Part one
Ahhh the smell of fresh cut grass could only mean one thing!! Football is right around the corner.
Today was hot hot hot hot hot! I wore a black tank top and by the time 10 minutes went by I was completely soaked but loved every single minute of it.
Today's practice was done in shorts so there was no hard hitting. I'm sure that the coaches will pick it up in the afternoon session. Almost the entire practice was done in individual groups except for the last 15 minutes, which were only 7 on 7 drills. To make a report on this kind of practice is kind of difficult because the groups are all over the place. It's this kind of practice that you can really only try and evaluate an individuals techniques and what they might be trying to teach them.
No Oklahoma drill this practice either. I read that this will happen tomorrow.
So where do I start?
Lets do a twist and go with the offensive line since I spent a lot of time watching them.
Today was spent learning how to stay within the zone while sealing off the ends, and working on drive blocking. They also worked with the medicine balls for a little while.
Vernon Carey stood out with the overall best technique in all the drills. He sticks right with the DE to seal off the end when the D does a stunt to clear the DT, or if its a run blitz to the outside. He makes contace and directs the DE as far inside as possible so the LG has room to pick up the the defender on the outside. This is used on running plays, and if done correctly will leave the FB free to take on the next defender in line. The same play the Dolphins used very effectively against the Jets last season, except on the right side. Carey really stands out using the medicine ball. They start out with the ball on the ground. Five men on one side, five on the other. One side has the balls and upon the hike (hands already on the balls in their stance) they have to snap the ball up and snap throw it to the man across from them. Then snap hands back in ready postion. It sounds boring right? Well, not to me! I love watching this stuff. It's teaching techniques while building strength at the same time. Carey does this like ONE TWO. Hands back and ready for THREE. Very good pass protection drills.
Satele also looked very good with his tecniques when handling the medicine balls. However, he really needs to keep getting more push in the run blocking. I know that today they really did nothing against the Defense but I still see this as his obvious weakness. They do a drill where all 5 lineman are down on all fours. It's a drill that in case they are knocked to their knees during a run play, they take a final lunge foward to hit the opponent. A last gasp to MAYBE free the Rb for more yards. When Satele lunged foward it looks weak, and when he popped the pad it barely moved the lineman holding the pad. For instance: Carey knocked the guy holding the pad about 4-5 feet back. Satele DOES look like he's been studying though. He's getting off the line, and helping both Gaurds on every snap. Last camp I noticed him looking where to go a couple of times.
Part two:
Alabi was at RT, and looks a little slow coming out of his stance. Keep rehabing man!
Mormino is kind of interesting. He gets a ton of push in the run game. Maybe a little too much because a simple swim move and the defender was free twice to take on the Rb. Now the good part is that he was 4-5 yards up field, but the bad part is that the run could have went 10 but instead contact was made at about 3 yards. A good example here would be Liwienski, who is 30 pounds heavier. His push was not as quick and he did not get as deep in the defense, but when Holiday put a move on him, he stuck right with him, which left room for the Rb to make a simple move to the outside to take on a Lb next. Mormino also looked real good with his techniques during drills.
Nothing flares out at you when you watch Liwienski. He makes it almost look boring to watch. His drive is good, his pass protection techniques are solid, but it seems that he is always getting praise by the line coaches. I've narrowed it down, and think that he's just where they want him, which means he's making minimal mistakes!
I'm going to name a couple more of the lineman that looked pretty good with their techniques TODAY. Stevenson, Ingram.
The passing, catching and running portions of the reports are really meaningless today since they only played catch for a little bit, and ran only 15 minutes of 7 on 7 ...
A couple of notes though. Beck looks a lot more comfortable, and was showing how much he knows when they did audible positioning drills. He was pointing and moving the rookies around to where they need to be on quite a few calls. Green was doing the same thing.
Beck also has developed some chemistry with Kerry Reed. He has his timing down pretty good with him, and Reed make some nice catches and ran good crisp routes. P.K. Sam to a little lesser extent maybe, but Sam made two nice below the knee catches without losing speed. Beck also has pretty good timing with Malone. All these views were made from me watching them with no defenders on them!!
Green had some chemistry going on with Derek Hagan, who made two nice shoestring catches during 7 on 7's. Also with Sutton, who is still impressvie to watch. Nice soft hands for a big dude.
Oh by the way! Guess who had the best catch of the day? Ted Ginn Jr.!!! A real nice one handed slap of the ball while he was heading into the endzone. The ball came down softly into his hands after he redirected the overthrown balls path.....
Kerry Reed is running nice routes, and showing that he has soft hands. Don't mind me if I sound bias on this one because I know his cousin, and he is from my neck of the woods. No bias today though. He did fine as did PK Sam, and Sutton.
In the morning session during 7 on 7 drills, they worked on all the short stuff with a few midrange routes mixed in. So like I mentioned it was a little boring.
Ronnie Brown looks like he's in really good shape.
I also like the way they're using the Rb's in the flat. They let Hamdan work soley with the Rb's and Fb's while the other three Qb's worked with the Wr's. For a solid 15 minutes it was nothing but routes out of the backfield. Five different scenarios and five different routes.
Booker is looking real smooth catching the ball, and so is the Juggernaut. Booker has a real quick first 5-7 steps. I'm going to have to look and see what his 10 yard times were because for a guy who is small and fast but not a burner, he has some early giddyup.
Now how about just a tad of the defense?
The first thing I'll say is that Zach was all over the short routes by the Rb's during the 7's.
Now one thing that got me was Solai. We know that dude is a beast right? Well, two plays I saw him trying to use some athletisism to try and go around the Center/Gaurd. I'll give him some credit because even though he did not get to the Qb quite fast enough, he was kind of impressive moving like that. I'd love to see him just bull his way into disrupting the pass play, but dang, he was athletic enough to be coming from behind the Qb just as he threw it.
Abraham Wright might be my sleeper this year. He has plenty of good moves and if he can just add some bulk and keep his quickness, he could end up backing up Taylor! One thing that he will never be able to expand on though is his height. But he's got a pretty good motor, and never gives up! I can't wait to see him in a GAME to see how they move him around, and how he responds to it.
Jason Allen was on Ginn a few times and did pretty well, except maybe one play. Ginn let Allen use inside technique on him, and just went with the flow. He got a step on him. Had they been looking at all routes instead of only dumping the ball off, it could have been six with a well thrown pass. Allen was step for step with him on the other two routes. His technique is solid, and with time, I hope the move back to Cb pays off !
Lehan made two nice breakups, as did Daniel's.
Roth was kind of quiet today. I'm thinking he's thinking Oklahoma on Sunday.
I'm sure I missed a few.
Now to the Punting, which they spent over 20 minutes on today.
Fields can bang the ball. I've said a few times that he's showed to be a little inconsistant at the mini camps but today he showed some improvements. He clearly outkicked Flinn, and I mean clearly. Almost every punt went 10 yards farther, and he placed a couple inside the 20 right at the corner. One bad punt by him that was more like a line drive had his coach coming right over to him showing him how he was doing something wrong. The next was a boomer again....
I might get some people down with this and it is not my intention. I also could be dead wrong but I'm just telling it how I SAW it!! Ted Ginn Jr. fielded one punt and took off down the left side, and when he was coming back I noticed that he was (NOT LIMPING) but was walking a little funny. He was looking down at his foot and placing it down kind of gingerly and flat footed. I think it might still be bothering him just a little. A trainer was with him within seconds, checking the tape, and had him bring his socks down some. Maybe he's just being cautious because he is not quite 100 percent? I hope I'm totally making something out of nothing but I felt I needed to say this..........
That's about it. I missed the boat for the evening session of reef fishing so I'm leaving in a half hour for a midnight run. Hopefully I get a few Mutton Snappers..
Tomorrow is still on for me so look for a report when I get home...
Ahhh the smell of fresh cut grass could only mean one thing!! Football is right around the corner.
Today was hot hot hot hot hot! I wore a black tank top and by the time 10 minutes went by I was completely soaked but loved every single minute of it.
Today's practice was done in shorts so there was no hard hitting. I'm sure that the coaches will pick it up in the afternoon session. Almost the entire practice was done in individual groups except for the last 15 minutes, which were only 7 on 7 drills. To make a report on this kind of practice is kind of difficult because the groups are all over the place. It's this kind of practice that you can really only try and evaluate an individuals techniques and what they might be trying to teach them.
No Oklahoma drill this practice either. I read that this will happen tomorrow.
So where do I start?
Lets do a twist and go with the offensive line since I spent a lot of time watching them.
Today was spent learning how to stay within the zone while sealing off the ends, and working on drive blocking. They also worked with the medicine balls for a little while.
Vernon Carey stood out with the overall best technique in all the drills. He sticks right with the DE to seal off the end when the D does a stunt to clear the DT, or if its a run blitz to the outside. He makes contace and directs the DE as far inside as possible so the LG has room to pick up the the defender on the outside. This is used on running plays, and if done correctly will leave the FB free to take on the next defender in line. The same play the Dolphins used very effectively against the Jets last season, except on the right side. Carey really stands out using the medicine ball. They start out with the ball on the ground. Five men on one side, five on the other. One side has the balls and upon the hike (hands already on the balls in their stance) they have to snap the ball up and snap throw it to the man across from them. Then snap hands back in ready postion. It sounds boring right? Well, not to me! I love watching this stuff. It's teaching techniques while building strength at the same time. Carey does this like ONE TWO. Hands back and ready for THREE. Very good pass protection drills.
Satele also looked very good with his tecniques when handling the medicine balls. However, he really needs to keep getting more push in the run blocking. I know that today they really did nothing against the Defense but I still see this as his obvious weakness. They do a drill where all 5 lineman are down on all fours. It's a drill that in case they are knocked to their knees during a run play, they take a final lunge foward to hit the opponent. A last gasp to MAYBE free the Rb for more yards. When Satele lunged foward it looks weak, and when he popped the pad it barely moved the lineman holding the pad. For instance: Carey knocked the guy holding the pad about 4-5 feet back. Satele DOES look like he's been studying though. He's getting off the line, and helping both Gaurds on every snap. Last camp I noticed him looking where to go a couple of times.
Part two:
Alabi was at RT, and looks a little slow coming out of his stance. Keep rehabing man!
Mormino is kind of interesting. He gets a ton of push in the run game. Maybe a little too much because a simple swim move and the defender was free twice to take on the Rb. Now the good part is that he was 4-5 yards up field, but the bad part is that the run could have went 10 but instead contact was made at about 3 yards. A good example here would be Liwienski, who is 30 pounds heavier. His push was not as quick and he did not get as deep in the defense, but when Holiday put a move on him, he stuck right with him, which left room for the Rb to make a simple move to the outside to take on a Lb next. Mormino also looked real good with his techniques during drills.
Nothing flares out at you when you watch Liwienski. He makes it almost look boring to watch. His drive is good, his pass protection techniques are solid, but it seems that he is always getting praise by the line coaches. I've narrowed it down, and think that he's just where they want him, which means he's making minimal mistakes!
I'm going to name a couple more of the lineman that looked pretty good with their techniques TODAY. Stevenson, Ingram.
The passing, catching and running portions of the reports are really meaningless today since they only played catch for a little bit, and ran only 15 minutes of 7 on 7 ...
A couple of notes though. Beck looks a lot more comfortable, and was showing how much he knows when they did audible positioning drills. He was pointing and moving the rookies around to where they need to be on quite a few calls. Green was doing the same thing.
Beck also has developed some chemistry with Kerry Reed. He has his timing down pretty good with him, and Reed make some nice catches and ran good crisp routes. P.K. Sam to a little lesser extent maybe, but Sam made two nice below the knee catches without losing speed. Beck also has pretty good timing with Malone. All these views were made from me watching them with no defenders on them!!
Green had some chemistry going on with Derek Hagan, who made two nice shoestring catches during 7 on 7's. Also with Sutton, who is still impressvie to watch. Nice soft hands for a big dude.
Oh by the way! Guess who had the best catch of the day? Ted Ginn Jr.!!! A real nice one handed slap of the ball while he was heading into the endzone. The ball came down softly into his hands after he redirected the overthrown balls path.....
Kerry Reed is running nice routes, and showing that he has soft hands. Don't mind me if I sound bias on this one because I know his cousin, and he is from my neck of the woods. No bias today though. He did fine as did PK Sam, and Sutton.
In the morning session during 7 on 7 drills, they worked on all the short stuff with a few midrange routes mixed in. So like I mentioned it was a little boring.
Ronnie Brown looks like he's in really good shape.
I also like the way they're using the Rb's in the flat. They let Hamdan work soley with the Rb's and Fb's while the other three Qb's worked with the Wr's. For a solid 15 minutes it was nothing but routes out of the backfield. Five different scenarios and five different routes.
Booker is looking real smooth catching the ball, and so is the Juggernaut. Booker has a real quick first 5-7 steps. I'm going to have to look and see what his 10 yard times were because for a guy who is small and fast but not a burner, he has some early giddyup.
Now how about just a tad of the defense?
The first thing I'll say is that Zach was all over the short routes by the Rb's during the 7's.
Now one thing that got me was Solai. We know that dude is a beast right? Well, two plays I saw him trying to use some athletisism to try and go around the Center/Gaurd. I'll give him some credit because even though he did not get to the Qb quite fast enough, he was kind of impressive moving like that. I'd love to see him just bull his way into disrupting the pass play, but dang, he was athletic enough to be coming from behind the Qb just as he threw it.
Abraham Wright might be my sleeper this year. He has plenty of good moves and if he can just add some bulk and keep his quickness, he could end up backing up Taylor! One thing that he will never be able to expand on though is his height. But he's got a pretty good motor, and never gives up! I can't wait to see him in a GAME to see how they move him around, and how he responds to it.
Jason Allen was on Ginn a few times and did pretty well, except maybe one play. Ginn let Allen use inside technique on him, and just went with the flow. He got a step on him. Had they been looking at all routes instead of only dumping the ball off, it could have been six with a well thrown pass. Allen was step for step with him on the other two routes. His technique is solid, and with time, I hope the move back to Cb pays off !
Lehan made two nice breakups, as did Daniel's.
Roth was kind of quiet today. I'm thinking he's thinking Oklahoma on Sunday.
I'm sure I missed a few.
Now to the Punting, which they spent over 20 minutes on today.
Fields can bang the ball. I've said a few times that he's showed to be a little inconsistant at the mini camps but today he showed some improvements. He clearly outkicked Flinn, and I mean clearly. Almost every punt went 10 yards farther, and he placed a couple inside the 20 right at the corner. One bad punt by him that was more like a line drive had his coach coming right over to him showing him how he was doing something wrong. The next was a boomer again....
I might get some people down with this and it is not my intention. I also could be dead wrong but I'm just telling it how I SAW it!! Ted Ginn Jr. fielded one punt and took off down the left side, and when he was coming back I noticed that he was (NOT LIMPING) but was walking a little funny. He was looking down at his foot and placing it down kind of gingerly and flat footed. I think it might still be bothering him just a little. A trainer was with him within seconds, checking the tape, and had him bring his socks down some. Maybe he's just being cautious because he is not quite 100 percent? I hope I'm totally making something out of nothing but I felt I needed to say this..........
That's about it. I missed the boat for the evening session of reef fishing so I'm leaving in a half hour for a midnight run. Hopefully I get a few Mutton Snappers..
Tomorrow is still on for me so look for a report when I get home...
