FanPost

Training Camp Thoughts: 8/7 Full Team morning practice

Alright, another day at practice, another day I feel  like i'm in the swamps of Georgia or something. If you come to camp bring plenty of water. $2 a bottle is criminal in this heat.

Players I Noticed Not Practicing
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  • RB Kenton Keith (#36)
  • DB Antonio Smith (#37) thanks to Matt at CWAMB for looking up who this is as he's not on the roster handout they give you at camp.
  • DB Brandon Condren (#42)
  • LB Rocky Boiman (#50) Saw him later and he had tape on his left ankle.
  • LB Clint Session (#55)
Also by the end of the practice DT Quinn Pitcock, who practiced for the first time yesterday, was out of his helmet not practicing and limping a bit.

Punt Drills
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  • Didn't see Gonzo doing any returns this time. It was just DB T.J. Rushing (#34) and DB Antonio Perkins (#33). Both seem like they would be excellent returners. Especially Rushing. As I said in yesterdays Special Teams practice report T.J. is our returner, hands down.
  • Hunter was booming them again. No surprise. We should give a participation trophy to P Reggie Hodges (#6), who doesn't look bad but is merely camp fodder.
  • Punt coverage: A bit better than yesterday, although still some scary gaps that Rushing was able to take advantage of a few times.
  • DB Scott Ware (#35) got some good punt block penetration just as he did yesterday. That's twice in two days.
  • WR Roy Hall (#83) had a couple good runs as a punt coverage gunner.
WR Drills
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  • I'm not as impressed by Roy Hall as BBS is. Sure he's got size and strength, but he got out of cuts a bit slow this morning and dropped a ball that was only marginally behind him.  IMO, unless he makes some big strides, he's practice squad material (much like Standeford the last few seasons).  he did make a really good catch later on in QB/WR drills.
  • And apparently I like WR Craphonso (hehe) Thorpe  (#15) a bit better than BBS does. I doubt he makes the team, and he's possibly bound for the practice squad, but I saw him make a couple of impressive catches this morning
  • He won't make the team, but damn WR Aaron Brown (#14) makes lightning quick cuts.
  • Camp fodder QB Mike McGann (#2) puts some decent zip on the ball but is far too inaccurate. Enjoy Arena League tryouts or the practice squad of a bad NFC team.
  • QB Josh Betts (#9) has probably been the worst of the QBs as I've seen them. bad passes in drills and always looks down at his feet when he does 5 step drops.
WR vs DB Drills
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  • Marvin just makes everyone look like a chump. He burnt DB Kelvin Hayden (#26) twice. But Hayden got payback and nicely broke up a pass in the endzone later in the drill.
  • Gonzo also looked very good in this drill. he made DB Marlin Jackson (#28) look like a fool on one nice cut across the middle and later on another route.
  • DB Dante "The DB Formerly Known As Daymeion" Huges continues to impress, making some great plays on the ball throughout this drill and always keeping the receiver in front of him. He made one bad play I saw, getting burnt on a corner route late in the drill.
  • DB Tim Jennings (#27) made a great play on teh ball covering WR Aaron Moorehead (#85), but Moorehead made a better catch, snatching the ball away from Jennings.  Moorehead later had a great diving/sliding catch.
Running Plays/OL/DL
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  • DT Tony Ugoh (#67) seems to be having a better practice today. I still think the team is gonna have a TE glued to his side on plays calling for Manning to hold the ball for any significant amount of time.  He looks better in run blocking than pass blocking.
  • RB DeDe Dorsey (#25) continues to impress me with his ability to pick a hole and shoot through it. Except for when he slammed into the back of OT Dan Federkeil (#76 - more on him later) with a loud pop. but he stayed upright and actually made a good move afterwards.
  • Federkeil seems to be taking almost all of the work at 2nd string LT. I don't think I saw Charlie Johnson there once.  He looks pretty solid though and at times stronger in pass protection than Ugoh. At times.
  • I have no idea who the starting DTs are. Every time I tried to pick them out it seemed they had different guys lined up there. Pitcock got some playing time there until, as stated above, he stopped practicing and started limping. Ruh roh.
11-on-11
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  • Damn Addai looks GOOD. His hands are better than last year, too.
  • DeDe looks very good too and his hands have impressed me. Definite 2nd string RB at this point.
  • Saw some more formations with split backs, DeDe and Addai.
  • Ugoh is definitely looking better today. No getting toasted by unknown camp fodder DEs like yesterday.
  • RB Clifton Dawson (#30) looks pretty entrenched as the 3rd RB and has looked good. yet another RB with good hands.
  • Despite BBS's poor review of him yesterday, RB Luke Lawton (#45) did look a bit better today, catching my eye on a very nice catch along the far sideline.
  • The weapons this team has on offense is downright scary. There doesn't seem to be a player on offense, first or second team, that can't catch the ball well and make things happen.
7-on-7
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  • Marvin is abusing guys once again. I really feel sorry for our DBs in practice. Just keeping these WRs in front of them has got to be seen as a win with the hands we have on offense.
  • Even with Gonzo on the team, still saw some formations with Dallas split out in the slot. Good. I like the matchup problems he poses out there.
OL/DL 1-on-1 Drills
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Wandered over towards the end of practice to watch OL and DL do one on one drills. Basically the DL had to get past the OL.
  • Ugoh still scares me a times but he had a WAY better practice today than he did yesterday.
  • OG Sam Wilder (#66) made some good stops.
  • OT Joe Londell (#68) did NOT.
  • C/OG Dylan Gandy(#57) looked kinda shaky letting a few guys bull by him
  • OT Michael Toudouze (#75) looked very solid, making some great blocks and seemed adept and moving the quick DEs out and around the pocket.
  • DE Keyunta Dawsom (#61) looked very good. Has great speed off the line.
  • DE Jeff Charleston (#60) caught me by surprise, making a good move against Federkeil.
  • Federkeil just plain impresses me. I really think he could make an impact as a rotational player on the line.
Another hot day, but I'll head back to afternoon practice and try to find a place in the shade. Wonder if Rose's guest wireless network reaches to the main football field.....  :D

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors.