PDA

View Full Version : Khan's camp report



Kaylore
07-26-2008, 01:57 PM
Since 24 has a pretty good thread going, I'm going to start this one here.

Well it was a pretty good day to go to camp. The sky was slightly overcast which made for cooler temperatures. I did not see Fred at all today which was a shock, but he is kind of getting older.

Montrae Holland was pushing the sled to get his fat down. Kuper played with his hand bandaged though it made things harder for him. Spencer Larson was curiously absent. I'm not sure why.

Anyway onto the practices. As expected, the defense was a bit ahead of the offense today. Offense usually takes a good five days of practices to start to come together and defenses are more reactive and so can get settled faster. I will say the offense was much better this year than it was at this time last year.

QB's: After reading 24's report I can already tell we're going to have some disagreements on this position. I felt Ramsey looked like pretty poor, sometimes throwing into the ground and just being overall not very accurate. Hackney had what I felt was a great day. He had touch and ryhthm and seemed to make some great throws. I know Broncoman13 felt the same way but perhaps 24 saw some things that we didn't.

Jay does indeed look better and more confident. He also is more upbeat and energetic. That said, there are some things he needs to work on. He still stares down his primary receiver - especially when it's Marshall. Now Marshall gets open most of the time anyway, but he needs to work on looking people off. He also does check down more but checks down too quickly. What I mean by this is if it's not open and he just immediately throws to the back rather than waiting a beat for the second or third option to come free. There was a play where Clifford Russell (dirty Ute!) came open on a square out. I saw it there before the snap too. However Jackson wasn't open and he quickly through to the back when a second later he could have had a nine yard gain. This is one example of where he needs to get his timing down. Cutler also fumbled the snap. Yes, that is still an issue it seems.

His overall accuracy is better than last year. I have not seen him miss the throws to the left side of the field (across his body) that he struggled with the last two seasons. We'll watch that to see. Cutler's touch passes look better as well. He is just overall more accurate. I would say his feet look about twice as good as they did last year.

Wide receivers

Brandon Marshall had some drops and looked very tired at times. He was frequently taking a knee early on in practice. Having said that, every time he was in, be it run or pass, he was giving full effort. He is an incredible blocker. Probably one of the best catches I've seen him make was on Bly. Bly had him covered perfectly in the corner of the endzone and even after some jukes and pump fakes from Cutler, Marshall couldn't shake him. Then Cutler through it and Bly stepped inside for the pick and Marshall reached around Bly's body and caught the ball in the endzone. It was cold. He did have some drops, and by the end of practice he had to put the brace back on his arm for pain. So that issue isn't cleared up but it looks like he is getting better.

Darrell Jackson made quite a few nice grabs. In fact he was the most consistent receiver. He didn't do anything amazing but he caught everything and was able to get open relatively effectively.

Royal has the tools. You can immediately see his speed and quickness. He doesn't use his hands to beat the jam at the line and needs to be more physical there. He is also having issues getting on the same page with Cutler. Royal needs to work with him to understand what routes to use and what Cutler likes to do in man on man situations. He had some nice grabs, though.

Colbert was average. I didn't notice him that much. He had a couple of good grabs, but wasn't getting open that much.

Stokely is the most consistent receiver. He is just incredibly gifted at seeing what a defense is doing and adjusting to it. He caught pretty much anything they were feeding him but they didn't play him much.

Tight Ends and Fullbacks

Scheffler is pretty godly. He reminds me of Eric Dickerson where he runs faster than he looks. I mean he doesn't look that fast and then you realize that guys can't cover him. He had one drop on a deep pass play where he beat the corner and safety by just running by them and it hit him in the hands. He was pretty upset. His blocking is better as well. I just hope he can stay healthy. He's another one of the targets Jay likes to stare down a bit.

Graham had some decent grabs but they are still using him largely as a blocker. He is better there anyway.

Cecil Sapp is taking snaps on the first team.

Hillis had a quiet day. He had a couple of receptions and he moves very well. I was impressed with his blocking in traffic. He really likes to get his head in there.

I didn't see Nate Jackson much today. Mike Leach had a great block in run blocking drills but beyond that they didn't make him do too much.

Offensive linemen

Ryan Harris really had a hard time today. There were moments when he was good and moments when he was destroyed. It was not pretty. The good news is that Tyler Polumbus looked impressive and took snaps as the second team RT. He really made a lot of good plays and has a lot of power in his blocks. I like how he drives off the ball.

I didn't get a good look at Kuper. He seemed to do ok for someone with one and a half hands though. :)

Another surprise was PJ Alexander. The guy plays nasty and was easily the most ferocious of the linemen in drills. He is playing second team. He had a couple really good licks he put on some guys.

The most impressive was Ryan Clady. Clady is enormous. He might be the biggest guy on the team. What's amazing is he carries his weight so well. He doesn't look or move like he's heavy. He's very evenly distributed across his frame. He could easily add another fifteen to twenty pounds. As a player he makes it look easy. There were a few moves that got by him, but you could rarely use the same thing on him. They also would put Graham (dubbed "the training wheel" by Apa) by him to give him a hand on some downs, even though Harris needed it more than Clady did. He also does a great job of keeping his head up and his butt down. This leads me too...

Kory Lichtensteiger. He was the most raw of all the linemen. He bends at the waist and has trouble keeping his head up. He just looks like he needs to settle down. I think he can be fine but it will take awhile for him to get used to the speed. Remember that the contact drills aren't practiced in OTA's and so for many, this is their first work.

Ben Hamilton looked like I remembered. He had some run plays when he was dominant. And he had pass pro where he was on roller skates. He tends to give too much ground in these situations. But at least he was out there and things were going well.

D-Line

I didn't get a great look, so this will be brief. Jarvis Moss is really play well and most of his plays were in the running game. He is really great on play recognition and doesn't bite on PA very much at all. He also gives full effort even the play isn't to his side. Crowder had some nice moves as well. Harris was able to shut him down on some occasions, but he does a good job wrapping up.

Mallard was really tearing it up today. He had several plays where he was exploding into the backfield. I'd say he and Kenny Peterson were playing very well. These two were working with the second and third team, mind you.

John Engleberger is starting and played solidly against the run. He does a great job keeping contain and seeing the play as he reacts. There was one played perfectly and would have taken Selvin for a loss but Young juked him out of his shoes and made a nice gain.

Marcus Thomas is much better than he was last year. He uses his hands well and is great about creating double teams on himself to let others make plays. I was quite impressed wit the little I saw of him.

Kaylore
07-26-2008, 01:58 PM
Linebackers

I didn't noticed them too much. I couldn't see them a lot of the time. I did notice that Boss Bailey is big and they use him all over the field. They had him come up in the box on many occasions. They are really stressing the run defense.

DJ looked like he's more comfortable and he did a good job sealing his gap. It's nice to be back to an eight man front. I didn't notice a lot of Niko. I did see Wesley Woodyard. He is pretty small and while he moves very well, he doesn't have a lot of power.

Jordan Beck and Louis Green had some nice plays and were active a lot of the day. I didn't see Webster too much except on a blitz.

Running backs

Selvin Young is HUGE. He is way bigger than last year. He runs with a lot of burst too. I have to admit you can tell he's made a lot of progress from last year. His pass protection was very good as well. I think if he can stay healthy he could be the guy.

The next most impressive runner was Andre Hall. A lot of fans don't care for him, but he's the second best back out there. He runs hard and has good vision. He plays the second and sometimes even the first team. His blocking technique isn't the best, but his reads are right and usually tries to take the right guy out.

Michael Pittman is a specimen. The guy is cut. He doesn't have much speed left though. He does provide a nice Garrison Hearst role and is currently the third guy.

Toward the end of practice Torrain started to make some nifty moves and understand the cut back pretty well. I think he'll need more time before he's the surprise starter.

Aldridge is fast and has amazing hands. Unfortunately he isn't a very physical runner. I hope he can return kicks or really explode as a receiving threat because it's going to be hard for him. I suspect he's one of those guys that when the game is on he just takes control.

Specialists

Prater can kick and kick far. He hit all his field goals with room to spare. It's nice to have a booming leg again. Both punters are very good at holding. I would like to see Kern make the team, but Paulescu has faster hands when holding so either is fine. There were not real returns or punts - only field goals.

Secondary

Bailey is still good and Bly was really good today as well. Bailey got beat by Marshall on a comeback. Bly had a couple of breakups and near-ints that were impressive. He had a good practice. Foxworth had a pick and so did Josh Barrett.

Lynch and Hamza are the starters right now. I didn't see them ever get burned. Barrett plays slower than his combine would lead you to believe. I would say more speed is needed at the safety position.

So there you go. I didn't see as much this year, but I had fun and it was nice sitting with all the fans making cracks about KC and the Raiders. Good times.

FYI I am not saying the offense or defense is going to be awesome and I am not promising an amazing season anywhere in this report. :haw!:

Originally posted at http://www.orangemane.com/BB/showthread.php?p=2017342&posted=1#post2017342

WARHORSE
07-26-2008, 02:01 PM
I was just going to the Mane to ask if you would come over here and post for the boys.

Thanks Kaylore!

And great work!

Northman
07-26-2008, 02:07 PM
oops, one guy already beat me. I asked Apa if he would post his too Kaylore so you may see a PM from me on the mane about this. :)

BroncoJoe
07-26-2008, 02:09 PM
Thanks, man! Even though I live here, I can rarely make it to training camp. Sad, because I'm only around 6 miles from Dove Valley!

Tned
07-26-2008, 02:11 PM
Thanks for posting the report here, Kaylore. Great report as always. :salute:

Arkansas Bronco
07-26-2008, 02:12 PM
Thanks, man! Even though I live here, I can rarely make it to training camp. Sad, because I'm only around 6 miles from Dove Valley!

Dont know if your a forum board junkie but Kaylore and SoCal (which doesnt have time this year) put out the best reports every year. And yes they put out the story far better then paid media does (well from all I can find).

BroncoJoe
07-26-2008, 02:13 PM
Dont know if your a forum board junkie but Kaylore and SoCal (which doesnt have time this year) put out the best reports every year. And yes they put out the story far better then paid media does (well from all I can find).

Junkie = Yes

And I agree - these guys report better than the media. I may have to give Shanahan a ring about these guys...

ApaOps5
07-26-2008, 02:17 PM
Hey guys I am off to a BBQ and the wife is already yelling at me to hurry. So Anubis is going to copy and paste mine from the mane. If you have any questions PM me and I will reply tonight.

Arkansas Bronco
07-26-2008, 02:17 PM
Junkie = Yes

And I agree - these guys report better than the media. I may have to give Shanahan a ring about these guys...

Maybe Kaylore. If you tell him about SoCal we will just be drafting out of "the U" for years to come.

Kaylore
07-26-2008, 02:25 PM
Maybe Kaylore. If you tell him about SoCal we will just be drafting out of "the U" for years to come.

:rofl:It's funny because it's true.

Italianmobstr7
07-26-2008, 02:30 PM
I love reading about training camp from FANS that are there instead of retarded media. I look forward to these reports every day. Thanks Kahn.

Arkansas Bronco
07-26-2008, 02:33 PM
I love reading about training camp from (insert added: TRUE) FANS that are there instead of retarded media. I look forward to these reports every day. Thanks Kahn.

For years Khan spoiled us, I know life takes over bro and trust me with 2 toddlers I know. Thanks for the masterpiece even if its short this year.

turftoad
07-26-2008, 02:35 PM
Awesome............ Thanks

DenBronx
07-26-2008, 04:01 PM
doesnt seem like niko is doing so well so far. vilma was one guy i wish we would have made a move for. i think our defense would have been pretty beastly with a guy like him in the middle. mlb is a huge concern at this point.

Midnight Blue
07-26-2008, 04:39 PM
Patience.... it's only the second day of training camp. Given time, the offense, defense, and special teams will all "tighten up"....

BroncoWave
07-26-2008, 05:03 PM
I like what I'm hearing about Clady. I was glad when we drafted him and I am excited to see him play this season.

Watchthemiddle
07-26-2008, 05:52 PM
Thank you thank you and thank you!!!

I was just posting yesterday asking if anyone was going to do this on here this year for those of us who can't make it to camp everyday.

I love reading these reports. Thank you for your time in bringing us the news.

WARHORSE
07-26-2008, 06:24 PM
Thanks, man! Even though I live here, I can rarely make it to training camp. Sad, because I'm only around 6 miles from Dove Valley!


I hate you.:coffee:

Broncos Mtnman
07-26-2008, 06:35 PM
Kahn's the best!!

http://www.picpop.com/gallery/albums/userpics/Awesome/threadrocks.jpg

Den21vsBal19
07-26-2008, 06:48 PM
Thank you for taking the time to present these reports :salute:

Timmy!
07-26-2008, 06:58 PM
doesnt seem like niko is doing so well so far. vilma was one guy i wish we would have made a move for. i think our defense would have been pretty beastly with a guy like him in the middle. mlb is a huge concern at this point.

Until they start to actually TACKLE, it's pretty hard to tell, and even then I'll wait till see him play in a couple preseason games before I press the panic button. Worst case, Webster can play MLB, he's better in the middle than on the outside (if that's saying anything :heh: ) I agree about Vilma, but time will tell with Niko.

slim
07-26-2008, 07:01 PM
Yeah, you guys rock. I love reading this stuff. Thanks and keep up the good work :salute:

yardog
07-26-2008, 07:06 PM
Thanks for the report.

DenBronx
07-27-2008, 01:15 AM
more......i want more....

Dreadnought
07-27-2008, 09:10 PM
Great stuff, Kaylore! Thank you!

BroncoWave
07-27-2008, 09:11 PM
more......i want more....

That's what she said.

GEM
07-28-2008, 11:06 AM
Thanks Kaylore! Much appreciated. I was going to try to head down this morning, but the boss put a big ixnay on the partay.....:tsk:

I always love these reports!

broncosfanscott
07-30-2008, 12:34 AM
Thanks Kaylore. I enjoy someone keeping an update on camp and keep it coming.

Kaylore
08-02-2008, 04:10 PM
Here's today's:
http://www.orangemane.com/BB/showthread.php?t=69760
Hello everyone. I was able to meet up with Apa and we did get press credentials (though not without some minor trouble). Nevertheless we made it and even were able to meet up with Montrose and the guy that does the Mile High Report during todays practice.

Because today was the last practice before the team got the next day and a half off (no evening practice today and no Sunday practice) this was more spirited than usual. Let's get right to the report.

Defensive Alignment. Ok as promised I paid especially close attention to the defensive alignments as well as zone versus man coverage depending on the down and distance. So far it appears we have a base D and a nickel D and that is pretty much it. Lest I embarrass myself with my awkward use of defense nomenclature, I have instead designed out the defensive fronts as they appeared.

Here is the Base defense:
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/306/baseuo4.png
This was used pretty much every first down and every running down. Engleberger played LDE and Dumervil RDE.

Here is their nickel package:
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2908/nickellg3.png

This would take out the Mike and replace it with Foxworth.

We ran an overwhelming amount of zone coverage. It was almost entirely a traditional cover 2 defense. There were a few cases on blitzes when they would go to a cover 1. On one play it appeared that everyone played zone except for the corners as both tracked their receivers in out of other defender's zones. It was hard to tell if this just appeared this way or not.

Regardless, you can tell by this defense that they are putting an incredible emphasis on the run this year. This makes sense as it was our biggest weakness last year.

I want to point out that during install we so much more flavorful and exciting packages getting put in, but these are for later when preseason is winding down and all the press and the crowds go away. I'm sure TheReverend and Mediator12 can elaborate further based on the alignments I've presented. We also had Apa take some pre-snap photos to show some of the other looks that were shown.

Now to my traditional report.

Quarterbacks: I am extremely excited about Cutler. He looks really comfortable and he is starting to really make strides. The big observations I noticed with him were that he is consistently stepping up into the pocket and even taking a few steps through it to but more time and let the offensive line wash the defenders out of the play. Plummer was very good at this and the other benefit is when a QB steps up into the pocket, it tends to force you to throw off the correct foot as you are moving forward. He is much better than he was last Saturday at looking off targets. I saw him stare down two targets and both were him waiting for them to get open and were good reads and great throws. The later was on a deep post on third and six where he picked up a 20+ yard gain on a great throw to Stokely. He still has some issues with allowing defensive linemen to read his eyes and bat passes down at the line. A pump fake or two would help with this.

Patrick Ramsey is the third best QB in camp. His throws are off, his timing is average and he gets intercepted most of all three QB's. His release is horribly slow as well.

Hackney is very impressive. He makes some of the best touch throws of the three QB's and you can tell he "gets" the system. He understands where he wants to go with the ball. My only knock on him is his height makes him really struggle when pressure is in his face.

Receivers: Marshall just destroyed today. You can tell he's back in football shape. He didn't take many knees. There were a few plays where he just flat beat his guy. On jump balls Marshall wins every time. In the red zone Marshall wins. On one play Foxworth had good coverage and after Marshall bobbled the ball he batted it back to himself. The best was a very tight coverage in the endzone that Cutler made the perfect throw on what appeared to be a drag route and Marshall scooped it up for the TD. He was visibly excited about this. Brandon Stokely is not garnering any attention, but he is the least coverable of all the receivers. His consistency and ability to make things easier on the QB's (no matter who is throwing) is taken for granted by the fans and media. Eddie Royal looked ok, but nothing all that impressive, at least from what I was looking at.

Matt Prater: Matt Prater made every kick. They kicked from both hashes starting at the 35 and moved back 5-7 yards until he made his final kick, a 68 yarder, to a booming applause. At the end of the day, during a hurry up drill where they needed a field goal in 1:00, Cutler moved them down field and then with 3 seconds left they stopped the clock and Prater nailed it from what looked like 48 yards. It was some very clutch kicking and everyone was ecstatic. If he can be somewhere close to as good as he was today we won't even think twice about Elam.

Offensive Linemen: Ryan Clady has been the most consistent player in camp. Even Champ has had Marshall occasionally get the better of him. Clady has been solid the entire time. What impresses most about Clady is how easy he makes it look. No one gets the better of him consistently. Ryan Harris is much better than he was last Saturday. He is giving less ground, is keeping his pad level low and holding leverage much better. I was actually impressed with him, especially considering his performance a week ago. I'm still impressed with Polumbus as well. Tyler is an extremely large man that moves better than you would think he does. Wiegman is doing ok at Center but he tends to get overpowered on occasion. Chris Kuper is doing much better than I thought he would. He is learning to use his wrapped hand to punch since he can't grab with it, and all things considered I think this will make a him a more rounded player when he gets healthy.

Kaylore
08-02-2008, 04:11 PM
Secondary: Bailey got the better of Marshall today. He really struggled to get open on him. It's been nice to see them battle back and forth. Bly played well, but Foxworth has really come on of late. He had another interception today, but it was on a horrible throw by Patrick Ramsey. Josh Barret had some nice plays. There are still moments when he hesitates and the play develops past him. I think as things slow down he will be a better player in this regard. JMFW had several great plays, even defending a TD in the redzone on one throw. He plays very physical and this helps keep the receivers off their game. Paymah hasn't looked as good. It is very clear right now that the gap between Paymah and Foxworth is looking more like a chasm. McCree looks ok, but nothing amazing. He will do ok in our system.

Defensive Linemen: Dumervil actually blew up a running play int he backfield today. He is getting better at playing both ways, though his mass will always limit what he can do against a power running game. Moss had some nice moments and well and he is starting to take snaps on the first team. Mallard had a good day practice drawing high praise. Marcus Thomas is getting more comfortable in the system and the speed of the game is slowing down for him. I would say that the pressure on the offensive line overall was very good today.

Running backs: Ryan Torain had the best runs of the day followed by Andre Hall. Torain reminds me of Shaun Alexander. He doesn't waste a lot of movement, but he's shiftier than he looks. He doesn't use a lot of jukes or spins, it's mostly side-steps and stiff arms. Most importantly he always falls forward. In pass-pro he has some trouble recognizing what he should do. This will need to be worked on. Andre Hall also had a great day. He some very impressive runs and in protections was throwing himself at the guys full throttle. I know people aren't as high on him, but he looks very good and the staff like him, so keep an eye on him. Selvin Young did ok, but I didn't notice him too much.

Linebackers: Webster plays pretty jacked up. When he walked onto the field in the morning, he let out a loud scream. Boss was still out and early on Webster and DJ got yelled at for over-pursuit. They redeemed themselves later with some aggressive plays that helped shut things down. The zone defense we're using is pretty effective against the pass. We have a lot of LB's that can run right now. DJ dropped an int that the D tipped to him.

Tight Ends: So far Nate Jackson takes more snaps on the first team than Scheffler. I think this is just camp mind games. Jackson has made some nice plays, and Graham even caught as well as a nice pickup when Cutler checked to him on a blitz. Scheffler is the best true receiver of the bunch. On one play he caught a 40 yard TD pass during move the ball that ended the whole drill just as it was getting started. He can just run by guys and make it look like he's barely running at all.

Overall it was a good practice. There are still some weaknesses at backer and the offensive line getting gashed on occasion leads me to believe there will be some growing pains there. I am quite curious how we are going to match up against the Cowboys.

ApaOps5
08-02-2008, 04:14 PM
Ok Kahn posted the report now here are the pictures:

Thats Mister Royal to you:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208104.jpg

Josh Barrett:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208105.jpg

Champ getting grilled:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208107.jpg

ApaOps5
08-02-2008, 04:16 PM
He is going to be nasty this year suspension or not:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208049-1.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208081.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208008.jpg

ApaOps5
08-02-2008, 04:17 PM
Mr. Nalen:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208020.jpg

Guy is huge:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208016.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208023.jpg

ApaOps5
08-02-2008, 04:17 PM
Sadly so is this guy:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208039.jpg

ApaOps5
08-02-2008, 04:18 PM
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208033.jpg

Kaylore
08-02-2008, 04:23 PM
Sadly so is this guy:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208039.jpg

It's FATTTTYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!:laugh:

ApaOps5
08-02-2008, 04:25 PM
Yeah I hope he get in shape:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208093.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208094.jpg

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208098.jpg

Broncos Mtnman
08-02-2008, 04:37 PM
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n224/ApaOps5/Broncos%20Training%20Camp%20080208/BroncosTC080208098.jpg

Reminds me of a yo mama joke......

This Bronco's so fat, when Shanny tells him to haul ass, he's gotta make two trips.

:lol:

gobroncsnv
08-03-2008, 11:28 AM
Good report, good pix, good jokes.... (something HAD to be said about how many area codes that backside covers!)

Lonestar
08-03-2008, 02:00 PM
Good report, good pix, good jokes.... (something HAD to be said about how many area codes that backside covers!)

was thinking time zones.. would describe it better..

Cugel
08-03-2008, 02:45 PM
What chance does Holland have to make the team if he's too fat to practice? Decades ago players had off-season jobs and would show up to training camp and get in shape DURING camp.

Today, the off-season is about conditioning and preparing and showing up out of shape and expecting to work your way into shape is like showing up at the Olympics out of condition and hoping that by the finals you'll be ready.

Forget it. Other players showed up ready to compete and he didn't. I can't see him making the team at all.

Lonestar
08-03-2008, 03:09 PM
What chance does Holland have to make the team if he's too fat to practice? Decades ago players had off-season jobs and would show up to training camp and get in shape DURING camp.

Today, the off-season is about conditioning and preparing and showing up out of shape and expecting to work your way into shape is like showing up at the Olympics out of condition and hoping that by the finals you'll be ready.

Forget it. Other players showed up ready to compete and he didn't. I can't see him making the team at all.

He played to good last year to just flat get cut..

IIRC he was the highest rated OLINE guy we had last year..

It is not like he has to learn the play book just get practice in with the newbie to his right..

mikey will run his ass into the ground those 20-25 pounds will be gone a another week or two..

Cugel
08-03-2008, 04:03 PM
I wasn't all that thrilled with his play last year, but if he's one of the best 10 OL then I certainly won't mind seeing him stay. He's bigger than the average Denver lineman, but he has to be in shape to play.

I was just commenting on his lack of professionalism. You just don't show up to camp 25-30 lbs. overweight if you want to keep your job.

He'll be lucky if Shanahan keeps him on the roster because other players will be out there competing on the field while he's trying to lose some of his flab. And even when he finally is allowed to practice, he'll be a week or two behind everyone else. That's usually fatal to your career, unless you're a known starter.

Champ Bailey, Brandon Marshall, Cutler, guys like that could get away with being injured and forced to sit out the pre-season. But, players fighting for a job? And forced to sit because you're a big fat lard who can't be bothered to work out during the off-season and ate too many cherry pies and super-sized fries?

No.:coffee:

Den21vsBal19
08-03-2008, 04:23 PM
was thinking time zones.. would describe it better..
I'm sure I saw something about a solar eclipse the other day ;)

Thanks again for the reports and pics, gents :salute:

pnbronco
08-04-2008, 10:01 AM
I wasn't all that thrilled with his play last year, but if he's one of the best 10 OL then I certainly won't mind seeing him stay. He's bigger than the average Denver lineman, but he has to be in shape to play.

I was just commenting on his lack of professionalism. You just don't show up to camp 25-30 lbs. overweight if you want to keep your job.

He'll be lucky if Shanahan keeps him on the roster because other players will be out there competing on the field while he's trying to lose some of his flab. And even when he finally is allowed to practice, he'll be a week or two behind everyone else. That's usually fatal to your career, unless you're a known starter.

Champ Bailey, Brandon Marshall, Cutler, guys like that could get away with being injured and forced to sit out the pre-season. But, players fighting for a job? And forced to sit because you're a big fat lard who can't be bothered to work out during the off-season and ate too many cherry pies and super-sized fries?

No.:coffee:

He was at all the mini camps and has been at all the off season work outs. So it just seems strange that no one on the staff could see he was overweight before camp opened and had been working with him last month.

Ziggy
08-04-2008, 03:04 PM
So I went camping for the first time this year to the AM practice today. How Kaylore, Montrose, Socal, and those guys watch everything at once, I have no idea. My kudos to them for the work they do, and I'll just go over the little bit I saw when I was there.

QB's- I've been reading in the camp reports about how Cutler is staring down his receivers, and I saw it first hand today myself. It's a habit that he's having a hard time breaking. He did it again and again today. His arm is a cannon, and the gap between Cutler and the backups is more of a chasm. I didn't notice much of anything Ramsey did today. Hackney played quite a bit, and looks to have a decent grasp of the offense. He is short though, and gets balls batted down. There were 2 times when receivers were open deep and he underthrew them, allowing Bly to catch up and knock the pass away.

RBs- Selvin Young is the clear #1, is bigger this season, and still has his speed. He was OK today, especially turning the corner on a goal line playto beat the D for a TD. Andre Hall had a decent practice, nothing special. Torrain definitely brings power to position. He runs with authority that Young and Hall don't. One of the stars of camp today was Alridge. He is simply electric. He's not going to do much running between the tackles, but put him in open space and he's gone. He put a juke on one defender, (not sure who) and pretty much left him picking up his jock strap while he took it down the sideline for a long TD. From what I've read on him in previous camp reports, and what I saw today, the coaches are going to have a hard time leaving him off of the final roster. I really wanted to see what Hillis brought to the table, but even though he dressed out and warmed up, I didn't see him involved in any of the O vs D drills.

WR's- Bmarsh is BMarsh. If he can stay out of trouble off the field, he will be a superstar on it. He's pretty much uncoverable by anyone other than Champ, and that's never even a sure bet. Colbert had a couple of nice grabs and looked good. DJack was solid, catching what was thrown to him. Royal found space, but the QB's had a hard time finding him. Parker was impressive today, making a couple of nice catches, and a kid named Clifford Russell was impressive. (never heard of him till today)

OL- Clady...wow! He's not big, he's enormous. His blocking was as impressive as his size. Whether it was one on one against the DE, a blitz, or a stunt, he took care of business. The inside of the line seemed to work well together on passing downs, but they didn't open many holes up the middle for the RB's. Kuper looks solid at RG, and Harris got beat like a rag doll numerous times. Wegeman was at C. The kid that really caught my eye was Polumbo. He's a huge kid, and watching him at RT, I swore I was having flashbacks of Lepsis in his early days. Some plays he looked like a lost rookie, and on others he looked like an all-pro. He really looks to be a diamond in the rough. Don't be surprised to see him stick around also.

TE- Daniel Graham is a great blocker, and showed some skills on the goal line plays. Sheff had a couple of nice catches, but dropped one that was right in his hands. Nate Jackson had one nice grab but I didn't notice him much after that.

I need to add that I didn't get to see all of the goal line plays because of where we were sitting. I eventually moved down and got to see more, but still missed more than I should have.

P- Were keeping an eye on the punters on the opposite field inbetween plays, and there is clearly a difference in power between the 2. Kern has the better leg hands down. His punts travel about 5-7 yards longer than Paulesu's on the average.

GEM
08-04-2008, 03:34 PM
He was at all the mini camps and has been at all the off season work outs. So it just seems strange that no one on the staff could see he was overweight before camp opened and had been working with him last month.


They were talking about that on the radio one day....how did the trainer not catch this PRIOR to camp starting. It is highly unlikely that he put on 20 lbs between the offseason stuff and camp so someone missed the bus here.

Lonestar
08-04-2008, 04:11 PM
They were talking about that on the radio one day....how did the trainer not catch this PRIOR to camp starting. It is highly unlikely that he put on 20 lbs between the offseason stuff and camp so someone missed the bus here.


I thought I Heard that he permission not to attend off season stuff. Not sure about the otas

But folks it is not hard to put on 10 pounds when your that big..

pnbronco
08-04-2008, 04:39 PM
I thought I Heard that he permission not to attend off season stuff. Not sure about the otas

But folks it is not hard to put on 10 pounds when your that big..

He was going to try to do Meck's golf tourn and but the tourn started at 7:30 and he had to work out instead and it was after the formal otas. Every time I talked to him he was at Dove and he was working out with the O line guys and that been since March I fairly sure.

Ziggy that's for the report and I agree I don't know how Kaylore, Montrose, Socal watch everything at once I was lucky to catch a few plays here and there.

GEM
08-04-2008, 05:56 PM
I thought I Heard that he permission not to attend off season stuff. Not sure about the otas

But folks it is not hard to put on 10 pounds when your that big..


He was going to try to do Meck's golf tourn and but the tourn started at 7:30 and he had to work out instead and it was after the formal otas. Every time I talked to him he was at Dove and he was working out with the O line guys and that been since March I fairly sure.

Ziggy that's for the report and I agree I don't know how Kaylore, Montrose, Socal watch everything at once I was lucky to catch a few plays here and there.

From what I read he was at all the off season stuff. There isn't that much time between the last offseason thing and the start of camp. They radio guys stated my opinion on the matter, someone missed the bus.

Simple Jaded
08-04-2008, 06:42 PM
They interviewed Rich Tuten on the fan, he said he knew all about Holland's weight but that they decided to let him get down to playing weight on his own.

Take it for what it's worth, but according to Tuten, they knew he was way overweight......

Kaylore
08-13-2008, 01:36 PM
Hey guys. Here's the report on today's camp report. Oskie and I arrived right at 8:40 but the real stuff didn't start until nine. Between the local, Dallas, national and Hard knocks crew. There was an enormous amount of media present for the scrimmage. I'll start by going drill by drill and explain the things that I noticed. My early apologies to Cowboy fans as I mostly was watching the Bronco players though I did spend some time on some of the Cowboy offense Vs. Denver Defensive drills.

Beating jam coverage

the first portion of practice involved the teams split up doing their warm up drills. The Broncos corners and receivers spent a lot of time working on the jam. Royal was the hardest to jam at the line. Paymah and Bly were actually the best at bumping their guy and then hanging on his pocket. The others had mixed results. Jackson had trouble being very physical at the line. After this exchange the horn blew and the drills shifted with the lines working on gap recognition as well as the next drill I watched.

One on one
The Cowboy corners came over to practice against Cutler, Ramsey and the Broncos receivers one on one. It was a great chance to see how our guys reacted to the Dallas secondary. Right out of the gate they have Marshall on Adam Jones. Marshall made a move on a comeback and Jones slipped making it an easy catch. On their next outing, once again Marshall blows past Jones and is able to make the catch on an incut. Jones looked a little confused. Their next outing must have been a miscommunication because Marshall runs by Jones and then Cutler threw ten yards behind both of them. Their last go against each other, Marshall makes a little move and Jones bit hard and Marshall streaked past him into the endzone. After practice Jones was saying that TO is so much better than Marshall so I guess we can take that as high praise of TO considering how badly Jones got worked over

The other Cowboys defensive backs faired much better. Royal went against Alan Ball and de-cleated him so bad he fell down. Orlando Scandrick had a couple where he was very physical and was able to keep his receiver off balance. On one play Parker had trouble losing him and even when the ball him him in the hands, he dropped it because Scandrick was staying with him so well.

On another play Stokely beat Alan Ball at the line but recovered almost immediately and swatted the pass away. It was the most impressive play of that drill. Evan Oglesby had some nice plays. He got beat a few times, but had one deflection and the only interception of the whole scrimmage when he locked onto Taylor Jacobs and Ramsey threw it behind him as Oglesby stole it. Keary Colbert put a nice move on Mike Jenkins that had him in his wake. Clifford Russell ran right past Roy Williams for a long bomb. I don't know why Williams was taking reps in this drill as he's a run stuffing safety and not a coverage guy - especially in man coverage. Anyway it was clearly a drill where the Broncos out-classed the Cowboys secondary. Ball, Oglesby and Scandrick were the most impressive to me.

Field goals

Next they worked field goals withe Broncos kicking against the Cowboys special teams. Prater was 10 of 11 (I think. Oskie can confirm more exactly later). Overall he did pretty good. They rotated holder's and Kern showed better hand dexterity (to me anyway).

Punting
Next they had the Broncos punt to the Cowboys. I was surprised how much trash Pacman was talking. After each punt he was cursing at the Broncos talking about how he's taking it to the house. It was a little bizarre especially with all the cameras around on all sides. The punts were from the twenty five and Sam Paulescu was more consistent than Kern. Kern had the kick of the day though as he booted one from the twenty into the endzone where Danny Amendola muffed it. The next punt Kern made was not near as far but was muffed again by Patrick Crayton but there were no Broncos around and it bounced into his hands. He ran with like without even slowing down. Coverage favored the Cowboys as they frequently had guys in good position to run them back (when they were returnable).

Kaylore
08-13-2008, 01:36 PM
Oskie will have the full seven on seven pass drills as I chose to watch the offensive line vs defensive line.

Denver O-line Vs. Dallas D-line

This was really interesting to watch. The Dallas line seemed to have more power but not as much speed or agility as ours did. Tank Johnson had some nice plays where he blew up Holland and PJ Alexander both. I think Holland is just rusty as he hasn't played in any drills to this point and pass-pro is usually his strong suit. Kory Lichtensteiger had his trash handed to him by Chris Canty but he recovered and was able to stonewall Marcus Spears. The biggest blow up was DeMarcus Ware on Ryan Clady. He just made a slight move and then was around Clady in a heartbeat. Clady didn't even touch him as he scrambled to get around him. It was definitely a "welcome to the NFL" moment for Clady. The good news is Clady was never beat that bad again the whole practice and it happened in a drill without anyone behind center. Hamilton and Kuper seemed to be the most consistent of the players during this drill.

I did get a chance to watch our D-line against the Cowboys offensive line, but only for a couple of minutes and it was glancing over from the drills above. Generally speaking it looked like we rarely got any outside pressure and if we got anything at all it was up the middle. Their line is much bigger than what our defensive line is used to and it appeared in the brief time I watched them that this was going to cause some trouble for us.

Cowboy Offense Vs. Broncos Defense

They merged all the units and had them go against each other. It's pretty clear how much both sides raised their intensity level with the other team here. None of them want to look bad and both sides played very hard. Oskie had the luxury of Watching our O against he Cowboys defense. Here's what i saw.

-1's V 1's
Expecting us to get stonewalled because of the brief observations of the line drills I saw, I was shocked to see how well we did against the vaunted Cowboys offense. We played a fifth guy on the line almost every down, but didn't always blitz and even when we did we didn't blitz the guy on the line necessarily. First down DJ blitzed and both he and Dumervil broke through. Falling away, Romo threw to where his TE was supposed to be but it was too far way to catch. Next was a run play where Barber picked up three yards on an Iso. Marcus Thomas blew through pretty effectively. Third down Bly was playing nickel and held who I believe was Isaiah Stanback and Romo threw a pass that was almost an int but it was defensive holding on Bly. The next play romo threw a pass with good protection and no blitz that hit Miles Austin dropped as it hit him in the hands. He would have one other drop later in this drill that would screw them on third down and would have been a conversion. The next play we again only rushed four and got no pressure and TO ran right by Foxworth for a big catch. It was a pretty throw and Foxworth was burned bad. The rest of the plays the Broncos defense did pretty well. What really surprised me was how many times they hurried Romo into bad throws. They rarely got sacks but there were quite a few incompletions that were a result of him getting rid of the ball early.

In particular I noticed that Dumervil got some good pressure. Moss had a nice play where he stunted and split his guys and came through causing an overthrow. DJ made some nice plays in the run game where he cut inside and took down Barber for a three yard loss. On play-action the defense still over-pursues but the backside contain was much better protected than it was in the Texans preseason game. On one boot Romo pulled it down and then nailed Martellus Bennett on a nice play that looked familiar to our PA boot/pass to tight end or running back play we always run. There were no turnovers, just two dropped ints from Romo. One was Tyrone Poole jumping a route he read perfectly but dropped because he was thinking about the run.

Brad Johnson was much better at handling the pressure than Romo. There were a couple plays where we had guys breathing down his neck and Johnson was able to dump the ball off to a guy accurately right before the sack. Even on a screen we blew up, Johnson was shifty enough to fall away and still complete the pass to the back.

I would say overall our defense didn't get consistent pressure unless we were blitzing. The run defense was good, but it was like we were focusing on it so much that we gave up some plays. They mostly had to pick us apart. The throw to the TE and the TO TD were the only big plays to speak of. After watching our D-line get hosed by their offensive line, I was expecting the vaunted Cowboys offensive to make us look ridiculous (and they still may!) but we flustered Romo way more than I thought we would be able to.

Kaylore
08-13-2008, 01:37 PM
Talk with Jay's Dad

Probably the coolest part of the day was when as I was walking out Jay Cutler's dad Jack remembered me from when we watched camp together two years ago and ran up to me to say hi. I was really flattered because I'm sure he talks to hundreds of people a day and he wanted to stop and catch up. I asked him about what it was like from his perspective with Jay's "beetus" and he said he was suspicious something was wrong because right when the season ended, Jay "fled out of here to Tennessee before anyone could talk to him about anything." He called the workout center after they went to Atlanta and became concerned. His mother was particularly worried. He related to me how scared Jay was. I can only imagine if you were slowly falling apart and nothing you were doing was making a difference.

He said the mental difference was huge after he got treated. He is playing and working more confidently and is putting in a lot of extra time to get good this year. I guess Cutler wants to show the world he's better than he was.

We talked a little bit about the team then. He thinks if we can just get the D to be better and get the special teams to give them better field position we can flip a lot more games to go our way. I mentioned that if the D can get in the top fifteen and generate a lot of turnovers we could make a lot of noise. We talked about other stuff after that. It was cool to see him and that he even remembered who I was, let alone wanted to talk, was really cool. I'll admit I was flattered. ;D What a nice guy.

Italianmobstr7
08-13-2008, 01:40 PM
Thank Khan.

turftoad
08-13-2008, 01:46 PM
Sweet Kaylore, thanks again.

hamrob
08-13-2008, 01:46 PM
Talk with Jay's Dad

Probably the coolest part of the day was when as I was walking out Jay Cutler's dad Jack remembered me from when we watched camp together two years ago and ran up to me to say hi. I was really flattered because I'm sure he talks to hundreds of people a day and he wanted to stop and catch up. I asked him about what it was like from his perspective with Jay's "beetus" and he said he was suspicious something was wrong because right when the season ended, Jay "fled out of here to Tennessee before anyone could talk to him about anything." He called the workout center after they went to Atlanta and became concerned. His mother was particularly worried. He related to me how scared Jay was. I can only imagine if you were slowly falling apart and nothing you were doing was making a difference.

He said the mental difference was huge after he got treated. He is playing and working more confidently and is putting in a lot of extra time to get good this year. I guess Cutler wants to show the world he's better than he was.

We talked a little bit about the team then. He thinks if we can just get the D to be better and get the special teams to give them better field position we can flip a lot more games to go our way. I mentioned that if the D can get in the top fifteen and generate a lot of turnovers we could make a lot of noise. We talked about other stuff after that. It was cool to see him and that he even remembered who I was, let alone wanted to talk, was really cool. I'll admit I was flattered. ;D What a nice guy.Wow...that's cool. Thanks for the reports to...they're great!

NightTrainLayne
08-13-2008, 01:53 PM
Thanks Khan, that's some great stuff.

topscribe
08-13-2008, 02:01 PM
There always seems to be something special about your reports, Khan, and today's was the best yet.

Thank you. :beer:

-----

hamrob
08-13-2008, 02:07 PM
Here is some more from the Dallas morning news where Shanahan addresses the morning session:

http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/

August 13, 2008
Denver Broncos' scouting report
1:38 PM Wed, Aug 13, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Todd Archer E-mail News tips
We did this before training camp on the Cowboys' regular-season opponents and figured we'd give a little heads up on Denver. Who better to turn to than Jeff Legwold of the Rocky Mountain News.

Biggest question in camp - Defensive line. How are they going to put it all together? They've got some holdovers from last year and DeWayne Robertson was the biggest off-season acquisition. Shanahan said in March he failed a physical, and he's still coming back from knee and wrist surgery. A lot of their ends are situational guys. They don't have one big, dominant guy.

Best pickup of off-season - Right now you'd say the top two draft picks, left tackle Ryan Clady and receiver Eddie Royal. They're going to play right now. [Clady] is really quick so he fits what they do. He just happens to be humongous.

Under the radar guy - Anybody who runs the ball for them, like every year. Right now the top three guys in the backfield are undrafted players. Selvin Young, Andre Hall and the rookie Anthony Alridge (via Denton). Ryan Torain was probably going to be the starter, but he broke his elbow last week.

In case you were wondering - They like Alridge a lot, according to Jeff. He's doing great as a third-down back. He's showing a lot of speed in practice and played well in Houston. He's got a shot.

Prediction - I think for our tab I said 9-7. Anything around 8-8, 9-7. Even if they don't have a lot of injuries, they're going to need some good luck. Their schedule isn't brutal, so they could get in the mix, but they're going to need a lot of good luck.

You can read more on the Broncos from Jeff here.


Comments (0) Leave comment | E-mail entry
The entry "Denver Broncos' scouting report" has no entry tags.

Categories: Opponents

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jones writes a letter
1:29 PM Wed, Aug 13, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Calvin Watkins E-mail News tips
Adam Jones said he wrote a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last night asking for full reinstatement to the league. Jones said he plans on mailing the letter to New York on Thursday.
The NFL has told Jones he will receive a ruling on his status prior to the start of the season.
"I'm feeling real good," Jones said of the letter. "I just sent in my letter to the commissioner and I'm feeling pretty good about it. It's just a letter why I feel I should be reinstated. It's my chance to respond and we'll see how it goes."


Comments (2) Leave comment | E-mail entry
The entry "Jones writes a letter" is tagged: Adam Jones , Roger Goodell

Categories: Dallas Cowboys

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thoughts from Mike Shanahan
1:25 PM Wed, Aug 13, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Todd Archer E-mail News tips
Here's a practice transcript from the Broncos coach:

On the morning practice with the Cowboys

"I thought we got some great work in today. I thought both sides were very professional in their approach. We have a little different schemes on both sides of the ball, and it was good work for Dallas and obviously the Broncos. We have a practice this afternoon, and I'm looking forward to that.


"They have a different type of offense and a different type of defense. We get a chance to work against a 3-4 look, and they get a chance to take a look at a four-man front. I thought it was good for both teams. It was a very healthy practice and there was some good, fresh hitting. You go against somebody where you don't know their tendencies, so everybody plays a little bit more honest and it's a good evaluation process for us."

On what he is looking for in terms of improvement

"What you want to do--when you're taking a look at your OTAs, when you're taking a look at your summer camp--you want to find your best 53 guys that can play. You want to get better as a scheme offensively, defensively and special teams. This is a little bit different here. Normally that third week of practice you get tired of hitting against each other. This is a good changeup for both teams where you get a chance to go against different schemes and different people. I thought it was good for both squads."

On the timing of practicing against the Cowboys

"Normally the first couple of weeks (of training camp) you want to install your offense and defense. To go against a team too early would kind of take away what you are trying to put in as your basic fundamentals to installing your offense, defense and special teams. Usually it's better (before your second preseason game) because you have all of that installation in, you have a preseason (game) under your belt, you know who you want to evaluate and you get a chance to do it against different people."

On why he wanted to practice with the Cowboys

"You change it up. We went there last year. Obviously they are playing at our facility, so they are going to come here. We will probably do the same thing next year if we play the Cowboys in preseason."

» Continue reading: Thoughts from Mike Shanahan

MOtorboat
08-13-2008, 02:41 PM
Beating jam coverage

the first portion of practice involved the teams split up doing their warm up drills. The Broncos corners and receivers spent a lot of time working on the jam. Royal was the hardest to jam at the line. Paymah and Bly were actually the best at bumping their guy and then hanging on his pocket. The others had mixed results. Jackson had trouble being very physical at the line. After this exchange the horn blew and the drills shifted with the lines working on gap recognition as well as the next drill I watched.

Wait...he made those comments AFTER he got schooled. He's even dumber than I thought...and the fact that he used a double negative to say it...what an idiot.

Broncos Mtnman
08-13-2008, 05:06 PM
Carly Simon used to sing a song that could have been about your reports....

Nobody does it better
Makes me feel sad for the rest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Baby, you're the best

:beer:

For the record, Carly was calling you baby.... I wasn't.... :lol: