CRobi21 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Good evening everyone! Just got back from my day in Ashburn, and man was it a hot one out there today. I had permanent swamp crotch within the first 15 min of my arrival. I thought I had a pretty good spot near the back of the crowd. But as practice time was nearing, people starting filing back in front of me; equipped with umbrellas. :mad: To go with that, there was an obnoxious drunk who was quite annoying. But as practice began the day really turned around for me. I gotta say today was probably the most fun I've had at a practice. A lot of it was due to seeing RG3 in the B & G live for the first time. And the other was that I seemed to be in the perfect area to catch the footballs our WRs were tossing into the crowd after a great catch, which seems to have become the new thing to do thanks to Garcon. The day started with the usual special teams work/warm-ups. But soon after it was DB's vs WR's in one on one drills, which may have been the most exciting part of practice. After about a 10 minute period of that, the big boys came over to run some 11 v 11's. Saw some good things, and some bad things. Will try to touch on that in the positional breakdown later in this post. With the sound of the horn they got back into some special teams work, touching on punt teams and some technique work. To round out practice, they rolled the big clock they have behind the endzone to the right and simulated a full 15 min quarter, with the clock visible to the offense. Ok, let's break down some positions. Where should we begin? :pfft: QBs Robert Griffin III - I loved what I saw out of the kid today. First thing that I notice is how the ball just explodes out of his hand. He stands tall in the pocket and the ball is gone just like that. We've seen guys with big arms step up in the pocket and fire the ball. But Robert reaches the top of his drop, finds his target, and the ball is gone. No wind up. No extra needed steps. I know some are curious about his pocket presence and today I really liked what I saw. There were reports of happy feet from some, but I didn't see any today. He's got active feet but not happy. With his active feet, he's on the balls of his feet. And today it seemed he felt pressure pretty well. He wasn't affected by it though. He'd slide left or right, step up or back, all while maintaining his eyes down field. He did this several times today and completed passes downfield. He also showed off his speed on a number of designed run plays, and when he tucked the ball and ran. On one designed run, an option, Santana was in the slot and motioned back behind Robert. As the ball was snapped Griff faked to the RB up the middle and darted out to the right side with Tana following ready for the pitch. A couple of defenders were on the outside and neither of them forced the pitch to Santana. Instead, Robert planted hard on his right foot and got up field in a hurry, which received some chants from the crowd. I was also impressed by Robert's all around day passing the ball. His deep ball(s) were things of beauty in the one on one drills. It seemed every turn for Robert his WR was assigned a go route. The very first one, Garcon got by D Hall and had a step or two on him. Rob put it up and hit Garcon perfectly in stride about 50 yards down field for what would have been a TD. A few reps later, Brandon Banks ran another go route after beating his man off the LOS. Robert put this ball a bit out in front of Banks, but Brandon did a great job stretching out and making a great catch. Banks reached out as far as he could without making it a diving attempt. So after he caught it his momentum was taking him to the ground and he turned it into a somersault. He then turned to the crowd and chucked the ball into the crowd. It sailed right over my head and a gentlemen dove to the ground like he was recovering a fumble in the Super Bowl. Towards the end of the day, Rob play faked to the RB to the right and rolled out to the left. There was NOBODY in the area. Robert continued rolling right and hit Hank along the sideline on a deep comeback. Had he not decided to throw there was plenty of room to run. That will kill defense all year I think. There's just too much to try to defend against in that situation. Not every throw was perfect from Rob. He missed some guys, but he's receiving some praise from Shanny and I was very impressed. He's going to be very good for us. I hope that was a good enough breakdown for RG3. I know everyone is just starved for info on him. As for the other QBs. Rex was the Rex we all know and love. He made some good throws. Had a "**** it I'm going deep" moment during 11 on 11's, which ended up falling incomplete. But he looked good and will be a great backup to Robert. Cousins seemed off all day, even in the warm up throws to the WRs. He threw 2 int's in 3 reps during full team scrimmage. Not really making anything of it though. He's a young, later round pick. And will be holding a clipboard all year anyways. RBs Helu was getting the reps with the first team, with Royster spelling him. Helu was very explosive out in space. On a stretch play, the backside contain was just stuck as he had to be sure Robert wouldn't roll out again. This left a huge cutback lane that Helu hit in a hurry, and he may have been gone if it were a game. Royster was also impressive getting to and through the hole quickly. Using his subtle moves to get into the open. Alfred Morris was getting some good reps in today also, getting a lot of balls thrown his way coming out of the backfield. It was no-contact, but that didn't stop him from lowering his shoulder on the defenders who stood in his way. Hightower went through the warmup drills with the RBs, but nothing with the full team action. I definitely agree with coach saying he's not totally back yet. He doesn't quite have that same explosiveness we saw last pre-season. Hopefully he continues to progress as camp goes on. TEs Fred Davis looks unfazed by his suspension last year and picked up right where he left off. The obvious #1 TE was a good target for the QBs all day, making a fantastic diving catch on a ball thrown off to his right that would have been a nice 10 yard gain. Niles Paul looked good today as a down the field target. He was running away from LBs pretty consistently. He was looking much thicker today, but his speed seemed to be all there. He caught a pretty 10 yard flag pattern as the WR on the outside cleared out the right side. He would have had plenty of room for YAC. Cooley looked like the Cooley of that past couple years to me. He's never been a fast guy, but he noticeably slower than the other TEs. However, instead of trying to outrun the defenders, he's using savvy veteran knowledge to sit down in the zones left by the defense and was a good check down target for the QBs today. WRs Pierre Garcon looks like a legit #1 WR to me. He was getting open consistently and making some great catches. Really good route runner, his cuts are on a dime and seems to be really tough to cover. He got the best of any DB that lined up across from him. Santana also looked great, noticeably slimmer. That past few years Tana was quick and explosive going into his cuts. But now with the weight loss he is quick and explosive coming out of his cuts, and is getting open a lot easier. He will be great in the slot. After those two, I'd say the WR that had the next best day was Brandon Banks. He was beating press coverage with his quickness, getting open and making tough catches. The little guy wasn't afraid to go over the middle neither. That was his best day as a WR, that I've seen, since he's been here. Armstrong had an okay day I thought. He looked great during one on one's, making a one handed grab on a skinny post which received a huge "Ohh!" from the crowd. But seemed to disappear as practice went on. Joshua Morgan and Hankerson had a rather quiet day also. They didn't get too many balls thrown there way it seemed. The highlight between the two of them seemed to be the deep comback Hank caught from RG3 after the roll out to the left. Terrence Austin and Aldrick Robinson led the younger guys to me. Austin seems very slippery when making his cuts. He ran a flag route where he cut about three different times. Not sure he'll have that much time to do that in a game situation, but it sure was pretty in the moment. Aldrick can flat out fly. He ran right past a DB on one on one's but was overthrown. He also seemed to be progressing with his route running, getting open multiple times today. OL/DL/OLBs This area was a good match up all day today. It was hard to see who had the upper hand as both showed times of good play. Rak and Kerrigan were getting some pressure on the edges going up against Trent Williams and Polumbus. I did see Rak try to throw a swim move on a tackle. I read a report where he got a sack using that move the other day, so he may be finally getting some more moves into his rush techniques. The interior lineman also had some good matchups. One player I'm sure we're all interested in is Jarvis Jenkins and he is looking good. Early on in full team reps I saw him getting into the backfield. On one he totally disrupted the play and he would have had a tackle for a loss. He got some high fives for that one. I have to be honest and say I didn't get that good of a look at the line play as I was really focused on RG3 and our skill positions. But there were times where the DL won, and times where the OL won. The QBs had time to throw, but also received pressure. The RBs had holes to run through, but certainly weren't running freely. It just seemed very evenly matched, which imo is a good thing. ILBs Hard to get a gauge on the ILBs without a full contact practice. London and Perry were on the inside with the first team. They both seemed to be flying around though, with London barking calls to everyone. The reports seem to be true with Perry's workout regime as he looks a bit leaner, and full of energy. Lorenzo came in for London as the first sub in. Jonathon Goff was the scare of the day. He dropped back into coverage and after the play was over he was on the ground and wasn't getting up. He later walked off on his own, I'm sure we'll hear about his status soon. Rookie Keenan Robinson had the highlight of the day for the ILBs. At the snap of the ball he dropped back into a zone coverage. A receiver was nearing his zone when Kirk Cousins tried to fit a ball between the defenders. Keenan leaped up and made a nice grab for the INT. I don't think Cousins ever saw Robinson back in zone coverage. EDIT: I missed a play on Keenan Robinson in the write up. Playing against the run and getting off blocks was one of his knocks coming out of Texas. But one play yesterday that really jumped out to me was on a run play towards his side. Keenan found the hole very quickly and met the fullback head on right in the hole, completely blowing up the play. Not only did he blow it up but he was in good position getting off the block to make the tackle along with some nearby DL. It was very Perry Riley'ish from last year the way he just exploded to the hole and made the play. And he'll only keep getting better learning behind London all year. Just a quick note. DBs The starting group was D Hall and Josh Wilson on the outside. With Brandon Merriweather at SS and Madieu Williams at FS. Cedric Griffin came in on the nickel package, sometimes lining up in the slot, and sometimes on the outside with D Hall in the slot. D Hall struggled in the one on one drills, getting burnt by Garcon a couple times. And some frustration seemed to carry over into the full team reps. Instead of getting a touch in on the ball carrier as the rest of the defenders did, D Hall was ripping at the ball and not letting go. And sometimes pushing over the ball carrier in the process. No one seemed to take offense by it though. Josh Wilson had a decent day. Gave up some catches, but had tight coverage consistently. Merriweather looked great out there I thought. He was in the box and seemed to have a nose for the ball. He sniffed out a cutback run and would have had a nice tackle for no gain or maybe even a loss. He was running very well and as long as he stays out of trouble, I think he could be a solid pick up for us. Madieu Williams was a veteran leader for the DBs. Barking out calls and always in good position. We'll see what happens when Tanard Jackson practices early next week. Some guys that looked really good out there were Richard Crawford and Kevin Barnes. I was really impressed by Barnes. He looked quicker out there to me, and was in the back pockets and hips of WRs during one on one drills. The same for Crawford. If they did give up a catch, they made it a tough one, and were right there for the tackle. Crawford pulled in an INT on a throw that seemed to sail on Kirk Cousins. With no one in front of him Crawford had a good chance of scoring on the play and got down field quickly. Ok, I think that about wraps that up. My apologies for the length. I tried to get a good write up on RG3 as I know he's the main focus for everyone. I kept an eye on most of the players and positions that are of concern to us fans, and I apologize if I missed a few. Take from it what you will, this is just one fan's view of practice today. There may be some reports on players that differ from mine, and that's fine. I'm just sharing what I saw, and different view points are bound to happen. Feel free to ask any questions about any player or position and I'll do my best to give an answer on their day today. Thanks for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinsfan1311 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Thanks for the update. Great post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktball74 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Thanks! How does RGIII look taking snap under center? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC9 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Great post, STB and good info. I hope Raheem keeps D. Hall in check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRobi21 Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 Thanks! How does RGIII look taking snap under center? It looks natural enough to me. He's taking plenty of snaps from under center. I'd say he's in the Shotgun/Pistol 70-75% of the time, maybe more maybe less. But he's getting plenty of reps from under center and is looking great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC9 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Thanks! How does RGIII look taking snap under center? A thread on the first page has some good footage from today. It looked like a lot of the offense was being run out of the Pistol, a la Cam Newton last year with Jadg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Excellent write-up, thanks :applause:... I'm glad you mentioned how Alfred Morris is doing at RB...Do you feel so far like he's making a good case for finding a way to keep him on the squad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRobi21 Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 Excellent write-up, thanks :applause:...I'm glad you mentioned how Alfred Morris is doing at RB...Do you feel so far like he's making a good case for finding a way to keep him on the squad? Absolutely. He was the first RB checking in after Helu and Royster and he seemed to answer the call today. Great receiver out of the backfield, and a north-south runner. And he packs more of a punch physically compared to our other RBs. A pretty versatile back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Absolutely. He was the first RB checking in after Helu and Royster and he seemed to answer the call today. Great receiver out of the backfield, and a north-south runner. And he packs more of a punch physically compared to our other RBs. A pretty versatile back. Excellent ...did they have him doing any blocking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LetThePointsSoar Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Thanks STB, appreciate the insight!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rblgenius Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Thanks for the update! Hope to make it out there soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRobi21 Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 Excellent ...did they have him doing any blocking? I didn't say much today, or I may have missed it. But he's a physical dude. I'm sure he can handle pass blocking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jservs7 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Great read STB! I was all smiles and even laughed when I read the D. Hall bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#BgMase76# Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Great job and Thx. You seam pretty high on Merriweather. Do you think he's a noticeable upgrade over Landry? What about Williams? Does he look like he has a command and solid understanding of the defensive scheme? I'm a little aprehensive w/ his age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soup's Uncle Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I got some cool shots today: ---------- Post added July-28th-2012 at 10:31 PM ---------- ---------- Post added July-28th-2012 at 10:32 PM ---------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRobi21 Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 Great job and Thx. You seam pretty high on Merriweather. Do you think he's a noticeable upgrade over Landry? What about Williams? Does he look like he has a command and solid understanding of the defensive scheme? I'm a little aprehensive w/ his age. If both are at the top of their game, no. I would not say he's an upgrade. But with Landry's injury past and not being able to get on the field, I think Merriweather will be a welcomed addition. He doesn't have the range LaRon does, but he's very aggressive playing inside the box like LaRon was. He had a lot of energy out there today and it seemed it rubbed off on his teammates on the defensive side of the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soup's Uncle Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Adama Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Thanks STBonecrusher21!! Great read! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowfire Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Awesome read thx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roanoker Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Good Wrap-up on day 3. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaRonDontLikeUgly Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Great write-up man thanks... Concerning Niles Paul, did you happen to catch any of his blocking or where he was mostly lined-up during Shotgun/Pistol formations? Also, physically does he look like he will be able move 250+lb linebackers out of the play? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsGuy Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Thanks for the great write-up. Concerning RG3, I've read several observers write that he has had the most trouble throwing to his left (aginst his body), and in rollouts in that direction. That his throws are usually too low, and that he done very well on other throws. Did you notice that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerryMason Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 No updates on Crompton???? UGH!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Now, that's how you do it. Wonderful write up. I know you said that you didn't focus very hard on the lines, but I have heard some reports saying that the o-line was having its lunch handed to them. From the report, it sounds like today the o-line picked it up a notch and gave time and opened some holes. Was that your impression? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbs Hog Heaven Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Nice to read we're looking good individually early. The real stuff starts when full pads go on and everything intensifies with contact of course, so I'm not reading much into anything at this stage. But nice to read we're doing what's asked. Enjoyable read man. Thank you. It's really appreciated. Sounds like you had a great day. (If sweaty and exhausting out in the heat.) . Hail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.