but I'm excited to see Pencer and Etienne show well. Both have huge potential, so it's just a matter of living up to their ceiling...

[northof60]

Dan West with two INTS - who threw them?

[M.O.A.B.]

Dan West with two INTS - who threw them?

 

I believe, one of them is Goltz.

[Atomic]

Dan West with two INTS - who threw them?

 

Goltz on one, not sure about the other

[braddman19]

Thanks for the updates so far this morning guys !  Keep them coming !

[Guest]

Thanks for the updates guys, also tabbed Bob irvings twitter account, so all this helps.

[northof60]

How did Max Hall look?

[SPuDS]

Does this mean I have to stop taking shots at Etienne now?

lol well maybe not quite yet.  Lets see what happens by mid-season.. If he has some catches and other noteworthy things besides going off-side... THEN ya can lay off

 

definitely good to see he is getting some praise though, It would be nice for him to get on the field and prove he belongs.. 

[SPuDS]

I have to admit I haven't paid much attention to him when I've been at camp but the thing I DO notice about him is he no longer stands out as *that* guy who is built like a twig compared to every other receiver.

 

He's never going to have a bulky lower body but you can really tell he's added a considerable amount of muscle in his upper body ... even his back looks wider.

 

Rod Black, is that you?  

[SPuDS]

Dunno if it'll ever silence 'em, but I'm excited to see Pencer and Etienne show well. Both have huge potential, so it's just a matter of living up to their ceiling...

 

I think as long as both make the 42 and show up as contributors either as depth or as starters (if need be) then we should be happy.  I think Jade is more so on the clock though to make something happen then Pencer is.  

[sweep the leg]

Not really related too much to what's going on today, but Burke said yesterday that he expects to see a lot from Isaac Anderson this season. That seems like a pretty solid clue that he's going to make the team.

[Mike]

Rod Black, is that you?  

 

[17to85]

Not really related too much to what's going on today, but Burke said yesterday that he expects to see a lot from Isaac Anderson this season. That seems like a pretty solid clue that he's going to make the team.

well it's easy to say that before you actually go through all the preseason. If someone new steps up and play better it's hard to be so certain. 

[kelownabomberfan]

with hardly any new WR's brought in this year I don't expect many surprises in the receiving corp.  I think McCree will be gone in first cuts.  Then it's just deciding who is on the 42, 46 and P/R. 

[Jpan85]

Has anyone noticed much of Freddie Harris by looking at him looks like he could be very versatile. Play some end and lb.

[AKAChip]

Here are my biased observations from the afternoon session:

 

QBs: I am not a Buck Pierce fan so take of this what you will but he did not look very good today. He was overthrowing quite a bit and didn't look quite right. He's usually better than this in TC though so I wouldn't read too far into it anyway. I really like Max Hall. He looks far more polished than any QB I can remember bringing in at their first TC. He's accurate, looks poised under pressure and has a good enough arm to get by. He had a pick in the last throw I saw him make but other than that, he looked real good. I really, really want Goltz to succeed because he seems like he has all the tools but he looks very middle of the road to me so far. He hit Simpson with a beautiful long bomb in a drill but then he throws behind a guy on the very next play. He's still rather raw it seems so I'll give him more time but it does feel like he's already lagging behind Hall, even if he is still getting backup reps. I'm not sure any better way of saying this but Clement looks downright awful. His arm is pretty weak, he doesn't hit receivers in stride and he made some atrocious reads in scrimmage today. I will concede that he looks comfortable at the line of scrimmage and seems to be a leadership type but I am really not impressed.

 

RBs: Garrett was not in pads for this session, don't know why. Simpson really does look tremendous. In one-on-ones he was up against Henoc twice and completely burnt him on both occasions. I really don't take a ton of stock into rushing drills in practice because the D can only do so much so even if he looked good in the first day of TC, I tempered my expectations because the defenders weren't going to hit him but today he looked elusive, was catching the ball well and I was just very impressed. Will Ford had a massive run through a huge hole that went for a TD in scrimmage that would have been an easy TD even in a game where there was hitting. He is a real blur. I'm not sure where to discuss Fitzgerald so I'll put him here. In one-on-ones, he absolutely broke Wendell Brown's ankles (not the hardest guy to beat but it was still pretty sick). The whole O went pretty nuts after that one. 

 

Receivers: I absolutely love both Doug Pierce and Isaac Anderson. Anderson runs crisp routes, has great speed and insane hands. I know Edwards isn't going to lose his job due to injury but I wouldn't really be opposed to it. This guy is THAT good in my eyes right now. Pierce uses his size incredibly well and though he is slight, looks like a real good fit at the WR position. I know they both can't start and at most only one will make the active roster to start the season but they will both do good things for us if given the chance. I think Kurt Adams has almost finished his stay with us. For a guy who has been with the team for parts of three seasons, you would think he would get better than 3rd team reps but I guess our receiving core is deep and I personally haven't seen anything that separates him from the pack. Matthews is exactly who we expect him to be and Watson also looks great. I'm not too enthused by Poblah since to me he has always been a sensational practice player and that hasn't translated to any in-season success and this TC he hasn't really stood out at all but it's still early I suppose. In one-on-ones, the DBs were definitely getting the better of the WRs but to me it was mostly poor throws by each of the quarterbacks. Anderson was the best one out there though and made some real slick catches. The Rifles guy Carter doesn't look out of place at all which is nice. I've never had much to say about Etienne good or bad but it's pretty obvious that he is lightyears ahead of where he has been in seasons past. He has sure hands and good speed and is not noticeably small out there. As for the other new guys, I am aware it sounds like a broken record but Massey won't make this team as a receiver as he seems to have trouble catching the ball clean. I figure he has to impress greatly returning to have a shot. McCree and Kennedy sort of blend in to me. They really don't stand out in any way other than Kennedy's speed.

 

OL: Not much to say about them other than Swiston was earning the praise of DelMonaco during OL drills. Sorenson was steady on shotgun snaps aside from one horrendous one to Goltz. I'm a little higher on our OL than most and I figure they will build on the success they were having at the end of last season but in drills, the DL was generally getting the better of the OL. Not sure if that's a statement about the DL or the OL or both but it's just my observation. The pressure was generally coming from the left side fwiw. I do like the looks of this giant new guy Simmons but it's hard to get excited about a new import OL when so many like him have gone and gone.

 

DL: It's hard to tell who is doing well because from my angle, it was tough to see numbers but the best pressure from the new guys seemed to be from Dexter Davis. Gilmore and Turner will be more than solid this year and the push up the middle was impressive from both of these guys. No one else was particularly noticeable. 

 

LB: I absolutely love Terrell Parker for the WILL position. This guy can flat out cover. RBs, receivers, whatever. He has great speed and he absolutely deserves the spot if he wins it. I'm not nearly as worried about the WILL position as I was a few weeks earlier. Even then, Ian Wild also looks real good. He was getting good pressure on the QBs and although he is a lot smaller than I thought he would be, he's fast and I'm high on him as well. Henoc was getting burnt bad by Simpson but he's a tough cover for anyone. I'm not concerned. McGee was at SAM but I highly doubt that lasts. Wendell Brown is as good as gone. He's not impressing in the least.

 

DBs: The DBs were all fairly good. In one-on-ones, they were all playing far more physically than I've ever seen in drills like this. I don't want to say that Coach Burke's words fired them up but it's a possibility. Hefney in particular was playing real tight on everyone. In scrimmage a Kennedy was sorta being mauled by Hefney and called it PI and they were jawing back and forth afterwards. It's that kind of stuff I really like to see. Pendleton and Markett both had picks (I think one was Hall and one was Buck) and those are the two new DBs that have shown the most. I really hope that at least one of them makes the active roster. I know people have been saying that Jovon looks stronger and better than last TC but I just don't see it. If he were a new guy on the roster this year, he wouldn't stand out one bit. Cauchy looks good. Far better than Logan ever did at least and I figure that with his better cover skills, it will have a ripple effect on the rest of the secondary. 

 

P: There was a 20 minute drill on punting and punt coverage and only Pavlopolous and Hutchison were punting. I have no clue why Cameron or Renaud didn't do anything but it was probably just to judge which one of those other two would get cut first. Pavlopolous was frankly awful. His first punt was a beauty but he essentially shanked the rest. I like Hutchison a lot more but to me it seems like he always gives a half punt and doesn't extend his leg all the way. I figure it comes down to not being used to playing this style of football but I can't deny that his leg is huge and in terms of pure leg strength, his is probably the best.

 

This was a lot longer than anticipated but meh, I like to hear myself type.

[Captain Blue]

Sounds like a common trend so far is that people really like what they see out of Max Hall, and mixed reviews on Pierce, Goltz and Clement.  I am really hoping Goltz grabs the second spot but Hall is really polished.