Rock Chalk
07-31-2009, 12:41 PM
I got to watch practice for the first time today but mostly I just saw the RBs and WRs as they were down by the endzone and few others came our way.
Receivers practiced down here a lot. Brandon looks really good, and in good condition, but he wasnt teh most impressive of the receivers. Royal too, excellent form and great hands. But McKinley was the guy I took the most notice of. Not even knowing who this guy was I kept referring back to my roster sheet and kept saying "McKinley again? Wow".What I noticed, besides the excellent hands he has, is that he was running sharper and cripser routes than even Eddie and had no trouble with the pseudo jam drill's they were doing. The kid seemed to be able to turn on a dime at will and his head swivels back to the QB fast as hell to find that ball.
Brandon did make some pretty amazing one handed grabs, one even behind his back (positional coaches throwing to him during drills).
I will say this, Brandon Marshall is a menacing person in real life. Not his attitude, but his sheer size is incredible. I had no idea how much bigger he was than just about everyone. The only person I saw who made Brandon actually LOOK small was Clady who is just a mountain of a man.
Im calling it now, McKinley is going to be the camp superstar. Means he probably wont make the team.
I also got some interesting looks at the RBs and Bobby Turner who does not **** around.
So, Buckhalter kind of half assed an out of the backfield to the flat route and Turner said "get over here, do it again, this time come step on my toe" (as Turner stood in position) and apparently, Buckhalter got the message because he didnt take anything off from that point forward. In drills, he was the best RB. Best moves, sharpest cuts, best hands of the bunch. In DRILLS.
Peyton Hillis looks a little leaner and a ****load meaner. He will definitely be in the backfield more often than not this year, and if he isnt its a damn shame. Lamon Jordon seems to have some power behind him and runs with authority but isnt very fast and doesnt have the greatest moves. Might be a good short yardage or goal line option for us though. He is rather large.
Torain was unimpressive in drills. in DRILLS.
Now I saw a few of the 11 on 11 drills and this is where I saw who was our best actual backs IMO. Torain was just tearing it up. I talked to OSKIE who had the opposite vantage point (I was behind the offense, he was behind the defense) and he said once in the secondary that Torain was undressing those fools. He hit the right hole's at the right time though, I didnt seem him make the wrong cut even once and once he hit it he was gone. IF (and its a huge if) this dude stays healthy, Moreno may never see the field. I cant speak to that though as Moreno was not practicing.
** BONUS COVERAGE**
The QBs were on the far field and I didnt watch em much as there was interesting things right in front of me but I did notice Orton threw a beautiful bomb to Marshall about 50 yards or so, perfectly on target...and Marshall dropped it. Didnt watch teh ball in but man, it was a nice tight spiral.
Chris Simms seems to have some good zip on the ball, Orton isnt quite as hard but I dont think we have to worry about lame ducks from either.
Receivers practiced down here a lot. Brandon looks really good, and in good condition, but he wasnt teh most impressive of the receivers. Royal too, excellent form and great hands. But McKinley was the guy I took the most notice of. Not even knowing who this guy was I kept referring back to my roster sheet and kept saying "McKinley again? Wow".What I noticed, besides the excellent hands he has, is that he was running sharper and cripser routes than even Eddie and had no trouble with the pseudo jam drill's they were doing. The kid seemed to be able to turn on a dime at will and his head swivels back to the QB fast as hell to find that ball.
Brandon did make some pretty amazing one handed grabs, one even behind his back (positional coaches throwing to him during drills).
I will say this, Brandon Marshall is a menacing person in real life. Not his attitude, but his sheer size is incredible. I had no idea how much bigger he was than just about everyone. The only person I saw who made Brandon actually LOOK small was Clady who is just a mountain of a man.
Im calling it now, McKinley is going to be the camp superstar. Means he probably wont make the team.
I also got some interesting looks at the RBs and Bobby Turner who does not **** around.
So, Buckhalter kind of half assed an out of the backfield to the flat route and Turner said "get over here, do it again, this time come step on my toe" (as Turner stood in position) and apparently, Buckhalter got the message because he didnt take anything off from that point forward. In drills, he was the best RB. Best moves, sharpest cuts, best hands of the bunch. In DRILLS.
Peyton Hillis looks a little leaner and a ****load meaner. He will definitely be in the backfield more often than not this year, and if he isnt its a damn shame. Lamon Jordon seems to have some power behind him and runs with authority but isnt very fast and doesnt have the greatest moves. Might be a good short yardage or goal line option for us though. He is rather large.
Torain was unimpressive in drills. in DRILLS.
Now I saw a few of the 11 on 11 drills and this is where I saw who was our best actual backs IMO. Torain was just tearing it up. I talked to OSKIE who had the opposite vantage point (I was behind the offense, he was behind the defense) and he said once in the secondary that Torain was undressing those fools. He hit the right hole's at the right time though, I didnt seem him make the wrong cut even once and once he hit it he was gone. IF (and its a huge if) this dude stays healthy, Moreno may never see the field. I cant speak to that though as Moreno was not practicing.
** BONUS COVERAGE**
The QBs were on the far field and I didnt watch em much as there was interesting things right in front of me but I did notice Orton threw a beautiful bomb to Marshall about 50 yards or so, perfectly on target...and Marshall dropped it. Didnt watch teh ball in but man, it was a nice tight spiral.
Chris Simms seems to have some good zip on the ball, Orton isnt quite as hard but I dont think we have to worry about lame ducks from either.