Jump to content

Astrobot

Community Member
  • Posts

    6,774
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Astrobot

  1. Thanks, everybody, for the birthday wishes. Yes, I'm 71. No, I don't wear Depends LOL I lurk here semi-occasionally, but I've moved over to BillsMafia.com to write in-depth articles on draft fits for the Bills. http://billsmafia.com/author/deankindig/ I'm also on Twitter a lot @TCBills_Astro Ranks again for the rishes! Rastro
  2. http://billsmafia.com/2017/10/19/bills-positional-priorities-october-edition/ Just wrote this article for BillsMafia.com on the Bills' positional priorities, mentioning college guys who are a fit for our scheme. What do you think? --Astro
  3. Bills Scouted 2017 Games (Teams listed with my Top 150 players) Clemson (DL Wilkins, WR Cain, ED Clelin Ferrell, OT Hyatt, LB Kendall Joseph, OG Hearn/Crowder) Louisville (QB Lamar Jackson, CB Jaire Alexander, OT Geron Christian, DL Drew Bailey) Ohio State (ED SHubbard, LB Booker, ED TLewis, G BPrice, T Jamarco Jones S Damon Webb, TE MBaugh) Tennessee (CB Shaq Wiggins, OC Coleman Thomas, TE Ethan Wolf) Georgia: (LB Davin Bellamy, DL Trenton Thompson, RB Nick Chubb, ED Lorenzo Carter) USC: (QB SDarnold, RB Ronald Jones, CB IMarshall, ED Porter Gustin, LB Cameron Smith, S Chris Hawkins) Washington St : (QB Luke Falk, OG Cody O'Connell, OT Cole Madison)
  4. http://billsmafia.com/2017/09/21/bills-positional-priorities-september-edition/ In my first article for BillsMafia Blog, I did what I used to do here every month: Realign the Bills' positional needs to submit to DraftTek. Hope you give it a read, and that you'll comment there or below. Thanks! Astro
  5. Premium lets you do trades. 1: R1P14 DL LOWELL LOTULELEI UTAH 2: R1P32 G QUENTON NELSON NOTRE DAME 3: R2P4 WR CHRISTIAN KIRK TEXAS A&M 4: R2P28 QB LUKE FALK WASHINGTON STATE 5: R3P14 OT CASEY TUCKER STANFORD 6: R3P16 S ARMANI WATTS TEXAS A&M 7: R3P32 EDGE PORTER GUSTIN USC 8: R3P38 LB JOSEY JEWELL IOWA 9: R4P1 TE MIKE GESICKI PENN STATE 10: R4P14 WR AUDEN TATE FLORIDA STATE 11: R5P1 RB JUSTIN CRAWFORD WVU 12: R5P14 WR RICHIE JAMES MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE
  6. These are great Yolo! I had wanted to make this a weekly but just couldn't find the time. Will set my DVR now!
  7. WR 6 Zay Jones Jordan Matthews Brandon Reilly Andre Holmes Brandon Tate WR, #1KR Corey ""Philly"" Brown WR #3 KR Walt Powell WR #2KR susp; not part of 53 Rod Streater waived/injured Daikiel Shorts PS
  8. Which will most likely be JJ Nelson or Aaron Donald, two speedsters, one of whom won't be needed with JohnRoss coming in.
  9. Folks, I was wrong on this one. I over-relied on FlightAware (jet was leased by someone other than Bills) and on GGSN (who have had questionable "Breaking News" stories). I'll try to do better than this. Astro
  10. Bloke, what's your Twitter handle? The JJ Nelson Story: Yesterday was a busy one. About 8:30 yesterday I got the FlightAware email that one of Pegula's jets was flying to Kansas City and on to Phoenix. Wheeler airport in KC is often used by Pegula as a waypoint to eat and refuel, but it's darn close to the Chiefs' facilities. We knew that Ragland was not a fit for the 4-3, and that Preston Brown was killing it, so I tweeted that a trade could be going down between Bills and Chiefs (DraftTek's Chiefs Analyst has 3-4 MLB listed as a team need). When the trade with KC was announced, I felt vindicated, as I was taking some heat on Twitter. I decided to check reasons why the jet was on to Phoenix, and started checking WR. I went to Ourlads depth chart of the Cardinals first, as they seem to be most up to date. There was a glut of WRs, Fitz, the 2 Browns, Nelson, Chad Williams, Aaron Dobson, John Ross, etc. I checked several articles referring to Cards WRs, and found out Nelson, likely one of the five fastest men in the NFL, was in HC Ariens' doghouse. Besides, Nelson hardly played in the 3rd preseason game; when they needed to take the top off the Falcons' defense, they used John Ross and later Aaron Dobson. Perhaps JJ Nelson had become expendable with Ross being drafted. I posted my thoughts on Twitter. A head of a startup sports network, GGSN, tweeted that "sources" he'd spoken with had said JJ Nelson was the guy, and that Bills were trading their acquired Ragland pick for him. This opened a storm of scoffs from pundits saying this was a conditional pick, and couldn't be used as such. That's a story for a different day. I also direct messaged Chris Brown, lead reporter, who said Nelson was on his list of possible acquisitions in a Ragland trade, but that he hadn't heard anything. The jet stayed in PHX about 24 hours. The flight plan was scheduled for PHX to KC, but not to BUF, so I assumed a Cardinals player is being dropped off in KC, and that the Bills are spending the night in Kansas City. An hour later, I get another FlightAware email saying they'll proceed to BUF for a 9:35 arrival. FlightAware sends me another email saying the Bills' flight home was delayed in KC, and won't be taking off until 8:35, arriving back in BUF at 11:35. We'll find out soon, but my money will be on the speed WR, JJ Nelson. He received almost zero snaps, he's the speed we lost by trading Sammy and releasing Listenbee and waiving Rashad Ross. WR is the Cardinals ' biggest glut. He's in Ariens' doghouse, and the PHX paper says he's on the bubble. Second would be Aaron Dobson, likely the Cards' sixth receiver, and still a 4.4 guy (JJ is 4.28). A distant third would be QB, but I don't want to go there. ...Astro. TCBIlls_Astro
  11. Bills are in Phoenix right now. They stopped in KC (either to make the deal for Ragland or to drop off Ragland). Cardinals have Palmer, Stanton, Gabbert, and Trevor Knight at QB
  12. I agree FULLY. Simulating a Bills' Bottom 8 finish and a Chiefs' Top 8 finish with the current 200-player DraftTek Big Board: RD1---Mike McGlinchey OT or Malik Jefferson OLB or Josh Rosen QB or Minkah Fitzpatrick S/CB RD1---Marcus Allen S or Mason Rudolph QB or Lamar Jackson QB or Dante Booker OLB RD2#37---Deon Cain WR or Kendall Joseph OLB or Da'Ron Payne DT or Ronnie Harrison S or Equanimeous St Brown WR RD2#40---Deon Cain WR or Kendall Joseph OLB or Da'Ron Payne DT or Ronnie Harrison S or Equanimeous St Brown WR RD3---K.C. McDermott OT or Auden Tate / Jaylen Smith WR or Mike Gesicki TE or Zachary Crabtree OT RD3----K.C. McDermott OT or Auden Tate / Jaylen Smith WR or Mike Gesicki TE or Zachary Crabtree OT
  13. Here's the Bills' problem with the 2018 QBs. Also a good reason not to tank: You've described Sam Darnold. We'd have to suck worse than the Jets, or use 2-3 picks to get him away from the Jets. Disadvantage: He's 6'3, tied for shortest of the Top 4 (Darnold, Allen, Rosen, Rudolph). He's also a USC QB, and virtually none of the USC QBs have amounted to anything recently. You haven't described Josh Allen. Of my Top 10, the 6'5" Allen is Second-Worst in completion percentage against AP-ranked teams. You'll get an athlete = Tyrod, with better arm strength, and better ability to fit the ball into tight windows, but inconsistent decision-making and late throws a la Tyrod. You might think you're describing Josh Rosen, but he's also only 6'3", and even worse, he's 210. He and Lamar Jackson are the lightweights in my Top 10. Rosen's arm strength has been described as " uneven to marginal", and he's tied for the slowest QB in my Top 20. That's forty-time, and the fat that he's slow-footed, to boot. This leads him to panic too soon. My best guess at this point is that if they're unsure about Darnold, they're looking at Mason Rudolph, who has the most deep-ball yards (helpful to take the top off a defense if they're crowding the box), and he's 6'4 235, so that's in his favor. His speed is average for the top 6 QBs (4.74 forty). He is the best sideline timing thrower among the Day 1-2 QBs this class, important in the WCO horizontal game. He had 63.3% completions last year against AP-ranked teams. If the Bills take him, they can stay put in RD1 for sure. My biggest question mark about Rudolph can be fixed: He's put up his numbers with really good WRs. IF the Bills take Rudolph first, they'll take a great WR second. If Mason Rudolph has the best WRs, Lamar Jackson had the worst help. He's made highlight-reel plays, Heisman caliber, with Tyrodesque run ability, with Tyrodesque ability to throw on the run. He, Browning, and Trace McSorley are the lightest in my Top 20. Lamar also needs the most work in my top 8. Some of it is coachable (lower body mechanics, trust your line and don't leave pocket early) and some is not.
  14. I'm submitting Positional Needs for next week's mock draft on DraftTek. Here's what I have. The P1 would likely come in RD1; you can only have one P1 per team. The P2's would be drafted in best-player-available order in RD 1-3. The DraftTek computer won't consummate trades, and won't over-reach for a player. QB--- up to P1---Batted balls alone make me think QB must be 6'4" (Josh Allen, Mason Rudolph). OT--- up to P2---Mills' opponent blocked 3 balls. Dawkins would take his place, but Cordy seems vulnerable to injury. OG--- up to P3---Incognito is age 34 and has had 2-3 penalties in preseason. Can we stop thinking Ducasse is an option? Is he a ploy to light a fire under Miller's butt? OC--- down to P4---Wood signed for 2 more years, Groy his successor, could be one of the Guards going forward which opens up hole at OC. TE--- up to P2. Clay targeted 7 times by Bills QBs, caught 4 of them for 47 yds. Clay isn't who we thought he was (530 yards per year and 7 TDs as a Bill) as the NFL's seventh highest paid TE), and O'Leary has more yardage. WR--- up to P2. Although Reilly outshone Shorts, he cost the Bills the game at the end. We know our starters; it's the 4-5 behind those three that need fortification. RB---holds at P6. McCoy just needs better blocking, Jon Williams, and Tolbert (first down on 3rd and 1 play and team's only TD), plus either Taiwan or Banyard. We're set. DT--- dn to P6. Impressed with Worthy, Marquavius Lewis, and Deandre Coleman at DT. Even Adolphus (who filled in for Dareus). If Dareus is traded (haven't heard anything), this goes to P2. DE--- dn to P4. Hughes and Shaq will be a terror, especially with level of play Shaq and DTs provide. Yarbrough continues to terrorize QBs. Even Seau and Ryan Davis showed up. LB--- remains P2. Preston Brown looked great (7 total tackles) but Vallejo's injury, erratic play from Milano, lack of sideline to sideline speed indicate an earlier pick than RD5. CB--- remains P4. Very sound play from White and fast learner EJ Gaines, plus Shareece Wright, plus the scheme, make this less of a need. S ---remains P2. Hyde's great. Poyer's above average. Likely need Anderson, Rambo, or Gary to distinguish themselves before the cut to 53, or we'll be taking someone else's cut. ---Please give me your thoughts. --Astro.
  15. All of the above, but I think Andre Holmes, as well. Is he expendable for a RD3? If Ryan Davis plays (injury/concussion issues), same thing. Yarbrough was such a late bloomer, it'll be fun to see if he has what it takes, especially against the Vikes. Zimmer is 12-1 in preseason games over the last 3 years, so watchiing individual players is more important than the win.
  16. Best. Many thanks!We'll try to connect again next year!
  17. Fired? Crap, there goes my severance... I think I was in like Flynn until I criticized the team doing 11 on 11s on the third field.
  18. My apologies...Our grandkids' flight was changed to camp time today, and later this week we go to Boise to see the other 2 grandkids... Odd summer. I've enjoyed providing the service. Will be talking draft when I return home. Go Bills! Astro
  19. Strike One: I waited in a 3/4-mile-long line just to get through security. They gave out 5,000 tickets and had 2 metal detector gates, the same as for the 2,000 weekday fans. Strike Two: The Bills did stretching on the far field, where 100 fans got to see them, rather than in front of the full bleachers on Polisseni Field. There was very modest applause when the Bills came back from the 3rd field where they had done their stretching. Strike Three: When the Bills did any situational drills or 11 on 11 drills, they went back to the third field. Russ Brandon and the Public Relations staff, you're out. .......... Despite this Public Relations SNAFU, we did learn some things. Watkins isn't 100%, Cordy's going through the positionals but taking it easy, The subwoofer at Training Camp is nearly as loud as my neighbor's, and Hauschka won't be getting any competition from Rehkow for first-string field goal kicker. During positionals, which WERE on the Fans' Field and therefore visible: Tyrod looks so agile going forward and backward in the pocket, the drill of the day. The QBs had to move back and forth, then pass to the asst coach. Peterman was 2nd-most agile, with Yates adding an extra step in there. The WRs had to sidestep to the tackling dummy, then go around it, getting the throw almost immediately when they were on the other side. Brandon Reilly made a neat 1-handed catch. Other WRs were doing the exact mirror image of this drill, just turning counter-clockwise around the dummy. Lots of reps for everyone. The OL were first doing 1 on 1 blocking. Nice to see Voytek get really low going into his block, and Groy impressing with how much push he ets. He's getting coached up by none other than Eric Wood. Cordy's there, but working off to the side with an asst coach. TE's working with Boras, Logan Thomas getting some coaching up. All are being instructed in how to ouse their off hand to block more effectively. After that, they worked on 2-TE blocks, with the second TE splitting off to take on a second-level defender. QBs are throwing to one WR each. Tyrod was throwing to Dez Lewis, Peterman threw to Daikiel shorts, and Yates had Brandon Reilly. I'd certainly have Shorts above Reilly and Lewis, so this is puzzling. It's here that Watkins walks off with a trainer. He's NOT limping, but his body language is downward. He's followed by 3 coaches and 4 photographers, kind of like mosquitoes. He's gone about 10 minutes (never went to the training room via the asphalt driveway that I keep tabs on), and returns to some applause. Again, subdued distracted crowd with plenty of kids and band-wagoners. Back to positionals. The TEs are doing in routes. Clay double-catches his pass, O'Leary doesn't. Logan Thomas, out third, makes a sure catch. Croom's fourth and his catch is smooth with no change in stride. The pass to Saxton is high, but he goes up to get it. Later, they do a deeper post route, and the top threee have no problem, but Croom's pass was too far in front of him, and Saxton (Future Fry Cook) dropped his. OL is doing some double-teaming with 3 OL on 2 defenders. They steer the defenders and sometimes one of the OL leaves the first block to make a second block. Here's where the SNAFU begins. The QBs, TEs, RB, WRs, and the OL all head to the third field. The fans are lik, "Whaaaa....?" There is nobody for the 5,000 fans to look at right now for about 9 minutes. It is VERY possible they don't want people to see what they're doing in situational drill today, which (if you promise not to tell the other 31 teams) was a beat-the-clock drill including a play, running up to the line, lining up, spiking the ball, and getting the FG Team out there for Hauschka's try. The attempt was good. The 150 fans on that field applauded while the 4850 left in the normal practice field sat. Or texted. Or wondered. I'd be pissed if this was my only training camp. A guy I knew drove 4 hours to watch this disregard for fans trying to decide how many real games they want to see this year. After each QB had been run through that Secret Session, about 8 minutes, the players returned to We the People. The Positional Drills resumed. OL working 3 men (LT, LG, OC) on 3 linemen impersonating defenders, including a LB. Karim Barton looks like a player. I think he's 3rd string right now, but he has an NFL physique. Cordy isn't doing anything more than the bare minimum during this drill, but he's out there. Dion Dawkins is hitting with authority, probably harder than anyone else during this drill. QBs fake the ball to a impersonating RB running in front of them, then passing left or right to an asst coach. Just like that, The Team again abandons The People and goes back to the far field to do 11 on 11's. This is what fans come to see. Some people leave to go to the far field to join the 150. I stand up and have a somewhat-obstructed view, but here's what I saw: They're playing what looks like Cover-1, but by the time the snap occurs, it can be Cover-2, Cover-3, even Cover-0. Kevon Seymour is getting some work back there. Andre Holmes had the Catch of the Day from my vantage point. Yates checks down more often, sometimes to a back (Banyard in this case, who seems to have pulled in front of Cedric O'Neal and J-Johnson for a possible 5th RB position, depending on what they do with the 2 FBs. J-Williams takes off on a nice run, which is what you'd like to see from your #2 RB, but has the ball knocked out at the end, which you don't want to see if you're Rico Dennison. I saw no work from Taiwan Jones today in anything other than KR, so that may be his saving grace. His career average per return is slightly higher than Tate's, with a similar number of returns. The run defense is swarming, intent on takeaways. Peterman tries three straight hand-offs for little gain, and a fake handoff with a pass that didn't end well (a INT) Yates' hand-off to J-Williams garnered some yards. Meanwhile, on We The People's Field, we have Hauschka and the Punters passing the ball to each other. When the players return, Tyrod leads an attack vs air that's reasonably entertaining to watch (better than punters). Watkins on a comeback route was pretty. They ran it with two TEs on the field with him, creating major match-up problems (against air). O'Leary catches a pass from Tyrod on a nice inside curl, and Shady gets a handoff. Tyrod's final piece was a nifty in-and-out route by Clay and a well-timed throw by Tyrod. Yates follows up with a toss and run by J-Williams, a pass out to Jeremy Butler (some chemistry there) with the other options being Logan Thomas, Zay Jones, and Walter Powell. Tate runs a long post and Yates delivers a snappy pass out to him, my other Catch of the Day. Seantrel Henderson is his LT. Voytek comes in to replace Henderson and Peterman hands off to Banyard. for not much. Croom is the TE in this group, with Cam Jefferson at RT. Peterman ran with WRs Streater, Dez LEwis, and Shorts, with Saxton the TE. They gave each QB one play to run. Tyrod threw to O'LEary on the far sideline. Yates hit Zay JOnes on a nice drag route, and Peterman throws midfield to Jeremy Butler, but he double-handles the catch. This one-play-per-QB process goes one more round, and they go back to The Far Side, and 4850 fans are stuck watching the kickers again. Eleven on Eleven is going on over on the field we cannot see. The sky is getting dark and threatening. Kind of like the Bills' Public Relations Department. The comments on my way back to the shuttle buses that I overhear: "We spent more time in line than seeing the players." "I thought we would see more" I liked it better when they were in Fredonia. Kids are resilient. One 4-year-old said, "The weather was more funner." I think he was comparing it to the scorcher last year's Sunday practice was, but he could have been insightful and talking about the team. --Astro
  20. I'm very, very sorry. We were waylaid in Corning, drove in torrents of rain to Rochester, then just gave up. Astro
  21. This is last minute, but I have had some last-minute changes of plans, and need a ticket for the practice 2:15 tomorrow at Fisher. Anybody have 1 or 2 they're not using? Dean
  22. I think Peterman has been more accurate with his passes than Yates. Yates still has the vet savvy. Unless there's a surprise cut, I think they go with all three in preseason and keep all three in the 53.
  23. I had to walk 1.5 miles to camp today (wife had plans), so I was disappointed that the Bills were practicing on the third field, adding another 1/3 mile as you have to go around the second field. You have to have a VIP pass to take the shortcut. This was decided overnight. Will mention this to Bills Public Relations. The Taiwan Jones signing doesn't mean anything just yet. Jones is insurance because he's the top AFC returner in 2016. He's not a consideration for RB, in my opinion, but he strengthens the ST group. Yesterday, we had this job done by Powell (suspended 4 games) and Rashad Ross (camp body) who was tried returning kicks in lieu of Tate (injured). Tate returned to action today. No Ross at KR duty. By the way, Taiwan Jones is wearing number 7, which I'm sure is just a slightly-used Cadale jersey. It's a wee big on Taiwan. It's Tyrod's birthday, so I sang to him as he came through the stadium entrance. No one joined in. Clay had no helmet today so another day off for him. The latecomers were Hughes, Seau, (injured), Dareus (evidently giving his all), and Deandre Coleman. POSITIONALS: The OL and QBs stayed on the second field, so we watched them first (Mike McD is again with me, his son Connor, plus Connor Christiansen and his friend Joel). Wood is hiking to Tyrod, Groy is hiking to Yates, and Mudge is hiking to Peterman. The Offensive line is working on run blocking so, I kept track of who came out of stance the lowest. Some of these were close, but kudos to John Miller, Richie, Cam Jefferson, and Michael Ola, who is back in action after yesterday's injury. Greg Pyke and Jordan Mudge should aim lower with their initial hand use; they need to keep their arms at shoulder level with palms aiming for under the DL's shoulder pads. RBs are practicing bouncing it outside. Shady looks like he's a 24-25-year-old out there. There's a spring in his step and a smile on his face. He's going to be used a lot on receptions out of the backfield judging from the plays I've seen in camp. The RBs form two lines facing each other. One by one, the RBs go down between the two lines, with the other RBs trying to take the ball away. No one can. Later the RBs run through slalom gates and must dodge a coach with a blocking pad. Best at this was Shady, Jordan Johnson and J-Williams tied for 2nd. Banyard looks the most awkward, but he catches the ball well and is still in the running, so to speak. Later they do blocking for the passer, and J-Williams ets his hands up quickest, Banyard's blocks are the most forceful, O'Neal's blocks are a little to high, and Jordan Johnson should use his hands more, and sooner. The WRs are again doing routes around the tackling dummy, then dodging under the pad of an assistant coach. Brandon Reilly is particularly notable at dodging. He looks athletic with good bend. Dez Lewis shows off his improved form and great hands in catching a ball up high where, given his height advantage, nobody else can get it. The TEs were receivers today. O'Leary is so smooth. This smoothness carries over later on where he makes several convincing catches. Logan Thomas isn't as smooth as O'Leary, but he's taller and wider, and should be great at boxing out the defender. He'll need to catch the ball away from his body better, but he's new to the position. Croom shows that he's a receiver in a TE body who'll need to continue work at blocking with leverage, as he's already the equal of O'Leary at receiving downfield. Towbridge is bigger than Croom, made a great end zone catch today in 11 on 11, and is certainly in the running for a PS spot. It'll depend on his uptake of plays and his downfield blocking/ST contributions. RED ZONE 11 on 11: The Bills did tons of work in the red zone today from the 5- and the 10-yard lines. Tyrod was calm and cool, has his ball cocked and loaded, firing in one quick motion for the score. The quick release is better than last year. So is Tyrod's decisiveness. He's running through progressions well, manipulating the defense better with his eyes, which I'll get to later. Yates stared down his target too long, and as a result, he went too high to the TE as the DBs swarmed where he was looking. Peterman had almost as quick a release as Tyrod, and threaded the needle well, but Dez Lewis dropped it. BACK TO POSITIONALS: I watched the DL work with Mike Waufle and his minions. Lawson's arm use is quick and fierce. He'll be a handful, as will Dareus, who showed his fast double-arm movement to dispose of the blocker quickly. If you double-team those two, you'll leave Kyle Williams, who looks all in, and perhaps the quickest pass rusher of them all, Jerry Hughes. This will be a nightmare for Offensive Coordinators. A shout-out to Nigel Williams, who seems to be picking up on the coaching coaches and players are giving him, as he's developed a fast motion with his arms to dispose of the blocker. He may be Practice Squad, or an alternative to Jerel Worthy. Worthy still bends the corner well, and I'd love to see him remain as a rotational rusher, moving Adolphus to interior rush only. QBs are working at hitting the deep corner of the end zone, and once each on the near pylon. My old math says Tyrod was 6 for 6 at placing the ball. Yates was 3 for 5, and was more likely too high (2 went out of bounds). Peterman was 4 for 5. RED ZONE 11 on 11: Back to the 5 or the 10 yard line for more red zone work. Jordan Mills is having his best day ever in a Bills uniform. He displays excellent get-off, and positions well at the second level. Holmes is split out wide with Zay in the slot, it's a passing TD to O'Leary. Yates again overthrows O'Leary in that deep corner of the end zone. Streater is still running with the twos, but Yates passes to Towbridge for the TD. The handoff goes to Tolbert, who essentially dares Worthy to take it away from him. He can't. Yates throws into the dirt in front of Brandon Tate, too low for a catch. Nice to see Tate back. Taiwan Jones is consulting with an asst coach about what each play is. Bacarri Rambo makes his presence felt for the first time since being signed with a near takeaway of a Peterman pass. DE Eddie Yarbrough is called offsides, later he'll get hit again with the same call. Jonathan Williams gets 2 upfield blocks for the TD. Tyrod dodges Yarbrough on a bootleg and scampers in for the second TD in a row. A chance for a camp-first 3 TDs in a row, but Peterman's pass to Zay Jones is incomplete. No telling if Boldin would've caught it. AGAINST AIR: Logan Thomas is taking Clay's place. Tyrod completes it to Shady. Yates completes it to J-Williams on the same play. Peterman passes to Banyard coming out of the backfield. Tyrod aain completes it to Shady, with Wood and Miller lead blockers. Mills again attracts attention with very quick feet in pass blocking, setting himself up perfectly to block for Tyrod. Screens galore in this session Yates forward itch screen to O'Neal results in almost a turnover as O'Neal botches the catch. Catch it first, then run, Cedric. They did a re-do of the last play, and everybody gets it right. Tyrod rips it to Shady who's done a lag route over the middle. Yates hits Tate on an out route. Peterman uses 2 convincing eye manipulations to complete a pass to Walter Powell. Tyrod uses 3 convincing eye manipulations to complete it to O'Leary. Yates completion to Streater Peterman completion to Rashad Ross. RED ZONE 11 on 11 Tyrod uses that eye manipulation and completes it out wide left to Shady for the TD. Tyrod hands it off to Shady, and he scores up the middle for a TD. Again a shot at a first-time trio of touchdowns, but Shadyy is stopped short of the goal line. Yates hits Streater who's run a drag route over the middle for a second TD. Yates fakes the handoff, then throws complete to Streater for the camp-first three TDs. Ragland and Yarbrough stop Tolbert short of the end zone. Peterman shows that eye manipulation but no catch. Peterman rolls out after handing off to the running back, but he is swarmed by that Top 3 run defense. Peterman hands off to Taiwan Jones, who gets 2 good downfield blocks for the TD. The Defense is called for offsides on 3 of the next 5 plays. Tyrod throws behind Watkins for an incompletion. It was the birthday boy's fault. Tyrod hands off to J-Williams for some success. Tyrod looks left at his options, sees nothing, and sprints right for a big gain. O"LEary has one red sneaker and one blue sneaker on. I'm betting he has another pair at home. Yarbrough ets his second offsides penalty (Peteran's snap count?). Ryan Davis is also out there. Peterman hands off to Banyard who runs low for a TD. Peterman tires to hit the far corner on a fade to Powell but Sylve and Elston break it up. Yates uses three eye moves and hits O'LEary over the middle. Watkins is in the slot, Tate out wide to his right, Watkins runs an out and in route and was wide open. Tyrod throws left, incomplete. They'll talk about that one. Yates throws a completion to Tate, but he's stopped short of the end zone. BT Sanders, who's been making plays, almost picks off Streater, but the ball falls incomplete. Croom may or may not have gotten his second foot down in the back corner of the end zone from Yates. We'll call it a TD. Peterman throws it up high where only Towbridge can catch it for the TD over the middle. Peterman to Jeremy Butler was dropped. Peterman throws high up for Dez Lewis, but it's incomplete. Two nice eye manipulations, though. Not staring WRs down like Cardale used to. Once again it's time for a shot at the elusive three TDs in a row. Tyrod's chance is a crosser to Dez Lewis on a crosser. TD! Now it's Yates's turn. Yates throws it to J-Williams at the one, and he rolls in for the 2nd TD. Peterman looks right, left, then throws to Croom for the TD3!
  24. I finally ran into a guy who lives closer to camp than I: Mike McD. He was an excellent spotter, and these notes reflect it in terms of accuracy. Thanks, Mike! See you tomorrow! We also ran into Pat Kirwin, NFL Analyst for Sirius. He told me to call into his show and report about the Bills. May take him up on it. It's a beautiful day in Ro-cha-cha, with cirrus clouds wand 80 degree temperatures. Camp is heating up. We had our first good fight due to the relentlessness of a swarming defense, a couple of injuries (Ola and Hyde, both look okay), and some clarification in the pecking order. Let's get to it. Jason Croom is taking extra pre-practice work on the JUGS machine. He's your #4 TE for now, with Logan Thomas beginning to separate himself from the six. It's Clay and O'Leary always together in positionals, always demonstrating the kind of blocking that Bob Boras wants them to do, and Croom and Logan Thomas are first to try and replicate it, Last to leave the indoor practice facility are Dareus, Deandre Coleman, Ian Seau (walking with a slight limp), and ..who's this bringing up the rear? It's Sean McDermott jogging with a redder-than-usual face and a sheepish grin on his face. He's allowed himself 3 minutes to jog to the field before that air horn starts Kick Return practice, and...he makes it in time! Clay, O'Leary, and Micah Hyde each do a drill with an assistant, juggling 2 tennis balls between them to build eye-hand reflexes. During kick return drills, Rashad Ross, likely the third string KR, is shagging the kickoffs, with Powell alternating. Powell's the 54th man, because he's suspended and doesn't count toward the 53. His missing four weeks, plus Tate's injury, paves the way for Ross to slip into the 53 if Tate doesn't make it back. Up backs on kick return are O'Neal, Jordan Johnson, Wes Saxton, and Croom. Danny Crossman, who's hung in there as coach through 3 coaching changes as Mike McD reminds me, is very vocal, getting the blocking down right for the upcoming season. During calisthenics (the longest I've ever seen at Fisher) we give a shout-out to players going for deeper stretches, more effort, and higher knee lifts. Today's winners are Jordan Poyer, Marquavius Lewis (a favorite of mine), Eric Wood on knee lifts, and ...who's this? Marcell Dareus --his first time on any effort list from me! He went deeper into a stretch-and-twist move. Deandre Coleman gets the least-effort award today. To be fair, yesterday's slackers did much better, so here's to you, Jordan Mills and John Miller! Unlike any other summer at Fisher, the HC is right in the midst of calisthenics, cheering his men on and even doing some of the stretches. Sean McDermott does it, Marv Levy wished he could've done it, and Rex couldn't do it. Tyrod is the most flexible of the skill-position players. He's like a rubber band (gum band if you're from PGH). Positional Drills looked like this: TEs have a new blocking instruction. All eyes are glued to Bob Boras the TE Coach as he gives instruction. I take that to mean he's giving new information even to the veterans, and they're eating it up. Boras, Waufle, and Crossman do the most chirping, although Gil Byrd was letting people know he was around yesterday. OL work seemed to emphasize getting into stance quickly. I learned a lot from DraftTek's OL Analyst, and it helps watching these guys. Groy is going to be a stud, even if we don't see him on the field. Groy, Karim Barton, and Miller, and Michael Ola show perfect stance, and so does Dawkins. Dawkins is a "wider slider", covering lots of ground laterally, which Seantrel Henderson also does well. These guys mentioned get "into their chair" --the perfect position for an OL. Eric Wood is too upright; a swift punch from a bullrusher is going to take that position and drive him back. Which is what happens. You have to love the crispness of the QB drill. The QBs are getting one rep sometimes, but the next QB is up and ready with no wasted time. WR are running around the tackling dummy and getting a deeper throw compared to yesterday. TE's are getting the better of the LBs in a receiving drill. Rehkow almost beans the LBs with a wide-right errant kick. Some installation is going on in this segment, with Tyrod to Watkins the highlight. Sammy's hand catches are a thing of beauty, with absolutely no movement of the ball after it touches his grip. This is in stark contrast to Holmes, who again double-handled the ball. Daikiel Shorts is looking better, and Zay Jones is running with the ones even more. Dez Lewis is looking consistent. I remark that Lewis has looked good in practice before, but not in games, so we'll see. It's a crowded field of 12 WRs. Some observations: Croom is lighter, but a very good receiver. Had it not been for a great catch by Logan Thomas today, Croom's efforts would have shined brighter. McCoy gets about 4 yards's separation being defended by Preston Brown. That's not Brown's fault. McCoy looks awesome. He said he could play 4 more years? I wouldn't bet against it. Wes Saxton is intercepted by one of the backup DBs, then Pat DiMarco plucks the ball out of the air against Vallejo. Joe Banyard does the same against Reggie Ragland despite Reggie's perfect positioning. BT Sanders has another fine PBU against Charles Clay. He's swimming with the big fish, that one. Hauschka had a great day. He's knocking them to the back line of the end zone from the 50 off a tee. Later he nails 4/4 FGs.The Bills are practicing 3rd and 15 from the 40. Tyrod passes to Shady for 5 yards, then the fire engine drill: Players line up quickly, Rehkow comes in, the ball is hiked on 2 seconds, and nails the FG from the 40. This is practiced again with each QB. Shout out to Philly Brown who ducks under Ronald Darby's tackle and would have made the first down during the fire engine drill! One of the prettier passes was Tyrod to Zay Jones today, a deep ball to Zay JOnes. We'll see that one in the fall. One of the better blockers on these plays was Jeremy Butler, the recipient of Tyrod's first-ever TD with the Ravens. In the 11 on 11's: The D-Line was offsides a lot today. This can't happen. McCoy had a sweet sidestep of Kyle Williams' tackle, and takes it for a long gain. Seantrel got time with the ones at both tackle positions. So glad he's putting his Crohns' Disease and the weed suspension behind him. Do what you can do at the moment. Dawkins and Mudge looked a little lost at the second level. The swarming Defense caused a fight today. The D sometimes hits after the whistle, hold onto the ballcarrier too long, and tensions flare. They did today. Levy: "Don't be dumb, don't be dirty." Peterman has a believable fake handoff. He fooled many in the crowd --and on the field. Tolbert just plows ahead. He'll even be better in live action because of his stature and leg drive. The Offense had to burn a timeout when Yates and WRs/RBs weren't communicating. Against air: It was Watkins, Andre, and Zay with Zay out wide. The throw went to Clay on a neat play Zay went into the slot next, but Tyrod fired too high. Same play, but much more effective on a pass in the flat to McCoy. Big gain. Woods had a mis-hike that got behind the QB. Yates hands off to J-Williams for a short gain. On the next play, he fires it to Jeremy Butler, who turned backwards to catch it. Awkward form. Yates checks off to O'Leary underneath for a <10 yard gain. Powell, Jeremy Butler, and Philly Brown are Yates' receivers, while Peterman had Logan Thomas, Streater, Dez Lewis, and Daikiel Shorts. Most would have Streater and Shorts up with the 2s. It was not so. Installing a trips right and trips left formation with 1 or 2 TEs. Very effective. The deep pass to Zay JOnes was a very satisfying TD, because Rico Dennison said we'd see the defense cheat up to defend the horizontal game, especially with Shady and the timing plays. The second 11 on 11: Poyer was showing a Cover-1, but it sometimes went to a Cover-2 or 3. J-Williams' run was impressive; he's either the #2 or #3 RB depending on what you count Tolbert as. Cordy is in there looking bigger and more muscular than last year. Sammy's in the slot with Holmes wide. Watkins gets Tyrod's attention on a well-executed comeback. Watkins out wide, this time, Zay in the slot, Zay was WIDE OPEN on the L by 10 yards, but Tyrod threw into coverage on the R, and Hyde went down. He left under his own power, walked without a limp to the training room, and was back on the sidelines in 8 minutes. Yates is mobile but not a Tyrod. Not a news flash. He got 3 yards on a QB rollout. Philly Brown's the slot guy on this one with Streater wide and Logan Thomas on the other side. Effective use of Thomas, as he's a mismatch downfield for Yates to throw to. Cedric O'Neal gets the reception on a swing pass, and shows toughness by running through about 3 defenders. Jordan Johnson gets very little on the next play. Castillo is getting in Mudge's face. Intense. Effective. Henderson (OT), Karim Barton (OC) and Voytek (OT) are running with the threes. Preston Brown yells a change in defensive alignment, but LeSean nets a lot of yards on a run outside the OT. Lindsey, the Harvard guy, gets a would-be sack on Yates. Peterman's pass to Streater looked like pass interference by Leonard Johnson, but there are refs for the first time today, and no call was made. The defense's big problem was offsides penalties with 3. Not PI. Holmes was able to get separation against Darby. Hyde returns to applause, teammates and coaches come over to give him hugs and high-fives. Logan Thomas just decimates Shareece Wright. Major mismatch of size allowed Thomas to go up and get it. Wright was out of the next play on a deke by J-Williams on a flare pass. Broke his ankles, figuratively speaking. Thanks for reading these notes, Mr. Kirwan! Many thanks again to Mike McD, who I hope I see tomorrow. These 68-yo eyes don't see numbers on the far side. His young eyes do.
  25. Thomas is the #3. I think it comes down to whether to keep 4 TEs or 5 RB/FBs on the roster.
×
×
  • Create New...