AKAChip

So basically the general thoughts that I have been hearing around this and other Bomber boards as well as from fans of the other teams in the league is that the Bombers are basically the consensus last place team for this season. I realize that most of the time these pre-season predictions are pure garbage and that on paper, the Bombers do have their work cut out for them but looking over the other teams in the league, there are pressing questions for every team based on personnel and why the positions in question for the Bombers are thrust into the limelight while other team's concerns are largely ignored, I'm not entirely sure. It's probably mostly due to the fact that our QB situation is by far the most questionable in the league and that is obviously very important but I'd like to take a moment or two to go through the questionable areas of the other teams in the CFL.
 
Montreal:
 
First of all, I'm not going to say that Calvillo one year older is primed for a decline because we say it all the time and it never happens. It's going to happen one day, but to say it will be this year is very premature. There is no doubt that on offense, these guys are set. At OL, QB, WR/SB and RB there is no real issue. Whitaker had an injury plagued season which could be considered a question mark because of his style of play and Messam isn't an everyday tailback at this point in his career but for now, let's say the RB position is solid. You could make an argument that they need to replace Brian Bratton at WR but Bratton was the epitome of painfully average so I can't imagine even a downgrade of their 4th option is that big a deal.
 
The real questions are at HC and Defense. As far as Dan Hawkins goes, Marc Trestman's success in this league was a large exception to the rule. Popp has proven to be prudent when hiring Head Coaches, but history shows us that rookie Head Coaches rarely step in to immediate success, especially those with no previous CFL experience. I feel like this is something frequently overlooked.
 
On Defence, there are even more questions than the Bombers have had. Let's remember that this was a below average Defense a year ago and they have lost their most steady DB from a year ago in Seth Williams. Other than John Bowman, their D-line is incredibly unproven with A-M Cash, Scooter Berry and Ejiro Kuale by all accounts going from LB to DE. I'm not saying that these guys do not have the potential to be good but with the three of them plus John Bowman coming off a down year, why do these guys get the benefit of the doubt when the Bombers' D-lIne with two proven players in Turner and Hall plus Mainor who has had success in the league has everyone fearing for their lives? Even Gilmore has about as much experience as both of the Montreal DTs for this season.
 
At LB, SAM and MLB are obviously not a concern but with Kyries Hebert moving to WILL, is this really an upgrade over Rod Davis? We all remember how painfully average Hebert was at LB when he was here, and now he's 33 years old and no doubt slower. The secondary probably has the most questions of all. Anderson and Williams are gone, replaced by Geoff Tisdale (who had a terrible year last year) and Byron Parker (who has clearly lost a step and is in the downstroke of his career). Neither of these guys put any fear in my mind. Billy Parker and Jerald Brown have been good but not great players for the Als in the past but they are now 32 and 33 respectively this season and are above the age when DBs begin to decline. It's not like these guys were consistant All-Stars at the position anyway. I am under the impression that at S they are using either M-O Brouilette or Mike Edem. Edem is a raw rookie who has talent, but is still completely green and Brouilette is a special teams guy who I relate to Labbe playing MLB. This should be an exploitable area.
 
My goal for these posts is not to say that these teams are terrible, because they aren't. I just want to point out that every other team in the league has question marks, some have pretty significant ones. I will move on to the Argonauts in my next post.

Here are my biased observations from the afternoon session:
 
QBs: I am not a Buck Pierce fan so take of this what you will but he did not look very good today. He was overthrowing quite a bit and didn't look quite right. He's usually better than this in TC though so I wouldn't read too far into it anyway. I really like Max Hall. He looks far more polished than any QB I can remember bringing in at their first TC. He's accurate, looks poised under pressure and has a good enough arm to get by. He had a pick in the last throw I saw him make but other than that, he looked real good. I really, really want Goltz to succeed because he seems like he has all the tools but he looks very middle of the road to me so far. He hit Simpson with a beautiful long bomb in a drill but then he throws behind a guy on the very next play. He's still rather raw it seems so I'll give him more time but it does feel like he's already lagging behind Hall, even if he is still getting backup reps. I'm not sure any better way of saying this but Clement looks downright awful. His arm is pretty weak, he doesn't hit receivers in stride and he made some atrocious reads in scrimmage today. I will concede that he looks comfortable at the line of scrimmage and seems to be a leadership type but I am really not impressed.
 
RBs: Garrett was not in pads for this session, don't know why. Simpson really does look tremendous. In one-on-ones he was up against Henoc twice and completely burnt him on both occasions. I really don't take a ton of stock into rushing drills in practice because the D can only do so much so even if he looked good in the first day of TC, I tempered my expectations because the defenders weren't going to hit him but today he looked elusive, was catching the ball well and I was just very impressed. Will Ford had a massive run through a huge hole that went for a TD in scrimmage that would have been an easy TD even in a game where there was hitting. He is a real blur. I'm not sure where to discuss Fitzgerald so I'll put him here. In one-on-ones, he absolutely broke Wendell Brown's ankles (not the hardest guy to beat but it was still pretty sick). The whole O went pretty nuts after that one. 
 
Receivers: I absolutely love both Doug Pierce and Isaac Anderson. Anderson runs crisp routes, has great speed and insane hands. I know Edwards isn't going to lose his job due to injury but I wouldn't really be opposed to it. This guy is THAT good in my eyes right now. Pierce uses his size incredibly well and though he is slight, looks like a real good fit at the WR position. I know they both can't start and at most only one will make the active roster to start the season but they will both do good things for us if given the chance. I think Kurt Adams has almost finished his stay with us. For a guy who has been with the team for parts of three seasons, you would think he would get better than 3rd team reps but I guess our receiving core is deep and I personally haven't seen anything that separates him from the pack. Matthews is exactly who we expect him to be and Watson also looks great. I'm not too enthused by Poblah since to me he has always been a sensational practice player and that hasn't translated to any in-season success and this TC he hasn't really stood out at all but it's still early I suppose. In one-on-ones, the DBs were definitely getting the better of the WRs but to me it was mostly poor throws by each of the quarterbacks. Anderson was the best one out there though and made some real slick catches. The Rifles guy Carter doesn't look out of place at all which is nice. I've never had much to say about Etienne good or bad but it's pretty obvious that he is lightyears ahead of where he has been in seasons past. He has sure hands and good speed and is not noticeably small out there. As for the other new guys, I am aware it sounds like a broken record but Massey won't make this team as a receiver as he seems to have trouble catching the ball clean. I figure he has to impress greatly returning to have a shot. McCree and Kennedy sort of blend in to me. They really don't stand out in any way other than Kennedy's speed.
 
OL: Not much to say about them other than Swiston was earning the praise of DelMonaco during OL drills. Sorenson was steady on shotgun snaps aside from one horrendous one to Goltz. I'm a little higher on our OL than most and I figure they will build on the success they were having at the end of last season but in drills, the DL was generally getting the better of the OL. Not sure if that's a statement about the DL or the OL or both but it's just my observation. The pressure was generally coming from the left side fwiw. I do like the looks of this giant new guy Simmons but it's hard to get excited about a new import OL when so many like him have gone and gone.
 
DL: It's hard to tell who is doing well because from my angle, it was tough to see numbers but the best pressure from the new guys seemed to be from Dexter Davis. Gilmore and Turner will be more than solid this year and the push up the middle was impressive from both of these guys. No one else was particularly noticeable. 
 
LB: I absolutely love Terrell Parker for the WILL position. This guy can flat out cover. RBs, receivers, whatever. He has great speed and he absolutely deserves the spot if he wins it. I'm not nearly as worried about the WILL position as I was a few weeks earlier. Even then, Ian Wild also looks real good. He was getting good pressure on the QBs and although he is a lot smaller than I thought he would be, he's fast and I'm high on him as well. Henoc was getting burnt bad by Simpson but he's a tough cover for anyone. I'm not concerned. McGee was at SAM but I highly doubt that lasts. Wendell Brown is as good as gone. He's not impressing in the least.
 
DBs: The DBs were all fairly good. In one-on-ones, they were all playing far more physically than I've ever seen in drills like this. I don't want to say that Coach Burke's words fired them up but it's a possibility. Hefney in particular was playing real tight on everyone. In scrimmage a Kennedy was sorta being mauled by Hefney and called it PI and they were jawing back and forth afterwards. It's that kind of stuff I really like to see. Pendleton and Markett both had picks (I think one was Hall and one was Buck) and those are the two new DBs that have shown the most. I really hope that at least one of them makes the active roster. I know people have been saying that Jovon looks stronger and better than last TC but I just don't see it. If he were a new guy on the roster this year, he wouldn't stand out one bit. Cauchy looks good. Far better than Logan ever did at least and I figure that with his better cover skills, it will have a ripple effect on the rest of the secondary. 
 
P: There was a 20 minute drill on punting and punt coverage and only Pavlopolous and Hutchison were punting. I have no clue why Cameron or Renaud didn't do anything but it was probably just to judge which one of those other two would get cut first. Pavlopolous was frankly awful. His first punt was a beauty but he essentially shanked the rest. I like Hutchison a lot more but to me it seems like he always gives a half punt and doesn't extend his leg all the way. I figure it comes down to not being used to playing this style of football but I can't deny that his leg is huge and in terms of pure leg strength, his is probably the best.
 
This was a lot longer than anticipated but meh, I like to hear myself type.

The one thing I notice about our team and the way it is viewed in the media is that everyone seems to think our entire roster sucks when our roster outside of the QB spot is one of the better ones in the league.
 
Take out the QB spot from the Eastern Division and honestly, who is impressive as us on paper? We have the strongest RB, a very strong set of healthy receivers, a couple all-stars on the DL and a very tough secondary.
 
Unfortunately, that's why the games are played. Our individual talent across the board (outside of QB) is strong but until we can get a general to piece it all together, I doubt it matters.

So basically the general thoughts that I have been hearing around this and other Bomber boards as well as from fans of the other teams in the league is that the Bombers are basically the consensus last place team for this season. I realize that most of the time these pre-season predictions are pure garbage and that on paper, the Bombers do have their work cut out for them but looking over the other teams in the league, there are pressing questions for every team based on personnel and why the positions in question for the Bombers are thrust into the limelight while other team's concerns are largely ignored, I'm not entirely sure. It's probably mostly due to the fact that our QB situation is by far the most questionable in the league and that is obviously very important but I'd like to take a moment or two to go through the questionable areas of the other teams in the CFL.
 
Montreal:
 
First of all, I'm not going to say that Calvillo one year older is primed for a decline because we say it all the time and it never happens. It's going to happen one day, but to say it will be this year is very premature. There is no doubt that on offense, these guys are set. At OL, QB, WR/SB and RB there is no real issue. Whitaker had an injury plagued season which could be considered a question mark because of his style of play and Messam isn't an everyday tailback at this point in his career but for now, let's say the RB position is solid. You could make an argument that they need to replace Brian Bratton at WR but Bratton was the epitome of painfully average so I can't imagine even a downgrade of their 4th option is that big a deal.
 
The real questions are at HC and Defense. As far as Dan Hawkins goes, Marc Trestman's success in this league was a large exception to the rule. Popp has proven to be prudent when hiring Head Coaches, but history shows us that rookie Head Coaches rarely step in to immediate success, especially those with no previous CFL experience. I feel like this is something frequently overlooked.
 
On Defence, there are even more questions than the Bombers have had. Let's remember that this was a below average Defense a year ago and they have lost their most steady DB from a year ago in Seth Williams. Other than John Bowman, their D-line is incredibly unproven with A-M Cash, Scooter Berry and Ejiro Kuale by all accounts going from LB to DE. I'm not saying that these guys do not have the potential to be good but with the three of them plus John Bowman coming off a down year, why do these guys get the benefit of the doubt when the Bombers' D-lIne with two proven players in Turner and Hall plus Mainor who has had success in the league has everyone fearing for their lives? Even Gilmore has about as much experience as both of the Montreal DTs for this season.
 
At LB, SAM and MLB are obviously not a concern but with Kyries Hebert moving to WILL, is this really an upgrade over Rod Davis? We all remember how painfully average Hebert was at LB when he was here, and now he's 33 years old and no doubt slower. The secondary probably has the most questions of all. Anderson and Williams are gone, replaced by Geoff Tisdale (who had a terrible year last year) and Byron Parker (who has clearly lost a step and is in the downstroke of his career). Neither of these guys put any fear in my mind. Billy Parker and Jerald Brown have been good but not great players for the Als in the past but they are now 32 and 33 respectively this season and are above the age when DBs begin to decline. It's not like these guys were consistant All-Stars at the position anyway. I am under the impression that at S they are using either M-O Brouilette or Mike Edem. Edem is a raw rookie who has talent, but is still completely green and Brouilette is a special teams guy who I relate to Labbe playing MLB. This should be an exploitable area.
 
My goal for these posts is not to say that these teams are terrible, because they aren't. I just want to point out that every other team in the league has question marks, some have pretty significant ones. I will move on to the Argonauts in my next post.

We're all gonna die!!!

Here are my biased observations from the afternoon session:
 
QBs: I am not a Buck Pierce fan so take of this what you will but he did not look very good today. He was overthrowing quite a bit and didn't look quite right. He's usually better than this in TC though so I wouldn't read too far into it anyway. I really like Max Hall. He looks far more polished than any QB I can remember bringing in at their first TC. He's accurate, looks poised under pressure and has a good enough arm to get by. He had a pick in the last throw I saw him make but other than that, he looked real good. I really, really want Goltz to succeed because he seems like he has all the tools but he looks very middle of the road to me so far. He hit Simpson with a beautiful long bomb in a drill but then he throws behind a guy on the very next play. He's still rather raw it seems so I'll give him more time but it does feel like he's already lagging behind Hall, even if he is still getting backup reps. I'm not sure any better way of saying this but Clement looks downright awful. His arm is pretty weak, he doesn't hit receivers in stride and he made some atrocious reads in scrimmage today. I will concede that he looks comfortable at the line of scrimmage and seems to be a leadership type but I am really not impressed.
 
RBs: Garrett was not in pads for this session, don't know why. Simpson really does look tremendous. In one-on-ones he was up against Henoc twice and completely burnt him on both occasions. I really don't take a ton of stock into rushing drills in practice because the D can only do so much so even if he looked good in the first day of TC, I tempered my expectations because the defenders weren't going to hit him but today he looked elusive, was catching the ball well and I was just very impressed. Will Ford had a massive run through a huge hole that went for a TD in scrimmage that would have been an easy TD even in a game where there was hitting. He is a real blur. I'm not sure where to discuss Fitzgerald so I'll put him here. In one-on-ones, he absolutely broke Wendell Brown's ankles (not the hardest guy to beat but it was still pretty sick). The whole O went pretty nuts after that one. 
 
Receivers: I absolutely love both Doug Pierce and Isaac Anderson. Anderson runs crisp routes, has great speed and insane hands. I know Edwards isn't going to lose his job due to injury but I wouldn't really be opposed to it. This guy is THAT good in my eyes right now. Pierce uses his size incredibly well and though he is slight, looks like a real good fit at the WR position. I know they both can't start and at most only one will make the active roster to start the season but they will both do good things for us if given the chance. I think Kurt Adams has almost finished his stay with us. For a guy who has been with the team for parts of three seasons, you would think he would get better than 3rd team reps but I guess our receiving core is deep and I personally haven't seen anything that separates him from the pack. Matthews is exactly who we expect him to be and Watson also looks great. I'm not too enthused by Poblah since to me he has always been a sensational practice player and that hasn't translated to any in-season success and this TC he hasn't really stood out at all but it's still early I suppose. In one-on-ones, the DBs were definitely getting the better of the WRs but to me it was mostly poor throws by each of the quarterbacks. Anderson was the best one out there though and made some real slick catches. The Rifles guy Carter doesn't look out of place at all which is nice. I've never had much to say about Etienne good or bad but it's pretty obvious that he is lightyears ahead of where he has been in seasons past. He has sure hands and good speed and is not noticeably small out there. As for the other new guys, I am aware it sounds like a broken record but Massey won't make this team as a receiver as he seems to have trouble catching the ball clean. I figure he has to impress greatly returning to have a shot. McCree and Kennedy sort of blend in to me. They really don't stand out in any way other than Kennedy's speed.
 
OL: Not much to say about them other than Swiston was earning the praise of DelMonaco during OL drills. Sorenson was steady on shotgun snaps aside from one horrendous one to Goltz. I'm a little higher on our OL than most and I figure they will build on the success they were having at the end of last season but in drills, the DL was generally getting the better of the OL. Not sure if that's a statement about the DL or the OL or both but it's just my observation. The pressure was generally coming from the left side fwiw. I do like the looks of this giant new guy Simmons but it's hard to get excited about a new import OL when so many like him have gone and gone.
 
DL: It's hard to tell who is doing well because from my angle, it was tough to see numbers but the best pressure from the new guys seemed to be from Dexter Davis. Gilmore and Turner will be more than solid this year and the push up the middle was impressive from both of these guys. No one else was particularly noticeable. 
 
LB: I absolutely love Terrell Parker for the WILL position. This guy can flat out cover. RBs, receivers, whatever. He has great speed and he absolutely deserves the spot if he wins it. I'm not nearly as worried about the WILL position as I was a few weeks earlier. Even then, Ian Wild also looks real good. He was getting good pressure on the QBs and although he is a lot smaller than I thought he would be, he's fast and I'm high on him as well. Henoc was getting burnt bad by Simpson but he's a tough cover for anyone. I'm not concerned. McGee was at SAM but I highly doubt that lasts. Wendell Brown is as good as gone. He's not impressing in the least.
 
DBs: The DBs were all fairly good. In one-on-ones, they were all playing far more physically than I've ever seen in drills like this. I don't want to say that Coach Burke's words fired them up but it's a possibility. Hefney in particular was playing real tight on everyone. In scrimmage a Kennedy was sorta being mauled by Hefney and called it PI and they were jawing back and forth afterwards. It's that kind of stuff I really like to see. Pendleton and Markett both had picks (I think one was Hall and one was Buck) and those are the two new DBs that have shown the most. I really hope that at least one of them makes the active roster. I know people have been saying that Jovon looks stronger and better than last TC but I just don't see it. If he were a new guy on the roster this year, he wouldn't stand out one bit. Cauchy looks good. Far better than Logan ever did at least and I figure that with his better cover skills, it will have a ripple effect on the rest of the secondary. 
 
P: There was a 20 minute drill on punting and punt coverage and only Pavlopolous and Hutchison were punting. I have no clue why Cameron or Renaud didn't do anything but it was probably just to judge which one of those other two would get cut first. Pavlopolous was frankly awful. His first punt was a beauty but he essentially shanked the rest. I like Hutchison a lot more but to me it seems like he always gives a half punt and doesn't extend his leg all the way. I figure it comes down to not being used to playing this style of football but I can't deny that his leg is huge and in terms of pure leg strength, his is probably the best.
 
This was a lot longer than anticipated but meh, I like to hear myself type.

Faulcon punch!

Here are my biased observations from the afternoon session:
 
QBs: I am not a Buck Pierce fan so take of this what you will but he did not look very good today. He was overthrowing quite a bit and didn't look quite right. He's usually better than this in TC though so I wouldn't read too far into it anyway. I really like Max Hall. He looks far more polished than any QB I can remember bringing in at their first TC. He's accurate, looks poised under pressure and has a good enough arm to get by. He had a pick in the last throw I saw him make but other than that, he looked real good. I really, really want Goltz to succeed because he seems like he has all the tools but he looks very middle of the road to me so far. He hit Simpson with a beautiful long bomb in a drill but then he throws behind a guy on the very next play. He's still rather raw it seems so I'll give him more time but it does feel like he's already lagging behind Hall, even if he is still getting backup reps. I'm not sure any better way of saying this but Clement looks downright awful. His arm is pretty weak, he doesn't hit receivers in stride and he made some atrocious reads in scrimmage today. I will concede that he looks comfortable at the line of scrimmage and seems to be a leadership type but I am really not impressed.
 
RBs: Garrett was not in pads for this session, don't know why. Simpson really does look tremendous. In one-on-ones he was up against Henoc twice and completely burnt him on both occasions. I really don't take a ton of stock into rushing drills in practice because the D can only do so much so even if he looked good in the first day of TC, I tempered my expectations because the defenders weren't going to hit him but today he looked elusive, was catching the ball well and I was just very impressed. Will Ford had a massive run through a huge hole that went for a TD in scrimmage that would have been an easy TD even in a game where there was hitting. He is a real blur. I'm not sure where to discuss Fitzgerald so I'll put him here. In one-on-ones, he absolutely broke Wendell Brown's ankles (not the hardest guy to beat but it was still pretty sick). The whole O went pretty nuts after that one. 
 
Receivers: I absolutely love both Doug Pierce and Isaac Anderson. Anderson runs crisp routes, has great speed and insane hands. I know Edwards isn't going to lose his job due to injury but I wouldn't really be opposed to it. This guy is THAT good in my eyes right now. Pierce uses his size incredibly well and though he is slight, looks like a real good fit at the WR position. I know they both can't start and at most only one will make the active roster to start the season but they will both do good things for us if given the chance. I think Kurt Adams has almost finished his stay with us. For a guy who has been with the team for parts of three seasons, you would think he would get better than 3rd team reps but I guess our receiving core is deep and I personally haven't seen anything that separates him from the pack. Matthews is exactly who we expect him to be and Watson also looks great. I'm not too enthused by Poblah since to me he has always been a sensational practice player and that hasn't translated to any in-season success and this TC he hasn't really stood out at all but it's still early I suppose. In one-on-ones, the DBs were definitely getting the better of the WRs but to me it was mostly poor throws by each of the quarterbacks. Anderson was the best one out there though and made some real slick catches. The Rifles guy Carter doesn't look out of place at all which is nice. I've never had much to say about Etienne good or bad but it's pretty obvious that he is lightyears ahead of where he has been in seasons past. He has sure hands and good speed and is not noticeably small out there. As for the other new guys, I am aware it sounds like a broken record but Massey won't make this team as a receiver as he seems to have trouble catching the ball clean. I figure he has to impress greatly returning to have a shot. McCree and Kennedy sort of blend in to me. They really don't stand out in any way other than Kennedy's speed.
 
OL: Not much to say about them other than Swiston was earning the praise of DelMonaco during OL drills. Sorenson was steady on shotgun snaps aside from one horrendous one to Goltz. I'm a little higher on our OL than most and I figure they will build on the success they were having at the end of last season but in drills, the DL was generally getting the better of the OL. Not sure if that's a statement about the DL or the OL or both but it's just my observation. The pressure was generally coming from the left side fwiw. I do like the looks of this giant new guy Simmons but it's hard to get excited about a new import OL when so many like him have gone and gone.
 
DL: It's hard to tell who is doing well because from my angle, it was tough to see numbers but the best pressure from the new guys seemed to be from Dexter Davis. Gilmore and Turner will be more than solid this year and the push up the middle was impressive from both of these guys. No one else was particularly noticeable. 
 
LB: I absolutely love Terrell Parker for the WILL position. This guy can flat out cover. RBs, receivers, whatever. He has great speed and he absolutely deserves the spot if he wins it. I'm not nearly as worried about the WILL position as I was a few weeks earlier. Even then, Ian Wild also looks real good. He was getting good pressure on the QBs and although he is a lot smaller than I thought he would be, he's fast and I'm high on him as well. Henoc was getting burnt bad by Simpson but he's a tough cover for anyone. I'm not concerned. McGee was at SAM but I highly doubt that lasts. Wendell Brown is as good as gone. He's not impressing in the least.
 
DBs: The DBs were all fairly good. In one-on-ones, they were all playing far more physically than I've ever seen in drills like this. I don't want to say that Coach Burke's words fired them up but it's a possibility. Hefney in particular was playing real tight on everyone. In scrimmage a Kennedy was sorta being mauled by Hefney and called it PI and they were jawing back and forth afterwards. It's that kind of stuff I really like to see. Pendleton and Markett both had picks (I think one was Hall and one was Buck) and those are the two new DBs that have shown the most. I really hope that at least one of them makes the active roster. I know people have been saying that Jovon looks stronger and better than last TC but I just don't see it. If he were a new guy on the roster this year, he wouldn't stand out one bit. Cauchy looks good. Far better than Logan ever did at least and I figure that with his better cover skills, it will have a ripple effect on the rest of the secondary. 
 
P: There was a 20 minute drill on punting and punt coverage and only Pavlopolous and Hutchison were punting. I have no clue why Cameron or Renaud didn't do anything but it was probably just to judge which one of those other two would get cut first. Pavlopolous was frankly awful. His first punt was a beauty but he essentially shanked the rest. I like Hutchison a lot more but to me it seems like he always gives a half punt and doesn't extend his leg all the way. I figure it comes down to not being used to playing this style of football but I can't deny that his leg is huge and in terms of pure leg strength, his is probably the best.
 
This was a lot longer than anticipated but meh, I like to hear myself type.

Here are my biased observations from the afternoon session:
 
QBs: I am not a Buck Pierce fan so take of this what you will but he did not look very good today. He was overthrowing quite a bit and didn't look quite right. He's usually better than this in TC though so I wouldn't read too far into it anyway. I really like Max Hall. He looks far more polished than any QB I can remember bringing in at their first TC. He's accurate, looks poised under pressure and has a good enough arm to get by. He had a pick in the last throw I saw him make but other than that, he looked real good. I really, really want Goltz to succeed because he seems like he has all the tools but he looks very middle of the road to me so far. He hit Simpson with a beautiful long bomb in a drill but then he throws behind a guy on the very next play. He's still rather raw it seems so I'll give him more time but it does feel like he's already lagging behind Hall, even if he is still getting backup reps. I'm not sure any better way of saying this but Clement looks downright awful. His arm is pretty weak, he doesn't hit receivers in stride and he made some atrocious reads in scrimmage today. I will concede that he looks comfortable at the line of scrimmage and seems to be a leadership type but I am really not impressed.
 
RBs: Garrett was not in pads for this session, don't know why. Simpson really does look tremendous. In one-on-ones he was up against Henoc twice and completely burnt him on both occasions. I really don't take a ton of stock into rushing drills in practice because the D can only do so much so even if he looked good in the first day of TC, I tempered my expectations because the defenders weren't going to hit him but today he looked elusive, was catching the ball well and I was just very impressed. Will Ford had a massive run through a huge hole that went for a TD in scrimmage that would have been an easy TD even in a game where there was hitting. He is a real blur. I'm not sure where to discuss Fitzgerald so I'll put him here. In one-on-ones, he absolutely broke Wendell Brown's ankles (not the hardest guy to beat but it was still pretty sick). The whole O went pretty nuts after that one. 
 
Receivers: I absolutely love both Doug Pierce and Isaac Anderson. Anderson runs crisp routes, has great speed and insane hands. I know Edwards isn't going to lose his job due to injury but I wouldn't really be opposed to it. This guy is THAT good in my eyes right now. Pierce uses his size incredibly well and though he is slight, looks like a real good fit at the WR position. I know they both can't start and at most only one will make the active roster to start the season but they will both do good things for us if given the chance. I think Kurt Adams has almost finished his stay with us. For a guy who has been with the team for parts of three seasons, you would think he would get better than 3rd team reps but I guess our receiving core is deep and I personally haven't seen anything that separates him from the pack. Matthews is exactly who we expect him to be and Watson also looks great. I'm not too enthused by Poblah since to me he has always been a sensational practice player and that hasn't translated to any in-season success and this TC he hasn't really stood out at all but it's still early I suppose. In one-on-ones, the DBs were definitely getting the better of the WRs but to me it was mostly poor throws by each of the quarterbacks. Anderson was the best one out there though and made some real slick catches. The Rifles guy Carter doesn't look out of place at all which is nice. I've never had much to say about Etienne good or bad but it's pretty obvious that he is lightyears ahead of where he has been in seasons past. He has sure hands and good speed and is not noticeably small out there. As for the other new guys, I am aware it sounds like a broken record but Massey won't make this team as a receiver as he seems to have trouble catching the ball clean. I figure he has to impress greatly returning to have a shot. McCree and Kennedy sort of blend in to me. They really don't stand out in any way other than Kennedy's speed.
 
OL: Not much to say about them other than Swiston was earning the praise of DelMonaco during OL drills. Sorenson was steady on shotgun snaps aside from one horrendous one to Goltz. I'm a little higher on our OL than most and I figure they will build on the success they were having at the end of last season but in drills, the DL was generally getting the better of the OL. Not sure if that's a statement about the DL or the OL or both but it's just my observation. The pressure was generally coming from the left side fwiw. I do like the looks of this giant new guy Simmons but it's hard to get excited about a new import OL when so many like him have gone and gone.
 
DL: It's hard to tell who is doing well because from my angle, it was tough to see numbers but the best pressure from the new guys seemed to be from Dexter Davis. Gilmore and Turner will be more than solid this year and the push up the middle was impressive from both of these guys. No one else was particularly noticeable. 
 
LB: I absolutely love Terrell Parker for the WILL position. This guy can flat out cover. RBs, receivers, whatever. He has great speed and he absolutely deserves the spot if he wins it. I'm not nearly as worried about the WILL position as I was a few weeks earlier. Even then, Ian Wild also looks real good. He was getting good pressure on the QBs and although he is a lot smaller than I thought he would be, he's fast and I'm high on him as well. Henoc was getting burnt bad by Simpson but he's a tough cover for anyone. I'm not concerned. McGee was at SAM but I highly doubt that lasts. Wendell Brown is as good as gone. He's not impressing in the least.
 
DBs: The DBs were all fairly good. In one-on-ones, they were all playing far more physically than I've ever seen in drills like this. I don't want to say that Coach Burke's words fired them up but it's a possibility. Hefney in particular was playing real tight on everyone. In scrimmage a Kennedy was sorta being mauled by Hefney and called it PI and they were jawing back and forth afterwards. It's that kind of stuff I really like to see. Pendleton and Markett both had picks (I think one was Hall and one was Buck) and those are the two new DBs that have shown the most. I really hope that at least one of them makes the active roster. I know people have been saying that Jovon looks stronger and better than last TC but I just don't see it. If he were a new guy on the roster this year, he wouldn't stand out one bit. Cauchy looks good. Far better than Logan ever did at least and I figure that with his better cover skills, it will have a ripple effect on the rest of the secondary. 
 
P: There was a 20 minute drill on punting and punt coverage and only Pavlopolous and Hutchison were punting. I have no clue why Cameron or Renaud didn't do anything but it was probably just to judge which one of those other two would get cut first. Pavlopolous was frankly awful. His first punt was a beauty but he essentially shanked the rest. I like Hutchison a lot more but to me it seems like he always gives a half punt and doesn't extend his leg all the way. I figure it comes down to not being used to playing this style of football but I can't deny that his leg is huge and in terms of pure leg strength, his is probably the best.
 
This was a lot longer than anticipated but meh, I like to hear myself type.

Here are my biased observations from the afternoon session:
 
QBs: I am not a Buck Pierce fan so take of this what you will but he did not look very good today. He was overthrowing quite a bit and didn't look quite right. He's usually better than this in TC though so I wouldn't read too far into it anyway. I really like Max Hall. He looks far more polished than any QB I can remember bringing in at their first TC. He's accurate, looks poised under pressure and has a good enough arm to get by. He had a pick in the last throw I saw him make but other than that, he looked real good. I really, really want Goltz to succeed because he seems like he has all the tools but he looks very middle of the road to me so far. He hit Simpson with a beautiful long bomb in a drill but then he throws behind a guy on the very next play. He's still rather raw it seems so I'll give him more time but it does feel like he's already lagging behind Hall, even if he is still getting backup reps. I'm not sure any better way of saying this but Clement looks downright awful. His arm is pretty weak, he doesn't hit receivers in stride and he made some atrocious reads in scrimmage today. I will concede that he looks comfortable at the line of scrimmage and seems to be a leadership type but I am really not impressed.
 
RBs: Garrett was not in pads for this session, don't know why. Simpson really does look tremendous. In one-on-ones he was up against Henoc twice and completely burnt him on both occasions. I really don't take a ton of stock into rushing drills in practice because the D can only do so much so even if he looked good in the first day of TC, I tempered my expectations because the defenders weren't going to hit him but today he looked elusive, was catching the ball well and I was just very impressed. Will Ford had a massive run through a huge hole that went for a TD in scrimmage that would have been an easy TD even in a game where there was hitting. He is a real blur. I'm not sure where to discuss Fitzgerald so I'll put him here. In one-on-ones, he absolutely broke Wendell Brown's ankles (not the hardest guy to beat but it was still pretty sick). The whole O went pretty nuts after that one. 
 
Receivers: I absolutely love both Doug Pierce and Isaac Anderson. Anderson runs crisp routes, has great speed and insane hands. I know Edwards isn't going to lose his job due to injury but I wouldn't really be opposed to it. This guy is THAT good in my eyes right now. Pierce uses his size incredibly well and though he is slight, looks like a real good fit at the WR position. I know they both can't start and at most only one will make the active roster to start the season but they will both do good things for us if given the chance. I think Kurt Adams has almost finished his stay with us. For a guy who has been with the team for parts of three seasons, you would think he would get better than 3rd team reps but I guess our receiving core is deep and I personally haven't seen anything that separates him from the pack. Matthews is exactly who we expect him to be and Watson also looks great. I'm not too enthused by Poblah since to me he has always been a sensational practice player and that hasn't translated to any in-season success and this TC he hasn't really stood out at all but it's still early I suppose. In one-on-ones, the DBs were definitely getting the better of the WRs but to me it was mostly poor throws by each of the quarterbacks. Anderson was the best one out there though and made some real slick catches. The Rifles guy Carter doesn't look out of place at all which is nice. I've never had much to say about Etienne good or bad but it's pretty obvious that he is lightyears ahead of where he has been in seasons past. He has sure hands and good speed and is not noticeably small out there. As for the other new guys, I am aware it sounds like a broken record but Massey won't make this team as a receiver as he seems to have trouble catching the ball clean. I figure he has to impress greatly returning to have a shot. McCree and Kennedy sort of blend in to me. They really don't stand out in any way other than Kennedy's speed.
 
OL: Not much to say about them other than Swiston was earning the praise of DelMonaco during OL drills. Sorenson was steady on shotgun snaps aside from one horrendous one to Goltz. I'm a little higher on our OL than most and I figure they will build on the success they were having at the end of last season but in drills, the DL was generally getting the better of the OL. Not sure if that's a statement about the DL or the OL or both but it's just my observation. The pressure was generally coming from the left side fwiw. I do like the looks of this giant new guy Simmons but it's hard to get excited about a new import OL when so many like him have gone and gone.
 
DL: It's hard to tell who is doing well because from my angle, it was tough to see numbers but the best pressure from the new guys seemed to be from Dexter Davis. Gilmore and Turner will be more than solid this year and the push up the middle was impressive from both of these guys. No one else was particularly noticeable. 
 
LB: I absolutely love Terrell Parker for the WILL position. This guy can flat out cover. RBs, receivers, whatever. He has great speed and he absolutely deserves the spot if he wins it. I'm not nearly as worried about the WILL position as I was a few weeks earlier. Even then, Ian Wild also looks real good. He was getting good pressure on the QBs and although he is a lot smaller than I thought he would be, he's fast and I'm high on him as well. Henoc was getting burnt bad by Simpson but he's a tough cover for anyone. I'm not concerned. McGee was at SAM but I highly doubt that lasts. Wendell Brown is as good as gone. He's not impressing in the least.
 
DBs: The DBs were all fairly good. In one-on-ones, they were all playing far more physically than I've ever seen in drills like this. I don't want to say that Coach Burke's words fired them up but it's a possibility. Hefney in particular was playing real tight on everyone. In scrimmage a Kennedy was sorta being mauled by Hefney and called it PI and they were jawing back and forth afterwards. It's that kind of stuff I really like to see. Pendleton and Markett both had picks (I think one was Hall and one was Buck) and those are the two new DBs that have shown the most. I really hope that at least one of them makes the active roster. I know people have been saying that Jovon looks stronger and better than last TC but I just don't see it. If he were a new guy on the roster this year, he wouldn't stand out one bit. Cauchy looks good. Far better than Logan ever did at least and I figure that with his better cover skills, it will have a ripple effect on the rest of the secondary. 
 
P: There was a 20 minute drill on punting and punt coverage and only Pavlopolous and Hutchison were punting. I have no clue why Cameron or Renaud didn't do anything but it was probably just to judge which one of those other two would get cut first. Pavlopolous was frankly awful. His first punt was a beauty but he essentially shanked the rest. I like Hutchison a lot more but to me it seems like he always gives a half punt and doesn't extend his leg all the way. I figure it comes down to not being used to playing this style of football but I can't deny that his leg is huge and in terms of pure leg strength, his is probably the best.
 
This was a lot longer than anticipated but meh, I like to hear myself type.

Here are my biased observations from the afternoon session:
 
QBs: I am not a Buck Pierce fan so take of this what you will but he did not look very good today. He was overthrowing quite a bit and didn't look quite right. He's usually better than this in TC though so I wouldn't read too far into it anyway. I really like Max Hall. He looks far more polished than any QB I can remember bringing in at their first TC. He's accurate, looks poised under pressure and has a good enough arm to get by. He had a pick in the last throw I saw him make but other than that, he looked real good. I really, really want Goltz to succeed because he seems like he has all the tools but he looks very middle of the road to me so far. He hit Simpson with a beautiful long bomb in a drill but then he throws behind a guy on the very next play. He's still rather raw it seems so I'll give him more time but it does feel like he's already lagging behind Hall, even if he is still getting backup reps. I'm not sure any better way of saying this but Clement looks downright awful. His arm is pretty weak, he doesn't hit receivers in stride and he made some atrocious reads in scrimmage today. I will concede that he looks comfortable at the line of scrimmage and seems to be a leadership type but I am really not impressed.
 
RBs: Garrett was not in pads for this session, don't know why. Simpson really does look tremendous. In one-on-ones he was up against Henoc twice and completely burnt him on both occasions. I really don't take a ton of stock into rushing drills in practice because the D can only do so much so even if he looked good in the first day of TC, I tempered my expectations because the defenders weren't going to hit him but today he looked elusive, was catching the ball well and I was just very impressed. Will Ford had a massive run through a huge hole that went for a TD in scrimmage that would have been an easy TD even in a game where there was hitting. He is a real blur. I'm not sure where to discuss Fitzgerald so I'll put him here. In one-on-ones, he absolutely broke Wendell Brown's ankles (not the hardest guy to beat but it was still pretty sick). The whole O went pretty nuts after that one. 
 
Receivers: I absolutely love both Doug Pierce and Isaac Anderson. Anderson runs crisp routes, has great speed and insane hands. I know Edwards isn't going to lose his job due to injury but I wouldn't really be opposed to it. This guy is THAT good in my eyes right now. Pierce uses his size incredibly well and though he is slight, looks like a real good fit at the WR position. I know they both can't start and at most only one will make the active roster to start the season but they will both do good things for us if given the chance. I think Kurt Adams has almost finished his stay with us. For a guy who has been with the team for parts of three seasons, you would think he would get better than 3rd team reps but I guess our receiving core is deep and I personally haven't seen anything that separates him from the pack. Matthews is exactly who we expect him to be and Watson also looks great. I'm not too enthused by Poblah since to me he has always been a sensational practice player and that hasn't translated to any in-season success and this TC he hasn't really stood out at all but it's still early I suppose. In one-on-ones, the DBs were definitely getting the better of the WRs but to me it was mostly poor throws by each of the quarterbacks. Anderson was the best one out there though and made some real slick catches. The Rifles guy Carter doesn't look out of place at all which is nice. I've never had much to say about Etienne good or bad but it's pretty obvious that he is lightyears ahead of where he has been in seasons past. He has sure hands and good speed and is not noticeably small out there. As for the other new guys, I am aware it sounds like a broken record but Massey won't make this team as a receiver as he seems to have trouble catching the ball clean. I figure he has to impress greatly returning to have a shot. McCree and Kennedy sort of blend in to me. They really don't stand out in any way other than Kennedy's speed.
 
OL: Not much to say about them other than Swiston was earning the praise of DelMonaco during OL drills. Sorenson was steady on shotgun snaps aside from one horrendous one to Goltz. I'm a little higher on our OL than most and I figure they will build on the success they were having at the end of last season but in drills, the DL was generally getting the better of the OL. Not sure if that's a statement about the DL or the OL or both but it's just my observation. The pressure was generally coming from the left side fwiw. I do like the looks of this giant new guy Simmons but it's hard to get excited about a new import OL when so many like him have gone and gone.
 
DL: It's hard to tell who is doing well because from my angle, it was tough to see numbers but the best pressure from the new guys seemed to be from Dexter Davis. Gilmore and Turner will be more than solid this year and the push up the middle was impressive from both of these guys. No one else was particularly noticeable. 
 
LB: I absolutely love Terrell Parker for the WILL position. This guy can flat out cover. RBs, receivers, whatever. He has great speed and he absolutely deserves the spot if he wins it. I'm not nearly as worried about the WILL position as I was a few weeks earlier. Even then, Ian Wild also looks real good. He was getting good pressure on the QBs and although he is a lot smaller than I thought he would be, he's fast and I'm high on him as well. Henoc was getting burnt bad by Simpson but he's a tough cover for anyone. I'm not concerned. McGee was at SAM but I highly doubt that lasts. Wendell Brown is as good as gone. He's not impressing in the least.
 
DBs: The DBs were all fairly good. In one-on-ones, they were all playing far more physically than I've ever seen in drills like this. I don't want to say that Coach Burke's words fired them up but it's a possibility. Hefney in particular was playing real tight on everyone. In scrimmage a Kennedy was sorta being mauled by Hefney and called it PI and they were jawing back and forth afterwards. It's that kind of stuff I really like to see. Pendleton and Markett both had picks (I think one was Hall and one was Buck) and those are the two new DBs that have shown the most. I really hope that at least one of them makes the active roster. I know people have been saying that Jovon looks stronger and better than last TC but I just don't see it. If he were a new guy on the roster this year, he wouldn't stand out one bit. Cauchy looks good. Far better than Logan ever did at least and I figure that with his better cover skills, it will have a ripple effect on the rest of the secondary. 
 
P: There was a 20 minute drill on punting and punt coverage and only Pavlopolous and Hutchison were punting. I have no clue why Cameron or Renaud didn't do anything but it was probably just to judge which one of those other two would get cut first. Pavlopolous was frankly awful. His first punt was a beauty but he essentially shanked the rest. I like Hutchison a lot more but to me it seems like he always gives a half punt and doesn't extend his leg all the way. I figure it comes down to not being used to playing this style of football but I can't deny that his leg is huge and in terms of pure leg strength, his is probably the best.
 
This was a lot longer than anticipated but meh, I like to hear myself type.

Here are my biased observations from the afternoon session:
 
QBs: I am not a Buck Pierce fan so take of this what you will but he did not look very good today. He was overthrowing quite a bit and didn't look quite right. He's usually better than this in TC though so I wouldn't read too far into it anyway. I really like Max Hall. He looks far more polished than any QB I can remember bringing in at their first TC. He's accurate, looks poised under pressure and has a good enough arm to get by. He had a pick in the last throw I saw him make but other than that, he looked real good. I really, really want Goltz to succeed because he seems like he has all the tools but he looks very middle of the road to me so far. He hit Simpson with a beautiful long bomb in a drill but then he throws behind a guy on the very next play. He's still rather raw it seems so I'll give him more time but it does feel like he's already lagging behind Hall, even if he is still getting backup reps. I'm not sure any better way of saying this but Clement looks downright awful. His arm is pretty weak, he doesn't hit receivers in stride and he made some atrocious reads in scrimmage today. I will concede that he looks comfortable at the line of scrimmage and seems to be a leadership type but I am really not impressed.
 
RBs: Garrett was not in pads for this session, don't know why. Simpson really does look tremendous. In one-on-ones he was up against Henoc twice and completely burnt him on both occasions. I really don't take a ton of stock into rushing drills in practice because the D can only do so much so even if he looked good in the first day of TC, I tempered my expectations because the defenders weren't going to hit him but today he looked elusive, was catching the ball well and I was just very impressed. Will Ford had a massive run through a huge hole that went for a TD in scrimmage that would have been an easy TD even in a game where there was hitting. He is a real blur. I'm not sure where to discuss Fitzgerald so I'll put him here. In one-on-ones, he absolutely broke Wendell Brown's ankles (not the hardest guy to beat but it was still pretty sick). The whole O went pretty nuts after that one. 
 
Receivers: I absolutely love both Doug Pierce and Isaac Anderson. Anderson runs crisp routes, has great speed and insane hands. I know Edwards isn't going to lose his job due to injury but I wouldn't really be opposed to it. This guy is THAT good in my eyes right now. Pierce uses his size incredibly well and though he is slight, looks like a real good fit at the WR position. I know they both can't start and at most only one will make the active roster to start the season but they will both do good things for us if given the chance. I think Kurt Adams has almost finished his stay with us. For a guy who has been with the team for parts of three seasons, you would think he would get better than 3rd team reps but I guess our receiving core is deep and I personally haven't seen anything that separates him from the pack. Matthews is exactly who we expect him to be and Watson also looks great. I'm not too enthused by Poblah since to me he has always been a sensational practice player and that hasn't translated to any in-season success and this TC he hasn't really stood out at all but it's still early I suppose. In one-on-ones, the DBs were definitely getting the better of the WRs but to me it was mostly poor throws by each of the quarterbacks. Anderson was the best one out there though and made some real slick catches. The Rifles guy Carter doesn't look out of place at all which is nice. I've never had much to say about Etienne good or bad but it's pretty obvious that he is lightyears ahead of where he has been in seasons past. He has sure hands and good speed and is not noticeably small out there. As for the other new guys, I am aware it sounds like a broken record but Massey won't make this team as a receiver as he seems to have trouble catching the ball clean. I figure he has to impress greatly returning to have a shot. McCree and Kennedy sort of blend in to me. They really don't stand out in any way other than Kennedy's speed.
 
OL: Not much to say about them other than Swiston was earning the praise of DelMonaco during OL drills. Sorenson was steady on shotgun snaps aside from one horrendous one to Goltz. I'm a little higher on our OL than most and I figure they will build on the success they were having at the end of last season but in drills, the DL was generally getting the better of the OL. Not sure if that's a statement about the DL or the OL or both but it's just my observation. The pressure was generally coming from the left side fwiw. I do like the looks of this giant new guy Simmons but it's hard to get excited about a new import OL when so many like him have gone and gone.
 
DL: It's hard to tell who is doing well because from my angle, it was tough to see numbers but the best pressure from the new guys seemed to be from Dexter Davis. Gilmore and Turner will be more than solid this year and the push up the middle was impressive from both of these guys. No one else was particularly noticeable. 
 
LB: I absolutely love Terrell Parker for the WILL position. This guy can flat out cover. RBs, receivers, whatever. He has great speed and he absolutely deserves the spot if he wins it. I'm not nearly as worried about the WILL position as I was a few weeks earlier. Even then, Ian Wild also looks real good. He was getting good pressure on the QBs and although he is a lot smaller than I thought he would be, he's fast and I'm high on him as well. Henoc was getting burnt bad by Simpson but he's a tough cover for anyone. I'm not concerned. McGee was at SAM but I highly doubt that lasts. Wendell Brown is as good as gone. He's not impressing in the least.
 
DBs: The DBs were all fairly good. In one-on-ones, they were all playing far more physically than I've ever seen in drills like this. I don't want to say that Coach Burke's words fired them up but it's a possibility. Hefney in particular was playing real tight on everyone. In scrimmage a Kennedy was sorta being mauled by Hefney and called it PI and they were jawing back and forth afterwards. It's that kind of stuff I really like to see. Pendleton and Markett both had picks (I think one was Hall and one was Buck) and those are the two new DBs that have shown the most. I really hope that at least one of them makes the active roster. I know people have been saying that Jovon looks stronger and better than last TC but I just don't see it. If he were a new guy on the roster this year, he wouldn't stand out one bit. Cauchy looks good. Far better than Logan ever did at least and I figure that with his better cover skills, it will have a ripple effect on the rest of the secondary. 
 
P: There was a 20 minute drill on punting and punt coverage and only Pavlopolous and Hutchison were punting. I have no clue why Cameron or Renaud didn't do anything but it was probably just to judge which one of those other two would get cut first. Pavlopolous was frankly awful. His first punt was a beauty but he essentially shanked the rest. I like Hutchison a lot more but to me it seems like he always gives a half punt and doesn't extend his leg all the way. I figure it comes down to not being used to playing this style of football but I can't deny that his leg is huge and in terms of pure leg strength, his is probably the best.
 
This was a lot longer than anticipated but meh, I like to hear myself type.

Here are my biased observations from the afternoon session:
 
QBs: I am not a Buck Pierce fan so take of this what you will but he did not look very good today. He was overthrowing quite a bit and didn't look quite right. He's usually better than this in TC though so I wouldn't read too far into it anyway. I really like Max Hall. He looks far more polished than any QB I can remember bringing in at their first TC. He's accurate, looks poised under pressure and has a good enough arm to get by. He had a pick in the last throw I saw him make but other than that, he looked real good. I really, really want Goltz to succeed because he seems like he has all the tools but he looks very middle of the road to me so far. He hit Simpson with a beautiful long bomb in a drill but then he throws behind a guy on the very next play. He's still rather raw it seems so I'll give him more time but it does feel like he's already lagging behind Hall, even if he is still getting backup reps. I'm not sure any better way of saying this but Clement looks downright awful. His arm is pretty weak, he doesn't hit receivers in stride and he made some atrocious reads in scrimmage today. I will concede that he looks comfortable at the line of scrimmage and seems to be a leadership type but I am really not impressed.
 
RBs: Garrett was not in pads for this session, don't know why. Simpson really does look tremendous. In one-on-ones he was up against Henoc twice and completely burnt him on both occasions. I really don't take a ton of stock into rushing drills in practice because the D can only do so much so even if he looked good in the first day of TC, I tempered my expectations because the defenders weren't going to hit him but today he looked elusive, was catching the ball well and I was just very impressed. Will Ford had a massive run through a huge hole that went for a TD in scrimmage that would have been an easy TD even in a game where there was hitting. He is a real blur. I'm not sure where to discuss Fitzgerald so I'll put him here. In one-on-ones, he absolutely broke Wendell Brown's ankles (not the hardest guy to beat but it was still pretty sick). The whole O went pretty nuts after that one. 
 
Receivers: I absolutely love both Doug Pierce and Isaac Anderson. Anderson runs crisp routes, has great speed and insane hands. I know Edwards isn't going to lose his job due to injury but I wouldn't really be opposed to it. This guy is THAT good in my eyes right now. Pierce uses his size incredibly well and though he is slight, looks like a real good fit at the WR position. I know they both can't start and at most only one will make the active roster to start the season but they will both do good things for us if given the chance. I think Kurt Adams has almost finished his stay with us. For a guy who has been with the team for parts of three seasons, you would think he would get better than 3rd team reps but I guess our receiving core is deep and I personally haven't seen anything that separates him from the pack. Matthews is exactly who we expect him to be and Watson also looks great. I'm not too enthused by Poblah since to me he has always been a sensational practice player and that hasn't translated to any in-season success and this TC he hasn't really stood out at all but it's still early I suppose. In one-on-ones, the DBs were definitely getting the better of the WRs but to me it was mostly poor throws by each of the quarterbacks. Anderson was the best one out there though and made some real slick catches. The Rifles guy Carter doesn't look out of place at all which is nice. I've never had much to say about Etienne good or bad but it's pretty obvious that he is lightyears ahead of where he has been in seasons past. He has sure hands and good speed and is not noticeably small out there. As for the other new guys, I am aware it sounds like a broken record but Massey won't make this team as a receiver as he seems to have trouble catching the ball clean. I figure he has to impress greatly returning to have a shot. McCree and Kennedy sort of blend in to me. They really don't stand out in any way other than Kennedy's speed.
 
OL: Not much to say about them other than Swiston was earning the praise of DelMonaco during OL drills. Sorenson was steady on shotgun snaps aside from one horrendous one to Goltz. I'm a little higher on our OL than most and I figure they will build on the success they were having at the end of last season but in drills, the DL was generally getting the better of the OL. Not sure if that's a statement about the DL or the OL or both but it's just my observation. The pressure was generally coming from the left side fwiw. I do like the looks of this giant new guy Simmons but it's hard to get excited about a new import OL when so many like him have gone and gone.
 
DL: It's hard to tell who is doing well because from my angle, it was tough to see numbers but the best pressure from the new guys seemed to be from Dexter Davis. Gilmore and Turner will be more than solid this year and the push up the middle was impressive from both of these guys. No one else was particularly noticeable. 
 
LB: I absolutely love Terrell Parker for the WILL position. This guy can flat out cover. RBs, receivers, whatever. He has great speed and he absolutely deserves the spot if he wins it. I'm not nearly as worried about the WILL position as I was a few weeks earlier. Even then, Ian Wild also looks real good. He was getting good pressure on the QBs and although he is a lot smaller than I thought he would be, he's fast and I'm high on him as well. Henoc was getting burnt bad by Simpson but he's a tough cover for anyone. I'm not concerned. McGee was at SAM but I highly doubt that lasts. Wendell Brown is as good as gone. He's not impressing in the least.
 
DBs: The DBs were all fairly good. In one-on-ones, they were all playing far more physically than I've ever seen in drills like this. I don't want to say that Coach Burke's words fired them up but it's a possibility. Hefney in particular was playing real tight on everyone. In scrimmage a Kennedy was sorta being mauled by Hefney and called it PI and they were jawing back and forth afterwards. It's that kind of stuff I really like to see. Pendleton and Markett both had picks (I think one was Hall and one was Buck) and those are the two new DBs that have shown the most. I really hope that at least one of them makes the active roster. I know people have been saying that Jovon looks stronger and better than last TC but I just don't see it. If he were a new guy on the roster this year, he wouldn't stand out one bit. Cauchy looks good. Far better than Logan ever did at least and I figure that with his better cover skills, it will have a ripple effect on the rest of the secondary. 
 
P: There was a 20 minute drill on punting and punt coverage and only Pavlopolous and Hutchison were punting. I have no clue why Cameron or Renaud didn't do anything but it was probably just to judge which one of those other two would get cut first. Pavlopolous was frankly awful. His first punt was a beauty but he essentially shanked the rest. I like Hutchison a lot more but to me it seems like he always gives a half punt and doesn't extend his leg all the way. I figure it comes down to not being used to playing this style of football but I can't deny that his leg is huge and in terms of pure leg strength, his is probably the best.
 
This was a lot longer than anticipated but meh, I like to hear myself type.

Here are my biased observations from the afternoon session:
 
QBs: I am not a Buck Pierce fan so take of this what you will but he did not look very good today. He was overthrowing quite a bit and didn't look quite right. He's usually better than this in TC though so I wouldn't read too far into it anyway. I really like Max Hall. He looks far more polished than any QB I can remember bringing in at their first TC. He's accurate, looks poised under pressure and has a good enough arm to get by. He had a pick in the last throw I saw him make but other than that, he looked real good. I really, really want Goltz to succeed because he seems like he has all the tools but he looks very middle of the road to me so far. He hit Simpson with a beautiful long bomb in a drill but then he throws behind a guy on the very next play. He's still rather raw it seems so I'll give him more time but it does feel like he's already lagging behind Hall, even if he is still getting backup reps. I'm not sure any better way of saying this but Clement looks downright awful. His arm is pretty weak, he doesn't hit receivers in stride and he made some atrocious reads in scrimmage today. I will concede that he looks comfortable at the line of scrimmage and seems to be a leadership type but I am really not impressed.
 
RBs: Garrett was not in pads for this session, don't know why. Simpson really does look tremendous. In one-on-ones he was up against Henoc twice and completely burnt him on both occasions. I really don't take a ton of stock into rushing drills in practice because the D can only do so much so even if he looked good in the first day of TC, I tempered my expectations because the defenders weren't going to hit him but today he looked elusive, was catching the ball well and I was just very impressed. Will Ford had a massive run through a huge hole that went for a TD in scrimmage that would have been an easy TD even in a game where there was hitting. He is a real blur. I'm not sure where to discuss Fitzgerald so I'll put him here. In one-on-ones, he absolutely broke Wendell Brown's ankles (not the hardest guy to beat but it was still pretty sick). The whole O went pretty nuts after that one. 
 
Receivers: I absolutely love both Doug Pierce and Isaac Anderson. Anderson runs crisp routes, has great speed and insane hands. I know Edwards isn't going to lose his job due to injury but I wouldn't really be opposed to it. This guy is THAT good in my eyes right now. Pierce uses his size incredibly well and though he is slight, looks like a real good fit at the WR position. I know they both can't start and at most only one will make the active roster to start the season but they will both do good things for us if given the chance. I think Kurt Adams has almost finished his stay with us. For a guy who has been with the team for parts of three seasons, you would think he would get better than 3rd team reps but I guess our receiving core is deep and I personally haven't seen anything that separates him from the pack. Matthews is exactly who we expect him to be and Watson also looks great. I'm not too enthused by Poblah since to me he has always been a sensational practice player and that hasn't translated to any in-season success and this TC he hasn't really stood out at all but it's still early I suppose. In one-on-ones, the DBs were definitely getting the better of the WRs but to me it was mostly poor throws by each of the quarterbacks. Anderson was the best one out there though and made some real slick catches. The Rifles guy Carter doesn't look out of place at all which is nice. I've never had much to say about Etienne good or bad but it's pretty obvious that he is lightyears ahead of where he has been in seasons past. He has sure hands and good speed and is not noticeably small out there. As for the other new guys, I am aware it sounds like a broken record but Massey won't make this team as a receiver as he seems to have trouble catching the ball clean. I figure he has to impress greatly returning to have a shot. McCree and Kennedy sort of blend in to me. They really don't stand out in any way other than Kennedy's speed.
 
OL: Not much to say about them other than Swiston was earning the praise of DelMonaco during OL drills. Sorenson was steady on shotgun snaps aside from one horrendous one to Goltz. I'm a little higher on our OL than most and I figure they will build on the success they were having at the end of last season but in drills, the DL was generally getting the better of the OL. Not sure if that's a statement about the DL or the OL or both but it's just my observation. The pressure was generally coming from the left side fwiw. I do like the looks of this giant new guy Simmons but it's hard to get excited about a new import OL when so many like him have gone and gone.
 
DL: It's hard to tell who is doing well because from my angle, it was tough to see numbers but the best pressure from the new guys seemed to be from Dexter Davis. Gilmore and Turner will be more than solid this year and the push up the middle was impressive from both of these guys. No one else was particularly noticeable. 
 
LB: I absolutely love Terrell Parker for the WILL position. This guy can flat out cover. RBs, receivers, whatever. He has great speed and he absolutely deserves the spot if he wins it. I'm not nearly as worried about the WILL position as I was a few weeks earlier. Even then, Ian Wild also looks real good. He was getting good pressure on the QBs and although he is a lot smaller than I thought he would be, he's fast and I'm high on him as well. Henoc was getting burnt bad by Simpson but he's a tough cover for anyone. I'm not concerned. McGee was at SAM but I highly doubt that lasts. Wendell Brown is as good as gone. He's not impressing in the least.
 
DBs: The DBs were all fairly good. In one-on-ones, they were all playing far more physically than I've ever seen in drills like this. I don't want to say that Coach Burke's words fired them up but it's a possibility. Hefney in particular was playing real tight on everyone. In scrimmage a Kennedy was sorta being mauled by Hefney and called it PI and they were jawing back and forth afterwards. It's that kind of stuff I really like to see. Pendleton and Markett both had picks (I think one was Hall and one was Buck) and those are the two new DBs that have shown the most. I really hope that at least one of them makes the active roster. I know people have been saying that Jovon looks stronger and better than last TC but I just don't see it. If he were a new guy on the roster this year, he wouldn't stand out one bit. Cauchy looks good. Far better than Logan ever did at least and I figure that with his better cover skills, it will have a ripple effect on the rest of the secondary. 
 
P: There was a 20 minute drill on punting and punt coverage and only Pavlopolous and Hutchison were punting. I have no clue why Cameron or Renaud didn't do anything but it was probably just to judge which one of those other two would get cut first. Pavlopolous was frankly awful. His first punt was a beauty but he essentially shanked the rest. I like Hutchison a lot more but to me it seems like he always gives a half punt and doesn't extend his leg all the way. I figure it comes down to not being used to playing this style of football but I can't deny that his leg is huge and in terms of pure leg strength, his is probably the best.
 
This was a lot longer than anticipated but meh, I like to hear myself type.