Khan and Mediator 8/17 Pm Camp report

[Kaylore]

Sorry this is late but I couldn't log in. Mediator and I had a great time today. There was a lot to look at this practice and my ability to arrive on time ensured me a great spot this time. The sky was partly cloudy with occasional misting and the catering group that was making the team their dinner was cooking these enormous steaks that had all of Dove Valley basking in aroma of cooked meat. Well enough about food, let’s get things rolling here.

This practice, like most of the evening ones I’ve been too, was quite lethargic and lacked the spirit and attack of the early morning practices. I’ll talk a little bit later about who looked like they gave they are all, but just assume that the rest didn’t. It made me realize why players hate camp so much. It looks arduous sometimes.

They ran a lot of plays for the fourth or “scout team” today. So we got a lot of looks at all four squads.

Out: Bailey, Warren, Lepsis. Injured personnel are limited to one practice a day until cleared. Q was running two-a-days and so has been cleared.

First Running backs

[Kaylore]

Mike Anderson – Still looks the best in pass protection but was the most sluggish out there. The first play I saw him run he fell down. He also had a dropped ball and didn’t have a great deal of burst on some plays. There was a nice sweep right that he looked good on and picked up some decent numbers. How much was fatigue and how much was age, I’m not sure.

Tatum Bell – Bell looked good today. Early in camp he had some nice runs that he broke up the middle. He seemed to find the hole well and was quickest to react. Not as much dancing behind the line today. He cuts back almost immediately and that helps sell his juke moves. Decent performance.

Q- Q looked the best today. He seemed to be back in the groove and to have found his quickness again. He doesn’t burst like he used to, however. He had several nice runs and was able to keep his balance well. The line played better today because none of the backs, including him, got swallowed up very much. He caught well and just played the best overall, I felt.

Dayne – Dayne looked tired today. He still seems to have good footwork and handles himself well. He doesn’t have a terrible amount of speed to the outside so the D keys on that and on stretch plays greater emphasis is placed on plugging cutback lanes than on containing the outside. This is true for Anderson as well. It shows what good speed can do to keep the linemen honest.

Cecil Sapp – Caught a pass on a PA where he “blocked” then released downfield. Not too much work.

Miree – Had one nice screen play that he ran for a big gain mostly because DJ Williams totally blew his assignment. Other than that, I didn’t see too much.

Next: the pass game, Corners, Safeties and Receivers.

[Kaylore]

Next: the pass game, Corners, Safeties and Receivers.

The corners looked awesome earlier today but more sluggish in the PM practice.

Foxworth – My man got burned today and quite often for quite a bit. Twice Lelie beat him deep, once on a slant and another time on a post pattern. The first time I thought that he redeemed himself because on the next play he was on Lelie like chewing gum. However not three plays later Lelie made another big catch after getting nice separation. The sidelines had to yell “ball” to him before he even looked for it and by then it was too late. On some other plays he was right there and just attacked the ball. I think the two-a-days is more about mental stamina than playing you’re A game.

Paymah – He was so-so today. Mediator still believes that he can talk to him and help him turn it on more consistently. He was covering Luke on a quick out and looked back at the QB during that time Luke took off down field. Fortunately he wasn’t thrown to but it would have been a big play. He did get a nice int off an errant ball thrown my Matt Mauk, however.

Darrent Williams – Williams looked better in the evening practice. That seems to be thematic of him. He got burned a few times but made the right reads and jumped several routes to break up passes. There was a lob pass to the running back into the flat that he read immediately and jumped hitting the ball in the air. He tried to catch it, and so it flew out of bounds. If he would have tried to hit it to himself it would have been a big play. Another time he and Brandon blitzed in. Mauk tried to lob the pass to his back to escape the blitz so Darrent tips it into the hands of Luther Ellis, who then bobbled and dropped it. Heads up play by Darrent, though. He is a ball-hawker in embryo and a little more experience, practice and film study will go a long way to making him a game changer.

Brandon Browner – Good and bad today. The Good: He looked solid enough to play with the third and even second team defense which I thought was great. He closed well and generally stuck to his assignments. The Bad: God chewed out by Shanahan for not playing hard during special teams. He almost got kicked off the field. Not a great moment for Browner, especially because I like the kid. Shanny is all but running the special teams practices personally and they are improving. I’ll get to that later.

Rod Babers – Who’s Rod Babers? He’s Cox’s replacement since Cox is replacing Young after a knee injury. He got burned quite a bit, but Mediator reminded me that he is brand new and hardly knows the playbook or his assignment. He did notch a sack against Van Pelt on a corner blitz though.

Nick Ferguson – He looks really good. He sticks to his assignment. In the zone he is good about releasing and then attacking his appropriate assignment. Plays with good range and has shown chemistry with Lynch. He notched an int against, that’s right: Danny Kannell. It was a bad throw, but at least he capitalized on it.

*One thing you all will be glad to hear about it is that the defense this year is going to be fun to watch. The players all get to do quite a bit and there are so many different formations and looks, its going to be exciting.

Next: The QB’s and TE

[SoCalBronco]

Khan you are truly a hero.

[Kaylore]

Next: The QB’s and TE

Jake Plummer: Plummer looked really good. One thing I have seen a lot of that Mediator reminded me used to be uncommon for him is he is stepping up into the pocket. The pocket was folding all round him and rather than throw away he took a step forward and threw to Leach for five yards. He still uses his athleticism to make some amazing plays. There was one throw he made that I’ll let Mediator describe that was awesome.

Bradlee Van Pelt: Still holding solid at number two. No interceptions. Just made some good reads and good throws. Both he and Jake are great about going through their progressions. I decided to compare the two today and Jake is light years ahead of Van Pelt. I’m sure many of you knew this, but those CSU homers who are trying to start some kind of “quarterback controversy” discussion have blinders on. Jake’s still the man.

Mauk – He’s rusty but is taking more chances and looking better each day. He had a rough practice today though, throwing a few errant passes and an int.

Kannell- “Same as it ever was”

Leach – He played fairly well. He’s made an impression because they did situation drills at the end of practice (thirty seconds on the clock, one timeout and they need a fieldgoal) and he was the second team’s slot receiver. He was never put into motion to Tight end either.

Duke actually had some reps on the third and even a few on the second team today! They used him and Hape in motion to come down to full back. Duke wasn't that bad in run blocking but needs to block, release, and keep moving with the runner. The rookie corners were all good about taking out the lead blocker so the line backers could make a play. A common mistake is to try and "go around" to make the tackle and that rarely works.

Hape - Had some decent catches but blocking was so-so. He looked pretty average today.

Alexander - He still the clear number one and makes great catches and completes his blocks. He was one of the few that didn't have Coach Brewster in his ear (well at least not a ton). Brewster is hilarious. He screams and yells and curses and is so intense its hilarious. I'm laughing now, but if he was in my face I'm sure I'd wet myself.

Putz - He made some nice catches but apparently tweaked his leg the very last play today which isn't good. Med said is blocking is still leaving something to be desired but he overheard the coaches giving priase on Nate Jackson (who still sat out.) I have high hopes for Jackson this season provided he can stay healthy. He has the best hands of Tight ends.

Next: The Special teams.

[Kaylore]

Originally Posted by SoCalBronco

Khan you are truly a hero.

I try.

[ludo21]

Khan, u made it in as did i, awesome, ive been really lookign forward to this!!!

Thansk a lot!!

Bell playing better is good to hear, im glad hes starting to make 1 cut then move his butt downfield.

[Kaylore]

Special teams, you'll be happy to hear, was way more intense. Shanahan personally watched it again. And eveyone got an earful. You can tell that Shanny is really trying to make it better, which I"m guessing won't happen for another few weeks, but perhaps this weekend we'll look a little better.

They really hustled today on punt drills. On a couple of all out block drills they were able to get through. Generally they were all hustling. I noticed that Jashon sykes did a good job in particular of isolating his man down field. and giving Darrent some room to run.

Overall it was better but they still have some hills to climb.

Next: More receivers

[Kaylore]

forgot some things.

Jerry Rice: He was one of the few players that appeared to play 100% all day. He made some tough grabs but did his job, which is what we need more of on this receiving corps.

Rod Smith: Also one of the few 100% guys. Also made some acrobatic catches and he and Plummer seem to have a chemistry. I guess that goes without saying, thugh.

Watts - He was lights out today. Every catch he hustled all the way down field to "finish the run" and came back. A workhorse. One drop but the rest were solid catches.

Adams - Made several nice short catches. I sometimes forget him because he doesn't usually make big plays but he's a guy who can keep the chains alive.

Ok Finally Linebackers -

[ludo21]

Adams is exactly what we need, im glad he does the quiet thing like Rod does, caz on third down we really need someone to catch the ball rather than Rod.

Hopefully they put Adams in sooner Sat. so we can see what he does against first teamers.

[Dukes]

Yet another awsome report! Thanks guys!

[DBroncos4life]

After Watts gets 1000 yards this year I want the ones that hated on him to pay up sucka's!!!

[Kaylore]

Wilson - Played ok but not great. I personally think Sykes and Gold out played him. He has trouble against our faster TEs but is great at trying to get position to make a play on the ball.

DJ - Sorry SoCal, but this kid looked bad today. Med said coyer and others were giving him hell. He was kind of sloppy in pass coverage. There were a few times he seemed out of possition on some plays. It might just be a "down day" but he didn't impress anyone, least of all the coaches.

Gold - He played well and seemed to move to make the tackle effectively. Decent in pass coverage as well.

Sykes - This kid is lights out. He hustles on Special teams, came through on a rush and when he wasn't hurrying a pass he was making a sack. You can see he really wants to make the team and the quality depth at Linebacker will help.

Chuckwurah: I never got a chance to ask Med if he saw, but there two plays where they used him on the line and he came in totally unblocked. It was amazing. He plays 100% no matter what he is doing. He's agressive and totally explosive at the point of attack. Everyone that had to block him had tremendous trouble. The best part is he can play coverage even following a Leach down field. A great player to have on our squad.

Others of note : Markus Steele, Pierce and Keith Burns.

Next: D-lineman.

[Dukes]

Originally Posted by DBroncos4life

After Watts gets 1000 yards this year I want the ones that hated on him to pay up sucka's!!!

Call me a homer, but I just don't see Watts being a "bust"

[Rocket 7]

Originally Posted by Kaylore

Jerry Rice: He was one of the few players that appeared to play 100% all day. He made some tough grabs but did his job, which is what we need more of on this receiving corps.

Rod Smith: Also one of the few 100% guys.

You don't achieve the level of success of these players by not giving 100% every play every practice.These men know WTF is up.

[DBroncos4life]

Originally Posted by O&B4Life

Call me a homer, but I just don't see Watts being a "bust"

Alright you're a

[ludo21]

Originally Posted by dipsomaniac

You don't achieve the level of success of these players by not giving 100% every play ever practice.These men know WTF is up.

Heck yes they do, thats why those 2 are such great leaders, they lead by example.

[Kaylore]

Engleberger - Man, every play he is in he plays like if he doesn't succeed, he'll lose his job. I remember one wher he got in and Hamilton and Nalen had crush him between their hips to try and stop him. He then reached up and swatted at the pass to mess up Plummer. It was hilarious and impressive. Sometimes they'll have him stunt to the inside. As I said earlier, his quickness is his greatest asset.

Pryce: They like to use him different ways lately. Some zone blitzing where I saw some of the "stand up" formation we saw in the super bowl years. Is his dropping or coming? good collapsing of the pocket.

Myers still plays the run really well. I don't know why they had trouble in Cleveland but the line has trouble pushing him off. He usually hols his ground very well.

Coleman looked a lot better today. Did more containment work and whatnot but didn't get owned like in the morning practice.

Luther Ellis looked decent. As I said earlier he dropped an easy int that was batted to him and the whole D-line squad heckled him about it. Mediator can get into more detail on what they said. Exactly.

Dorsett Davis had improved every practice and today was running with the first team in Warren's spot. He is just really sound in his technique and if he struggles he'll go over and talk to the coaches. Med thinks his head in the right place. Whatever it is, he is looking great and the amount of depth that we have on this team on the D-line is almost ridiculous.

Personally I wouldn't mind trading one of our guys for a decent offensive guard, but there is a lot of time left for trading, so who knows?

Ok that's it. Hopefully Mediator will be on and fill in the blanks. If anyone can explain why some of us had trouble logging in, that would be nice as well.

[ludo21]

Man DD having a great camp is good to hear. I hope he gets more first team action on Sat.

And Engleberger is a guy i knew would be this good, he has quickness and that motor that just wont let up.

Khan any report on the WR situation, particularly Devoe/Luke for that 6th spot??

[El Guapo]

Originally Posted by Kaylore

If anyone can explain why some of us had trouble logging in, that would be nice as well.

same problem.. id say it was a server fart.

[Kaylore]

Originally Posted by ludo21

Man DD having a great camp is good to hear. I hope he gets more first team action on Sat.

And Engleberger is a guy i knew would be this good, he has quickness and that motor that just wont let up.

Khan any report on the WR situation, particularly Devoe/Luke for that 6th spot??

Luke is ahead of Devoe but Devoe had some nice catches today. I'll let Mediator get into more detail, particularly about certain discipline measures.

[ludo21]

Originally Posted by Kaylore

Luke is ahead of Devoe but Devoe had some nice catches today. I'll let Mediator get into more detail, particularly about certain discipline measures.

Dang it Med, khan keeps saying the reports are coming where are they j/k

[watermock]

Wow. Mock goes back in full blown homer mode. I told you guys Alexander was a fine TE, he's just been injured alot. I'm VERY pleased that Shanahan has taken an active role in coaching Special Teams. Anyone who thinks Shanahan isn't one of the finest coaches in the NFL is a fool. This guy can coach offense, defense, (remember when he took over for Rhodes), and now special teams. I also like how Shanahan doesn't scream all around like Cowher in Pittsburg. Both good coaches, but man, I was afraid will was going to have an anurysm last monday. It's practice man...PRACTICE. Shanahan has the evil eye. That's actually more intimidating IMO, and when he DOES raise his voice, your ears better perk up. I'm glad he's still hands on. Excellent. Maybe Kubiak has matured this year and will start thinking like Shanahan. It's got to rub off someday.

I think Shanahan is letting Coyer make all the defensive calls. We have that new DL coach Coyer likes, and he also likes Slowik. Now Coyer has the men he wants. I have the feeling Coyer will make the call on who stays and who doesn't, and Shanahan will give it the rubber stamp after a once over. It's nice to see that. Now I'm kinda speculating, but I just get that feeling.

I'm still a little concerned about Kubiak's tendencies in playcalling, and not really sold on Watson, altho I can't see why he can't succeed. Us old timers know he was a prototype for Eddy Mac. He's a great guy, and I hope he makes strides this year. Yeah, I went off on the coaching staff off tangent kinda, but I'm starting to like the way this coaching staff is coming together.

Khan, you have done great! I'm sure it was fun but challenging with your work schedule. Wabbit hasn't been around alot, I hope things are well with him. He complimented you BTW, if you didn't catch it.

Hey, what's the deal with practices? Are they all closed or just for the press or what?

[TotallyScrewed]

Once again, a great report. Thanks Khan!

I'm on the road and can't look much...What's the latest on MoC? Is Bell showing better hands yet?

So in general, which group is winning most (offense or defense)?? Methinks that the O should start to get their rhythm soon if not already.

I hate to bring it up but any injuries to worry about?? They've been fairly lucky so far (bang, bang, bang).

Ps...I'm liking the sound of this Coach Brew character. A screamer really helped the O-line a while back (Gibbs ref.).

[Kaylore]

Originally Posted by TotallyScrewed

Once again, a great report. Thanks Khan!

I'm on the road and can't look much...What's the latest on MoC? Is Bell showing better hands yet?

So in general, which group is winning most (offense or defense)?? Methinks that the O should start to get their rhythm soon if not already.

I hate to bring it up but any injuries to worry about?? They've been fairly lucky so far (bang, bang, bang).

Maurice sat out. Bailey is still nursing a sore hammy. Warren too.

Defense is probably the most impressive, but the O has its moments. We're starting to look crisp which is great.