I hope this is not too long and boring, but it's one of my favorite parts of Camp. So here we go...
This is finally the right time to get a much better feel for the O-line. It's where they start using the drills at a closer to full speed pace. You can get a real good look at players individual mechanics, and how Tony Wise works on each individual.
Today they concentrated on pass protection, using two different sets of drills. One being my favorite. I call it the mechanics drill, where they use a snap count, having the lineman all get into their ready stance as fast as possible. Hands and feet must be in place or Wise, and his assistants stop and make sure they let a player know, by showing them over and over how it's done. Sometimes they have a player on the other side, making things a little more lifelike, and difficult.
The other drill is an interesting one. I'll call it the quarter turn drill, where they put a lineman in the middle of a four player circle, then a coach yells out left, or right, or back. The player has to snap around to the call in an instant, while keeping his stance, and at the same time throwing a lunging blow to that said lineman's upper body. The players in the circle can throw a hand in a face, or they try to get their hands under the man in the middle as he turns. This is a real good drill for blitzes, and to help out a fellow lineman who might be letting his man get around him. Or you could say that it is a perfect move to check a Defensive lineman that's almost worthy of a double team. Two of the lineman in that circle are holding a medicine ball, and I'll tell you that the ball seemed to throw the lineman slightly out of sync. Also keep in mind that the players feet keep moving in stutter steps until the call to move is made.
I'd have to say that the Lineman with the best mechanics drill seems to be Seth McKinney. His hands snap into place very fast, into a locked position, but with his body being lowest to the ground at Center, he only needs a real quick back step, or upstep, to be into place and ready to absorb or make a hit! The key for a lineman to win battles is to get his arms under his opponents shoulders, and he is already under everyone else at the snap. He looks like he should have the best leverage by using this drill as a gauge, but sometimes he was getting pushed back today in the middle drills. But it is very early in the hitting stages of camp. Also Seth looked pretty good in the quarter turn drill, but when they sped the count up, he was getting confused a little, and almost fell once
By far and beyond, Jeno James is the best lineman out there. He was nearly perfect in the quarter turn drills, keeping his feet at about shoulders length apart in each turn, making it look like he hardly moved, all the while he keeps great posture, back nice and straight, while legs are slightly bent. His hands were making contact at the very same time or a split second after his feet were set. During the mechanics drills, Tony Wise corrected his arm placements once, and that's all he needed! his arms seemed to land in the same spot from then on out. At the very beginning of the mechanics drill, Wise worked with Wade Smith, but I noticed that James seemed to be coaching himself, though I could not hear what he was saying, I saw his head shaking and he was obviously not happy with how he started. McKinney is more of the vocal leader of the line, but James is going to be the anchor in leadership, by using himself as the example. When he does it right, his head is looking down, and he is moving right back to the line for the next play, and when he does wrong, his head is upright, while he seems to scold himself for it, while AGAIN heading right back to the huddle for the next play. We saw what good LG play can produce with Nails two years ago, but IMO this is a real nice upgrade at the position. Nice signing by RS.
Wade Smith has added muscle weight, that's for sure, but I think he is still adjusting to the added muscle. He did look good in the mechanics drill. The Tackles have to get up a little higher than the Guards, and there foot placement is more of an outside foot back farther than the inside foot. His footwork is very very good, and it might even be a little better than last year, but it's his arm speed that worries me. His arms were in place nicely during the mechanics drills, but during the quarter turns his arms were always a little farther behind than what seemed correct. Wise stopped the action three times to give Smith pointers. Also Smith looked a little lackadaisical during the quarter turns, which may have been caused by making the adjustments Wise asked him to make. He did a better job of holding off JT and the rest of the D today, which is to be expected now that the line can actually hit these guys running at them. But he still gave up two sacks, and got beat up by JT twice in a row during the middle drills. I'm hoping for the best out of Smith, that's for sure, but I have to call it like I see it. What I saw was an improvement, but he still needs work.
St. Clair looked very good in the mechanics drill. I think he is really out to prove he deserves to be in this league. He's working real hard that's for sure. His footwork is good, but it's his arms that make him. He gets his hands out very quick, and with some pop too. BUT he looked like he may have never saw these quarter turn drills before. At the beginning he looked goofy trying to keep his balance when they speed the counts up. He did look smoother, the more times he did it, so that's why I'm thinking he was very new to this. In the middle drills, he once again drew a false start, but this time, Wise took him out, and talked to him on the sideline while Carey took over for a play. What I would really like to see is him going at it with Wally. It could only help him by going up against the best we have on that side.
Whitley also looked pretty good during both drills. He has some pretty good footwork for a Guard, and he looks stronger than last year.
Jerman also looked good in the mechanics drills, but he had some troubles in the turning drills.
My sleeper so far this year is Rex Hadnot. I like his size for a Center. A little smaller than McKinney, while being a much wider in girth. He is not at all slow either. Nasty attitude as well. He looked real nice in the mechanics drill, placing his feet at the same time as getting into the crouching hands up stance. Um before I get you all excited, he did almost fall over in the turning drills. And he did get knocked on his butt by Zgonina, who made a nice stop in the backfield. But he is seemingly endless in determination, and that's what is catching my eye! Right after he gets knocked on his butt, he instantly pops up, goes back to the huddle, and comes back almost daring him to beat him again, which he did not. What I'm stating about him is that at this point I have him leading the rest with the best chance to make the practice squad. I like him a lot as a Tony Wise project.
OK this has taken me about two hours to put together, and my fingers hurt. I gave you guys today's starters and two more. If I were to do every player it might take three more hours and I want to get this up on the boards. Six o'clock, my projected time was a long time ago.
Also I would like to thank everyone with the kind words for my family, which like I said, things are looking up this week. Mom is feeling a lot better, and it seems that the doctors may have finally found out why my sisters been in constant pain since he first operation in November. So they went in and fixed it thru her navel. It's way to early to say, but things are very hopeful. Thanks Again to all....
This is finally the right time to get a much better feel for the O-line. It's where they start using the drills at a closer to full speed pace. You can get a real good look at players individual mechanics, and how Tony Wise works on each individual.
Today they concentrated on pass protection, using two different sets of drills. One being my favorite. I call it the mechanics drill, where they use a snap count, having the lineman all get into their ready stance as fast as possible. Hands and feet must be in place or Wise, and his assistants stop and make sure they let a player know, by showing them over and over how it's done. Sometimes they have a player on the other side, making things a little more lifelike, and difficult.
The other drill is an interesting one. I'll call it the quarter turn drill, where they put a lineman in the middle of a four player circle, then a coach yells out left, or right, or back. The player has to snap around to the call in an instant, while keeping his stance, and at the same time throwing a lunging blow to that said lineman's upper body. The players in the circle can throw a hand in a face, or they try to get their hands under the man in the middle as he turns. This is a real good drill for blitzes, and to help out a fellow lineman who might be letting his man get around him. Or you could say that it is a perfect move to check a Defensive lineman that's almost worthy of a double team. Two of the lineman in that circle are holding a medicine ball, and I'll tell you that the ball seemed to throw the lineman slightly out of sync. Also keep in mind that the players feet keep moving in stutter steps until the call to move is made.
I'd have to say that the Lineman with the best mechanics drill seems to be Seth McKinney. His hands snap into place very fast, into a locked position, but with his body being lowest to the ground at Center, he only needs a real quick back step, or upstep, to be into place and ready to absorb or make a hit! The key for a lineman to win battles is to get his arms under his opponents shoulders, and he is already under everyone else at the snap. He looks like he should have the best leverage by using this drill as a gauge, but sometimes he was getting pushed back today in the middle drills. But it is very early in the hitting stages of camp. Also Seth looked pretty good in the quarter turn drill, but when they sped the count up, he was getting confused a little, and almost fell once
By far and beyond, Jeno James is the best lineman out there. He was nearly perfect in the quarter turn drills, keeping his feet at about shoulders length apart in each turn, making it look like he hardly moved, all the while he keeps great posture, back nice and straight, while legs are slightly bent. His hands were making contact at the very same time or a split second after his feet were set. During the mechanics drills, Tony Wise corrected his arm placements once, and that's all he needed! his arms seemed to land in the same spot from then on out. At the very beginning of the mechanics drill, Wise worked with Wade Smith, but I noticed that James seemed to be coaching himself, though I could not hear what he was saying, I saw his head shaking and he was obviously not happy with how he started. McKinney is more of the vocal leader of the line, but James is going to be the anchor in leadership, by using himself as the example. When he does it right, his head is looking down, and he is moving right back to the line for the next play, and when he does wrong, his head is upright, while he seems to scold himself for it, while AGAIN heading right back to the huddle for the next play. We saw what good LG play can produce with Nails two years ago, but IMO this is a real nice upgrade at the position. Nice signing by RS.
Wade Smith has added muscle weight, that's for sure, but I think he is still adjusting to the added muscle. He did look good in the mechanics drill. The Tackles have to get up a little higher than the Guards, and there foot placement is more of an outside foot back farther than the inside foot. His footwork is very very good, and it might even be a little better than last year, but it's his arm speed that worries me. His arms were in place nicely during the mechanics drills, but during the quarter turns his arms were always a little farther behind than what seemed correct. Wise stopped the action three times to give Smith pointers. Also Smith looked a little lackadaisical during the quarter turns, which may have been caused by making the adjustments Wise asked him to make. He did a better job of holding off JT and the rest of the D today, which is to be expected now that the line can actually hit these guys running at them. But he still gave up two sacks, and got beat up by JT twice in a row during the middle drills. I'm hoping for the best out of Smith, that's for sure, but I have to call it like I see it. What I saw was an improvement, but he still needs work.
St. Clair looked very good in the mechanics drill. I think he is really out to prove he deserves to be in this league. He's working real hard that's for sure. His footwork is good, but it's his arms that make him. He gets his hands out very quick, and with some pop too. BUT he looked like he may have never saw these quarter turn drills before. At the beginning he looked goofy trying to keep his balance when they speed the counts up. He did look smoother, the more times he did it, so that's why I'm thinking he was very new to this. In the middle drills, he once again drew a false start, but this time, Wise took him out, and talked to him on the sideline while Carey took over for a play. What I would really like to see is him going at it with Wally. It could only help him by going up against the best we have on that side.
Whitley also looked pretty good during both drills. He has some pretty good footwork for a Guard, and he looks stronger than last year.
Jerman also looked good in the mechanics drills, but he had some troubles in the turning drills.
My sleeper so far this year is Rex Hadnot. I like his size for a Center. A little smaller than McKinney, while being a much wider in girth. He is not at all slow either. Nasty attitude as well. He looked real nice in the mechanics drill, placing his feet at the same time as getting into the crouching hands up stance. Um before I get you all excited, he did almost fall over in the turning drills. And he did get knocked on his butt by Zgonina, who made a nice stop in the backfield. But he is seemingly endless in determination, and that's what is catching my eye! Right after he gets knocked on his butt, he instantly pops up, goes back to the huddle, and comes back almost daring him to beat him again, which he did not. What I'm stating about him is that at this point I have him leading the rest with the best chance to make the practice squad. I like him a lot as a Tony Wise project.
OK this has taken me about two hours to put together, and my fingers hurt. I gave you guys today's starters and two more. If I were to do every player it might take three more hours and I want to get this up on the boards. Six o'clock, my projected time was a long time ago.
Also I would like to thank everyone with the kind words for my family, which like I said, things are looking up this week. Mom is feeling a lot better, and it seems that the doctors may have finally found out why my sisters been in constant pain since he first operation in November. So they went in and fixed it thru her navel. It's way to early to say, but things are very hopeful. Thanks Again to all....
