BLITZKRIEG
~LACUNA LEGIONS~
As usual, the camp started slow. It's all drilling during the first hour most of the time. If defensive schemes, and CB drills are the kind of thing you like to watch and dissect, that's cool, but for me it's boring and repetitive....
The only thing I like watching during that hour, are the coaches, and how they control it all. Saban has been doing a lot of on hands teaching down there with the players in our secondary, and this group we have back there looks quicker than it was a year ago....
There was a lot of offensive work being done on the opposite side of the complex, but I could get most of the stuff down. It's tough to always know who's catching the ball when it's farther away, and there's a big shade tent errected in between the fields. I did my best...
During the no coverage offensive drills, all of the QB's looked sharp. This is really just a no rush / no real coverage drill where the WR is usually wide open cutting across the short middle. It's a good warm up drill to watch even though there's no real pressure on the QB's....
Just out of the blue, I took a long hard look at the DLmen all standing around. We've got some big boys up front this year. Much bigger than I've seen it in recent years. Sure, there's a few older vets, but there is a nice infusion of youth getting into the mix as well. I really like this group Saban has put together....
Here is some play by play from the opposite field, during light coverage, and no pass rush. DC - Culpepper / JH - Harrington / CL - Lemon
JH - 10 yard completion. Nothing special, but on the money....
JH - About a 2 yard outside pass. Complete, but once again nothing major...
DC - His first throw was a 45 yard bomb complete to Chambers. He always seems to air it out early in the sessions. He's also been successful more often than not in the process. Great throw and catch....
DC - Incomplete pass over the middle. Nobody open....
JH - Throws about a 15 yard completion, but was alittle behind the WR. Not bad at all really...
JH - Nice short, over the middle completion. He looks decent....
DC - Short completion on a flair pass {23} to the outside flats. Good timing....
DC - Overthrow deep outside. Good coverage on the play....
JH - Very nice 10 yard strike on a slant. The TE's seem to be getting a lot of looks on these plays. Maybe that's the drill...
JH - Another flair pass to the flats, complete to {28}. Decent, but could use some work. Culpepper runs that play much quicker / and his pass is more accurate than Harringtons when the RB is coming around the edge.....
DC - About a 10 yard completion to the TE. This guy{47} Teyo Johnson was getting a lot of action today during these sessions. McMike was there, but I saw Johnson getting more of the passes over the middle....
DC - Another overthrow down the sidelines. This one was intended for {82} D. Hagan. Incomplete, but had potential....
JH - Nobody open, throws incomplete to save play. A good decision based on reaction / awareness of nothing being there....
JH - Short, underneath completion to Minor. Five yards max....
DC - A 5 yard out complete to Ronnie. No biggy, but they look smooth...
DC - A nice bullet to Hagan, on a 7-9 yard inside slant. Good velocity / catch...
JH - A wild overthrow. Looked like a missed route by someone....
CL - A short completion over the middle. Five yards...
JH - A perfect down the left sideline throw. About a 25 yard completion...
DC - Incompletion on a short slant....
DC - Another flair out, this time to the FB. About a 5 yard gain....
NOTE : While it appears that Harrington / Culpepper are getting all of the work, that's because I couldn't keep up with the action going on from both sides of the field, and at the same time. QB C. Lemon was working mostly by himself with the back-ups on the other side, working the same drills. He looked solid from what I could see. He has a nice zip on his throws, and the mobility to make plays happen. I'm sure he's still in the running for the back-up position....
JH - Nice 10 yard slant....
DC - Nice 25 yard completion to Campbell on what looked like some kind of deep square in. Those two have a good thing going in my opinion....
JH - Throws a nice 7-10 yard pass underneath coverage to the sideline. Good throw in my opinion. He looked confident throwing it too....
JH - A 5 yard cross to Ronnie complete....
DC - Incomplete. About a 20 yard pass overt the middle. Bad throw in my opinion....
DC - Going for the endzone on a 40 yard throw. It's goes over the Hagan's head out of bounds. Another overthrow....
JH - About a 10-15 yard completion to the TE...
JH - About a 5 yard outside completion to Welker....
DC - A nice 20 yard completion to Chambers going down the sideline. Nice...
DC - A 5-10 yard quick slant, complete to Ronnie....
JH - A nice 10 yard completion on a comeback route. I think it was Booker....
JH - Launches a beautiful deep throw into the endzone, and it goes off of the fingertips of what looked like Chambers at the time. A nice attempt by Harrington, but just alittle too much. It was nice to see him finally launch one though....
DC - A nice 20 yard completion to {88} C. Russell. Nice throw / catch....
JH - A flair pass, complete to the flats, it had good velocity this time....
JH - A 15 yard out, incomplete. Not close....
================================================
Here's where the action starts picking up alittle. They're facing more pressure from the defense on these plays, and it's about 4:00pm....
DC - A rollout, but overthrown on the sidelines....
DC - Handoff to Brown, maybe 5 yards....
DC - Rollout, tipped at LOS and incomplete....
JH - Rollout, nice 15 yard sideline pass. Complete...
CL - Rollout screen pass to Brown, about a 10 yard gain...
CL - Handoff to Brown, nice gain up the middle....
CL - FUMBLE!!!!
JH - Short slant incomplete to McMike....
JH - Pitch out to Minor, short gain....
JH - Nice play action, deep to Chambers, off his fingers in back of endzone. Very close...
JH - Pitch to KJ Harris, he looks quick, and could emerge as a solid back-up beyond Morris in my opinion. He certainly looks bigger than he did a year ago...
JH - Scramble. INT. Poor decision....
DC - Handoff, no gain to the right side...
DC - Nice rollout, poor underthrow however. Incomplete....
DC - Morris, 5 yard gain up the middle...
JH - Short rollout, nice completion to the TE, 10 yards...
==================================
Looks like 8 on 8....
DC - Incomplete outside.
JH - Short cross over middle to TE, complete but very short...
DC - Outside flair pass to Brown out of backfield. decent....
JH - Nice flair pass, gains about 7 yards....
DC - Nice short cross to Brown, about 7 yards, fumble after the catch....
CL - Goes for it all, but overthrows by only about 2 yards....
DC - Short lazer to the TE, it's Johnson again folks!!!...10 yard gain...
CL - Nice cross over the middle, 15 yard completion....
JH - Nice 20 yard strike over the middle to Hagan. His best pass of the day in my opinion...
CL - Short quick pass to TE, complete, 5 yards....
JH - Short pass to Brown, 5 yards....
CL - Outside pass to fullback coming out of the backfield. Only about a 3 yard gain...
===========================================
CLOSING DRILLS - This is where they really play.....
DC - Short cross to Brown. 5 yards....
JH - Scramble, nobody open, throw away....
DC - Batted down at LOS, good pressure from DL...
JH - Good protection, 10 yard completion to Chambers....
DC - No protection, bad throw behind the WR.....
CL - Another batted ball at the LOS. The OL is starting to look very tired right about now....
JH - A 15 yard down and out pattern, overthrown to Welker, incomplete...
CL - Short cross, complete for only 5....
CL - A 5 yard completion to Marcus Vick. Nice throw and catch where Vick made 10 out of it....
DID I MENTION THE OL LOOKS TIRED?????.....
CL - Nice 10 yard completion on comeback route by Booker....
===================================================
Here's where it's all out folks!!!!....
CP - BLITZ - SACK - Thomas came in on the right side untouched....
CP - Handoff to Brown, slow developement, 2 yards...
CP - Fumble. Culpepper is struggling today when facing the defense, and he's not looking as sharp as he was last night...
CP - Quick underneath throw to Brown, not much there really. This defense is stout, and isn't giving the QB much time to work with....
CP - BLITZ - no time, hesitant and incomplete underneath....
Not the best closing for Culepper I must say....
JH - 10 yard comeback route, complete, but bad protection again....
JH - handoff to Morris, nice gain uo the middle for 7 yards....
JH - Nice flair to the outside, this time it's Campbell who makes the catch. Short gain, but it's something.....
I decided to go home here, even though there was probably 10 minutes left in practice. I had seen enough. It was not one of the better practices I've seen, but this offense is moving in the right direction from everything I've seen...
The only major weakness I'm seeing right now is along the OL where protection hasn't been very good. The defense is dominating the offense in the closing drills for the most part. I'd like to see them give the QB's more time to make the throws....
All in all, a long hot day. And trying to be as unbiased as possible, it wasn't a very good practice today either in my opinion. They tired quickly in the heat today on offense. On the other hand, the defense has looked spectacular.....
PHINZ RULE!!!.....
The only thing I like watching during that hour, are the coaches, and how they control it all. Saban has been doing a lot of on hands teaching down there with the players in our secondary, and this group we have back there looks quicker than it was a year ago....
There was a lot of offensive work being done on the opposite side of the complex, but I could get most of the stuff down. It's tough to always know who's catching the ball when it's farther away, and there's a big shade tent errected in between the fields. I did my best...
During the no coverage offensive drills, all of the QB's looked sharp. This is really just a no rush / no real coverage drill where the WR is usually wide open cutting across the short middle. It's a good warm up drill to watch even though there's no real pressure on the QB's....
Just out of the blue, I took a long hard look at the DLmen all standing around. We've got some big boys up front this year. Much bigger than I've seen it in recent years. Sure, there's a few older vets, but there is a nice infusion of youth getting into the mix as well. I really like this group Saban has put together....
Here is some play by play from the opposite field, during light coverage, and no pass rush. DC - Culpepper / JH - Harrington / CL - Lemon
JH - 10 yard completion. Nothing special, but on the money....
JH - About a 2 yard outside pass. Complete, but once again nothing major...
DC - His first throw was a 45 yard bomb complete to Chambers. He always seems to air it out early in the sessions. He's also been successful more often than not in the process. Great throw and catch....
DC - Incomplete pass over the middle. Nobody open....
JH - Throws about a 15 yard completion, but was alittle behind the WR. Not bad at all really...
JH - Nice short, over the middle completion. He looks decent....
DC - Short completion on a flair pass {23} to the outside flats. Good timing....
DC - Overthrow deep outside. Good coverage on the play....
JH - Very nice 10 yard strike on a slant. The TE's seem to be getting a lot of looks on these plays. Maybe that's the drill...
JH - Another flair pass to the flats, complete to {28}. Decent, but could use some work. Culpepper runs that play much quicker / and his pass is more accurate than Harringtons when the RB is coming around the edge.....
DC - About a 10 yard completion to the TE. This guy{47} Teyo Johnson was getting a lot of action today during these sessions. McMike was there, but I saw Johnson getting more of the passes over the middle....
DC - Another overthrow down the sidelines. This one was intended for {82} D. Hagan. Incomplete, but had potential....
JH - Nobody open, throws incomplete to save play. A good decision based on reaction / awareness of nothing being there....
JH - Short, underneath completion to Minor. Five yards max....
DC - A 5 yard out complete to Ronnie. No biggy, but they look smooth...
DC - A nice bullet to Hagan, on a 7-9 yard inside slant. Good velocity / catch...
JH - A wild overthrow. Looked like a missed route by someone....
CL - A short completion over the middle. Five yards...
JH - A perfect down the left sideline throw. About a 25 yard completion...
DC - Incompletion on a short slant....
DC - Another flair out, this time to the FB. About a 5 yard gain....
NOTE : While it appears that Harrington / Culpepper are getting all of the work, that's because I couldn't keep up with the action going on from both sides of the field, and at the same time. QB C. Lemon was working mostly by himself with the back-ups on the other side, working the same drills. He looked solid from what I could see. He has a nice zip on his throws, and the mobility to make plays happen. I'm sure he's still in the running for the back-up position....
JH - Nice 10 yard slant....
DC - Nice 25 yard completion to Campbell on what looked like some kind of deep square in. Those two have a good thing going in my opinion....
JH - Throws a nice 7-10 yard pass underneath coverage to the sideline. Good throw in my opinion. He looked confident throwing it too....
JH - A 5 yard cross to Ronnie complete....
DC - Incomplete. About a 20 yard pass overt the middle. Bad throw in my opinion....
DC - Going for the endzone on a 40 yard throw. It's goes over the Hagan's head out of bounds. Another overthrow....
JH - About a 10-15 yard completion to the TE...
JH - About a 5 yard outside completion to Welker....
DC - A nice 20 yard completion to Chambers going down the sideline. Nice...
DC - A 5-10 yard quick slant, complete to Ronnie....
JH - A nice 10 yard completion on a comeback route. I think it was Booker....
JH - Launches a beautiful deep throw into the endzone, and it goes off of the fingertips of what looked like Chambers at the time. A nice attempt by Harrington, but just alittle too much. It was nice to see him finally launch one though....
DC - A nice 20 yard completion to {88} C. Russell. Nice throw / catch....
JH - A flair pass, complete to the flats, it had good velocity this time....
JH - A 15 yard out, incomplete. Not close....
================================================
Here's where the action starts picking up alittle. They're facing more pressure from the defense on these plays, and it's about 4:00pm....
DC - A rollout, but overthrown on the sidelines....
DC - Handoff to Brown, maybe 5 yards....
DC - Rollout, tipped at LOS and incomplete....
JH - Rollout, nice 15 yard sideline pass. Complete...
CL - Rollout screen pass to Brown, about a 10 yard gain...
CL - Handoff to Brown, nice gain up the middle....
CL - FUMBLE!!!!
JH - Short slant incomplete to McMike....
JH - Pitch out to Minor, short gain....
JH - Nice play action, deep to Chambers, off his fingers in back of endzone. Very close...
JH - Pitch to KJ Harris, he looks quick, and could emerge as a solid back-up beyond Morris in my opinion. He certainly looks bigger than he did a year ago...
JH - Scramble. INT. Poor decision....
DC - Handoff, no gain to the right side...
DC - Nice rollout, poor underthrow however. Incomplete....
DC - Morris, 5 yard gain up the middle...
JH - Short rollout, nice completion to the TE, 10 yards...
==================================
Looks like 8 on 8....
DC - Incomplete outside.
JH - Short cross over middle to TE, complete but very short...
DC - Outside flair pass to Brown out of backfield. decent....
JH - Nice flair pass, gains about 7 yards....
DC - Nice short cross to Brown, about 7 yards, fumble after the catch....
CL - Goes for it all, but overthrows by only about 2 yards....
DC - Short lazer to the TE, it's Johnson again folks!!!...10 yard gain...
CL - Nice cross over the middle, 15 yard completion....
JH - Nice 20 yard strike over the middle to Hagan. His best pass of the day in my opinion...
CL - Short quick pass to TE, complete, 5 yards....
JH - Short pass to Brown, 5 yards....
CL - Outside pass to fullback coming out of the backfield. Only about a 3 yard gain...
===========================================
CLOSING DRILLS - This is where they really play.....
DC - Short cross to Brown. 5 yards....
JH - Scramble, nobody open, throw away....
DC - Batted down at LOS, good pressure from DL...
JH - Good protection, 10 yard completion to Chambers....
DC - No protection, bad throw behind the WR.....
CL - Another batted ball at the LOS. The OL is starting to look very tired right about now....
JH - A 15 yard down and out pattern, overthrown to Welker, incomplete...
CL - Short cross, complete for only 5....
CL - A 5 yard completion to Marcus Vick. Nice throw and catch where Vick made 10 out of it....
DID I MENTION THE OL LOOKS TIRED?????.....
CL - Nice 10 yard completion on comeback route by Booker....
===================================================
Here's where it's all out folks!!!!....
CP - BLITZ - SACK - Thomas came in on the right side untouched....
CP - Handoff to Brown, slow developement, 2 yards...
CP - Fumble. Culpepper is struggling today when facing the defense, and he's not looking as sharp as he was last night...
CP - Quick underneath throw to Brown, not much there really. This defense is stout, and isn't giving the QB much time to work with....
CP - BLITZ - no time, hesitant and incomplete underneath....
Not the best closing for Culepper I must say....
JH - 10 yard comeback route, complete, but bad protection again....
JH - handoff to Morris, nice gain uo the middle for 7 yards....
JH - Nice flair to the outside, this time it's Campbell who makes the catch. Short gain, but it's something.....
I decided to go home here, even though there was probably 10 minutes left in practice. I had seen enough. It was not one of the better practices I've seen, but this offense is moving in the right direction from everything I've seen...
The only major weakness I'm seeing right now is along the OL where protection hasn't been very good. The defense is dominating the offense in the closing drills for the most part. I'd like to see them give the QB's more time to make the throws....
All in all, a long hot day. And trying to be as unbiased as possible, it wasn't a very good practice today either in my opinion. They tired quickly in the heat today on offense. On the other hand, the defense has looked spectacular.....
PHINZ RULE!!!.....
