There was a lot of drill work today at practice with good one on one matchups between TE/RB’s vs. the LB’s and Safeties as well as the
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Oline vs D-line. Towards the end of practice there was also some good live work where it was full team offense vs. defense.
TE’s/RB’s vs. LB’s/Safetys
-Jack Doyle started off real well with a nice block on Khaseem Greene. Khaseem Greene had some struggles blitzing. After getting stuffed by Doyle he was pancaked by Kyle Juszcyk which was by far the best block of the day. He then later got dominated by Nick Kasa, Kasa was complimented by the coaches. Greene did have one win vs. Rouse where he beat him with a good bull rush.
– Kyle Juszcyk had his ups and down in pass protection. After he pancaked Greene he then lunged at Ty Powell and whiffed. He later lunged and got off balance, he was able to recover but he didn’t show a good base. Later on he was able to ride Duke Williams outside the pocket.
– Duke Williams looked good blitzing. He was able to battle Kasa strongly and then also had good battles vs. the other running backs. He showed speed as well as toughness.
– Robbie Rouse started off the pass protection drill horribly. Kevin Reddick first abused him to get by easily and then he had his share of struggles vs. the others. He later got a little better battling TJ McDonald on one play and then was also able to ride Ty Powell outside the pocket. His size is definitely a limitation in pass protection; he seemed willing but was overmatched at times.
-Kenjon Barner also looked like he needs to work on his pass protection. TJ McDonald was able to get by him and Barner was forced to hold him, later he completely whiffed on Jonathan Cyprien. He later then had to hold Phillip Thomas. A few plays later he had a good battle with Kevin Reddick showed some toughness.
-Jonathan Franklin looked the best out of the running backs but he also had his share of losses. He first had a good block on Cyprien, and then played Reddick really tough. Later Franklin showed a good anchor to stop Phillip Thomas’s bull rush. He could use some refinement but looked the best of the backs.
-Phillip Thomas was able to get the best of Ryan Otten on a play, Otten at 235lbs won’t be asked to do much blocking in the NFL unless he’s able to bulk up.
-I thought Kevin Reddick looks fast and smooth in his drill work.
Later the O-line and D-line battled on run plays only.
-Khaseem Greene looked better here where he was able to run over Ryan Otten and be disruptive in the backfield; he also recovered a fumble on an exchange between Nassib and Franklin.
-Robbie Rouse on one play was a little too indecisive to find a hole and was dancing behind the line of scrimmage. He later did a nice job of finding the hole behind a pulling Brian Winters, he showed good quickness getting through it.
-Jonathan Franklin did a good job of hitting a hole behind left tackle Eric Fisher. Good speed.
-Kenjon Barner had one nice run where he showed an impressive jump cut but on another play failed to find a hole and tried to bounce it outside where Greene was waiting for him. It was a bad decision for him to try to bounce it.
– Sylvester Williams had a nice play where he beat Madsen off the snap and stuffed the run.
-Datone Jones came unblocked on a play and showed good closing quickness to tackle to ball carrier.
-Ty Powell did a nice job filling the hole to stuff a run as well
One on Ones O-line vs. D-line
-Sylvester Williams had a mixed day today. He initially beat Hugh Thorton with a nice inside move, Thornton recovered but the quickness overwhelmed him. On a later play against Thornton, Thornton got the better of Williams. Joe Madsen played Williams tough on one occasion and later Brian Winters put Williams on the ground. Williams then lined up against Braxton Cave and outworked him to the QB.
-Datone Jones continued to look really good. He was able to get under Eric Fisher’s pads and ride him back on play, later again he was able to rock Fisher back and walk him back to the QB. Another time against Fisher he had a really nice inside move to beat him. Datone then moved to the inside to go against Thornton, he made Thronton look silly again with a nice inside move. Thornton on the 2nd rep got the better of Datone stalling him.
-Kawaan Short I think played better today than yesterday. He started by getting under the pads of Brian Winters and rode him back. Short then lined up over Cave and blew past him with a nice speed move, on the 2nd rep he was able to out power Cave and win. He then went again vs. Winters and this time Winters got the better of Short one time getting the best of him and the 2nd time holding his ground. Later Short showed a really impressive move to blow by Thorton.
-Jordan Hill had a mixed day. He first was able to push Cave strait back but then was stuffed by David Quessenberry and put on the ground. The 2nd rep also saw Quessenberry get the best of Hill. Hill then was able to rock back Madsen but Madsen recovered well enough to stop him. Later on Quessenberry got the best of Hill again. Hill went again vs. Cave and was denied but was able to rock Cave back on his heels.
– Brandon Williams had a mixed day but was relatively quiet. Thornton played him tough on his first rep, and again on their second rep. On a later play Williams went against Winters who stuffed him. Williams didn’t display many pass rush moves but he is a load going forward. He doesn’t have much linear quickness.
-Michael Buchanan didn’t have any wins today. Justin Pugh got the better of him on all four times he faced him. Justin Pugh played much better today than yesterday.
-Margus Hunt was quiet again today. He had ones nice inside move on Quessenberry but the 2nd rep saw Quessenberry easily deny him. The third time the two players met Quessenberry was able to put Hunt on the ground. Hunt played with terrible balance, often too high and without his feet under him.
-Alex Okafor didn’t have as good as day as yesterday but still had some good rushes. Eric Fisher was able to get the best of him in back to back plays but then rocked back Ricky Wagner with a strong punch and later abused him around the outside when Wagner lunged at him.
-Winner of the one on ones offensively was David Quessenberry, he has looked tough both days now as a guard and shown he is capable of kicking out to tackle if need be. Defensively it’s hard not to give it to Datone Jones, he showed quickness on the inside and power on the outside and made some plays. Teams are sure to notice Jones’s abilities.
Live Work
It was fun to see some live work full 11 on 11, (without tackling the RB’s).
-Glennon had a nice pass down the seam to a well covered Harper who made a nice catch with his hands out in front of him. Glennon didn’t shine other than that throw.
-Zac Dysert had a nice play action fake and throw a nice touch pass to the outside over the safety. Later Dysert threw a bad bass that fluttered on him and was nearly intercepted by Jordan Poyer. Dysert later had a nice scramble to his right and threw a nice pass to Aaron Dobson. It was a mixed day for Dysert as he showed some nice things but also could improve some things.
-Ryan Nassib had one throw down the seam to Jack Doyle who was covered by Ty Powell. Nassib did a nice job putting some loft on it. Later he scrambled out to his left he tucked it down to run and gain some positive yards. It was a mixed day for Nassib overall.
-Short looked good chasing down a screen pass.
-McDonald flashed today with a nice pass break up on a deep out route where he had nice coverage on the TE. He later came down from his safety spot and blew up a running play. He showed he is very physical on the play.
-On a deep throw to Dobson, Wreh-Wilson and Jonathan Cyprien were able to converge to break up the pass. Wreh-Wilson was in good position and Cyprien did a good job coming over from his centerfield position to make a play on the ball.
-It is hard for the running backs to stick out when there is no tackling but I thought Jonathan Franklin showed good speed up the right hand side on stretch play.
– Nick Kasa was wide open down the seam and made catch using his hands. There wasn’t a lineback or safety insight.
-Alec Lemon a late arrival made his presence felt with a nice catch in traffic, and was able to absorb a nice hit from Dwayne Gratz. It was impressive as he was able to hang on to the ball.
– Watching some of o-line and d-line work was interesting. Justin Pugh and Datone Jones had some good battles, on one play Jones got a good jump off the snap and got under Pugh to ride him back into the QB. Pugh later did a nice job pulling out on a run play and showed some physicality.
Some WR/DB drills
-Poyer again showed he can jam receivers getting the best of Chris Harper
-Aaron Mellete was able to toss aside Jamar Taylor on a jam
– Desmond Trufant had a tough jam on Markus Wheaton
– Wheaton showed good quickness in and out of his cut on a slant route, again looking very smooth.
-Denard Robinson again didn’t look comfortable fielding punts and failed to make a tough catch over his head after he ran a sloppy slant route. Robinson is clearly a project.
Tomorrow my attention will more tuned into the WR/DB battles.
