What's up Dolfans,
I must say that these two practices that I saw this weekend were the most energetic since JJ's first year. Lots of hustling. Everytime a group is changed or moved it's everyone running to get into place. Saban is running with them to whichever group he wants to watch.
Every coach has a few assistants, and even they are an eger bunch. The assistants are also doing a lot of yelling, or barking when a player does something wrong. Players are listening too, even the star players seem to be a lot more into practice.
Also a couple of notes about Camp Saban.
This is the first time I've seen the goal posts on the main field.
They're using ten times more dummies, blocking pads, and sleds than ever before.
OK let get into what I saw from Saturdays afternoon session.
NO PADS, AND NO HARD HITTING MEANS THAT EVERYONE SHOULD TAKE THIS REPORT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. THINGS COULD VERY EASILY CHANGE ONCE THE PADS COME ON !!!!!!
The Qb's:
Ferotte is obviously ahead of the pack because he knows this offense. He throws a very nice spiral, and has excellent touch on the shorter routes. Nothing special out of the Qb's today, but if pressed I would say that Ferotte would be the starter if a game were to be played tomorrow.
Feeley is still locking onto his receivers too much, and he is also still throwing lasers on the shorter routes instead of using more touch. One thing about him is that on one play he makes a mistake, then the next he amazes you with a bullet in someone's bread basket. He tossed a long pass to what looked like a well covered Chambers, who all of a sudden put on the burners, leaving two defenders in the dust. The pass was just overthrown, and fell incomplete, but I think if it had been a game, he might have gotten it.
There was one deep ball connected today, and I think it was Feeley who threw it, but the Wr who caught it was Josh Davis, who blew by Alfonso Roundtree for a nice long TD. The ball was thrown perfect, with nice air under it, and way out of the reach of any possible Int.
Sage still throws the better long ball, but again he did not get much action today.
Brock Berlin is learning to use his left arm, and his right. I guess the clipboard is heavy, so he is getting used to holding it for 3 hours by using both arms.
Wr's
Boston was not wearing the red jersey today, Nothing special today, except that he has that pimp limp when he walks now.
Chambers is being used all over the place. The slot, the right, left, and even a couple of times in the H back.
Booker in my opinion should really enjoy this offense. He is so good at finding soft spots of a defense. He had a real nice catch where he slid in behind a well cover Chambers, while making his man think he was breaking deeper. It created about a 5 yard cushion that let the Qb kind of loft it in for a 25 yard catch.
Kendall Newson is back at it, using yet again a different number. He is getting a nice look though, getting quite a few throws today. Plus he is getting to field kickoffs.
Josh Davis could be a great candidate for the practice squad. He runs pretty clean routes, and has some pep in the step on the outside.
McMicheal is getting used in the slot a lot, and the H back. He made a real nice grab today. The ball was thrown a little ahead of him, and he tipped it up, got behind it, and hauled it into his belly, while falling on his back. He took a little shot across his face, and to me, could have been hurt had it been real. Feeley led him way too much, whereas if placed just right, McMike could have been the one laying the wood on the defender.
Rb's
This is such a nice surprise!! The Dolphins are for once, very very deep at running back, and with quality backs!
Gordon is looking real good to me.I really like the way he uses his hips to fake. He almost makes his hips open up to the opposite way he plans to run, while never losing momentum. He had a couple of nice runs up the middle today, and yesterday.
Morris is also running well, but it's his catching that they seem to want to see. They're using him a lot on swing passes, or outlets on the blitzes.
Ronnie Brown is very fast to the outside. He got around the corner three times today, making something out of nothing. On one, he could have cutback, and broke into the secondary, but instead he choose a nice spin move that got him 5 more yards. He is so big in person. His legs look like they belong anchoring a tree somewhere.. He just does not look like a 4.3/4.4 runner. He can juke pretty good too....
Sadly is looks like Minor may be the odd man out. He also showed some nice moves today, but with the competition it's going to be really hard for him to stick. Every one of the backs can run as fast, catch as good, and yet they have 15 pounds on him....
The Defense
This defense has the makings of being better than the last two or three years, It might not show right away, but this is a pretty aggressive system. Working out the 4/3 all the time, with a lot of 5-2 looks. Lots and lots of blitzing so far, even a couple of 8 man all out blitzes against the two minute offense. They're also doing a lot of flooding on one side, trying to bait the offense.
Taylor even lined up at Tackle a couple of times. Once he stunted with the end, he was free from the lineman, and only had to beat the Fb. Then they did it again later on, but instead of heading into the line, Taylor did the first action of the stunt then dropped into coverage of the Rb, who was trying to sneak out of the backfield. Taylor was not the only lineman dropping into coverage. They used Flemings as well, and I could have swore I saw Carter do too.
We might all pray that Crowder stays healthy because he will most definitely be making some plays this year. He is one huge Lb, and with speed to cover.
Zach's arms are much bigger.
I can't wait to see Roth with the pads on.
I liked what I saw from Howard today, as well as Travis Daniel's. Daniel's fights to keep inside position very well, and at 6'1'' has some pretty good size for a corner.
Seau was wearing the red jersey today
Traylor is a monster!!!
All in all I think the Defensive Line is going to be very good right off the bat. The Lb's should be fine, and the momentum swing is the Secondary, where Sam Madison is the only returning. Madison is working his butt off btw. They need another Corner though!!!!
Well, I'm hungry, and it's getting late. Hopefully I get out to the last practice tomorrow because my plan is to write up something about the offensive line during the week. I think that is the one spot on offense we all worry about, so I've been watching them a little more,,,,,
Hope everyone enjoys the read
I must say that these two practices that I saw this weekend were the most energetic since JJ's first year. Lots of hustling. Everytime a group is changed or moved it's everyone running to get into place. Saban is running with them to whichever group he wants to watch.
Every coach has a few assistants, and even they are an eger bunch. The assistants are also doing a lot of yelling, or barking when a player does something wrong. Players are listening too, even the star players seem to be a lot more into practice.
Also a couple of notes about Camp Saban.
This is the first time I've seen the goal posts on the main field.
They're using ten times more dummies, blocking pads, and sleds than ever before.
OK let get into what I saw from Saturdays afternoon session.
NO PADS, AND NO HARD HITTING MEANS THAT EVERYONE SHOULD TAKE THIS REPORT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. THINGS COULD VERY EASILY CHANGE ONCE THE PADS COME ON !!!!!!
The Qb's:
Ferotte is obviously ahead of the pack because he knows this offense. He throws a very nice spiral, and has excellent touch on the shorter routes. Nothing special out of the Qb's today, but if pressed I would say that Ferotte would be the starter if a game were to be played tomorrow.
Feeley is still locking onto his receivers too much, and he is also still throwing lasers on the shorter routes instead of using more touch. One thing about him is that on one play he makes a mistake, then the next he amazes you with a bullet in someone's bread basket. He tossed a long pass to what looked like a well covered Chambers, who all of a sudden put on the burners, leaving two defenders in the dust. The pass was just overthrown, and fell incomplete, but I think if it had been a game, he might have gotten it.
There was one deep ball connected today, and I think it was Feeley who threw it, but the Wr who caught it was Josh Davis, who blew by Alfonso Roundtree for a nice long TD. The ball was thrown perfect, with nice air under it, and way out of the reach of any possible Int.
Sage still throws the better long ball, but again he did not get much action today.
Brock Berlin is learning to use his left arm, and his right. I guess the clipboard is heavy, so he is getting used to holding it for 3 hours by using both arms.
Wr's
Boston was not wearing the red jersey today, Nothing special today, except that he has that pimp limp when he walks now.
Chambers is being used all over the place. The slot, the right, left, and even a couple of times in the H back.
Booker in my opinion should really enjoy this offense. He is so good at finding soft spots of a defense. He had a real nice catch where he slid in behind a well cover Chambers, while making his man think he was breaking deeper. It created about a 5 yard cushion that let the Qb kind of loft it in for a 25 yard catch.
Kendall Newson is back at it, using yet again a different number. He is getting a nice look though, getting quite a few throws today. Plus he is getting to field kickoffs.
Josh Davis could be a great candidate for the practice squad. He runs pretty clean routes, and has some pep in the step on the outside.
McMicheal is getting used in the slot a lot, and the H back. He made a real nice grab today. The ball was thrown a little ahead of him, and he tipped it up, got behind it, and hauled it into his belly, while falling on his back. He took a little shot across his face, and to me, could have been hurt had it been real. Feeley led him way too much, whereas if placed just right, McMike could have been the one laying the wood on the defender.
Rb's
This is such a nice surprise!! The Dolphins are for once, very very deep at running back, and with quality backs!
Gordon is looking real good to me.I really like the way he uses his hips to fake. He almost makes his hips open up to the opposite way he plans to run, while never losing momentum. He had a couple of nice runs up the middle today, and yesterday.
Morris is also running well, but it's his catching that they seem to want to see. They're using him a lot on swing passes, or outlets on the blitzes.
Ronnie Brown is very fast to the outside. He got around the corner three times today, making something out of nothing. On one, he could have cutback, and broke into the secondary, but instead he choose a nice spin move that got him 5 more yards. He is so big in person. His legs look like they belong anchoring a tree somewhere.. He just does not look like a 4.3/4.4 runner. He can juke pretty good too....
Sadly is looks like Minor may be the odd man out. He also showed some nice moves today, but with the competition it's going to be really hard for him to stick. Every one of the backs can run as fast, catch as good, and yet they have 15 pounds on him....
The Defense
This defense has the makings of being better than the last two or three years, It might not show right away, but this is a pretty aggressive system. Working out the 4/3 all the time, with a lot of 5-2 looks. Lots and lots of blitzing so far, even a couple of 8 man all out blitzes against the two minute offense. They're also doing a lot of flooding on one side, trying to bait the offense.
Taylor even lined up at Tackle a couple of times. Once he stunted with the end, he was free from the lineman, and only had to beat the Fb. Then they did it again later on, but instead of heading into the line, Taylor did the first action of the stunt then dropped into coverage of the Rb, who was trying to sneak out of the backfield. Taylor was not the only lineman dropping into coverage. They used Flemings as well, and I could have swore I saw Carter do too.
We might all pray that Crowder stays healthy because he will most definitely be making some plays this year. He is one huge Lb, and with speed to cover.
Zach's arms are much bigger.
I can't wait to see Roth with the pads on.
I liked what I saw from Howard today, as well as Travis Daniel's. Daniel's fights to keep inside position very well, and at 6'1'' has some pretty good size for a corner.
Seau was wearing the red jersey today
Traylor is a monster!!!
All in all I think the Defensive Line is going to be very good right off the bat. The Lb's should be fine, and the momentum swing is the Secondary, where Sam Madison is the only returning. Madison is working his butt off btw. They need another Corner though!!!!
Well, I'm hungry, and it's getting late. Hopefully I get out to the last practice tomorrow because my plan is to write up something about the offensive line during the week. I think that is the one spot on offense we all worry about, so I've been watching them a little more,,,,,
Hope everyone enjoys the read
