Ziggy
08-09-2011, 04:18 PM
My son and I arrived about 45 minutes early for this morning's session. While waiting in line for the gates to open, DJ William's mother was walking by recording with her iphone camera. She told everyone who she was and asked if anyone wanted to say hey to DJ on the recording. The response was underwhelming. I told her to tell him good luck, but that was about the most positive response out there. The fans were completely apathetic about the whole thing.
We went over to one of the few shady spots out there, right at the 45 yard line next to a tree. Tebow was first out at around 8:30, followed by the QB from Minnesota. They both threw to each other under the watchful eyes of one of the coaches. I assume it was the QB coach, but I'm not certain. After a bit, the rest of the players started to file out.
I don't have a lot of time, so I'll just hit some of the high points.
I've seen folks comment on the size of Orlando Franklin. You really have to be standing close to him to understand just what a massive human being he is. The reports are not exaggerated in the least. The entire offensive line of the Broncos are much bigger as a unit than they were in year's past. Some of the backups are big ole boys as well.
Eddie Royal and D Thomas were out for the entire practice. They stood together during most of it on the sidelines. Britt seemed to get most of Eddie's reps with the first unit. Knowshon has slimmed down, and seems just a tad quicker to me. When he's in space, he's very effective. He had a couple of nice runs today, but he still has problems running between the tackles. Willis McGahee is miles ahead of Knowshon on vision and acceleration through the hole. He was impressive today. Lendale had his moments, but you could definitely see the rust. Both fullbacks looked good. Austin Sylvester has that FB mentality. He's fun to watch, and he likes to pop people. Larsen absolutely trucked Nate Irving on one running play. Straight up put him on the ground.
The starting offensive line looks good. They are working well together and created a lot running lanes for the backs to choose from. Clady is back to form, as is Kuper. Franklin is still struggling with pass protection, but the kid can run block. Beadles looks bigger, better, and much more confident. JD Walton is still the weak link on the Oline. I lobbied for the Broncos to get him before last year's draft, but he worries me. I want to see him in some preseason games, but right now he's not real effective in the run game. The backups on the Oline are absolutely horrendous. It wouldn't shock me if the Broncos went after Olineman heavily on the waiver wire. We have no depth there what so ever.
The defensive looked terrible against the run vs. the first unit offensive line. They have the size and quickness, but aren't working well as a unit. There seems to be a lot of missed assignments and miscommunication. Champ Bailey is still on his game. He shadows his man and leaves no window for throwing the ball. He still closes with cat like quickness when the ball is in the air. His pick today was fun to watch, because I happened to be keying in on him during that play. The receiver wasn't open and the ball should never have been thrown his way on that one. Sid Quan was also impressive. He had 2 interceptions. One would have been for a pick 6.
DJ Williams looked good out there. He has the best cover skills of all of our LB'ers. You couldn't tell that he's missed most of training camp. I watched Von Miller quite a bit. The man has jets in his cletes, but he has some work to do against the run. He got stoned on most running plays where he was lined up at DE. Daniel Fells swallowed him whole on one play. He just buried him as soon as the ball was snapped. He'll be a work in progress, but the athletic ability and nose for the ball is undeniable. I'm a big fan of Joe Mays, but he was a step late getting to the RB all day long. I hope it was just a bad day for him.
Decker is huge, and has a knack for getting open. He also has a knack for dropping the ball. I've read about him having drops consistently in camp, and he did it again today on what would have been a 3rd down conversion for the offense. He also got his ears boxed in a bit by Cassius Vaughn. I didn't see what started it, but I heard Vaughn say, "You'd better watch yourself!", and then proceeded to punch him twice upside the head. Yes, Decker had his helmet on, but Vaughn popped his head back pretty good. Decker didn't retaliate at all, and a coach came over stopped it quickly.
We went over to one of the few shady spots out there, right at the 45 yard line next to a tree. Tebow was first out at around 8:30, followed by the QB from Minnesota. They both threw to each other under the watchful eyes of one of the coaches. I assume it was the QB coach, but I'm not certain. After a bit, the rest of the players started to file out.
I don't have a lot of time, so I'll just hit some of the high points.
I've seen folks comment on the size of Orlando Franklin. You really have to be standing close to him to understand just what a massive human being he is. The reports are not exaggerated in the least. The entire offensive line of the Broncos are much bigger as a unit than they were in year's past. Some of the backups are big ole boys as well.
Eddie Royal and D Thomas were out for the entire practice. They stood together during most of it on the sidelines. Britt seemed to get most of Eddie's reps with the first unit. Knowshon has slimmed down, and seems just a tad quicker to me. When he's in space, he's very effective. He had a couple of nice runs today, but he still has problems running between the tackles. Willis McGahee is miles ahead of Knowshon on vision and acceleration through the hole. He was impressive today. Lendale had his moments, but you could definitely see the rust. Both fullbacks looked good. Austin Sylvester has that FB mentality. He's fun to watch, and he likes to pop people. Larsen absolutely trucked Nate Irving on one running play. Straight up put him on the ground.
The starting offensive line looks good. They are working well together and created a lot running lanes for the backs to choose from. Clady is back to form, as is Kuper. Franklin is still struggling with pass protection, but the kid can run block. Beadles looks bigger, better, and much more confident. JD Walton is still the weak link on the Oline. I lobbied for the Broncos to get him before last year's draft, but he worries me. I want to see him in some preseason games, but right now he's not real effective in the run game. The backups on the Oline are absolutely horrendous. It wouldn't shock me if the Broncos went after Olineman heavily on the waiver wire. We have no depth there what so ever.
The defensive looked terrible against the run vs. the first unit offensive line. They have the size and quickness, but aren't working well as a unit. There seems to be a lot of missed assignments and miscommunication. Champ Bailey is still on his game. He shadows his man and leaves no window for throwing the ball. He still closes with cat like quickness when the ball is in the air. His pick today was fun to watch, because I happened to be keying in on him during that play. The receiver wasn't open and the ball should never have been thrown his way on that one. Sid Quan was also impressive. He had 2 interceptions. One would have been for a pick 6.
DJ Williams looked good out there. He has the best cover skills of all of our LB'ers. You couldn't tell that he's missed most of training camp. I watched Von Miller quite a bit. The man has jets in his cletes, but he has some work to do against the run. He got stoned on most running plays where he was lined up at DE. Daniel Fells swallowed him whole on one play. He just buried him as soon as the ball was snapped. He'll be a work in progress, but the athletic ability and nose for the ball is undeniable. I'm a big fan of Joe Mays, but he was a step late getting to the RB all day long. I hope it was just a bad day for him.
Decker is huge, and has a knack for getting open. He also has a knack for dropping the ball. I've read about him having drops consistently in camp, and he did it again today on what would have been a 3rd down conversion for the offense. He also got his ears boxed in a bit by Cassius Vaughn. I didn't see what started it, but I heard Vaughn say, "You'd better watch yourself!", and then proceeded to punch him twice upside the head. Yes, Decker had his helmet on, but Vaughn popped his head back pretty good. Decker didn't retaliate at all, and a coach came over stopped it quickly.