Ziggy's Training Camp Takeaways 7/28/17
It's that time again! Let me preface this report by saying, no pads were worn today. Knowing that, my focus was on speed, size, and vision. This will be a short one guys, but some report is better than none. Here were some of my impressions today.
1. The defensive line is MUCH bigger. Wolfe, Gotsis, and even Crick look bigger. Add in Peko and Kerr and there is a noticeable difference between this season and last.
2. Isaiah McKenzie moves like a flash. Blink and you miss him.
3. The QB competition is wide open. I saw all the tweets myself, and they seemed to heavily favor Lynch. That's not what I saw. I saw Lynch struggle with the touch passes, and Siemian being completely inept at the long passes. Siemian had an interception, and Lynch should have been picked by Talib. Lynch did make a couple of 'wow' plays on long throws, while Siemian made one amazing touch pass in the red zone. Siemian struggles on anything past mid range, while Paxton often has trouble with anything beyond his first read. I gave Lynch a slight edge today, but I think the competition is probably neck and neck.
4. The battle is on at LT......and it's over IMO. Watching Bolles move and set, it's obvious that his skill set is more than a notch above Sambrailo. I'm expecting that decision to be made very soon.
5. De'Angelo Henderson looks really good with the pads off. He was mixed in with the first and second team today and finds the holes quickly. He also accelerates on the cut well.
6. Von has become the team leader, hands down. He was revving up the crowd, his teammates, the ball boys, and anything or anyone else who showed up at Dove Valley. He was pumping up Bolles after he shut down Edembali, he handled a couple of kickoffs from the JUGGS Machine at the beginning of practice, and he even jumped in on one special teams return drill later. Oh by the way, Von looks quicker and stronger. I have no idea how that can happen, but it's what I'm seeing.
7. Practices are shorter, but still fun to watch. There was just as much O vs. D, but a lot less individual unit drills.
8. The Oline is bigger, but not as noticeably bigger as the D line is.
9. There was some bad blood going on between DT and Chris Harris. Talib actually played peacemaker on both sides, but the jawing went on for a while.
10. There is a lot emphasis on special teams than I've seen before. That may just be a today thing, but who knows. I'll find out tomorrow when I go.
Other thoughts-
Brendan Langley made an impression today as well. He broke up a pass in the endzone during red zone drills and Talib and Harris went nuts. You can tell that he's well liked by the No Fly Zone.
McKenzie did individual drills with the WR's not the RB's. I'm wondering if he'll split that up later, since McCoy had said that they may use him out of the backfield.
Brandon Marshall was wearing a weight vest during practice, and still had great coverage during the 7 on 7's.
Oh yeah, I'll be there tomorrow as well. Looking forward to seeing the shoulder pads come on for the first time.
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Originally Posted by Ziggy
