A few observations from the first two games

[JawnyBlaze]

Yea, a lotta people have given their observations, but after watching both of the games a few times through now (thank God for condensed games on NFL GamePass) here's some from my point of view I thought might have gotten less mention.

 

- Deangelo seems to be running harder than I've ever seen.  He's still shifty and using his cuts, but he seems to be hitting holes harder (twss) than I've seen in the past, initiating the contact when necessary and getting a few extra yards here and there from it.  Despite the less than stellar YPC (which I attribute to vanilla playcalling and poor O-line play more than anything else), he's looking maybe less shifty than his 08 days, but more powerful.  Looks like he's trying to shift closer to the balance between Stewart's power game and Barner's jitterbug game.

 

- Star is doing everything you could want.  I know I'm a bit biased, he was my pick for us from halfway through the college season, but I've watched both games once a piece focusing just on him when he's in, and on KK when he's in.  Star is taking double teams and not giving ground, he's even producing a bit of pressure occasionally.  He's not lighting up any stat sheets, but he's playing very well for a rookie in his first two times playing against people other than his teammates.  KK is doing ok too.  He's getting good pressure at times, but unlike Star he'll get washed out or stonewalled every now and then.  No big deal, imo, though.  He's doing fine.

 

- Barner is a lot more physical than I was expecting.  He's shown the shiftiness I expected, but he doesn't fall down at first contact like I expected.  It won't be this year, it might not be next year, but it won't be long until he's our #1 guy in my opinion.  I like his game.  His fumbles don't concern me, one was his first touch in a game.  His other was a muffed punt, which isn't hard to dismiss in the circumstances.  I'm putting the Jimmeh handoff flub on Jimmeh.

 

- Gano looks like a guy that knows we SHOULD have drafted a kicker in the 5th or 6th to replace him.  Trying to reward Gettleman's faith in him.  Hope he continues to kick well.  Nortman too.  A few REAL nice punts and no fugups so far.

 

- This one's been touched on plenty, but I would feel remiss not mentioning it.  The CBs are playing better than expected.  Yea it's preseason, and half the time it's against scrubs, but the only passing game that's really worked against us so far is the short slants.  If they can just fix that long standing problem, I think we'll be ok in that department.  It seems our inability to cover TEs has bled over to ANYONE running short slants.  Oh, and they need to stop playing around and pretending Captain is a starting CB in this league.  Keep him in the nickel and have one (or both) of the Josh's starting.

 

- Cam hasn't been throwing very well.  Yea, we've all seen it.  To me it looks more like him not taking the preseason seriously.  Just my opinion, and I'm not holding it against him (though I would like to see it changed, his job might be secure but his playing could be affecting guys whose jobs aren't).  It could be that he feels he's just going through the motions since the offense they're running is so muted he can slack a little.  Like I said, I'm not saying I know this is the case, you won't find many bigger Cam fans than me, but it's just the way it seems to me.

 

- Even if Beason isn't his old self, I think our LB corps is gonna be beasting all year (at least as much as a 4-3 LB corps can...)  I think Blackburn and Klein are two of the better backups in the league.  Even a group of TD - Keek - Blackburn would put us top three 4-3 LB groups in the league at least.

 

- The Safeties don't worry me as much as they did.  I'm not saying they've been playing lights out, but when Mitchell and Godfrey are out there I haven't seen the infuriating Nakamura special playing back 40 yards and I've seen a lot more quick stops and pass breakups from Safety play.

 

- The O-line is as bad as advertised.  This one's been beat to death, but I can't give observations without touching on the biggest glaring weakness on the team.  Every now and then they'll give Cam a nice pocket and a few seconds to throw the ball, but more often than not I've seen WRs running free and wishing Cam had a chance to actually look at them instead of having to focus on avoiding pressure and making rushed throws.

 

- The competition at WR3 excites me.  Gettis is balling, Armanti at times looks like a real live NFL player, Ginn made some plays when playing with Cam.  If Hixon can actually get in there to compete, we might have an actual complete WR corps instead of Smitty, Lafell, and a bunch of guys who should be in the arena league.

[CarolinaNCSU]

Good post and I agree with most of it.

 

The surprises to me (CB's, WR's) have me somewhat excited. I still don't consider them strengths by any means, but they're not as bad as I originally thought. 

 

The OL, well, it's the OL. I just pray some cuts are made and we can pick up a couple of decent guys to plug in to keep Cam alive this year. 

[Cape Fear Cat]

Except for a couple of minor particulars, I pretty much agree with everything you've seen. I really believe that once we install the actual game plan, and once the roster consolidates, this team will surprise a whole lot of people. Look for DG to pick up some Oline help once cuts start coming down, and for Cam's play to improve commensurate with the protection he's afforded.

[Jackofalltrades]

Jim Skipper never should have been let go.

[FattyFatFat]

Great post. This type of post is what we need more of. Say it with me people: objectivity.

[Kuech the Sneak]

KK is far and ahead the better pass rusher, but both of them seem to struggle to disengage in the run game. They're both big powerful dudes, I saw a couple plays where star took Mathis back into the running back but couldn't get off the block

[therealmjl]

For the most part I feel like Cam has thrown decent. He has had a few beautiful throws and made some pretty bad overthrows. I wouldn't say it is all bad though, he seems to have improved in going through his progressions.

Remember, it is preseason, and I feel that if it were regular season he would be pulling quite a few of those balls in and taking off downfield instead of trying to make it happen with his arm.

[Jackofalltrades]

Cam looks stiff to me, like he's trying too hard and it's throwing him off. His throws just don't look natural to me. I wonder if Dorsey has tried to tweek his mechanics?

 

Didn't work so well with Delhomme.

[panther4life]

Agree with everything but not ready to crown Barner as the king of the backfield anytime soon.

Also surprised you didn't mention Thomas Davis as he looks as good as anyone on D so far.

[therealmjl]

Cam looks stiff to me, like he's trying too hard and it's throwing him off. His throws just don't look natural to me. I wonder if Dorsey has tried to tweek his mechanics?

Didn't work so well with Delhomme.

I hope not.

[JawnyBlaze]

KK is far and ahead the better pass rusher, but both of them seem to struggle to disengage in the run game. They're both big powerful dudes, I saw a couple plays where star took Mathis back into the running back but couldn't get off the block

 

I agree with both of your points.  I also noticed a few times Star bulldozed his guy/guys into the backfield but couldn't quite get off to make the tackle.  That's a technique thing that'll come.  I don't recall seeing him once manhandled or completely pushed out of the play no matter how many blockers were on him and that's the thing I was most concerned about, whether his dominant physicality would translate to the pros.  Playing against college players can make that area of a player's game misleading, but I don't think that's the case with Star.  The technique stuff will come with experience and coaching.

[SpeedOFLight]

Good post! One thing I noticed is all the players on the sideline looks engaged. Communication can go a long say. Cam seems to be the most animated that I ever seen him be in the sidelines. He seems to be having fun

[Kuech the Sneak]

I agree with both of your points. I also noticed a few times Star bulldozed his guy/guys into the backfield but couldn't quite get off to make the tackle. That's a technique thing that'll come. I don't recall seeing him once manhandled or completely pushed out of the play no matter how many blockers were on him and that's the thing I was most concerned about, whether his dominant physicality would translate to the pros. Playing against college players can make that area of a player's game misleading, but I don't think that's the case with Star. The technique stuff will come with experience and coaching.

No yeah I agree, it'll come with experience and fine-tuning his technique. KK just seems like pass rushing comes natural to him

[SmootsDaddy89]

derp wrong thread.