Firstdayfan's Practice Observations (8/9)

[firstdayfan]

I'm not going to lie, with two kids running around it was hard to pay close attention but I did my best. Also, we need t-shirts or something bc I think there was a fellow huddler standing right next to me tweeting and I didn't even realize it until after practice. Here's what I saw:

Wildcat:

I was excited to see the wildcat being put in today and it was fun to watch armanti running it as opposed to dwill or stewart. Nothing a gainst them but Edwards just brings a different element. They ran a ton of different variations and I do have video of the TD pass to Clowney that Armanti threw, it was an outstanding catch and pass. The one embarassing moment was a double reverse to Jimmy where he was forced to throw downfield. I then realized why he checks down so much...he heaved a pass off his back foot and it fell so short that even the db covering smith couldnt get to it (smitty had him beat for a TD by the way)

Shotgun Shovel:

I saw the QB's practing this early in practice and I saw it utilized several times during the 11 on 11. Basically its a shotgun formation with a running back and one of the tightends flanking the QB...the ball is snapped the QB rolls one way or another and then flips the ball to one of the backs. It actually worked pretty well and I think we will definitely see it week end and week out.

Motion:

There was tons of motion going on with tightends shifting to either side, WR's going back and for and running backs going out creating an empty set...in fact there were a ton of empty set formations. I can definitely see how this offense already likes to spread things out and set up mismatches.

Special Teams:

Not much to say here except that Edwards continues to look great fielding the punts. And I have a feeling that the other guys (Lafell and Gettis) were just fielding them to help out and arent actually any threat to armanti.

QB's:

Overall I thought the hustle was great and I heard many coaches screaming for players to jog between plays. This was good to see considering many guys had reported the exact opposite. At the beginning of practice Cam was literally sprinting to the next drill...it was fun to watch but I'm not sure if he was just goofing around or trying to set an example, my gut tells me its the former. I thought Cam did great and his ability to push the ball down the field was obvious. I honestly feel like him and Jimmy have different plays and thats why Jimmy checks down so much. However, there were a few instances when jimmy could have thrown the ball downfield and had guys open and he just didn't pull the trigger. I think Jimmy's short range accuracy isn't much better than Cam's...I know someone tweeted that Cam threw the ball low a few times but from my angle it looked to be on purpose and not because of a bad throw.

Coaching:

Seemed like a lot of teaching going on as has been reported...seems like whenever players messed up there was always a coach right there to pull him away and explain his mistake. I thought it was an upbeat practice and it seemed that most guys were going hard.

Defense:

I didn't really see a how lot on defense, but I did notice how often we were playing right at the line of scrimmage and doing a lot of zone blitz looks. One play had CJ 10 yards downfield ala julius peppers covering a tightend. When the D did blitz it usually affected the outcome of the play, a few sacks and one bad snap. However, Cam made a quick throw to beat the blitz on one occasion that was nice to see...even if it was only for a 5 yard gain. The DB's didn't look terrible but it was evident that there werent many playmakers back there. However, average DB's can look good/great with a great rush.

Offense:

I definitely see what Rivera meant by the wide receivers not stepping up. It just doesn't seem like anyone really stood out. Gettis had a few nice grabs (catching more with his hands than his body was nice to see), Edwards had a good grab over the middle, Lafell dropped a couple and made a couple good catches, and Nanee had a nice grab or two. But nobody really stood out. What did stand out was Greg Olsen...we have never had a player with his talent on our team period. One play he was going against Connor (who had good coverage) and he literally just snapped the ball out of the air and ran another 10 yards or so after the catch. He is flat out amazing. Shockey had a great grab too deep downfield on an absolutely perfect throw from Cam. Also, take it for what its worth but these two guys hung out the whole practice (shockey and Olsen). The running backs ran hard today but there didn't seem to be a whole lot of running plays called. One last thing was clowney who was the recepient of the Edwards wildcat throw for a TD and he made an amazing catch.

Final Thoughts:

I liked what I saw from Cam and even though I said what I did about the Wideouts I do feel like we are as deep at that position as we have ever been. Picking 5 guys is going to be tough. Fua is a big boy and moves really well and Irvin had a really good day as well. The most impressive defensive play though came from Norwood who absolutely blew by the tackle (not sure who but wasn't Gross) and sacked the QB...he made one quick hitch and just blew past, it was impressive. I thought for a second it was Brown but then I realized there was no spin involved and I figured it had to be someone else. Oh and it was hot...and with two kids I had to bail before Smith got injured and Anderson threw a pass but it was still a good day. And if you were the guy up on the hill in the shade with the two kids that mine played with give me a shout out!!!

That is all...I'll try to post the video later.

[Grammer]

Greg Olsen is the new wesley walls motherfugers!

[firstdayfan]

Greg Olsen is the new wesley walls motherfugers!

I think he is going to be even better...just sucks he doesn't have a veteren QB throwing to him. That might be the only thing that holds him back.

[SOJA]

Thanks!

[firstdayfan]

Thanks!

I'm here to serve...

Honestly I wish I had paid more attention to the defense but its hard to look anywhere else when Cam is out there.

[rico6]

Cam sounds like he's getting better and better. I honestly don't know what Jimmy's deal is with making long throws.

[davos]

One thing our D is gonna rely heavily on is our LB play in the red zone. If we're gonna be this overly aggressive, our red zone d could turn out to be like Philly's last year if Davis, Connor, or someone goes down

[chknwing]

I wouldn't tell anyone that those were your kids. lol Just Kidding :)

[Gipetto]

Thanks for the write up.

Anyone else think we need a nickname for olsen and shockey? im thinking vanilla and ice.

[Biggdaddi1022]

I'm not going to lie, with two kids running around it was hard to pay close attention but I did my best. Also, we need t-shirts or something bc I think there was a fellow huddler standing right next to me tweeting and I didn't even realize it until after practice. Here's what I saw:

Wildcat:

I was excited to see the wildcat being put in today and it was fun to watch armanti running it as opposed to dwill or stewart. Nothing a gainst them but Edwards just brings a different element. They ran a ton of different variations and I do have video of the TD pass to Clowney that Armanti threw, it was an outstanding catch and pass. The one embarassing moment was a double reverse to Jimmy where he was forced to throw downfield. I then realized why he checks down so much...he heaved a pass off his back foot and it fell so short that even the db covering smith couldnt get to it (smitty had him beat for a TD by the way)

Shotgun Shovel:

I saw the QB's practing this early in practice and I saw it utilized several times during the 11 on 11. Basically its a shotgun formation with a running back and one of the tightends flanking the QB...the ball is snapped the QB rolls one way or another and then flips the ball to one of the backs. It actually worked pretty well and I think we will definitely see it week end and week out.

Motion:

There was tons of motion going on with tightends shifting to either side, WR's going back and for and running backs going out creating an empty set...in fact there were a ton of empty set formations. I can definitely see how this offense already likes to spread things out and set up mismatches.

Special Teams:

Not much to say here except that Edwards continues to look great fielding the punts. And I have a feeling that the other guys (Lafell and Gettis) were just fielding them to help out and arent actually any threat to armanti.

QB's:

Overall I thought the hustle was great and I heard many coaches screaming for players to jog between plays. This was good to see considering many guys had reported the exact opposite. At the beginning of practice Cam was literally sprinting to the next drill...it was fun to watch but I'm not sure if he was just goofing around or trying to set an example, my gut tells me its the former. I thought Cam did great and his ability to push the ball down the field was obvious. I honestly feel like him and Jimmy have different plays and thats why Jimmy checks down so much. However, there were a few instances when jimmy could have thrown the ball downfield and had guys open and he just didn't pull the trigger. I think Jimmy's short range accuracy isn't much better than Cam's...I know someone tweeted that Cam threw the ball low a few times but from my angle it looked to be on purpose and not because of a bad throw.

Coaching:

Seemed like a lot of teaching going on as has been reported...seems like whenever players messed up there was always a coach right there to pull him away and explain his mistake. I thought it was an upbeat practice and it seemed that most guys were going hard.

Defense:

I didn't really see a how lot on defense, but I did notice how often we were playing right at the line of scrimmage and doing a lot of zone blitz looks. One play had CJ 10 yards downfield ala julius peppers covering a tightend. When the D did blitz it usually affected the outcome of the play, a few sacks and one bad snap. However, Cam made a quick throw to beat the blitz on one occasion that was nice to see...even if it was only for a 5 yard gain. The DB's didn't look terrible but it was evident that there werent many playmakers back there. However, average DB's can look good/great with a great rush.

Offense:

I definitely see what Rivera meant by the wide receivers not stepping up. It just doesn't seem like anyone really stood out. Gettis had a few nice grabs (catching more with his hands than his body was nice to see), Edwards had a good grab over the middle, Lafell dropped a couple and made a couple good catches, and Nanee had a nice grab or two. But nobody really stood out. What did stand out was Greg Olsen...we have never had a player with his talent on our team period. One play he was going against Connor (who had good coverage) and he literally just snapped the ball out of the air and ran another 10 yards or so after the catch. He is flat out amazing. Shockey had a great grab too deep downfield on an absolutely perfect throw from Cam. Also, take it for what its worth but these two guys hung out the whole practice (shockey and Olsen). The running backs ran hard today but there didn't seem to be a whole lot of running plays called. One last thing was clowney who was the recepient of the Edwards wildcat throw for a TD and he made an amazing catch.

Final Thoughts:

I liked what I saw from Cam and even though I said what I did about the Wideouts I do feel like we are as deep at that position as we have ever been. Picking 5 guys is going to be tough. Fua is a big boy and moves really well and Irvin had a really good day as well. The most impressive defensive play though came from Norwood who absolutely blew by the tackle (not sure who but wasn't Gross) and sacked the QB...he made one quick hitch and just blew past, it was impressive. I thought for a second it was Brown but then I realized there was no spin involved and I figured it had to be someone else. Oh and it was hot...and with two kids I had to bail before Smith got injured and Anderson threw a pass but it was still a good day. And if you were the guy up on the hill in the shade with the two kids that mine played with give me a shout out!!!

That is all...I'll try to post the video later.

When are you going to post video, can't wait to see Edwards throw a pass, that jimmy couldnt throw lol!

[Marguide]

Cam sounds like he's getting better and better. I honestly don't know what Jimmy's deal is with making long throws.

We beat Jimmy up a lot as being the checkdown king, etc., but I think it is just time to realize his limitations as a QB. The guy just doesn't have the gun to do it.

His game is gonna be made up of mostly short passes. It's just the way it is, and there is no point agonizing over it anymore.

And thanks much FDF for the report!

[Gipetto]

Anyone else think Fua is gonna be a beast? Its something about hawaiian guys they just seem to operate on another level. This includes Pilares

[Jai.]

Thanks for the write up.

Anyone else think we need a nickname for olsen and shockey? im thinking vanilla and ice.

Vanilla and Ice, hope your joking!

[Jai.]

We beat Jimmy up a lot as being the checkdown king, etc., but I think it is just time to realize his limitations as a QB. The guy just doesn't have the gun to do it.

His game is gonna be made up of mostly short passes. It's just the way it is, and there is no point agonizing over it anymore.

And thanks much FDF for the report!

I agree, if we ran a WCO, I think he'd look much, much better!