4 camp reports, 07/26+27 (just added 2)

RevFarrakhan

Rev’s pics: http://www.realramsfans.com/viewtopic.php?t=82393

Blazing hot temperatures in the Lou today, but another stroke of luck as the skies darken as practice begins and provides some much needed cloud cover. Normally workouts start well in advance of the true opening horn, but today the team stayed inside until the last second to avoid the heat. The team seemed in high spirits the whole practice. We’ve got some gaps but we’re starting to gel and find ourselves a little bit.

– Once again, we started with special teams, this time working on the kick return. No real evidence of who will ultimately be the return man on kickoffs, I think there’s still a bit to iron out with the backs to know for sure.

– As much as the fans and pundits are making of “Britt pushing Quick”…the reality is, neither of these guys is going to get cut. They are mirror images of each other and stand a head taller than any other receiver…or defensive back for that matter. Its too much size and speed to give up to lose either of them.

– Bradford looks a fair bit better today. He’s more accurate and he looks more comfortable moving around.

– Its pretty awesome having a defense coordinator again who shouts and swears a lot. I feel its a highly underrated skill on the Rams sometimes. I haven’t heard this many F-bombs since Haslett.

– Overheard by Williams: “DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT f****** RALPH MEANS?”

– At one point in practice, in totally unrelated incidents, at one end of the field Fisher was crouching next to Jenkins and shouting in his ear while Williams was chewing on Alexander’s a** on the other. Great stuff.

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Fro

*Note don’t expect a good detail report. I do not take notes. I just observe*

*Also note that basing what a irrelevant poster perceived during practice does in no way has meaningful implications on how the season will play out*

Likes:

– The defensive line. This group gets a lot of hype. In practice they showed they deserve the hype. Quinn looks great. Long looks great as well.

– The defense plays with an edge. I have high hopes for this unit. Great intensity.

– Tavon Austin. He lined up outside quite a bit. He is hard to cover in space. You would think it would be easy for corners to jam such a small guy, but you can’t hit what you can’t touch. I think they have a much better idea on how to use him. I expect big things from Austin in 2014.

– Sucks Bailey is suspended. He has the look of a very good receiver.

– When you watch Jared Cook in practice you wonder how he hasn’t been all-pro. So big, fluid, and athletic.

– I really liked what I saw from Kendricks. Guy is solid and I think he is poised for a solid season.

– Outside 2 deep passes to Austin, one which the defense was all over him, Bradford looked good. Good zip on his passes. By week 1 I think the rust will be off and we will see the 2013 Bradford.

The Bad:

– Kenny Britt. He has catching issues. Not a hands catcher. Ball gets into his body.

– Brian Quick, had a drop, which isn’t a big deal. But he didn’t compete on an under thrown deep pass on one on one drills. I want him to be more aggressive. He didn’t necessarily have a bad practice, but I want more from this guy.

– The offensive line. They aren’t in pads and are without their LT. But man do the OTs get beat quickly by the DEs, granted they are two of the best in the game.

Random notes:

-Robinson got a lot of work at LT. Some criticize this, I don’t. First you drafted him long term to be your LT. Get him some development time there. Also the chance to go against Quinn will only help him.

– Garrett Gilbert got a lot of time with the 2s. Didn’t look bad out there

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badnews

First off, some of you may notice some differences between one report and another and it is entirely possible that my view would seem contrary to what others have written.

Hats off to all the guys who give in-depth analysis from camp practices. While you can get fairly close to the action (like “The Hill Drill”) there are no “replays”, no overhead camera angles, no amplification of sound. Nobody can catch it all.

Stedman Bailey gets my first comment because he was IMHO the most impressive.
Not having him through the first 4 weeks really is a bummer. He can really play NFL WR. And his play to open the 11 on 11 with a deep TD after a great double move was a thing of beauty.

Chris Givens looks about the same as ever… the problem for him is that the players around him seem to have improved enough to more noticeably expose him for what he is: serviceable deep threat and a 4th or 5th WR.

Kenny Britt has serious charisma. Seeing and hearing him as he walks around his new team, you would think this is a guy with multiple probowls and a shiny, big ring. Nobody has told him that a habitual NFL screw-up on a last chance deal cant be a leader… or he just doesn’t care. Nor do I. Bringing the Rams WR corps back to respectability is a dirty job but somebody has got to do it. Britt looks up to the job.

Bennie Cunningham is a frickin’ meatball of a dude. He was well built as a rookie, but he looks absolutely ripped.

Jake Long pushed a guy up a hill about 5 feet away from me. He didn’t dominate this drill and I seriously question this drills risk vs. reward factor for a guy coming off an injury like Long. That said, it was awesome being that close to the action and I have to believe he is right on schedule to play in preseason.

Greg Robinsons massive size would turn heads in any setting. If there was one place where he might go less noticed, its with the Rams O-Line. Standing next to Long and Saffold, he blends right in. But he is a great big man.

I don’t know what Sam Bradford looked like on Fri, but on Sat he pretty much looked like Sam from last summers camp. He really does stand way out at the practice events IMO. He has looked LIGHT YEARS better than any other QB at camp since being drafted.

Trumaine Johnson came down hard after a jump ball and immediately RAN to players “sideline” were he was clearly sore. He never left the field, but I didn’t see him return to any drills.

The two guys I really liked coming out this year for DBs were EJ Gaines and LaMarcus Joyner. Yesterday, neither disappointed. The skills they showed that made them good in college were on display here too.

The Defensive End we drafted in the 7th (whats his name? Sam Michael?) looked decent. He might be a weight room underachiever, but he looks like he knows how to play football IMO.

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thehammer

won’t bother with a specific report about yesterdays practice but rather give my 1st impressions of the team

QB
thought Bradford looked uncomfortable in the pocket and missed some easy passes..evidently he looked much worse Friday…not sure if he is mentally over the knee operation yet

Austin Davis is Austin Austin…Hill looked ok…sure more fun watching him actually throwing the ball down the field then watching Clemons scrambling every other play in 7 v 7
Gilbert brought back some memories of Keith Null “deer caught in the headlights” look…way too quick with his dumpoffs…something to watch for in the preseason games..hopefully the game slows down for him

RB
Pead and Cunningham most physically impressive(especially Pead) Mason and Stacy look very average athletically who rely on vision/instincts..Mason has almost zero experience as a pass blocker and is maybe 5’9 205 lbs…he might have a steep hill to climb this year learning pass pro…how quickly he learns might determine Pead’s future on this team

TE
Cook still looks fast, Kendricks is still looks small and Harkey still big..players to watch are Bayer and Cunningham…Paid Bayer top money to sign him and sure looks the part..soft hands, big body, smooth…looks like a lock to make the ps(or more) Cunningham has the look of a 3rd te..thick trunk/body road grader type..dropped one pass that I noticed yesterday

WR
Bailey was the best yesterday on the field..not sure if that’s a good thing…weakest group on paper and might just be the tallest midget in the room. Will say for someone with below avg size/speed he beat both Jenkins and Johnson deep and is a natural zone type wr…

Britt is the physically most imposing..almost as tall as Quick but leaner/faster. The offense’s new cheerleader…Coacho said maybe all he needed was to reunited with Fisher, a great players coach. I sure loved his positive spirit on an offensive team lacking a leader…Fisher did get into his face late in the practice about his antics…fun to watch

Quick..is this the year? pushed Jenkins 5 yards off the play on one reception showing the physicality that’s been sorely lacking in his 1st 2 years in the league and coacho caught Bradford making eye contact with Quick on a checkdown on another play..

Austin looks even smaller this year..have zero idea how someone that size will survive but the good news looks even faster more assertive on the field..a woosh!! player. Pettis, Moe and Veiltung will fight it out for the scraps…Moe might have the softest hands of all the wr’s and also has very quick feet..Givens gave his Claude Rains impression yesterday playing on the 3rd team

OL
Robinson looks 2 inches taller and 20 lbs lighter then Saffold…Saffold with his new girth/muscle might struggle ever to play OT again. Robinson is a WOW player to me..watching his body control when he pulls, bending his knees and lowering his body like a snake getting ready to strike is special..

Coacho rightly pointed out we need Wells to stay healthy(at least for 1/2 a season) to help Robinson adjust in his rookie season. Having Long on one side and Wells on the other will help the very young and raw Robinson adjust..Barnes is Barnes..thought Jones looked slightly bigger…2 players to watch in preseason games are Hooey who looks noticeably bigger/stronger and Bond who definately passes the eyeball test…oline needs more depth

DL
scary..simply scary..Rams front 7 might ber the most dominating in the nfl since the Ditka/Ryan Bears teams
Sam is a natural pass rusher with the ability to sink his hips and get small..Donald has that elite 1st step and strong hands of a future all pro..scary good as a group

LB
IMO most physically impressive athlete on the field yesterday was Ogletree playing Sam…a WOW player…easily runs with Cook or Kendricks..just needs experience to become special…will say after Laurenaitis and Ogletree rest are nothing special.. will try to watch Armstrong and Steward today..

CB
when Darren Woodard is getting major 1st team reps you have problems..Jenkins is a top nfl cb even if he will lose some battles because of his size..rest of the unit has major question marks…will say Gaines and Joyner both made interceptions yesterday showing off the genius football IQ’s…good news Williams allows his players to read plays and adjust the coverage which are made for heady players like Gaines and Joyner..bad news is neither are anything special athletically and Joyner is very small. Reid looked lost and was on the 3rd team only because we don’t have a 4th team. Robinson passes the eyeball test and ran step for step with Britt on a deep out…my scouting report on him was “covers like Tarzan and tackles like Jane” so he should do well in 7v7 drills

S
any unit starting the bad tackling McCleod is still a work in progress.Good news McCleod looked very good in coverage yesterday(we often used a one safety deep scheme leaving McCleod to range from sideline to sidelne) On one play down the sideline McCleod easily got over and could off killed Austin ona dep ball if he wanted to…McDonald is solid…Cody Davis is bland and dAlexander is a strong safety only type..my scouting report on him was “poor mans Pryor”..thought he looked 1/2 slow in college in reading plays and yesterday Williams cussed him out for not knowing the defense..not sure if he will be anything other then a special teams player as a rookie..

not sure how many practices I’ll attend but will say team might be special…adding Gregg Williams, Aaron Donald, Greg Robinson and Britt will make a big difference

*

hanks…Cecil and Williams will have their hands full coaching up this group

McDonald had 5 pd in 10 games and McLeod only 7 in 16..not sure you can find worse production from any other pair of starting nfl safeties…Davis and Mo Alexander are their backups…don’t know if Matt Daniels has any ps eligibility left. doubt we carry 3 ss on 53. Fingers are crossed that Cody Davis makes a move..best combo of brains/tackling among the safeties

likely carry 6 cb…if Robeson can tackle and learn the playbook(9? on wonderlic) he might stick as well as Jenkins Johnson, Joyner, Gaines and Woodward…McGee didn’t show much yesterday but is a key st player..

Woodard was beaten like a rented mule in 7v7(man to man) but looked very solid in 11v11(zone) where he showed very solid awareness

slightly impresssed with Joyner’s quickness yesterday..guess Williams drafted him for a specific role where he can hide his deficiencies while maximizing his strengths..Gaines was a 6th rd steal his 2 interceptions in 2 games speaks about his vision/awareness..as a player Gaines reminds me of Verner, another athletically average cb who had his career year last year playing in Williams system

overall a bad group unless Joyner, Robeson or Gaines really surprise

guess I can also take the glass is half full road and blame the db play year on walton…it might be the truth

looking forward to seeing Joyner cb blitz and McDonald coming on ss blitzes…I had wondered if they might consider moving McDonald back to fs after they drafted Alexander..just think it will take time for Alexander time to learn the playbook.

from watching Alexander play can’t ever imagine seeing in a single safety role but might be a decent starting ss…maybe next year they tinker with the idea of a McDonald/Alexander tandem

*

Fisher trusts his asst coaches…mainly just watches but will occasionally jump in if he feels something needs to be said..did that yesterday with Britt

Fisher carries himself like you would expect a successful coach would…just looks very comfortable in his own skin…easy to see why players enjoy playing for him