camp reports, 7/29 (2 so far)

thehammer

camp report 7/29

BPOT
Brian Quick 4th straight practice where he has been bpot….started 11v11 catching a quick slant on a blitz from Bradford that would of gone all the way..followed it up with a 40+ yard reception…caught a deep in late in practice where he easily went down to snare a deliberately thrown low ball…just dominating

he obviously has gained Bradford’s trust because he’s his 1st option on blitzes and has keeps throwing the ball up to Quick expecting him to win contested balls…which he is…added a real strut to his demeanor

Quick, Britt and Cook get ALL the reps with the ones with Austin and Kendricks added in depending on the package

KNIVES TO A GUNFIGHT
the defense today…beaten early and often in passing drills. Will say Williams showcased a lot of blitzes even sending both safeties so some passes would of been sacks in live action BUT the cb’s/safeties where mia in coverage..7v7 ended with 4/5 straight td’s by the offense…got so bad I was barely watching…

Mcgee started with the ones again…with brutal results…ditto Woodard when he played..Gaines even gave up a long td pass to Givens who seems to enjoy playing with the 3’s..Jenkins was solid and Joyner and Cody Davis each intercepted a pass but not a good day for the lb/db’s in coverage….

also really expected a lot of emotion 1st real day in pads and all but looked more like a Quaker convention… Friday Fisher got after Britt for mouthing off to the db’s every time after making a play since then crickets by all the players..did have a slight pushing match by Givens and unknown db towards the end of practice…seen more pushing/anger at a Babtist revival meeting then by rams players since then..just weird

random thoughts
Jones has the skinniest ankles and weakest hands of all our olinemen
1st team oline seems to be doing a very solid job of opening running lanes…simply love Saffold and Robinson in the middle…

Saffold did get one rep at LT on a passsing play with the expected results….Quinn was past him before he got out his stance.

Wells mia again..heard him ask the trainer if he could play and was greeted with a 2 thumps down motion.
like Rhaney..smaller c/g but has very fast feet with some power
didn’t see Robeson playing at all today and Moe barely saw the field..looks to be dead last on the wr depth chart…

don’t understand the Armstrong hype..never flashes
Gilbert has obviously passed Austin as the 3rd qb…live arm…crashed and burned during the end of the 1st 11v11 drills but finished strong in 7v7

Matt Daniels is gettings lot of reps…flashes a little..did correctly pick up Austin on a blitz BUT a quck move left him in Austins wake has Austin exploded past him for what would of been a long td….the pass rush, well timed blitzes and a healthy Johnson/Jenkins are are only hope with this group..unless they been instructed to play slow and let the offensive players beat them

saw Washington, Westbrooks and Sammy Brown in uniforms today..must be team photo day

weird feel at practice today only got weirder when team broke off to finish cool down stretches which they do atend of a practice BEFORE doing their 7v7 and hurry offense drills…was half way out the door when practice resumed…

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Braford looked very good again..lot of roll outs, jump throws ect..looked very accurate

IMO Bradford been stuck with too many Gibson/Salas/Pettus type players…check downs were often his only option

coacho pointed out to me today Bradford is really throwing ball farther down the field…agree 100%

think Schotty/Bradford are enjoying the new team speed/talent

just the D looked very out of sync…just a weird feel at practice. Not sure what to make out of it…

offense usually dominates 7v7 with zero pash rush but 11v11 defense usuallly does just fine…..Gaines has had 2 interceptions,Joyner 2 and Cody Davis 1 but the other cb/s have struggled to make plays…team really needs Johnson back on the field

McDonald and McCleod had very few pd last year and Dunbar was dead last in thr nfl coverage last year as a lber. Also just not much depth at either lber, cb or safety… still early but so far a real concern

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Pete Adkins

Camp Observations

I made my annual pilgrimage to attend camp today. Don’t want to detract from what Hammer and Coach O bring each day, so I’ll share a few shotgun bursts of what I saw.

*Dline began practice over by the fans. Coach Wauf was relaxed and talking to some fans while the players were stretching. Then, Greg Williams comes over and is laughing with some of the fans as well. They all looked very relaxed and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Once the Dline drill work began, they worked on the 4-man sled and a tackling dummy. William Hayes seemed to be the personality of the group, belowing out an introduction of each player to the fans as they approached the sled near the fans.

*Two guys stood out to me: Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers. When I coach middle and high school kids, I always preach “hitting on the rise.” Granted, Donald’s shape more naturally acclimates him to this, but that guy has great “hit on the rise” form. He was also the first Dlineman out today working with an assistant on hand placement during pass rush. Brockers stood out by how easy and consistent he was in getting his arms extended upon contact. It carried over from the 4-man sled to the scrimage, as well. No one seemed to ever get within an arms length of him, and thus, no one is able to get into his body and lock him up. I loved watching how smooth this big man so quickly extended out and struck the sled, like a cobra uncoiling. Robert Quinn honestly kind of loafed through the 4-man sled, but really, what does he have to prove? Chris Long looked to be cramping up, and had a trainer stretching him midway through the drill.

*Greg Reid does not impress me at all. Don’t know if he is confused or just lazy, but he didn’t seem to have much intensity or urgency at all.

*As Hammer said and I concur, Mo Alexander certainly looks the part. Of course, I remember Jacoby Shepherd “looking” the part, but then he moved and his stiffness was obvious.

*Maybe it is just me, but Janoris Jenkins looks bigger this year. He had a nice fill where he swept Harkey off his feet in the flat for no gain.

*Speaking of Harkey, he had an amazing 1-handed catch going over the middle and regained his feet and scampered for another 30 yards before lowering the boom on Ray Ray.

*Coach Boo had the lineman come over and work on blocking a guy across from them (giving little resistance) up a steep hill that the fans were sitting on. My kids and I could have touched them. Very neat. Jake Long seemed to be moving just fine in this drill. For the last rep, Couch Boo yells out, “Auburn verses Bama… who you fans got?” Then, Greg Robinson and Barrett Jones squared off in a race up the hill to see who could get their man up the hill first. Robinson won. And he is a mountain of a man in person.

*Isaiah Pead looked like a ball boy walking around with a cast on his arm. I saw him last year without his pads on, and I thought he looks smaller now.

*Benny Cunningham impresses me with his power and cutback instincts.

*I also concur with what you’ve read from Hammer and Coach O, Brian Quick looked like a man among boys today. I saw him connect on a couple of what appeared to be flag routes where McCloud didn’t have a chance. I realize this is just practice, but the guy looked like Terrell Owens out there catching the ball and powering through the secondary. Our safety play has me worried.

*Kenny Britt also looked very good. He used his big body well to make some leaping catches over the middle. He quasi-taunted over the DB after doing so, as well.

*Garrett Gilbert made a perfect strike to Givens who beat EJ Gaines by a half-step for a TD in the corner of the end zone. Good rope of a throw. However, he came back on the next play and threw a pick to Lamarcus Joyner. Joyner looks so small out there, but looks extremely confident and does not look lost or reluctant.

*Undrafted rookie WR Jordan Harris made a nice play.

*CB Darren Woodard seemed pretty aggressive and had some quick twitch to him. Was not afraid to hit.

I conclude by emphasizing that this is just one fan’s observations, and they are worth little and certainly not “professional.” (Sorry for any typos, I’m in a hurry.) I appreciate anything I can read by the guys that sacrifice their time daily with reports, and thus, wanted to share what I saw with fellow Rams’ fans who have similar insatiable appetites for camp gleanings.

It should be a fun season.