PhinfanBo1
Scout Team
Okay, here's where we're at, IMO. First of all, I think everybody needs to realize and this is repeated every single year for every team...this was the first pre-season game. The FIRST live action for these guys as a team and beyond that this is even more important to remember when you have a brand new coaching staff, a lot of youth and in general a completely new attitude and approach. There. Now moving on to last night's game which was basically about where I expected, maybe a little bit worse. Some really good things happened out there, and obviously there a lot of things to work on and a lot of decisions to be made. Here's my take....
At the quarterback position, again, A.J did a bunch of good things and he also did some things that made me have serious doubts, or continue my doubts, about what we have in him. The Good: The throw to Derrius Thompson. More on this later but if that's one of our FOUR talented receivers who should and I think will basically make up this corps, this is a beautiful 20 yard hook up. I saw Derrius make THE SAME DROP in practice on Friday night. Ridiculious but this section is about Feeley and THIS is what he brings to the table first and foremost. With this throw in limited time he would have been 5-7 for 65 yards and he would have let us to a score. He also had a very nice 15 yard throw on an out earlier and he showed some of the arm strength that could very well create a lot of big plays this season. Now the part I have a problem with. He's really not staring down the reciever nearly as much anymore and that's good. It shows me that he's coachable. But he's just so jittery back there and his body language appears very confused and a lot of tmes disoriented in the face of the rush. He is a guy that, at this point, is going to take a lot of sacks even behind an above-average line (that ours can be), and he's still going to make some bonehead throws. Now if we are patient with him, he can really improve throughout the pre-season and throughout the course of the season, but is this patience going to cost us games? He is a case-study that I will be conducting very carefully but also with a lot of excitement this pre-season.
I really like Gus Frerotte. He has a certain something out there that allows him to get the job done pretty consistently. Good numbers out there last night and good things seem to happen when he's on the field, unlike with Feeley. His ball to Chambers and his TD throw weren't the best passes and with the TD he wasn't even going to Gilmore! But the bottom line is that he hit Chris for a 44 yarder, and he threw a 26 yard Touchdown pass. He has a pretty good arm and very good command of this offense. As a stop-gap guy he could give this team along the lines of 55%, 3200 yards, 20 TD's and 18 INT's; Jay Fiedler like numbers that like I said yesetrday or the day before, could be good enough for a winning record and maybe a playoff spot if the rest of the team comes together like I think it will.
Chambers-Booker-Boston-Gilmore. These boys can play and I am especially very impressed with Gilmore. Saban has GOT to make him the 4th guy over Derrius who is just too inconsistent and unreliable. I would actually keep 5 or 6-with Newson/Davis/Mann fighting for one or two spots and cut DT outright. Another very good thing, backup TE's really stepped up last night and that's fabolous because Donald Lee just can't cut it.
We need Ronnie Brown to sign his contract and get into camp. Gordon was a solid backup, 3rd stringer with a great Rams offense and established attack; here? He is a decent 3rd string back and that's it. Not very powerful, doesn't have good vision and the hesitation he showed last year wasn't a fluke. I am starting to be more and more skeptical about Ricky who is NOT putting on size and really needs to. However, I still feel like on Sunday afternoons he will bring it because after all, he is still Ricky Williams just ONE year removed. Not much else I want to talk about here, for now.
Carey needs to lose a little bit of weight, and definetly keep gaining experience. He wasn't good last night, I don't want to say terrible because he wasn't, but he did not play well. With his ability, Houck's coaching and working against JT, I think within the month he will be ready to be a solid if not spectacular Left Tackle. I really do. Rex Hadnot is the center. He is also a young guy that needs more exposure and he'll get it, but he is a very, very good lineman. James needs to work his way back on and hold down that left guard spot so we can start working on some real continuity. John St. Clair, don't get me wrong is a very good backup swing tackle and can even play the interior in a pinch but he is NOT a starting caliber right guard on a good line. Middleton has got to step up here, and I have faith in the guy. I just want to see all of these young guys and all these new faces just working out the kinks and getting on a roll where we could protect the quarterback and run the damn football. Last night was not good; they need to put that first unit out there and see what we got because we have some talent and there's no turning back at this point.
I'm not worrying about the DL, they just gotta play because there is some big-time talent and depth there. Good to see Jason Glenn step up; he could very well be that sixth linebacker. I love Crowder's intensity and he is a player.
I don't want to talk about the defensive backfield right now that's how sick I am about it. Only the first pre-season game but c'mon there's no continuity and the corners are struggling. Saban is a DEFENSIVE BACKS COACH first and foremost. Get to work because again, I believe there is real talent there....corner actually concerns me in this department when I think about it.
All for now...later
-Bo
At the quarterback position, again, A.J did a bunch of good things and he also did some things that made me have serious doubts, or continue my doubts, about what we have in him. The Good: The throw to Derrius Thompson. More on this later but if that's one of our FOUR talented receivers who should and I think will basically make up this corps, this is a beautiful 20 yard hook up. I saw Derrius make THE SAME DROP in practice on Friday night. Ridiculious but this section is about Feeley and THIS is what he brings to the table first and foremost. With this throw in limited time he would have been 5-7 for 65 yards and he would have let us to a score. He also had a very nice 15 yard throw on an out earlier and he showed some of the arm strength that could very well create a lot of big plays this season. Now the part I have a problem with. He's really not staring down the reciever nearly as much anymore and that's good. It shows me that he's coachable. But he's just so jittery back there and his body language appears very confused and a lot of tmes disoriented in the face of the rush. He is a guy that, at this point, is going to take a lot of sacks even behind an above-average line (that ours can be), and he's still going to make some bonehead throws. Now if we are patient with him, he can really improve throughout the pre-season and throughout the course of the season, but is this patience going to cost us games? He is a case-study that I will be conducting very carefully but also with a lot of excitement this pre-season.
I really like Gus Frerotte. He has a certain something out there that allows him to get the job done pretty consistently. Good numbers out there last night and good things seem to happen when he's on the field, unlike with Feeley. His ball to Chambers and his TD throw weren't the best passes and with the TD he wasn't even going to Gilmore! But the bottom line is that he hit Chris for a 44 yarder, and he threw a 26 yard Touchdown pass. He has a pretty good arm and very good command of this offense. As a stop-gap guy he could give this team along the lines of 55%, 3200 yards, 20 TD's and 18 INT's; Jay Fiedler like numbers that like I said yesetrday or the day before, could be good enough for a winning record and maybe a playoff spot if the rest of the team comes together like I think it will.
Chambers-Booker-Boston-Gilmore. These boys can play and I am especially very impressed with Gilmore. Saban has GOT to make him the 4th guy over Derrius who is just too inconsistent and unreliable. I would actually keep 5 or 6-with Newson/Davis/Mann fighting for one or two spots and cut DT outright. Another very good thing, backup TE's really stepped up last night and that's fabolous because Donald Lee just can't cut it.
We need Ronnie Brown to sign his contract and get into camp. Gordon was a solid backup, 3rd stringer with a great Rams offense and established attack; here? He is a decent 3rd string back and that's it. Not very powerful, doesn't have good vision and the hesitation he showed last year wasn't a fluke. I am starting to be more and more skeptical about Ricky who is NOT putting on size and really needs to. However, I still feel like on Sunday afternoons he will bring it because after all, he is still Ricky Williams just ONE year removed. Not much else I want to talk about here, for now.
Carey needs to lose a little bit of weight, and definetly keep gaining experience. He wasn't good last night, I don't want to say terrible because he wasn't, but he did not play well. With his ability, Houck's coaching and working against JT, I think within the month he will be ready to be a solid if not spectacular Left Tackle. I really do. Rex Hadnot is the center. He is also a young guy that needs more exposure and he'll get it, but he is a very, very good lineman. James needs to work his way back on and hold down that left guard spot so we can start working on some real continuity. John St. Clair, don't get me wrong is a very good backup swing tackle and can even play the interior in a pinch but he is NOT a starting caliber right guard on a good line. Middleton has got to step up here, and I have faith in the guy. I just want to see all of these young guys and all these new faces just working out the kinks and getting on a roll where we could protect the quarterback and run the damn football. Last night was not good; they need to put that first unit out there and see what we got because we have some talent and there's no turning back at this point.
I'm not worrying about the DL, they just gotta play because there is some big-time talent and depth there. Good to see Jason Glenn step up; he could very well be that sixth linebacker. I love Crowder's intensity and he is a player.
I don't want to talk about the defensive backfield right now that's how sick I am about it. Only the first pre-season game but c'mon there's no continuity and the corners are struggling. Saban is a DEFENSIVE BACKS COACH first and foremost. Get to work because again, I believe there is real talent there....corner actually concerns me in this department when I think about it.
All for now...later
-Bo
