Tweet
Here is SoCal's with Kaylore's coming soon. Remember, support 'em.
OFFICIAL LINKS: http://www.orangemane.com/article_746.php (KAYLORE) http://www.orangemane.com/article_744.php (SOCALBRONCO)
July 31 PM Report: Cutler and Graham connect
By SoCalBronco
QUARTERBACKS- Jay Cutler returned to form this afternoon. Like Sunday and Monday, Cutler was very sharp this afternoon, and not just on dump-offs or underneath throws. He hit on a large number of intermediate throws and was very accurate the entire afternoon, with the exception of the move the ball drills at the end of practice where he took some chances and had a few incompletions. He had his first interception of camp when the wide reciever bobbled the ball and Bly snatched it away. But I would give Jay an A for the afternoon practice after struggling a little this morning. Among his highlights were drilling back to back stick routes at the start of practice and a frozen rope to Brian Clark on a deep out and a sweet through on a post route and a deep route to Kircus. He also started to develop a little bit of chemistry with Dan Graham who had been struggling himself until this afternoon. He had a lot of really nice strikes this afternoon and did good work against the blitz as well. I am pleased to report that Ramsey built on his halfway decent morning by having an ok afternoon. He still isn’t good but he is become a little more comfortable with the offense and the number of terribly inaccurate throws he makes is on the (incremental) decline. While this morning the quarterbacks worked on bubble and jailbreak screens, this afternoon the quarterbacks got a lot of experience at running halfback and fullback screens, with also some wide receiver screens, as well. Khan and I both felt this was a positive development as the team has not relied on the screen much during the Shanahan era, but it is a useful tool in slowing down the pass rush and getting playmakers into space.
RUNNING BACKS- Coach Shanahan confirmed in his post-practice press conference that he gave Travis Henry the afternoon off. Not surprisingly, the running game suffered without him, as the backups were not able to run on either the first or second team front seven. Rookie Selvin Young continued to trip up on himself and others this afternoon and Khan remarked that he wouldn’t be surprised if Young was among the first wave of cuts.
WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT ENDS- Dan Graham recovered from a poor morning and a mediocre camp (as far as catching the ball) with a very solid afternoon, catching a number of passes from Cutler and doing a little bit better at getting seperation from linebackers. He still was not much of a vertical threat (and the coaches did not even try to have him run those routes) but looks reliable as a hot route runner against the blitz. Nate Jackson also stood out, making a number of receptions. Mike Leach caught a nice deep post for his first real highlight in camp, but was otherwise quiet. I still believe this group is in dire need of Scheffler’s return. As far as the wide receivers, Javon Walker was given the afternoon off (that made Cutler’s performance even more impressive) but Stokley stepped up and like yesterday, really made a number of impressive plays, including a tough catch in traffic along the sideline. Right now there is little doubt that until Marshall and/or Smith return and prove themselves, Stokley has a stranglehold on the No. 2 position. He has really earned it and has been very impressive the last two days. His recovery has really been great. The rest of the recieving corps struggled, although Kircus had his usual couple of plays, Quincy Morgan made a brief appearance and Brian Clark had a nice deep reception. In his post practice press conference, Coach Shanahan confirmed that Domenik Hixon’s injury was just a minor seperation and that he could be back as early as tomorrow morning.
OFFENSIVE LINE- Some of the offensive linemen were given the afternoon off, but Khan and I still paid attention to the line drills. Chris Kuper recovered somewhat from his bad morning, although on one of the occasions on which he dominated a defensive lineman, it was only third stringer Emmanuel Akah. Chris Myers also was not as bad as the last few days and actually did a good job getting his hands on (and controlling) Marcus Thomas in the drill. Myers struggled greatly however in shotgun snaps. He constantly had some very low snaps from the gun. Jarvis Moss had one play where his first step just made Adam Meadows look stupid. Meadows is really struggling this camp and if we any quality depth whatsoever at tackle, he would be a candidate for early cuts. However, our tackle situation probably will save him (at least temporarily, probably longer than that). The only times I noticed Harris this afternoon was when he got beat and that did happen a few times, once to Dumervil and another time in 11 on 11 action to Moss.
DEFENSIVE LINE- Jarvis Moss was very good in the drills this afternoon. He is going to be scary soon, he really will. He keeps getting better every day. In the live action, he also had one would be sack. Dumervil did a nice job in the live action, getting two would be sacks. He really does a lot better of a job in live 11 on 11 action rather than in the 1 on 1 drills. Thomas was not as strong this afternoon as he was in the morning. He continued to run with the third and second teams in live action and when I focused in on him in live action, he had some struggles with the interior of the offensive line. Demetrin Veal had a poor drills session but got a good pass rush in the live action period. Kenny Peterson also got good pass rush in the 11 on 11 period. Tim Crowder continued to have a very solid day. Former St. Louis Ram Jimmy Kennedy did not look too good in the 1 on 1 drills but he did get some push in 11 on 11 action.
LINEBACKERS- Backup T.J. Hollowell almost had an interception. D.J. Williams and Nate Webster were especially good at getting out to the flats quick on outside run plays and swing passes. I also liked how D.J. is able to get some pressure coming through the middle. I continue to believe that D.D. Lewis is the best strongside prospect. He is showing some decent speed and is getting noticed. Cameron Vaughn finally made an appearance in stopping a run play at the line, but other than that he was very quiet as was Wesley Mallard and the rest of the backups.
SECONDARY- Bly had an interception after a reciever bobbled a Cutler pass. Stokley did beat Bly a few times and some of the backups caught some short 5 yard passes on him. Karl Paymah had his third straight strong day, especially in the red zone defending fades. Foxworth was very solid and showed very good speed in breaking up a pass in the endzone. He also got a good deal of work playing Free Safety. He looked good playing the deep middle in Cover 3. Since there was no tackling however, it is hard to know how good he would be tacking tight ends and wide recievers in space from the safety position. Last season ofcourse, he struggled in that particular area when placed at safety (especially at San Diego). In addition to being a special teams ace, Quentin Harris actually had a nice pass deflection today.
OFFICIAL LINKS: http://www.orangemane.com/article_746.php (KAYLORE) http://www.orangemane.com/article_744.php (SOCALBRONCO)
July 31 PM Report: Cutler and Graham connect
By SoCalBronco
QUARTERBACKS- Jay Cutler returned to form this afternoon. Like Sunday and Monday, Cutler was very sharp this afternoon, and not just on dump-offs or underneath throws. He hit on a large number of intermediate throws and was very accurate the entire afternoon, with the exception of the move the ball drills at the end of practice where he took some chances and had a few incompletions. He had his first interception of camp when the wide reciever bobbled the ball and Bly snatched it away. But I would give Jay an A for the afternoon practice after struggling a little this morning. Among his highlights were drilling back to back stick routes at the start of practice and a frozen rope to Brian Clark on a deep out and a sweet through on a post route and a deep route to Kircus. He also started to develop a little bit of chemistry with Dan Graham who had been struggling himself until this afternoon. He had a lot of really nice strikes this afternoon and did good work against the blitz as well. I am pleased to report that Ramsey built on his halfway decent morning by having an ok afternoon. He still isn’t good but he is become a little more comfortable with the offense and the number of terribly inaccurate throws he makes is on the (incremental) decline. While this morning the quarterbacks worked on bubble and jailbreak screens, this afternoon the quarterbacks got a lot of experience at running halfback and fullback screens, with also some wide receiver screens, as well. Khan and I both felt this was a positive development as the team has not relied on the screen much during the Shanahan era, but it is a useful tool in slowing down the pass rush and getting playmakers into space.
RUNNING BACKS- Coach Shanahan confirmed in his post-practice press conference that he gave Travis Henry the afternoon off. Not surprisingly, the running game suffered without him, as the backups were not able to run on either the first or second team front seven. Rookie Selvin Young continued to trip up on himself and others this afternoon and Khan remarked that he wouldn’t be surprised if Young was among the first wave of cuts.
WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT ENDS- Dan Graham recovered from a poor morning and a mediocre camp (as far as catching the ball) with a very solid afternoon, catching a number of passes from Cutler and doing a little bit better at getting seperation from linebackers. He still was not much of a vertical threat (and the coaches did not even try to have him run those routes) but looks reliable as a hot route runner against the blitz. Nate Jackson also stood out, making a number of receptions. Mike Leach caught a nice deep post for his first real highlight in camp, but was otherwise quiet. I still believe this group is in dire need of Scheffler’s return. As far as the wide receivers, Javon Walker was given the afternoon off (that made Cutler’s performance even more impressive) but Stokley stepped up and like yesterday, really made a number of impressive plays, including a tough catch in traffic along the sideline. Right now there is little doubt that until Marshall and/or Smith return and prove themselves, Stokley has a stranglehold on the No. 2 position. He has really earned it and has been very impressive the last two days. His recovery has really been great. The rest of the recieving corps struggled, although Kircus had his usual couple of plays, Quincy Morgan made a brief appearance and Brian Clark had a nice deep reception. In his post practice press conference, Coach Shanahan confirmed that Domenik Hixon’s injury was just a minor seperation and that he could be back as early as tomorrow morning.
OFFENSIVE LINE- Some of the offensive linemen were given the afternoon off, but Khan and I still paid attention to the line drills. Chris Kuper recovered somewhat from his bad morning, although on one of the occasions on which he dominated a defensive lineman, it was only third stringer Emmanuel Akah. Chris Myers also was not as bad as the last few days and actually did a good job getting his hands on (and controlling) Marcus Thomas in the drill. Myers struggled greatly however in shotgun snaps. He constantly had some very low snaps from the gun. Jarvis Moss had one play where his first step just made Adam Meadows look stupid. Meadows is really struggling this camp and if we any quality depth whatsoever at tackle, he would be a candidate for early cuts. However, our tackle situation probably will save him (at least temporarily, probably longer than that). The only times I noticed Harris this afternoon was when he got beat and that did happen a few times, once to Dumervil and another time in 11 on 11 action to Moss.
DEFENSIVE LINE- Jarvis Moss was very good in the drills this afternoon. He is going to be scary soon, he really will. He keeps getting better every day. In the live action, he also had one would be sack. Dumervil did a nice job in the live action, getting two would be sacks. He really does a lot better of a job in live 11 on 11 action rather than in the 1 on 1 drills. Thomas was not as strong this afternoon as he was in the morning. He continued to run with the third and second teams in live action and when I focused in on him in live action, he had some struggles with the interior of the offensive line. Demetrin Veal had a poor drills session but got a good pass rush in the live action period. Kenny Peterson also got good pass rush in the 11 on 11 period. Tim Crowder continued to have a very solid day. Former St. Louis Ram Jimmy Kennedy did not look too good in the 1 on 1 drills but he did get some push in 11 on 11 action.
LINEBACKERS- Backup T.J. Hollowell almost had an interception. D.J. Williams and Nate Webster were especially good at getting out to the flats quick on outside run plays and swing passes. I also liked how D.J. is able to get some pressure coming through the middle. I continue to believe that D.D. Lewis is the best strongside prospect. He is showing some decent speed and is getting noticed. Cameron Vaughn finally made an appearance in stopping a run play at the line, but other than that he was very quiet as was Wesley Mallard and the rest of the backups.
SECONDARY- Bly had an interception after a reciever bobbled a Cutler pass. Stokley did beat Bly a few times and some of the backups caught some short 5 yard passes on him. Karl Paymah had his third straight strong day, especially in the red zone defending fades. Foxworth was very solid and showed very good speed in breaking up a pass in the endzone. He also got a good deal of work playing Free Safety. He looked good playing the deep middle in Cover 3. Since there was no tackling however, it is hard to know how good he would be tacking tight ends and wide recievers in space from the safety position. Last season ofcourse, he struggled in that particular area when placed at safety (especially at San Diego). In addition to being a special teams ace, Quentin Harris actually had a nice pass deflection today.
to training camp
Comment