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Bills' Camp @ SJF: Week 1 Day 6 - Begins on Page 64


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Many conflicting QB reports from Monday night's practice. Seems either Taylor or Manuel had the best night depending on which report you believe, and that Cassell was the weakest link. Overall, here's what I take from the first 5 days of camp.

 

  • Manuel's had a few flashes, but is still struggling with accuracy.
  • Taylor is very athletic but inconsistent reading defenses
  • Cassell is Captain Checkdown

Seems to be holding form from what was expected going into camp. If this holds form through the scrimmage on Saturday, EJ is probably the odd man out heading into preseason. He likely has to beat out Taylor, not just be comparable or equal, to make the final cut. Cassell is probably a roster lock, but could play himself into clipboard holder if he doesn't show something in the preseason.

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Sal Cappaccio with WGR 550 called the QB's :"inaccurate and inconsistent", and I agree.

Yeah my kids have been to all but the first practice focusing on the QBs a lot. That has been their assessment every day so far as well. Picking who looked the best was more an exercise in who sucked the least.

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This is interesting - from two separate sources - neither can agree who was better, EJ of TT....

 

Something I find interesting though, thru 4 practices and OTA's, Cassel is "Cassel" I guess is the best way to say it - he never does anything to excite, but never does anything make you panic...ideally, he would be a backup as when EJ or TT look sharp, they are much better than Cassel. The Bills just need one or the other to be consistent.

 

I found an interesting, sort of throw-away analysis by Carucci - he said that Cassell hasn't looked good so far because the first week of camp plays up to his weakness, as there's no preparation, gameplan and opponent study. Most of the plays are just airing it out and seat of your pants throws. He's not very good at that. The sense I get is that they're expecting him to turn it on once more preparation & study is thrown into the mix. Just a guess.

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I was thinking the same thing until I heard Rex say in a video yesterday say "Glenn, Incognito, Wood; we are set on that side". It was one of the after practice sessions, from Sunday I think. He named Wood, that just isn't news to anyone and wasn't tweeted that I know. I think the Wood concern is an overblown twitterverse echo-chamber non-issue.

I am really excited to hear that. Honestly, with Incognito and Miller looking as good as they have so far, our o-line might surprise people.

 

Has anyone else looked at some of those Balco formations Roman has rolled out?

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I found an interesting, sort of throw-away analysis by Carucci - he said that Cassell hasn't looked good so far because the first week of camp plays up to his weakness, as there's no preparation, gameplan and opponent study. Most of the plays are just airing it out and seat of your pants throws. He's not very good at that. The sense I get is that they're expecting him to turn it on once more preparation & study is thrown into the mix. Just a guess.

Interesting stuff.

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I found an interesting, sort of throw-away analysis by Carucci - he said that Cassell hasn't looked good so far because the first week of camp plays up to his weakness, as there's no preparation, gameplan and opponent study. Most of the plays are just airing it out and seat of your pants throws. He's not very good at that. The sense I get is that they're expecting him to turn it on once more preparation & study is thrown into the mix. Just a guess.

They did say this week would be more structured & planned for the QB's and it would culminate with that scrimmage Saturday, I think.

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I found an interesting, sort of throw-away analysis by Carucci - he said that Cassell hasn't looked good so far because the first week of camp plays up to his weakness, as there's no preparation, gameplan and opponent study. Most of the plays are just airing it out and seat of your pants throws. He's not very good at that. The sense I get is that they're expecting him to turn it on once more preparation & study is thrown into the mix. Just a guess.

that makes some sense, thanks
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I found an interesting, sort of throw-away analysis by Carucci - he said that Cassell hasn't looked good so far because the first week of camp plays up to his weakness, as there's no preparation, gameplan and opponent study. Most of the plays are just airing it out and seat of your pants throws. He's not very good at that. The sense I get is that they're expecting him to turn it on once more preparation & study is thrown into the mix. Just a guess.

That goes for each QB. They're just throwing it around at this point. We will see some separation soon.

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I found an interesting, sort of throw-away analysis by Carucci - he said that Cassell hasn't looked good so far because the first week of camp plays up to his weakness, as there's no preparation, gameplan and opponent study. Most of the plays are just airing it out and seat of your pants throws. He's not very good at that anything. The sense I get is that they're expecting him to turn it on once more preparation & study is thrown into the mix. Just a guess.

The likely reality in 2015.

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This is an interesting tweet re: EJ... In previous years, he was not able to openly say that he had a bad day or was struggling.

Just thought worth noting.

 

@john_wawrow: To his credit, he acknowledged a few struggles in camp. Talked to someone else, who isn't giving up on him. https://t.co/5dKH1dhi88

 

Man, I almost posted EJ's exact quote this morning after thinking the same thing. He admitted to being dissatisfied with how he played Saturday and Sunday, but said he felt better last night.

 

Last year he never said those kinds of things -- it was always, "I felt good out there and did some good things."

 

Maybe he's "getting it."

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I'm not sure if this is true or not, but I do feel like a lot of the stuff he reports loses meaning without appropriate context. This became more apparent as I followed him live while watching practice. He reports the highlights and the lowlights, but rarely the surrounding circumstances.

 

One glaring example was when he tweeted about "the play of the night" the long pass from TT to SW. A few guys behind me were also having a laugh at the Tweet because it was clear that, if it were a real game, TT would have been destroyed by KW on the play.

 

Again, no one seemed to have much success when the first team D was on the field. It just wasn't fair for the offense (and I loved it). The next time one of those guys tweets about "EJ did this terrible" or "Cassell did this great" it should come with information about who was on the field for the defense.

 

EJ is remarkably better than the other three from an "arm talent" perspective. TT is second in that department. Cassell just throws an ugly, ugly ball IMHO.

I know it can be difficult but next time perhaps watch the line players and who they are blocking vs watching the QB's. So much easier to watch one guy (QB) then try to see what 5 other guys are doing in practice at the same time. The coaches will see whats going on after watching the tapes. We all will be able to see once pre season starts.

 

per the bolded: that is especially important when the games move RWS as those swirling winds can wreck havoc with the weaker arms.

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Man, I almost posted EJ's exact quote this morning after thinking the same thing. He admitted to being dissatisfied with how he played Saturday and Sunday, but said he felt better last night.

 

Last year he never said those kinds of things -- it was always, "I felt good out there and did some good things."

 

Maybe he's "getting it."

Honest introspection is definitely a step forward for him. Too much Baghdad Bob last year in camp and preseason.

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This is interesting - from two separate sources - neither can agree who was better, EJ of TT....

 

Something I find interesting though, thru 4 practices and OTA's, Cassel is "Cassel" I guess is the best way to say it - he never does anything to excite, but never does anything make you panic...ideally, he would be a backup as when EJ or TT look sharp, they are much better than Cassel. The Bills just need one or the other to be consistent.

I think that makes a ton of sense. It seems like Cassel is exactly who they hoped he would be. A smart, dependable veteran with a high floor and a low ceiling. He would be a great backup.

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I'm not sure if this is true or not, but I do feel like a lot of the stuff he reports loses meaning without appropriate context. This became more apparent as I followed him live while watching practice. He reports the highlights and the lowlights, but rarely the surrounding circumstances.

One glaring example was when he tweeted about "the play of the night" the long pass from TT to SW. A few guys behind me were also having a laugh at the Tweet because it was clear that, if it were a real game, TT would have been destroyed by KW on the play.

Again, no one seemed to have much success when the first team D was on the field. It just wasn't fair for the offense (and I loved it). The next time one of those guys tweets about "EJ did this terrible" or "Cassell did this great" it should come with information about who was on the field for the defense.

EJ is remarkably better than the other three from an "arm talent" perspective. TT is second in that department. Cassell just throws an ugly, ugly ball IMHO.

Your reports are a godsend Johnny. As for the QB rotation in training camp, I'm not too concerned about it. Remember Alex Smith ran with the 1st team at SF. To be honest, I'm not even worried about the start of the season. Again, Smith started the season only to be replaced by Kaepernick. Rex's comment about the "young QBs" learning from the veteran resonated with me.

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Man, I almost posted EJ's exact quote this morning after thinking the same thing. He admitted to being dissatisfied with how he played Saturday and Sunday, but said he felt better last night.

 

Last year he never said those kinds of things -- it was always, "I felt good out there and did some good things."

 

Maybe he's "getting it."

 

I think this is some of what he learned by watching Orton.

 

 

I think that makes a ton of sense. It seems like Cassel is exactly who they hoped he would be. A smart, dependable veteran with a high floor and a low ceiling. He would be a great backup.

 

IMO, an underrated factor in having Cassel as the backup is this: if the starter (either EJ or Tyrod) goes down, it'll be much easier to simplify the game plan to involve what Cassel does well (quick slants, WR screens, bubble screens, etc.) than it will be to start incorporating designed rollouts, bootlegs, zone-read concepts, etc. that the other two do well.

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IMO, an underrated factor in having Cassel as the backup is this: if the starter (either EJ or Tyrod) goes down, it'll be much easier to simplify the game plan to involve what Cassel does well (quick slants, WR screens, bubble screens, etc.) than it will be to start incorporating designed rollouts, bootlegs, zone-read concepts, etc. that the other two do well.

He is the exact type of guy that a winning team wants as a backup. There are plenty of examples that probably point to the contrary (Denver, NE, GB) but if given the choice of Tolzien or Cassel it would be Cassel every day. If your starter does go down or gets suspended for cheating for 4 weeks I would think that a good team would want the smart, safe option instead of an unknown with some upside. Good teams need the backup QB to not lose games for them, they do not necessarily need them to win them.

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Your reports are a godsend Johnny. As for the QB rotation in training camp, I'm not too concerned about it. Remember Alex Smith ran with the 1st team at SF. To be honest, I'm not even worried about the start of the season. Again, Smith started the season only to be replaced by Kaepernick. Rex's comment about the "young QBs" learning from the veteran resonated with me.

Wasn't Smith replaced because he got injured? I mean Kaep made the most out of his opportunity, but it's not like he got it by learning from Smith on the bench.

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Believe me, I'm keeping it in mind. But seriously from what we've been hearing both Incognito and Miller are sounding strong.

It's telling that Rex confirmed Glenn and Incognito but not Wood.

In his quote about Incognito and Glenn being starters he also included Wood as a starter.
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