07-28-2018, 10:50 PM
As I indicated in another post, the like clockwork afternoon summer thunderstorms/clouds threatened practice. Fortunately, by 6, they gave the okay to let people into the practice fields.
My apologies if these impressions are not as detailed as in years past.
I will impart this bit of advice before I begin: don't get old..gif "Laughing")
Anyway, here are some of my observations.
Immediately after the warm up/callisthenics, the opening horn began the positional drills.
The TEs started by hitting the one man sled, and TE coach Middleton was heard urging the TEs to "see what you hit!." Meanwhile, the OL began practicing fumble recovery, and the WRs ran a drill that taught them to stay low going into/out of their cuts. While he didn't bring the drill to a halt, I saw that Keenan was coaching the guys if he saw something he didn't like.
One thing that stuck out to me that I hadn't noticed (or don't recall) in years past is that the music that played early on was turned off during the individual drills. It makes sense that a coaching staff that is as big on teaching as this staff is would do that.
Although reports indicate Fournette has lost some weight, he didn't look any smaller to me. He still looks quite imposing.
ASJ had another nice one hand catch later in the drills.
Chark seemed to pull up on a drill that required him to cut sharply to the left, and then he dropped a pass on an out route to the left hand side. I started to wonder if something was wrong with his ankle, he was having a bad start to practice, or he was more "straight linish" than thought/hoped. But later he showed no discernible signs to me that he had issues cutting, and later in the drills he caught a pass thrown behind him on a crossing type route.
The horn sounded, and they went to one on one drills.
With it being the first practice in pads, and since they were closest to me, I focused on OL vs. DL.
Norwell went against Abry Jones and seemed to get the better of him.
A.J. Cann approached this drill like a man fighting for his job, as he pancaked his guy (Kapron Lewis-Moore, I believe).
One of the highlights of this drill came when Taven Bryan entered the fray. Now I preface by saying I paid almost no attention to Bryan during the pre draft process. I didn't see the Jaguars as having a need at DL, so I didn't really focus on that position at all. So when we selected him, aside from being a bit disappointed Hernandez wasn't taken, I really didn't have much of an opinion on him. Since then, I have heard that he is a powerful man with a very quick first step. Now I saw no evidence of this quick first step, but his power became immediately apparent. Going up against KC McDermott (?), McDermott drove into Bryan and absolutely did not budge him. bryan, in what could best be described as a variation of the Reggie White "hump move" or a wrestling hip toss, Bryan was effortless in tossing him around. In the twitter thread, Brett posted the clip of it. Sadly, that clip was cut about a second or two short, because Bryan just stood there and looked at him and the crowd went nuts. Bryan later went against Cann, and I'd give an ever so slight edge to Cann.
Dareus went up against Norwell, and I'd give a slight edge to Dareus, meanwhile Cam Robinson battled Calais Campbell to a draw. I will say that later in the practice, Norwell showed the ability to reach the second level, as he got a nice block on Jack. I came away from the practice impressed with Norwell.
When they went to the pass oriented 7x7 drills, I noticed they ran a lot of trips to one side with a TE wide to the opposite side. During these 7 x 7 drills, Cole burned Sammy Seamster deep down the left hand sideline for a TD. Laterm Chark beat CB Tre Herndon down the left hand sideline, but the pass was underthrown-a recurring theme throughout the night.
9 X 7
On the first running play, Leon Jacobs stopped Fournette for what might hav been a loss or at least no gain. The very next play, Fournette had a big run up the middle.
Later, Taven Bryan impressed me with his power again, lining up at LDE and pushing the TE back on a run going away from him.
Tim Cook had a couple of nice runs.
Tanner Lee fumbled a snap. (More on Lee later)
They went to punting and punt returns. Mickens and Westbrook seemed to be the two primary punt returners, while Greene returned some too. While I am on the subject of punting, today was my first good look at logan Cooke. While he looks big and got good height on his kicks, the abiding sense I have seeing him for the first time is that we will be getting another punter before the year is out. Of all of the punts he had, only one even came close to looking like one of those spiraling kicks that turn over and really flip the field. most of his punts were wobblers, with a few even looking like kickoffs from a tee. The one punt he really nailed was bobbled by Greene.
The team returned to 7 x 7 drills, and I got my first good looks at Quentin Meeks The first play, he had responsibility on James O Shaughnessey. O Shaughnesey ran an in that took him from the right hash to the left sideline, and Meeks trailed the entire time, having good coverage but still allowing the completion. Then he had a brilliant PBU down the right sideline on an out. Bouye had a great PBU over the middle. Chark was noteworthy in this drill for a couple of reasons. First, he had a nice catch on a short crossing route. But also as important is where he lined up. Again, they went to that bunch formation, and he lined up in the far inside slot, and the middle X receiver positions.
11 X 11
Marqise Lee beat Tyler Patmon deep down the left sideline, but the pass was broken up because it was underthrown. Lee got up slowly and was favoring his shoulder. Patmon later had a nice PBU against Chark on a pass over the middle.
Taven Bryan jumped off sides, then on the next play got a late jump off the snap. On these plays, he was at RDT.
When I first noticed Harrison, it was during this drill. I did not focus on him at the beginning of the play, but I think he came on a blitz because he wound up flushing Kessler out of the pocket. Later, he showed some good range, working from outside the defensive right hash to past the left hash to get a PBU that should have been an INT. He gave himself some pushups because of the drop, to the approval of the fans. He may have interfered or otherwise gotten beat deep on another play that I missed. I hear someone (refs?) who keep yelling his number.
Bryan had what may have been a sack.
Norwell had a false start, but he was surprisingly emphatic in pointing at the defense indicating they were at fault.
On a pass play, Ngakoue showed why he is one of the best pass rushers, beating Cam Robinson and flushing Bortles out of the pocket. The thing is, Cam appeared to have really good position. But Ngakoue has that hand swipe that's hard to describe but very effective.
The close of this 11 X 11 drill was ugly. Tanner Lee had a sequence of three plays that left me shaking my head. The first play, he threw deep down the right hand side, but woefully underthrew his target and was behind him too.
Two plays later, he did the exact same thing.
The next play, he missed an open Chark who seemed to run an In or dig route from left to right.
Final thoughts
1. I do not know what deficiencies the coaches might think Bryan has in his game, but I will say that if he plays low, very few guys are going to be able to move him. For you Madden players, he supposedly has a STR of 93. That might be low.
2. I was not impressed with Cooke or Tanner Lee. Those punts and passes were cringe inducing to me.
3. I liked what I saw of Harrison, though I wish I knew what happened on that deep pass.
4. I did not get good looks at Richardson or Tony Adams. I plan to attend a practice sometime next week. I hope to get a better look then.
5. I liked what I saw of Jacobs and Meeks.
Thanks for reading, and I await any questions and will answer to the best of my ability.
.
My apologies if these impressions are not as detailed as in years past.
I will impart this bit of advice before I begin: don't get old.
Anyway, here are some of my observations.
Immediately after the warm up/callisthenics, the opening horn began the positional drills.
The TEs started by hitting the one man sled, and TE coach Middleton was heard urging the TEs to "see what you hit!." Meanwhile, the OL began practicing fumble recovery, and the WRs ran a drill that taught them to stay low going into/out of their cuts. While he didn't bring the drill to a halt, I saw that Keenan was coaching the guys if he saw something he didn't like.
One thing that stuck out to me that I hadn't noticed (or don't recall) in years past is that the music that played early on was turned off during the individual drills. It makes sense that a coaching staff that is as big on teaching as this staff is would do that.
Although reports indicate Fournette has lost some weight, he didn't look any smaller to me. He still looks quite imposing.
ASJ had another nice one hand catch later in the drills.
Chark seemed to pull up on a drill that required him to cut sharply to the left, and then he dropped a pass on an out route to the left hand side. I started to wonder if something was wrong with his ankle, he was having a bad start to practice, or he was more "straight linish" than thought/hoped. But later he showed no discernible signs to me that he had issues cutting, and later in the drills he caught a pass thrown behind him on a crossing type route.
The horn sounded, and they went to one on one drills.
With it being the first practice in pads, and since they were closest to me, I focused on OL vs. DL.
Norwell went against Abry Jones and seemed to get the better of him.
A.J. Cann approached this drill like a man fighting for his job, as he pancaked his guy (Kapron Lewis-Moore, I believe).
One of the highlights of this drill came when Taven Bryan entered the fray. Now I preface by saying I paid almost no attention to Bryan during the pre draft process. I didn't see the Jaguars as having a need at DL, so I didn't really focus on that position at all. So when we selected him, aside from being a bit disappointed Hernandez wasn't taken, I really didn't have much of an opinion on him. Since then, I have heard that he is a powerful man with a very quick first step. Now I saw no evidence of this quick first step, but his power became immediately apparent. Going up against KC McDermott (?), McDermott drove into Bryan and absolutely did not budge him. bryan, in what could best be described as a variation of the Reggie White "hump move" or a wrestling hip toss, Bryan was effortless in tossing him around. In the twitter thread, Brett posted the clip of it. Sadly, that clip was cut about a second or two short, because Bryan just stood there and looked at him and the crowd went nuts. Bryan later went against Cann, and I'd give an ever so slight edge to Cann.
Dareus went up against Norwell, and I'd give a slight edge to Dareus, meanwhile Cam Robinson battled Calais Campbell to a draw. I will say that later in the practice, Norwell showed the ability to reach the second level, as he got a nice block on Jack. I came away from the practice impressed with Norwell.
When they went to the pass oriented 7x7 drills, I noticed they ran a lot of trips to one side with a TE wide to the opposite side. During these 7 x 7 drills, Cole burned Sammy Seamster deep down the left hand sideline for a TD. Laterm Chark beat CB Tre Herndon down the left hand sideline, but the pass was underthrown-a recurring theme throughout the night.
9 X 7
On the first running play, Leon Jacobs stopped Fournette for what might hav been a loss or at least no gain. The very next play, Fournette had a big run up the middle.
Later, Taven Bryan impressed me with his power again, lining up at LDE and pushing the TE back on a run going away from him.
Tim Cook had a couple of nice runs.
Tanner Lee fumbled a snap. (More on Lee later)
They went to punting and punt returns. Mickens and Westbrook seemed to be the two primary punt returners, while Greene returned some too. While I am on the subject of punting, today was my first good look at logan Cooke. While he looks big and got good height on his kicks, the abiding sense I have seeing him for the first time is that we will be getting another punter before the year is out. Of all of the punts he had, only one even came close to looking like one of those spiraling kicks that turn over and really flip the field. most of his punts were wobblers, with a few even looking like kickoffs from a tee. The one punt he really nailed was bobbled by Greene.
The team returned to 7 x 7 drills, and I got my first good looks at Quentin Meeks The first play, he had responsibility on James O Shaughnessey. O Shaughnesey ran an in that took him from the right hash to the left sideline, and Meeks trailed the entire time, having good coverage but still allowing the completion. Then he had a brilliant PBU down the right sideline on an out. Bouye had a great PBU over the middle. Chark was noteworthy in this drill for a couple of reasons. First, he had a nice catch on a short crossing route. But also as important is where he lined up. Again, they went to that bunch formation, and he lined up in the far inside slot, and the middle X receiver positions.
11 X 11
Marqise Lee beat Tyler Patmon deep down the left sideline, but the pass was broken up because it was underthrown. Lee got up slowly and was favoring his shoulder. Patmon later had a nice PBU against Chark on a pass over the middle.
Taven Bryan jumped off sides, then on the next play got a late jump off the snap. On these plays, he was at RDT.
When I first noticed Harrison, it was during this drill. I did not focus on him at the beginning of the play, but I think he came on a blitz because he wound up flushing Kessler out of the pocket. Later, he showed some good range, working from outside the defensive right hash to past the left hash to get a PBU that should have been an INT. He gave himself some pushups because of the drop, to the approval of the fans. He may have interfered or otherwise gotten beat deep on another play that I missed. I hear someone (refs?) who keep yelling his number.
Bryan had what may have been a sack.
Norwell had a false start, but he was surprisingly emphatic in pointing at the defense indicating they were at fault.
On a pass play, Ngakoue showed why he is one of the best pass rushers, beating Cam Robinson and flushing Bortles out of the pocket. The thing is, Cam appeared to have really good position. But Ngakoue has that hand swipe that's hard to describe but very effective.
The close of this 11 X 11 drill was ugly. Tanner Lee had a sequence of three plays that left me shaking my head. The first play, he threw deep down the right hand side, but woefully underthrew his target and was behind him too.
Two plays later, he did the exact same thing.
The next play, he missed an open Chark who seemed to run an In or dig route from left to right.
Final thoughts
1. I do not know what deficiencies the coaches might think Bryan has in his game, but I will say that if he plays low, very few guys are going to be able to move him. For you Madden players, he supposedly has a STR of 93. That might be low.
2. I was not impressed with Cooke or Tanner Lee. Those punts and passes were cringe inducing to me.
3. I liked what I saw of Harrison, though I wish I knew what happened on that deep pass.
4. I did not get good looks at Richardson or Tony Adams. I plan to attend a practice sometime next week. I hope to get a better look then.
5. I liked what I saw of Jacobs and Meeks.
Thanks for reading, and I await any questions and will answer to the best of my ability.
.