ES Coverage: 2010 Training Camp - Day 4 (Final)

[c4man5282]

You just made my day!

Any overall assessments on Orakpo? I'm wondering if it's one of two things:

1) Trent Williams is THAT good at stopping him

or

2) Orakpo isn't showing so much this year

Please make it number one.

And thank you guys so much for this. ES is so lucky to have such hardworking members out there bringing us the scoop!

This is exactly what I would like to know too. As NC21 said i want it to be 1

[SkinsHomer]

haha ok I'm just going to keep posting this in TC threads until I get an answer: Any word on Brandon Banks? I know he was taking kicks today with DT, Torrain, and others. Just want to hear how he looks comparatively.

[Hiro]

First round draft pick Trent Williams, looks good. I thought I would see a tough transition from the college game, but from what I saw today, he is ready. On consecutive pass plays, Williams held his own against Brian Orakpo, one on one. Williams shows great athleticism and seems to have very quick feet. Redskin fans, I think we have a mainstay at left tackle for the next decade. I was very impressed with Williams.

This excites me so much. I'll admit I had my doubts about how well he would fair as a LT in the NFL, but if he can hold his own against our own Orakpo (who I am not afraid to say has as much physical ability as any pass rusher in the NFL) then we should be fine.

I love you, Shanahallen.

[c4man5282]

haha ok I'm just going to keep posting this in TC threads until I get an answer: Any word on Brandon Banks? I know he was taking kicks today with DT, Torrain, and others. Just want to hear how he looks comparatively.

tweet about Brandon Banks that he sent me back

Rich_Campbell

@c4man5282 He hasn't flashed as a receiver. He'll have to make his mark in preseason games on the kick returns team.

about 4 hours ago via TweetDeck in reply to c4man5282

http://twitter.com/Rich_Campbell/status/20073137052

[JimmiJo]

haha ok I'm just going to keep posting this in TC threads until I get an answer: Any word on Brandon Banks? I know he was taking kicks today with DT, Torrain, and others. Just want to hear how he looks comparatively.

Yes, he is shorter than the law allows and very fast. He has been working out on return team, and is fighting with Terrence Austin and others for return duties.

He has done very little in practice, and I honestly cannot remember more a few plays I have seen him in.

[THEREALTOR1]

Thanks again b & JJ for putting in the work again today. I went back and found b's first piece from a year ago today. It's like night and day between what you posted after practice that day and after practice today. A

REFFKIN'S RAMBLINGS

Just got back in after the morning practice. The word of the day is defense, particularly in the trenches. The defensive line was all over the offensive line. That was consistent from the first team, all the way down to the camp fodder. It is a good thing for our QB situation that our quarterbacks were off limits, because the Offensive line was giving ground, to say the least.

Brian Orakpo held my attention for most of the day. Beginning with individual drills, he did not look out of place running with the Linebackers. I expected him to look stiff in space, but was pleasantly surprised on how well he moved for such a big LB. Going into today, I was curious to see how quickly Orakpo was going to put his hand in the dirt at DE, and saw the first look in the nickel package. Orakpo became the right DE, with Andre Carter moving to left end. I expected when there was offensive movement, Orakpo would be found out of position quite often, I was pleasantly surprised how well he seemed to pick up the changes. Whether London Fletcher was helping him along, I couldn't hear, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Following a short break, I followed the DL, and watched some pass rushing drills. The Defensive line certainly held its own against the pass blocking group. Orakpo easily beat Samuels on one move with a quick inside-out move. Phil Daniels and Andre Carter also impressed. Haynesworth destroyed Dockery on a one-on-one.

It goes without saying; Haynesworth is a beast and will certainly make life easier on our ends in pass rushing situations. Chad Reinhart and Mike Williams were 50-50 (meaning they got beat half the time). It is safe to say that they are better run blockers. Stephen Heyer is by far the best right tackle on the roster right now. Mike Williams and Jeremy Bridges appear to struggle consistently with quick ends. I do not believe there will be any real competition a right OT. I am calling it now, Heyer, barring injury is the starter.

Following the defensive players over to a 3/4 speed scrimmage with the offense. The defensive line ruled the day. The pocket was non-existent. It collapsed almost instantly. The QBs would have gotten sacked on almost every play. When they did get the ball away, our three 2nd round picks stood out.

Devin Thomas, who I believe will start this year opposite Moss, was quick and made a couple of plays. Malcolm Kelly also made a couple of in-traffic grabs. Fred "Sleepy" Davis also made a nice catch and ran several nice routes. The three sophomores looked promising and appear to be in Zorn's plans for this season. Overall the QB play was average, probably due to the pressure.

Campbell hit Cooley over the middle on a quick pass, but was late throwing in the flats on two occasions, which allowed Justin Tryon to break up both of them. There is a lot of buzz right now on the impact Tryon can have this season, in my opinion that is premature.

Overall, I was somewhat surprised on my first day covering for ES with the lack of full-contact drills. My thinking is that they have to save themselves for the season and cannot risk injury. The practice was a quick two hours with no major injuries. I didn't see Carlos Rogers running around and did see Mike Williams limping towards the end of practice.

Going into this practice the biggest question for me and many others was the offensive line. So far, they have not looked good. They got little to no push against our DL on running plays, and were like a sieve on passing plays. To say the offense wasn't crisp is an understatement. Hopefully, this is due to the fact that this is the third day of camp.

The afternoon practice is strictly special teams, so barring any breaking news, Murf and I will be signing off for the day. We will be back at the park tomorrow morning for another day of fun.

Even Murf was there that day and sober enough to string together a few paragraphs

Murf's Take

The two players who had the roughest day were defensive lineman J.D. Skolnitsky and safety Grant Michael.

Skolnitsky was getting shred to pieces by defensive line coach John Palermo pretty much from the get-go. They were doing footwork drills, and the rookie out of James Madison simply seemed to be over thinking everything. He stepped off with the wrong foot to start the drill and was verbally hammered. I'd recap it here, but the editing software would sensor Palermo to, "What the hell are you doing? You've had 13 ****ing people go before you and you still can't get this **** right?!?"

And once Palermo stopped yelling, defensive captain Cornelius Griffin got in the kid's face and said, "You're ****ing up my drill." You had to feel for the guy.

While Grant didn't get a verbal smackdown, he was toasted more times than he could have been happy with. "Daredevil" Keith Eloi ate his lunch on one deep pass and then Trent Shelton did more of the same Grant's next time up. It's one thing to get abused by Santana Moss on a deep pass, but when youngsters like Eloi and Shelton are running circles around you, it's a problem.

Enough about the bad stuff. Two guys who stood out during the one-on-one drills were the previously-mentioned Eloi and Devin Thomas. And honestly, while the offensive line did not look sharp for most of this morning, the wide receivers had a good outing. Fred Smoot and the defensive backs didn't really have an option other than to clutch and grab a handful of jerseys as the receivers continued to shine.

And while Thomas was the top performer during one-on-one drills, 'Skins fans will be happy to know that Malcolm Kelly was easily the offensive star on the nine-on-nine drills. Jason Campbell and friends still had no time to throw the ball (anything more than a three-step drop would have been a sack in a real game), but any time the ball was thrown in Kelly's direction, he caught it.

On one play in particular, Kelly had to make a circus-style catch, as he reached across his body to haul in a 40-yard completion. A few plays later, it was Kelly again, as he snagged a ball in traffic and was leveled by middle linebacker London Fletcher. No one could have reasonably expected Kelly to hold on to the ball, but he did. He might be known as an injury prone youngster, but he's clearly not one to half-ass it out there. If the ball comes his way, he's going to do what he can to make plays.

It needs to be said - if the offensive line is going to struggle to this extent, then folks around town need to get ready for a season full of quick slants, screens, misdirections and dump-offs underneath. I suggest you learn to love them now, because they very well could become the bread and butter of the 2009 Washington Redskins.

If you only listen to one audio clip from today, I highly suggest you download my interview with defensive end Andre Carter. The interview starts with me basically asking, "Is the offensive line that bad or are you guys that good?" and only gets better as it goes along.

And finally, from the snarky files, the only turnover I saw today came when linebacker Robert Thomas picked off a Jason Campbell pass that was bobbled by a receiver and even bounced off another defensive player before it ended up in the hands of Thomas. The play was noteworthy because it was the first time that anyone wearing #55 made a play in more than a year. It might be harsh, but it's the truth.

ES Coverage: 2009 Training Camp - Day 3 (Final)

[JimmiJo]

B did a great write up, but if you somehow want more, here is my take.

http://web.skinscast.com/subcast/2010/08/01/camp-notes-080110/

[NewCliche21]

Any other takes on Orakpo? Being silent on an offensive lineman is good; being silent on our best defensive player is very bad.

[tmac318792]

hey everyone. quick question. I printed off a ticket to attend training camp and I am planning on bringing a couple friends. Does each person need a ticket or does 1 ticket work for a group? Thanks.

[milliondollarslim]

Just want to add my 2 cents. This type of coverage is GREAT and all of the folks who take time to bring it to us perform a very welcomed service. Its like a front row seat to my favorite team of all time.

THANKS

MDS