Ziggy
08-03-2015, 02:48 PM
The weather was perfect today. Cloudy throughout the entire practice. I wanted to address the new facilities before talking about the players.
Positives: The fan's area is far more comfortable, more roomy, and more fan friendly.
Negatives: The view of practice isn't as good. Rather than sitting along the sidelines, you sit in the behind the end zone. Overall, I still think it's a decent trade-off.
Now let's get to the practice. Many of the stars sat today, so the backups got a chance to really show their stuff.
On Offense:
QB- Osweiller took the reins today. He ran with the first team in every set since Manning didn't practice. His arm is strong and his mechanics looked solid. He seems to be throwing with a higher delivery than when he came into the league. His accuracy outside of 10 yards was not there today. There were 2 or 3 opportunities for big plays where he overthrew his receivers. I hope it was just an off day for him.
Dysert didn't look much better. Average arm strength and he struggled with accuracy. The bright spot today at the QB position was Trevor Siemian. He has Osweiller type of arm strength and was probably the most accurate QB overall on the field today. He looked better than both Oz and Dysert.
RB- It was hard to evaluate these guys today. The offensive line struggled throughout the practice so there weren't many opportunities for the backs. CJ looked like CJ. Power and vision. Montee was running with the second team. He had a nice run or two during drills. The third team back today was Juwaan. He ran well, but dropped a pass that was right in the bread basket. I wouldn't be surprised to see him challenge Ball for the #2 spot. Splitting 4th team reps were Kapri Bibbs and Ronnie Hillman. Bibbs actually looked like the most explosive back on the field today. He has sharp cuts, good vision, and is probably far and away the fastest back on the team in pads. He looked really good today.
WR- DT is still DT. The only way I can describe him is unstoppable. Sanders looked really sharp as well. They split off to the side with a coach during special teams drills since they are the only 2 receivers not involved in special teams. They both looked to be in pro bowl form today. The kid that has been blowing up the camp reports lately is Jordan Taylor. I made it a point to keep an eye on him. I was watching him in drills trying to figure out how this slow moving, lumbering white kid was making all the headlines. He showed me why when he started going against backs. He has a knack for getting open and catches everything around him. His catch radius is huge and he has hands like glue. At least today he did anyways. I noticed early on in practice that he was out fielding kickoffs. Looks like they're already trying to find a way to keep him on the roster. The other 2 receivers that stood out today were Jordan Norwood and Nathan Palmer. Both flashed more than once. They also happened to be the two players that were returning punts today.
Oline- As I mentioned earlier, they struggled all day long. The defensive line was dominating most of practice. Kubiak was already making adjustments to help in the pass blocking department. There was usually a TE or back chipping on the way out of the backfield. Of note, Sambraillo looks bigger than I remembered him from his college days. You really can see the quick feet that everyone is talking about. Ben Garland looked average at best. Max Garcia was just plowing folks. He looked great, and should challenge for the left guard or center position fairly quickly. He looks like a stud to my untrained eyes. The right side of the line was getting swallowed up all day long with Vasquez sitting out. No one else really stood out to me on the Oline. I expect the offensive line to be way behind the defense until they get the ZBS down, and build some chemistry.
TE- Joe Don Duncan is an absolute hammer. He was punishing people all day long. He has crazy quickness for a 270 pounder. I know it's early, but I see special written all over him as well. Casey played FB every time I saw his #. He's solid, and they're going to need that extra blocking and receiving out of the backfield while this line goes through it's growing pains.
Defense next-
Positives: The fan's area is far more comfortable, more roomy, and more fan friendly.
Negatives: The view of practice isn't as good. Rather than sitting along the sidelines, you sit in the behind the end zone. Overall, I still think it's a decent trade-off.
Now let's get to the practice. Many of the stars sat today, so the backups got a chance to really show their stuff.
On Offense:
QB- Osweiller took the reins today. He ran with the first team in every set since Manning didn't practice. His arm is strong and his mechanics looked solid. He seems to be throwing with a higher delivery than when he came into the league. His accuracy outside of 10 yards was not there today. There were 2 or 3 opportunities for big plays where he overthrew his receivers. I hope it was just an off day for him.
Dysert didn't look much better. Average arm strength and he struggled with accuracy. The bright spot today at the QB position was Trevor Siemian. He has Osweiller type of arm strength and was probably the most accurate QB overall on the field today. He looked better than both Oz and Dysert.
RB- It was hard to evaluate these guys today. The offensive line struggled throughout the practice so there weren't many opportunities for the backs. CJ looked like CJ. Power and vision. Montee was running with the second team. He had a nice run or two during drills. The third team back today was Juwaan. He ran well, but dropped a pass that was right in the bread basket. I wouldn't be surprised to see him challenge Ball for the #2 spot. Splitting 4th team reps were Kapri Bibbs and Ronnie Hillman. Bibbs actually looked like the most explosive back on the field today. He has sharp cuts, good vision, and is probably far and away the fastest back on the team in pads. He looked really good today.
WR- DT is still DT. The only way I can describe him is unstoppable. Sanders looked really sharp as well. They split off to the side with a coach during special teams drills since they are the only 2 receivers not involved in special teams. They both looked to be in pro bowl form today. The kid that has been blowing up the camp reports lately is Jordan Taylor. I made it a point to keep an eye on him. I was watching him in drills trying to figure out how this slow moving, lumbering white kid was making all the headlines. He showed me why when he started going against backs. He has a knack for getting open and catches everything around him. His catch radius is huge and he has hands like glue. At least today he did anyways. I noticed early on in practice that he was out fielding kickoffs. Looks like they're already trying to find a way to keep him on the roster. The other 2 receivers that stood out today were Jordan Norwood and Nathan Palmer. Both flashed more than once. They also happened to be the two players that were returning punts today.
Oline- As I mentioned earlier, they struggled all day long. The defensive line was dominating most of practice. Kubiak was already making adjustments to help in the pass blocking department. There was usually a TE or back chipping on the way out of the backfield. Of note, Sambraillo looks bigger than I remembered him from his college days. You really can see the quick feet that everyone is talking about. Ben Garland looked average at best. Max Garcia was just plowing folks. He looked great, and should challenge for the left guard or center position fairly quickly. He looks like a stud to my untrained eyes. The right side of the line was getting swallowed up all day long with Vasquez sitting out. No one else really stood out to me on the Oline. I expect the offensive line to be way behind the defense until they get the ZBS down, and build some chemistry.
TE- Joe Don Duncan is an absolute hammer. He was punishing people all day long. He has crazy quickness for a 270 pounder. I know it's early, but I see special written all over him as well. Casey played FB every time I saw his #. He's solid, and they're going to need that extra blocking and receiving out of the backfield while this line goes through it's growing pains.
Defense next-