Khan and SoCal 8/4 AM Reports

[SoCalBronco]

QUARTERBACKS- It’s was the morning session so you know what that means. Jay Cutler was up and down. He was intercepted twice, once when Dre Bly got underneath David Kircus on a slant pass and Cutler was also picked by Hamza Abdullah. Cutler did have several good throws and outside of those plays (and the red zone work) he was good. He did great work with the tight ends today. He threaded some very accurate passes to TE’s Dan Graham and Stephen Alexander. He also had a very nice sideline pass to Nate Jackson. I noted on one play that if it wasn’t for the excellent accuracy, it would have been swatted away by the defender. The pass coverage was very good today and often when there was no one open Cutler had to just start running when the whistle blew. The back seven really frustrated all the QBs. Patrick Ramsey was pretty inaccurate today, but he had his moments from time to time. He also struggled in red zone and goalline work against the defense. Preston Parsons was intercepted by Dre Bly in the endzone and did not distinguish himself. I thought Darrell Hackney had his best practice yet. He’s always had a good arm, but he was more accurate today and connected with Nate Jackson a few times.

RUNNING BACKS- All of them had trouble with the front seven. The backs got really put in their place by the defense today. Mike Bell did well in goalline work, however and Andre Hall did a nice job in space off of screens.

WIDE RECIEVERS AND TIGHT ENDS- Most of this group had problems today. Nate Jackson continues to be the best of the tight ends in the passing game, hauling in several passes, and Dan Graham wasn’t bad today but had difficulty getting open against DD Lewis who got the lion’s share of the first team SAM reps. Graham also had a bad drop when he was open in the flat. Javon Walker was pretty quiet, he had a very notable drop when he was wide open. I think Brandon Stokley was kept out of practice again, I did not see him on the field, although I could be wrong. The receivers really had a lot of trouble today against the cornerbacks. Really, the entire defensive backs corps had their way with this injury riddled group. Quincy Morgan and Brian Clark had some notable grabs though.

OFFENSIVE LINE- Pears continues to get better. He stoned Moss today (one of the few tackles who had success against Moss). Ben Hamilton was held out of practice again today and in his spot was Chris Myers, who had a solid practice. He still gets overpowered, but he is not sticking out like a sore thumb on the first team, he is playing well, especially in pass protection. I thought Chris Kuper was pretty quiet today, as was Montrae Holland. The offensive line as a whole started out 9 on 9s playing very good and opening holes but after the initial drill, the first and second team front sevens really took their lunch from them. I am starting to get slightly concerned with Matt Lepsis as Jarvis Moss is starting to beat him more and more.

DEFENSIVE LINE- Jarvis Moss had a very good practice. He had a couple would be sacks and is starting to regularly beat our best linemen. He also swatted down a pass on a rollout when he just lept up and Ramsey had no chance to get it over him. Antwon Burton had an outstanding practice, both in pursuing down the line and blowing up blocking patterns. He is now getting some regular reps on the second team. Ekuban had a very good practice as well. He went down for a moment, but was only dinged up a little bit. Marcus Thomas was held out of practice again.

LINEBACKERS- DJ Williams and DD Lewis both really stood out, and the rest of the backers were damn good also. The linebackers really were outstanding in goalline drills. DJ Williams had a would be sack and a couple tackles for a loss, one of which featured a monster hit. DD Lewis looked like a natural SAM today. He was all over Graham, he was in the backfield and was successfully taking on blocks. He is battling Webster pretty hard for that final starter spot and he looks like a great fit. T.J. Hollowell was also active and had a pass deflection. Ian Gold was very good in coverage today.

SECONDARY- A+. A dominant group. Everyone had a great day. Bly had an interception and a few deflections. Domonique Foxworth and Karl Paymah had several deflected passes and near interceptions. Backup Jeff Shoate also had an interception. This group is just outstanding. Steve Cargile continues to make plays and Hamza Abdullah really riled up the crowd after his interception of Jay Cutler.

SHANAHAN PRESS CONFERENCE- He does not know when Holdman will be back, but he is feeling better. Khan asked him about the loss of veterans this offseason and he was not worried, pointing out that Rod, Lynch, etc. are still on the squad and even though he isn’t playing, Burns is having a positive impact in that regard. BroncoBuff had asked me earlier to ask about whether Cutler would wear the Riddell Revolution helmet to help protect against future concussions but Shanny said that Cutler would continue to wear his regular helmet and that he was completely fine. He said they go through a rigorous process after getting a concussion etc., no need to necessarily change the helmet.

And with that I am off, back to California.

Got some great pics of Fred today, hopefully I can get those up soon.

[bpc]

great job socal as always!

[Moon§hiner]

Thanks SoCal....hope you have a safe trip home after livin' the dream!

[bpc]

You at all concerned about Cutler? I'm not. I wish we had some targets out there for him to throw to. Pretty much though I just think that our back seven are going to be amazing this season. You guys have pretty much backed that up by your statements.

I can't wait to see our guys in live action.

[cabronco]

Thanks for all your efforts SoCal, much appreciated !

[Broncos_OTM]

Minus Al and with the added lineman this year. and how we played at the begining of the season last year it is no wonder that the Defense is lights out.

Jarvis Moss is from the sounds of it gonna be a great pass rusher. There are alot of people claim that people need to be consistant. How do you see his consistancy at this point in camp. Overall?

its great to hear about Erik Pears. Hope him and kuper can really turn it on this year.

At this point for next year my two big areas of Improvement VIA the draft would be O-Line and Wideout. i think if we can address those positions this team could be lights out.`

[Kaylore]

The final day of practice was a great one. They set a record for camp attendance blowing the old one out of the water. There were fans literally on all sides of the field and it was loud in a very positive way. I’d never seen a turnout like that in my five years of attending practices at Dove Valley. The best part was during the goal line/redzone work the crowd got really loud to try and make it hard on the offense. I was kind of cool to see that scenario replicated even with the fan noise.

There were a couple of scares today. Ekuban went down but was able to walk off on his own power. He seems ok. Louis Green went down grabbing his knee, but he also was up and after a rest was jogging. He stayed out there, so I assume everything is ok. Travis Henry pulled a hamstring and they kept him out of practice for the most part. He did take a few snaps afterward but generally was absent.

This was the last day of install. The team has officially installed and practiced every single play that they have in the book. They will go over it all again in this next week. The result was some guys’ heads were swimming and generally the defense had the upper hand.

During move-the-ball, the fist team offense had four penalties in almost as man snaps. One was a holding call on Lepsis when Moss beat him around the edge like a drum. Then a false start, then another hold, then another false start. It was pretty bad. Despite this, Cutler managed to advance the ball down to the thirty before the last penalty really stalled out the drive. I was surprised they were able to get anywhere at all.

In his press conference, Coach Shanahan mentioned that the team still has a long way to go but that he likes the effort that he’s seeing and that some guys are really stepping up. More than anything, he emphasized that it’s the mental toughness he wants to see more of from some of the guys on the team. SoCal asked him as to whether Cutler will wear a revolution helmet. The short answer is “no he won’t.” I asked him if he felt like there were people who were going to fill in the leadership role that was vacated by Plummer, Al Wilson and Keith Burns on the team – losing three captains on all three teams in one offseason seemed like a big deal. He mentioned that Keith Burns is still on the team as is Rod, Lynch and some new guys, so things aren’t as bad as one would think.

Here’s what I saw today…

The Secondary – They were really dominant today. Everyone was making plays and just had the upper hand. I think the defense as a whole is more settled than the offense, and again that is to be expected. Hamza and Foxworth were on fire. Foxworth broke up quite a few passes. Less hot, but still very good was Shoate of all people and Paymah. Bly played well and had a pick six after jumping a route. Everyone cheered him and no one booed. I feel very good about our secondary depth. I think top to bottom we have the best secondary in the league.

The Defensive Line – The line was pretty good but the real standouts were Jarvis Moss, Antwon Burton (who has started to really explode out there) and Sam Adams. I’m really excited about all three of these guys. Moss is going to cause a lot of problems for people this year. He is extremely disruptive and his speed, quickness and body size are just too much to deal with. He’s had a number of deflections at the line. Adams and Burton are looking very similar. They are large and penetrating and have been making some great plays against the run. I did watch McKinley very closely. He had one deflection at the line and that was it. He’s working on the third team.

The Quarterbacks – Jay had another off day. He was picked once when Moss beat Lepsis on an inside move and he forced the ball. He is still the most consistent of the guys playing. Ramsey still struggles with his passes getting too high, but the difference in Ramsey now versus Ramsey on Sunday or even Monday is night and day. He’s more comfortable and his mechanics have really improved. I feel good about him as a backup. Hackney had a good day as well and made some nice plays in “move the ball.” He had nice touch.

The Offensive Line – The line is settling down, but I would say that Pears is actually playing better than Lepsis right now. Lepsis just seems to have a bit of trouble kicking outside on that edge rush. Chris Myers did a good job filling in for a still hurt Hamilton. His whole thing is “no mental errors” and he usually at least plays pretty soundly. Hamilton was walking around just fine without any brace or anything, so it’s probably just precautionary. I didn’t get a good look at Nalen or Kuper.

The Linebackers – DJ Williams was destroying things today. He notched a sack, broke up a pass and blew up Mike Bell on the goal line. He’s really settling into his role well. He’s not very vocal, but he’s trying to lead by example. DD Lewis I feel is the leader of the guys vying for the sam position. All the linebackers are playing very well.

The Running Backs – Mike Bell had a nice practice filling in for Henry when he was taken out. During the goal line stuff Mike really showed he had a nose for the endzone. Andre Hall had some great plays again, but between the tackles was less effective. Cecil Sapp also made some good runs and some very nice catches. I feel very good about our backfield.


-Week Review-
Overall the first week was about progress and the defense coming together. They are being more physical this year than in years past. This accounts for more injuries, but I also think it is sending a message to the team that last year’s performance is not acceptable. The Defense is really settling down and starting to not think as much. The offense isn’t quite there yet.

On Monday morning they will have the new depth chart according to this week’s work and they will go over their whole playbook one more time before camp ends. I’m excited what this will bring, but I think after the next week we’ll be ready for preseason.

[Stormontheplains]

I would say it will take Lepsis the full preseason to get his football quicks back. He missed alot of games and conditioning, no worries with me.

[dragondawg]

great report, hopefully one of these days i will get to go to denver

[Stormontheplains]

Couple of question guys.
1.) What routes do they have Daniel G running? is he a floater or does he go down the field.

2.) What are the safeties doing the most in this defence? coverage or blitz

[Killericon]

Thanks a lot guys, these have been great.

[SonOfLe-loLang]

Thanks for the hard work all week guys

[bowtown]

Great stuff, guys! Couple questions:

1. I notice that you guys haven't talked about Warren very much at all. How is he looking? Is there a chance he gets beat out by any of these other guys in the middle?


2. No reports on the FBs. Is Kyle Johnson running with the first team? Does Sapp ever switch into that roll? How about Paul Smith? Are we using them in the passing game at all?

[Kaylore]

Originally Posted by Stormontheplains

Couple of question guys.
1.) What routes do they have Daniel G running? is he a floater or does he go down the field.

He rarely goes down field. In fact he rarely goes out for a pass. He lines up at fullback and tight end and blocks a lot. He usually floats and will run a dig, option or a flare route depending. He dropped some passes today.

2.) What are the safeties doing the most in this defence? coverage or blitz

Generally they play coverage, but the last two days they were blitzing them quite a bit. Lynch and Abdullah are the best at blitzing. They have done a really good job disguising their blitzes this year.

[Billy Clyde Puckett]

Thanks guys.

Hope you both had a great time.

SoCal - you should just move here while you have a chance. We try to keep the Californians out, but we would make an exception for you.

[Eli_Cash]

SoCal and Kaylore:

Thanks for your efforts.

I work for a sports network in Bristol, Ct and had almost forgotten what good FACTS based reporting was.

Excellent work.

[baja]

Such a treat guys!

Question Kaylore & So Cal and anyone else watching training camp,

After watching Jay Cutler all week on a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate Jay if you consider Manning a 10 and Jake Plummer a 5. The rating would be based 50% on reading the field and finding the open receiver, pocket awareness and leadership the second 50% is based on execution.

Nice job on the radio

[Kaylore]

Originally Posted by baja fan

Such a treat guys!

Question Kaylore & So Cal,

After watching Jay Cutler all week on a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate Jay if you consider Manning a 10 and Jake Plummer a 5. The rating would be based 50% on reading the field and finding the open receiver, pocket awareness and leadership the second 50% is based on execution.

Nice job on the radio

7

[no-pseudo-fan]

After a week of practice do you think that our defense might have a hint of greatness?

[Kaylore]

Originally Posted by no-pseudo-fan

After a week of practice do you think that our defense might have a hint of greatness?

Greatness? Too early to tell. I was fearful that there was a chance we would be worse and that's gone. I think having a more size an speed up front is going to really help us. We're definitely going to at least be as good as we were. As the D-line comes together, we could be really good.

[Broncoman13]

Whoo, today's practice was hot!!! Here are some things that Garcia and I noticed and talked about. Broncosforever from the Mania board was right next to us and we got to talk a lot of Broncos football. It was nice to finally sit next to someone that shared our passion!

1. We're either in very big trouble at LT or we're in for a heck of a season with Jarvis Moss coming off the edge. He was unblockable today. Garcia mentioned that Lepsis is probably still getting his feel back and may be going through the motions at first.
2. Dre Bly is a great CB but he's also pretty sociable with the fans. He was standing in front of us a few feet away. I yelled, "Dre, how are the legs?" He turned around and said, "Sore! Wanna trade me yours?" I should have said only if we trade pay checks too! Everybody laughed. A little while later he was running to our side of the field to get in pre-snap position. Garcia yelled out Chesapeke (sp?) Bay in the house... he immediately looked up and said "who said that" Garcia said, "right here" and Dre asked what part... then he realized the play was about to start... he jumped a high, slightly off throw (on a slant route) from Hackney and took it for the pick 6 that Khan was referring to.
3. Get ready for Daniel Graham folks... he's a freaking beast blocking. During the redzone/goalline runs he was a freak out there. He drove DJ and Ekuban into the ground on consecutive plays...PANCAKED! DJ was otherwise great.
4. Ernster did most of the punting today and had a few great kicks. He still takes too long to get the ball away though.

[CBF1]

A Thank you to both of you for the great reports. Makes me feel like I am there watching with you.

[elsid13]

Out of curiosity are you seeing any one offense formation be used more then most or are they pretty even on what they formation they are using.

[Broncoman13]

Originally Posted by Kaylore

7

That's what I would have said based on the 3 times I've seen him. Maybe an 8 if he had better receivers to throw to but the guys he's throwing to are getting very little seperation.

Hixon looked pretty good today though...as did Kircus. Javon had 3 drops. One of them (first one) you could see his frustration as he threw the ball high into the air after the miss.

You guys get to see the DLine match-ups. Is Jarvis beating everybody or is he just getting the best of Lepsis? I'd love to ask Lepsis what he thinks of Moss right about now!

Another thing that we discussed today was Moss' ability to last an entire season. Everyone knows what he can do with a month's rest (Troy Smith knows anyhow!) but what can he do week to week in a much tougher level of play? I'm afraid that he'll start off looking like a madman and then fall off dramatically by week 10 or so. What's your take?

[Broncoman13]

Another thing about Graham, he may be listed as a 257 lb TE but there's no way in hell he's that small. Lined up next to Pears he's almost the exact same size...but muscular. If Graham is 257 then Jarvis Moss is 225! Looking at him I'd guess he's probably in the 270 range. He caught a pass on the left side of the field today, beat a LB or safety (slipped the tackle) and headed straight for Bly. To Dre's credit he stood in there but it looked like it would have hurt. I actually felt bad for Dre in that instance! IF I was out there and Graham was coming at me... Live to play another day!!! He's incredibly strong.