Camp Photos and Observations - Day 2

[Jeremy Igo]

Camp opened up in Spartanburg in the sweltering heat. Attendance is said to have been 17,000 but I am not so sure of that number. It was a decent crowd, but did not seem as large as last season. Curious, after a playoff season that it was not more crowded.


As the players warmed up I noticed Kuechly and Deangelo talking. Sometimes I think players talk to Deangelo just to check themselves out in his helmet shield.


Kugbila was at practice. He has yet to be claimed off of waivers, and will probably not be. In all likelihood he will be on the Panthers IR list this season.


Tiquan Underwood is looking better in camp than in the OTA's. While he doesn't appear to have the speed that Ted Ginn did, he does know how to run routes well enough to get some separation. His hands seem to be pretty good as well. I feel he is a lock to make the team.


Rivera looks as relaxed as he ever has in camp. Its amazing what job security can do for your stress level.


Cam wears a helmet shield in practice. It is unclear why, but once could imagine a stray lineman finger in the eye would be devastating for this team, so why not wear the shield.


Charles Johnson is probably one of the more under appreciated players on the team.


Not only is Charles one of the better defensive ends in the league, but he also can return punts. Although, to be fair, he waived for the fair catch. What is the point of a defensive lineman returning the ball if he isn't going to run with it?



Bene Benwikere had a few technical miscues in drills and was quickly coached up by defensive backs coach Steve Wilks. Bene has looked pretty good overall, and the occasional miscue early can be expected.


Defensive line coach Eric Washington is a big guy in his own right. He isn't afraid to get in and grab the guys to get their attention either.


The crowd got excited when passing drills began. Cam looks like he does at every camp in his career. Mostly sharp, but has the occasional overthrow.


One quick fix for the overthrows could be to throw to Benjamin more. I ran into Kelvin in the media room yesterday and was reminded how tall he really is. Sometimes rosters fluff the height numbers a bit in favor of the player, but Bejnamin is every bit of 6'5. One thing I noticed was how perfect his hands are when catching. He really does wrap those huge hands around the ball. It is textbook fundamentals every dad teaches his son. I will be showing this image to my boys before our next round of football toss.



Greg Olson is also having a great camp so far this year. He has made some acrobatic one handed grabs. Greg isn't the most talkative guy on the practice field, instead he lets his play do the talking. However, I have seen him really help out the younger tight ends on their route running. Greg fits the wise veteran mold well.


During blitz drills, Derek Anderson connected with Pilares deep on badly blown pass coverage by the defense. No safety was anywhere close to Pilares. However, before you get too excited... Derek Anderson would have been sacked long before the throw was made by a blitzing Jason Williams.



I noticed a curious thing Cam has been doing lately that I did not notice last season... or at least that I can remember. In a play action drill he squats down, seemingly to hide behind the line. Could this be a way to compensate for his height?


Nate Chandler was at left tackle for the majority of the last half of practice. I felt Chandler would end up at left tackle this season during OTA's, and my opinion has not changed on that matter. Nate can get off the ball and into position very quickly. Below he has Greg Hardy matched up right off the snap.


Byron Bell was in at right tackle with Nate at left....



...but then did get some more time at left tackle before the practice was over. While Byron is larger and takes up more room, his feet are heavier. It is a trade off that the coaches will have to decide on.



Mike Tolbert had a few more carries at running back with Stewart and now Tyler injured. Tolbert somehow gets lost in all the running back talk sometimes, which is a shame. In my opinion, he is the most talented and effective guy we have that can run the ball.



Cam also targeted Tolbert in the passing game. Tolbert caught every ball.


Philly Brown made a really nice grab at the end of practice. He was able to get behind and out leap Cason, who is a starting defensive back in this league. This is great news for Philly Brown fans.


I hope you enjoyed these photos and will share this link on your social media sites. Sharing the link is the single most important thing you can do to keep the Huddle plugging away.

Today is the first practice in pads. I will be there covering the action. Follow @CarolinaHuddle for updates on twitter.

 

[Navy_football]

Nice picks! Can't wait for the padded practice evaluations.

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[lola]

This is a great way to start the day! Tremendous pictures and commentary as usual, J. The DWill face shield photo is outstanding. Thanks for what you do!

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[PanthersAlv]

Flat out awesome as always! Thanks again.

I'm still editing my photos... but I did get a few of these...













This last one is one of my fav's. Short and Gettleman jumping and doing a shoulder bump... well.. Kinda jumping on GMans part.

I thought Short was going to lose his balance and crush Gman. LOL

 

 

[GRWatcher]

 

 

It's the "Ryan Kalil eyes" look that make this pic so precious. The man is not letting anyone pass him! Practice or not.

 

Thanks, Jeremy. Amazing as always!

[Navy_football]

This is a great way to start the day! Tremendous pictures and commentary as usual, J. The DWill face shield photo is outstanding. Thanks for what you do!

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I'm sure it's not because of Luke's reflection. I stalked him from first...

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[Paa Langfart]

Nice pic of delo and keek and nice catch of the bump Alverez !  Maybe all the talk of the players not liking g man is bs.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Right Hand Arm Man

[lola]

It's just a cool ass shot.

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[Dex]

Awesome job Jeremy. Pics of Trai Turner today please!

[Navy_football]

It's just a cool ass shot.

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Agreed, it really is.

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[Jeremy Igo]

Awesome job Jeremy. Pics of Trai Turner today please!

 

Hopefully they will do some all out 1 on 1 Dline vs Oline in pads today.

 

I've been itching to see Star or KK vs Turner

[Dex]

Hopefully they will do some all out 1 on 1 Dline vs Oline in pads today.

I've been itching to see Star or KK vs Turner

That's what I'm most excited for to be honest. Our interior oline if healthy has a chance to be great.

[PanthersAlv]

 

Here is the other angle of this catch... Just not as great a quality...

[iBBB]

Its crazy how synched the above two images are. 

 

This led me to think of how cool it would be if when people take pictures at certain events, they can also tag the timestamp (including seconds) this way you can see multiple angles of the same exact moment. well sorta.