Well, it's that time of year again. I get my usual early start on seeing how the Dolphins are doing, One or two things of note first. Since the Mini Camps have already taken place without fans you won't see a lot of reports as to how the coaches are really getting into teaching the players, and especially in the team drills. Most of the teaching has been going on for months now so we'll probably see a little more about screw ups and how players are getting punished or yelled at. Case in point would be our new LT Jake Long. First play of the team drills and he is a little late off the snap then the second play he jumps early. His Coach stops play and signals for Jake to take a lap. Jake heads off towards the other end up the field, running up and back. The crowd loves it, and of course so did I. We were yelping it up, and giving the coaches applause. Jake took it well, and came back in, took on Holiday, and looked good. He got a nice ovation for his effort.
No Joey Porter, Lehan, and Henne. Porter and Lehan were running up and down the sideline but I wonder what happened to Porter to keep him off the field on day one.....
Now this is the first day of training camp, and it's nothing more than one persons opinion so take it with a grain of salt. I'm not making claims of some young undrafted rookies making such outstanding plays so that they're surely going to make the team. For the most part, most of these undrafted players will be looking for work by the end of August but it is NICE to see some of their efforts. But I usually find one rookie that I like and give him a little boost up due to some good plays, efforts or attitudes. I found one today in Devone Bess. More on him in a little bit though.
Lets start with the Qb's
Beck goes with the first squad early and it looks like he totally overthrows his first pass by 10 yards, but actually Tedd Ginn took to long to get off the line, and had to cut off his route early because the Cb sealed him off outside, and the Safety was closing in. Beck might have been able to read the defense better but the pass was supposed to be 20 yards, not 12. Beck still looked the better of the two Qb's. He made some nice intermediate throws, and even though his mechanics were slightly changed to a more overhead motion, his release is still excellent. He took one snap, dropped back 3 steps, and the LDE blew by Carey. He stopped on a dime, turned to the hot route and zipped the ball out just in time. A slower delivery and that was a sack. Even still he was not spectacular, just a pretty good FIRST DAY in pads.
McCown was not so good IMO. In individual drills, he launched deeper passes on three different occasions, and all three had Wr's slowing down, or stopping their routes dead because of poorly under thrown passes. He was not moving around like he is known for so maybe they instructed him to just sit in the pocket today. He did throw a real nice pass, all the way across the field that found it's mark just at the sideline for a completion. I thought he was getting better as practice moved on but near the end of practice, he once again started throwing some bad passes. Overall not a great practice for him, but it's the first day.
They only have 3 Qb's on the roster so they better get Henne in soon. Not just because it's a lot of work for two Qb's to handle all the passes during training camps but Henne has a chance to impress the coaches. Every single snap he gets farther behind though.
Rb's
Ricky Williams looks fantastic, and he has this thing about him during practice where no matter what happens on the play he continues it. If the play is dead, he continues to twist, go outside, go backwards then forward, puts his shoulder into a defender in his way, or runs around everyone so he can run just past the ref standing in the middle of the field about 25 yards downfield. I know some coaches make this practice a habit for MOST plays but Ricky does it on every single play, and it's catchy too. All the Rb's are doing it by the end of practice. Probably because the crowd likes it, and it pumps them all up but its a good practice for sure. Ricky is looking real fit, and in great shape. He never turns down some contact, and even got the snot knocked out of him once today by Merling. He just got up, looked around, and headed off the field, waiting for his next turn.
Ronnie also looks in fantastic shape. He made some good cuts but to me, he is still taking it just a LITTLE easy on his repaired knee. I'm not sure how many people who report on camps will have seen this though, but Ronnie tweaked something on the second to the last play of practice. It looked like it might have been his shin muscle, and it did not look too serious but he was for sure favoring it, and rubbing it as the team gathered together at mid field.
Pattrick Cobbs made one really good cut inside and was gone for at least 20 yards before any defender would have had a chance to get to him. A real nice play by him that was supposed to be a stretch play to the far outside corner, but he saw that opening and did not hesitate. His Coach made a motion like he was asking Cobb if he knew it was supposed to be run to the far outside and Cobbs just nodded yes, but made a gesture to him that the cutback lane was there. He got up to the coach and received a nice pat on the helmet. Good Vision for sure...
Lex Hilliard made a nice run to the outside and man he is one built dude!
Wr's
Ginn was kind of invisible today. I mean I saw him out there but nothing to note about him.
Hagan had a real nice catch in traffic on that quick release strike by Beck. The pass was just about neck high, and right as he cut inside but he made a nice grab with two defenders closing in fast.
Ernest Wilfork is one BIG Wr. He made a couple of catches on the inside that could have been long gainers..
Anthony Fasano stole the show with a one handed Orande Gadsden type of catch that had the crowd go nuts.
Now we have Devone Bess. He was all over the place this morning, and he dropped nothing. He made a real nice catch on the sidelines on that throw from McCown that I spoke about earlier. The ball was just a little over his head but he made a nice reaching grab for the ball, bringing it in just as he got his second foot down which made him tumble to the ground but he held on. He may be a tad small but he knows how to find seams, and is a constant threat to get open. I like his chances to last until the last cuts. We'll see how it goes though.
OL
Starters were LT Long, LG Smilely, C Satele, RG Derilek, RT Carey
Jake Long has the task of going up against Vonnie Holiday on most plays. Vonnie is not taking it easy on him either. GOOD thing right? Yes it is, and I do notice that Jake actually has a pretty darn good kick step. Very quick feet out there today. I would say that he did rather well for his first day. Nothing spectacular and other than the first two plays, nothing bad either. He seems real good out in space and knows how to direct players with his arms. His hips stay pretty level, and he's got some spring in his legs. He looks stronger than an OX too. They gather around in a huge circle at one point, and I'm just going back and forth looking for players, and matching numbers to get to know them better, and in the middle of that circle I see one helmet sticking up above all the rest. He might have had some of the smaller players around him but man his helmet was standing out in a crowd, by a good 4-6 inches. Dudes a monster!
Smiley is looking recovered and making a lot of contact on running plays. He is fast off the ball, and it looks like they want him on the left side with Long. At least for now.
Satele looks in good shape too. Heck the entire team looks in very good shape.
Derilek is starting on the right side for now, with McKinney coming in behind him, at least I think it's McKinney. Now I don't know much about Derilek but with a name like that I'd be playing with one bad attitude!!!
I did not take much notice of Carey this morning for the most part.
I did take notice of one rookie lineman though and that's Shawn Murphy. He is very similar to Smiley. He gets off the ball real quick and loves him some contact. I was diggin on his mechanics today. His hands snap up, and he moves into his stance very naturally. He also looks like he plays with a nasty attitude. I think I'm going to like watching him develop into a player!! So far he's is second on my favorite new players list.
OK that's a little on the offense. I'm posting this up for everyone to read while I get something to eat. Then I'll start up some defense in a little bit.
I hope everyone enjoys the read, and remember. I'm just a fan like all of us. These are meanly my opinions, and they could be wrong, and surely can be slightly different from what others might see or report.
Oz
No Joey Porter, Lehan, and Henne. Porter and Lehan were running up and down the sideline but I wonder what happened to Porter to keep him off the field on day one.....
Now this is the first day of training camp, and it's nothing more than one persons opinion so take it with a grain of salt. I'm not making claims of some young undrafted rookies making such outstanding plays so that they're surely going to make the team. For the most part, most of these undrafted players will be looking for work by the end of August but it is NICE to see some of their efforts. But I usually find one rookie that I like and give him a little boost up due to some good plays, efforts or attitudes. I found one today in Devone Bess. More on him in a little bit though.
Lets start with the Qb's
Beck goes with the first squad early and it looks like he totally overthrows his first pass by 10 yards, but actually Tedd Ginn took to long to get off the line, and had to cut off his route early because the Cb sealed him off outside, and the Safety was closing in. Beck might have been able to read the defense better but the pass was supposed to be 20 yards, not 12. Beck still looked the better of the two Qb's. He made some nice intermediate throws, and even though his mechanics were slightly changed to a more overhead motion, his release is still excellent. He took one snap, dropped back 3 steps, and the LDE blew by Carey. He stopped on a dime, turned to the hot route and zipped the ball out just in time. A slower delivery and that was a sack. Even still he was not spectacular, just a pretty good FIRST DAY in pads.
McCown was not so good IMO. In individual drills, he launched deeper passes on three different occasions, and all three had Wr's slowing down, or stopping their routes dead because of poorly under thrown passes. He was not moving around like he is known for so maybe they instructed him to just sit in the pocket today. He did throw a real nice pass, all the way across the field that found it's mark just at the sideline for a completion. I thought he was getting better as practice moved on but near the end of practice, he once again started throwing some bad passes. Overall not a great practice for him, but it's the first day.
They only have 3 Qb's on the roster so they better get Henne in soon. Not just because it's a lot of work for two Qb's to handle all the passes during training camps but Henne has a chance to impress the coaches. Every single snap he gets farther behind though.
Rb's
Ricky Williams looks fantastic, and he has this thing about him during practice where no matter what happens on the play he continues it. If the play is dead, he continues to twist, go outside, go backwards then forward, puts his shoulder into a defender in his way, or runs around everyone so he can run just past the ref standing in the middle of the field about 25 yards downfield. I know some coaches make this practice a habit for MOST plays but Ricky does it on every single play, and it's catchy too. All the Rb's are doing it by the end of practice. Probably because the crowd likes it, and it pumps them all up but its a good practice for sure. Ricky is looking real fit, and in great shape. He never turns down some contact, and even got the snot knocked out of him once today by Merling. He just got up, looked around, and headed off the field, waiting for his next turn.
Ronnie also looks in fantastic shape. He made some good cuts but to me, he is still taking it just a LITTLE easy on his repaired knee. I'm not sure how many people who report on camps will have seen this though, but Ronnie tweaked something on the second to the last play of practice. It looked like it might have been his shin muscle, and it did not look too serious but he was for sure favoring it, and rubbing it as the team gathered together at mid field.
Pattrick Cobbs made one really good cut inside and was gone for at least 20 yards before any defender would have had a chance to get to him. A real nice play by him that was supposed to be a stretch play to the far outside corner, but he saw that opening and did not hesitate. His Coach made a motion like he was asking Cobb if he knew it was supposed to be run to the far outside and Cobbs just nodded yes, but made a gesture to him that the cutback lane was there. He got up to the coach and received a nice pat on the helmet. Good Vision for sure...
Lex Hilliard made a nice run to the outside and man he is one built dude!
Wr's
Ginn was kind of invisible today. I mean I saw him out there but nothing to note about him.
Hagan had a real nice catch in traffic on that quick release strike by Beck. The pass was just about neck high, and right as he cut inside but he made a nice grab with two defenders closing in fast.
Ernest Wilfork is one BIG Wr. He made a couple of catches on the inside that could have been long gainers..
Anthony Fasano stole the show with a one handed Orande Gadsden type of catch that had the crowd go nuts.
Now we have Devone Bess. He was all over the place this morning, and he dropped nothing. He made a real nice catch on the sidelines on that throw from McCown that I spoke about earlier. The ball was just a little over his head but he made a nice reaching grab for the ball, bringing it in just as he got his second foot down which made him tumble to the ground but he held on. He may be a tad small but he knows how to find seams, and is a constant threat to get open. I like his chances to last until the last cuts. We'll see how it goes though.
OL
Starters were LT Long, LG Smilely, C Satele, RG Derilek, RT Carey
Jake Long has the task of going up against Vonnie Holiday on most plays. Vonnie is not taking it easy on him either. GOOD thing right? Yes it is, and I do notice that Jake actually has a pretty darn good kick step. Very quick feet out there today. I would say that he did rather well for his first day. Nothing spectacular and other than the first two plays, nothing bad either. He seems real good out in space and knows how to direct players with his arms. His hips stay pretty level, and he's got some spring in his legs. He looks stronger than an OX too. They gather around in a huge circle at one point, and I'm just going back and forth looking for players, and matching numbers to get to know them better, and in the middle of that circle I see one helmet sticking up above all the rest. He might have had some of the smaller players around him but man his helmet was standing out in a crowd, by a good 4-6 inches. Dudes a monster!
Smiley is looking recovered and making a lot of contact on running plays. He is fast off the ball, and it looks like they want him on the left side with Long. At least for now.
Satele looks in good shape too. Heck the entire team looks in very good shape.
Derilek is starting on the right side for now, with McKinney coming in behind him, at least I think it's McKinney. Now I don't know much about Derilek but with a name like that I'd be playing with one bad attitude!!!
I did not take much notice of Carey this morning for the most part.
I did take notice of one rookie lineman though and that's Shawn Murphy. He is very similar to Smiley. He gets off the ball real quick and loves him some contact. I was diggin on his mechanics today. His hands snap up, and he moves into his stance very naturally. He also looks like he plays with a nasty attitude. I think I'm going to like watching him develop into a player!! So far he's is second on my favorite new players list.
OK that's a little on the offense. I'm posting this up for everyone to read while I get something to eat. Then I'll start up some defense in a little bit.
I hope everyone enjoys the read, and remember. I'm just a fan like all of us. These are meanly my opinions, and they could be wrong, and surely can be slightly different from what others might see or report.
Oz
