Well, another practice in the books- and it went quickly. In part because I missed the first part of it because, well, the job I get paid for took priority. Crazy, I know.
I suppose the good news is that I didn't miss much, as they were working on an offensive install on the field away from everybody, under cover of lots of big guys huddling around the action.
That said, my observations were for 11s and 7s, and also some linemen one-on-ones.
11s and 7s
- Perhaps more than player performance today, it was interesting to see who was playing where and with what group.
- Starting LBs today were mostly Greenway, Cole and Hodges
- Hodges continues to impress, probably the best LB in camp at this point, based on what I've seen
- Barr didn't play as much- doesn't look 100%.
- While Mike Wallace had a catch today in 11s, it was for short yardage. Still not seeing much rapport at this point between TB and Wallace. On another play Wallace ran open deep but TB went for the check down. On go routes, Wallace can get separation, but late often times- too late it seems as TB has moved on with his progressions. That sort of timing/trust/rapport issue needs to be resolved between TB and Wallace if that combination is to have a lot of success.
- I saw Rhodes and Waynes playing outside CB on a few plays, with Newman playing slot. Munnerlyn had some work in the slot as well, and had a nice break-up of a pass covering Wright. The throw could have used some more loft from Bridgewater, which would have avoided the break-up, but it was on target.
- Waynes is improving, but I don't see him cracking the starting line-up of Rhodes, Newman and Munnerlyn anytime soon though. Josh Robinson is still not participating.
- 2s went against 1s on either side of the ball. but not much to report.
- Mycole Pruitt continue to look good as a receiving TE to me. Not super flashy or spectacular catches, but he gets separation and makes the catch. Granted this is against the 2s, but nevertheless he looks good so far as I've seen him.
- 7s were focused on a variety of screen plays, which were interesting, but in terms of player performance, not much stood out, other than Adam Theilen had a nice catch.
- If I were to speculate on how Norv's offense may differ from last year, I would say the versatility of the RBs/TEs/H-backs will be a bigger factor than last year. This may help out the offensive line in some ways too, by keeping the defensive line honest, and perhaps more off-balance. I've already started writing another piece on that, which hopefully I'll finish soon.
- Both Zimmer and Spielman were out there today, watching intently, with Zimmer a little more vocal at times than I noticed yesterday. Norv doesn't appear to be as vocal this year compared to last, but I could be missing it too in the noise.
- Chad Greenway wins the happiest player award for my first two days covering camp. He's always upbeat and bouncing around on the field, and spends a lot of time after practice with fans having fun. Nice to see, as it is probably his last training camp.
- Once again, I felt generally that the defensive line got the better of the offensive line in pass-blocking one-on-ones, and yes, that included Everson Griffen getting the better of Matt Kalil more often than not, and would have led to hurries and/or hits. Kalil did not look awful, but Griffen looked better. I still think Kalil could use more knee bend, and still lacks some tenacity and the will to dominate that a good lineman needs to demonstrate.
- I would add that the nature of the drills gives some space advantage to the defensive player that normally would not be there in a real game, with the exception of the ends/tackle match-ups.
- Fusco/Floyd went to Floyd more often than not, which would have resulted in hurries or hits. Good battle though.
- Harris also had some trouble, I believe against Joseph.
- Even Clemmings allowed what may have been a sack, but I think he slipped on the play, rather than being beat purely by technique.
- Yankey has been getting work at LT, although that may be because Bykowski has not been participating. He did okay, but seems to lack some of the tenacity you'd like to see. A bit like Kalil in that regard.
- The first is that the offensive line is not there yet, and needs to catch up. Often the defense is able to get up to speed at this point in training camp ahead of the offensive line, so no need to panic at this point.
- Secondly, the offensive line struggled most against the best defensive linemen on the team- Griffen and Floyd- and a lesser extent against Joseph- who looks a lot better as Mike Zimmer said/predicted. This is not surprising. Griffen and Floyd are good and getting better. Griffen had a nice spin move, and Floyd continues to have a nice bull rush that is hard to stop.
- Still, I think it is fair to say, based both on last year's performance and so far this year, the defensive line is the stronger unit, with 3 out of 4 positions very solid. The offensive line doesn't have the continuity at either guard spot really, when you consider Fusco moved to left guard. But while improved over last year with Loadholt back and Kalil better, if not really good at this point, and Fusco likely to do better at LG than Charlie Johnson and Harris or whomever wins the RG spot likely to do better than Vlad Ducasse, you can see there will be improvement. Still, I think there is some consternation at this point things have not solidified as much as hoped for.
- Still, I think it is fair to say, based both on last year's performance and so far this year, the defensive line is the stronger unit, with 3 out of 4 positions very solid. The offensive line doesn't have the continuity at either guard spot really, when you consider Fusco moved to left guard. But while improved over last year with Loadholt back and Kalil better, if not really good at this point, and Fusco likely to do better at LG than Charlie Johnson and Harris or whomever wins the RG spot likely to do better than Vlad Ducasse, you can see there will be improvement. Still, I think there is some consternation at this point things have not solidified as much as hoped for.
Special Teams Watch
- Stephon Diggs continues to get at least as many reps as Sherels as punt returner. He did well fielding punts today, at least he did as well as Sherels. They did not practice returns today.
- Jeff Locke's punts looked good for the most part, but I would not put much weight in today's performance either. Pre-season games will be the better measure, not practice, as is the case with just about every other position group.
OK, that's it for this report. Not much in terms of big news, but a little here and there. Sorry I haven't commented much on either Teddy Bridgewater or Adrian Peterson, in part because they are doing well generally, and to expectations, but also without anything particularly noteworthy about their performance either. Could add Harrison Smith to that list as well.