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AstroNotes1: Bills Camp Monday August 1

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Astrobot

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Cliff's Notes: We have a MUCH-improved set of receivers than a year ago! Tyrod acts the part of QB, EJ is more schooled but still shows some hesitancy and inaccuracy, Cardale has not hesitation but is still inaccurate. Biggest problem I saw was pass pro in 11 on 11. Defensively, Ragland's going to be great in Rex's scheme, PBrown is much-improved, Dareus on the sidelines is looking great (he's being mothballed IMHO). Saw MLawson and 3 others (Reggie Brown, perhaps?) doing fitness work on the sidelines. Carp probably beat Morgan today.

 

The stands are 1/2 full today, as the work week begins and impending rain (which never materialized) kept people away. 71 degrees, 88 percent humidity.

Schmidt is punting some boomers as I found my place in the stands (top right corner as you face the stands). Arenas is fielding punts first, Powell second. They're using Lewis and Little as gunners. Schmidt, the only player with no competition, only dropped one out of bounds.

 

Tyrod is playin catch with Woods during this time.

 

When the positional drills start, They are doing rollouts and throws to TEs. I watch the OL for a bit. Jamison Lalk is playing OG and looks the part, but the biggest eye-openers are Velasco, who actually held a block with his body turned, and Miller who looks stronger. He road-grades Urbik 5 yards before Urbik can even settle. Renfrow looks like he has trouble moving sideways. Mills looks more agile. Groy is a tad shorter than I thought.

 

I watch the QBs next. Cardale is a whole helmet taller than Tyrod, and 1/2 a helmet taller than EJ. Cardale mops his brow a lot. EJ is becomeing more well-versed in the mechanics of his throws, and seems to have footwork down better. The difference this morning between EJ and Cardale was this: EJ had the mechanics more automatic (example: a great sell on a draw play), and still overthrew WRs (less often than last year, though, and the WRs made him look better). EJ hesitated now and then in 11 on 11; Cardale got the throw out for better or worse. Cardale's mechanics were inconsistent, but he is going to wow us in some preseason action against future fry-cooks. Cardale "pulls the trigger" faster than EJ even now. He got the ball to Woods right out of his break, and made a throw to his 2nd look at another point. He was able to find Blake Annen on another play--no way he was the primary or secondary on that play. Cardale also showed a great "sell" on a draw play, as does EJ.

 

Receivers: We've got real talent, especially with Tyrod and with this scheme. Goodwin and Dez Lewis impressed me the most right off the bat. Goodwin made a sweet catch OVER THE MIDDLE at full speed. Catch Me If You Can . Boykin was the least impressive, looking smaller than I thought and dropping two. Salas is very fast, particularly into his breaks. Hankerson kept his balance, making an impressive catch after an awkwardly-thrown ball. Powell looks the part and has some PR/KR upside; he plays with urgency and effort but several times couldn't gain separation. Woods hauls in a 40-yarder from Tyrod on point over his right shoulder; he's the best I've seen him look in a preseason. Dez Bryant makes a difficult over-the-head catch in stride on the ensuing play. Goodwin matches both receivers with a nice catch OVER THE MIDDLE at full speed. Little is more labored into his breaks--will watch that more. Powell makes a deep grab on the run. Chambers makes a smooth catch and looks like, "What do I have to do to get noticed here?" One more mention: Devonte Allen. Salt this guy away on the PS and he'll see the field in more than preseason. He's slighter than some of the other 6-2 guys, but he made several nice catches. He didn't "sell" his route on one play, so he can't be telegraphing that in the NFL.

 

TE: Gragg is the better receiver than O'Leary today, but both were better than Dray. If Dray is the TE, it's a blocking assignment and I thought they would get a guy more versatile than that. Maybe next draft. Annen had the best catches of the day, and this could be his meal ticket onto the 53, taking that Marqueis Gray role (and likely forcing O'Leary out).

 

In the Session 2 drill, Tyrod was given Woods, Goodwin, and Salas, and that may be a starting lineup. We saw Woods, Salas, and Little a bit later. When they were working fade routes to the L corner of the end zone, Tyrod was 100%, EJ was 8 for 9, and Dez Lewis was the best receiver. Walter Powell and Salas are pretty good too, but lack the height.

 

I watch some defense now, and Darby's having trouble with some of these receivers (Dez, Goodwin, and . He does break up a great EJ throw, though. Duke Williams gets a flag for trying to cover Goodwin OVER THE MIDDLE; Goodwin makes Duke look like he's not an Olympian...But Duke has three other good plays today, so the jury's still out on him. Powell makes a nice catch on Colt Anderson, Robey's beaten on an outside shoulder fade by Little, and Mario Butler nabs a nice PBU on Dez.

 

The Cardale inonsistency (which was brought up when he was at OSU) was so evident in Session 5. He throws a 64-yard TD to Powell with S Robert Blanton, then throws a 40-yarder to Davonte Allen. You think EJ's in jeoardy, right? Then Cardale sails one over Greg Little's head that would require a hook and ladder truck to catch. Tyrod steps in and throws a beautiful 50-yarder to Goodwin with Robey helplessly trying to keep up. Woods makes a nice 20 yard catch, and runs it out to the end zone--just for the exercise. Dez Lewis is caught up with Sterling Moore and can't make the catch, and Duke Williams breaks up a pass intended for the smallish Powell. Jonathan Dowling, who has some meat on that skeleton, breaks one up vs Chambers; I would have called the penalty for contact but the 4 referees didn't call it. Little heard the footsteps of Mario Butler and dropped a catch-able ball. Finally, Boykin has trouble with Sammy Seamster (Seamster has height but doesn't make this backfield). Who was best on the defense today? Ed Reed. He has a presence, always chatting with the guys and looks marvelous.

 

IMPRESSIONS and MISC:

Much less trouble today with offsides penalties. I only caught one player offsides--Adolphus Washington, and he didn't hesitate. He trotted off the field and jogged around Growney Stadium.

 

No surprise in the 11 on 11's who the starting OL is. This is important because it's the first time in 20 years.

 

On one play, I saw a RB, TE, and FB all in the backfield with Tyrod. Lots of throws today OVER THE MIDDLE. It's so nice to hear we're going to work on something and then see it actually occur in practice. This wasn't true before Greg Roman.

 

The kicking contest had Carpenter up on Morgan today, with Carp missing one (a 43-yarder if I can do math) and Morgan missing two. Sanborn walked off the field with Morgan, but maybe I'm reading too much into this.

 

Our new NT Casey Walker, is a food truck with legs. He looks more like a NT than Dareus, but Dareus looks very much in shape for a 320-pounder.

 

Goodwin had the Catch of the Day vs Robey for a 50-yarder from Tyrod.

 

Kugler looked like a real football-DNA player as backup backup OC.

 

Meeks got an INT vs EJ today. Preston Brown almost got one.

 

I'll be going to camp Thursday and Friday.

--Astro

 

The greatest negative was how poor our pass-blocking was. Worthy and IK got in on Tyrod on one play, TT was forced out of the pocket a couple times, and had to dink it to McCoy. When given time, EJ had a gimme TD for 60 yards go 1" beyond Little's fingertips.

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Dr. Who Veteran

Dr. Who

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I always look forward to these. WR improvement -- and Sammy's just chilling. This could be a big jump forward.

You might want to change Bryant to Lewis, though. Wrong Dez, alas, though ours might turn out good and without the headcase issues.

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YoloinOhio Hall of Famer

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Same. Contract year for him though. Gonna be interesting.

good for him. Hope he balls out and gets paid, here or elsewhere. All the Bills WR $ are going to Sammy anyway. :lol:

 

Would be freaking amazing if Dez Lewis pans out.

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NY Nole Rookie

NY Nole

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First off - good to have Astro's notes -- he does a great job reporting the action. I also attended today and wanted to share some observations:

 

  • Felton vs. Gronkowski --- if the Bills plan is to have a devastating lead blocker then Felton should win this competition easily. He is simply the more explosive, powerful (and polished) of the two. While this is probably stating the obvious (since he is a seasoned vet), I think Baby Gronk has a long ways to go to unseat him. I felt sorry for the blocking sled today when Felton stepped in front of it.
  • Greg Little really jumped out at me, in fact I would have said he had the best day out of all the receivers -- had he not dropped a perfectly placed deep ball from EJ heading into the end zone. His size could make him a great asset -- as evidenced by a pass he snagged vs. Nickel Robey-Coleman (who had zero chance of competing against the taller receiver -- this scares me a bit...more later). Of the others -- Dez Lewis does look MUCH improved vs. last year and Greg Salas seems to catch most everything thrown to him. Goodwin showed the wheels -- but did little to separate himself otherwise. Woods looked like our #2. Walter Powell had the catch of the day.
  • In terms of QB's -- they did alot of deep throws today. Tyrod looks the part a #1 (but did make some mistakes -- his first pass was intercepted by Gilmore I think). EJ still looks hesitant -- but IMO looks like a capable backup. Taylor and Manuel are light years ahead of Cardale. Here's hoping the Bills take their time and invest in the rook the right way -- because he does have intangibles (Size, Arm). His footwork is not very good -- nowhere near the other two - I lost count how many times he threw off back foot without stepping into throw.
  • DB's - so I really was enjoying the DB drill -- especially because the QB's and WR's were allowed to air it out. I am a little concerned at CB depth. Gilmore looks great (did have a holding penalty) but he is the most physical off the line. Darby looks very good too -- I would say 1 and 1a for many teams in the NFL. Behind them -- Nickell Robey-Coleman is so much smaller than bigger receivers that if he has to defend a verticle route against size there is going to be trouble. I thought Seymour showed very good closing speed -- and is a definite keeper. Moore and White each had good moments and bad. This drill had the DB's playing on the receiver like a CB -- with that said -- let's hope Blanton never lets his man beat him deep -- because he got roasted out there today. From my vantage point -- he could not keep up running with receiver. DB depth looks so-so -- hopefully Ed Reed will pay dividends.
  • Only saw limited team action -- but what I did catch -- Ragland was always around the ball -- and was very vocal -- both he and Jerry Hughes were constant noise!

 

Go Bills.

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eball Hall of Famer

eball

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It's phenomenal to hear such good things about the WRs. I was honestly pretty worried going in, but Lewis and Little sound like diamonds on the rough and Woods soubds back on track

 

Little's problem has always been his hands. Watched him all through college at UNC and the guy makes plays...but he'll drop the easy ones too often. If he can get come consistency with those hands he deserves to be on an NFL roster. Didn't like hearing he dropped the perfect bomb from EJ today.

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WhitewalkerInPhilly Veteran

WhitewalkerInPhilly

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Little's problem has always been his hands. Watched him all through college at UNC and the guy makes plays...but he'll drop the easy ones too often. If he can get come consistency with those hands he deserves to be on an NFL roster. Didn't like hearing he dropped the perfect bomb from EJ today.

Yes that is worrisome. It sounds like the first that I've heard about the camp so far so I'm not getting too down yet but it is something worth watching.

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Kemp2Warlick RFA

Kemp2Warlick

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Ive read that "perfect" bomb was 1" out of reach

 

 

Little's problem has always been his hands. Watched him all through college at UNC and the guy makes plays...but he'll drop the easy ones too often. If he can get come consistency with those hands he deserves to be on an NFL roster. Didn't like hearing he dropped the perfect bomb from EJ today.

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YattaOkasan Veteran

YattaOkasan

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  • Taylor and Manuel are light years ahead of Cardale. Here's hoping the Bills take their time and invest in the rook the right way -- because he does have intangibles (Size, Arm). His footwork is not very good -- nowhere near the other two - I lost count how many times he threw off back foot without stepping into throw.

 

Go Bills.

You mean unteachables right? Cause I'm pretty sure his arm and size are pretty tangible. Either way great write up thanks to you and Astro.

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Astrobot Veteran

Astrobot

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???

Sorry. Jamison Lalk.

Rastro, a quick question -- any thoughts on Jonathan Williams? Haven't heard much about him over the first three days of camp.

He looked pretty sullen walking off the field.

He wasn't used much at all.

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Astrobot Veteran

Astrobot

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Little's problem has always been his hands. Watched him all through college at UNC and the guy makes plays...but he'll drop the easy ones too often. If he can get come consistency with those hands he deserves to be on an NFL roster. Didn't like hearing he dropped the perfect bomb from EJ today.

It was 1" out of reach, not a drop. It would have been a non-issue if Tyrod had thrown it.

I have to disagree with Tyrod's "meh" day comment a Buffalo sportscaster made. Here's a list of what Tyrod did today:

 

---Made 100% of his 4 fade throws to both the L and R corners.

---Made 100% of his 4 red zone passes on the end zone line.

---Threw ridiculous balls to Dez Lewis, Greg Little in Session 6

---Threw OVER THE MIDDLE to Felton,

---Threw OVER THE MIDDLE to a wide-open Dez Lewis, where he and Powell had rendered Robey/Graham useless.

---Threw OVER THE MIDDLE to Gragg slanting for a TOUCHDOWN.

---Connects far side to Davonte Allen, near side to Goodwin.

---About to be tackled in backfield, takes off and throws over LB head to McCoy for 15+ yards.

---Puts a ball in a place only Salas can catch

---Sweet sideline pass to Hankerson

---Nice swing pass to MCCoy-->TOUCHDOWN

---Little, Salas, and Woods line up, pass to Woods-->TOUCHDOWN

 

Negative plays:

---Ragland moves up to the R of the R-EDGE and would have tackled Tyrod

---Worthy, IK Enemkpali get through to make tackle

---Near-INT by Preston Brown

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