Astrobot Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 (edited) It's a hot one, about 90 in the stands, but a saving breeze kept me, Vito, and Joe (ardent DraftTek fans) from heat exhaustion. Clear blue sky with several cirrus wisps up there. Vito is a retired social studies teacher from the Buffalo area and Joe, also an ardent Bills fan, lives in the Pinnacle area here in Rochester. Both know Bills football, Buffalo Sabres hockey, Yankees baseball, and UB Bulls. I'll have to bring my "A" game today The punt team consists of Walter Powell right now, and he's fielding JUGs punts. Vito asks me what college Powell's from. Ugh. I'm 0 for 1 out of the gate. Turns out he's a Murray State Racer, Division 1. Schmidt comes on, and he's now punting to see how close to the sideline he can get, and Powell's making that "catch it or let it go" decision. Salas joins into the fun. Bush comes by later. Schmidt's punts are 5.0-5.5 seconds of hang time, and with gunners like ours, that's an eternity. Schmidt's punts travel between 57 and 60 yards Random thoughts as the guys are doing calisthenics: We decide we'd like to see a race between Goodwin, Listenbee, Watkins, Kevon Seymour, Tyrod, and Gilmore. Anybody else you'd add? How long a stretch do they have to travel? We'd like to see more of Seymour. Ed Reed would still likely be #2 on our Safety depth chart behind Aaron Williams. Ed is 37. Aaron is 26. The Tampa stadium looks like a giant went and sat on it. Hopefully the Bills' new stadium will look better. EJ shouldn't ever stand next to Cardale, because he looks smaller than he really is. We look at Garrison Sanborn (cap hit: $1,057,500) and LSU Free Agent Reid Ferguson (not one of the top 51 salaries) , and there's no difference in the line of the snap, right back to the belt buckle, although Ferguson's gets there a split-second sooner. How does a long snapper know when it's time to hang it up? Does Whaley like the idea of going with a guy who'd save $1M and is going to be around for a decade? In positionals, we see Groy in for Richie, Kujo in for Cordy. Cordy's over with the medicine ball and has a strong ankle brace. The running backs are with the QB's. You notice that Shady is extra-quick, with amazing change-of-direction skills. You wish for a healthy season for him--heck for every player out there. Reggie is also looking good, and we're reminded that consistent health has been a challenge for him, as well. With Jonathan Williams looking good, and Wilder's insane goal-to-go leap, and Touchdown Mike Gillislee and Karlos Williams' touchdown record--who is going to get cut? The WR's are right in front of us. Boykin learns the hard way not to fall in front of a video cam. They are doing catches with a man in coverage on their left side. A coach is throwing perfect balls over their right shoulder. This is diagnostic-prescriptive coaching. More than likely, a coach noticed that too many misses the day before were on right-shoulder fade routes, and added this drill today. The WR's then do a block, push off the block, and catch the ball before hitting the sideline. None of the WR's really have trouble with this. The TE's have been doing a similar drill, but now come over with the WR's and do double-move receptions. Clay and Annen exhibit wonderful hands catches. They are more athletic than most of the WR's except maybe Watkins and Woods, possibly Goodwin and Dez. Not that Watkins is out there for positional drills. In fact, we didn't see him out there at all. Most-improved WR's are Dez, then Woods. If Goodwin can stay on the field, he's an addition to the most-improved. Powell had 2 drops today and two yesterday. He's a lock for the returner job, though, if they want to mothball Reggie Bush. Salas has trouble with one of Cardale's bullet throws. He didn't distinguish himself today. Tyrod has a nice pass-nice catch connection with Dez Lewis; you're seeing that more and more. Kain Colter drops one. OL and TE groups are now doing more two-on-one blocking, working on moving the defender and hooking them inside, right or left. Later, TE's and RB's are practicing blocking pass rushers. Randell Johnson blows right by Wilder. Gragg keeps square with good knee bend on his rusher. Clay wins a one on one with Striker who's a head shorter at least. Zach Brown and Jon Williams is an even draw, and so is Spikes against Baby Gronk. Zach Brown did okay against Felton, but Felton fell down at the end --a rare mistake by this fullback. We now get to see real football plays. EJ has become an expert at what his receivers are supposed to do; he motions to Dez to get further inside. The play took too long, and EJ stared down Powell, but Powell makes the catch. When Cardale is in there, we see him going through progressions, looking R, looking L, then looking R and throwing it for a completion. The difference is that Cardale is doing it in the second week of training camp of his rookie year. The plays are relatively new, because Cardale is looking at his wristband more often. He deals a 40-yarder to O'Leary, leading him over his left shoulder perfectly. Tyrod comes in and matches the throw, this one to Clay, the first stringer. In 11 on 11, we see that good players elevate good players. Darby is right on Dez Lewis, Tyrod makes a perfect throw, Dez makes an impressive catch, and immediately Darby's on Dez's back pulling him down. IK Enemkpali curls in quick on the next play. The offensive line is using plain-vanilla, straight blocking like you ordinarily see in Preseason. Tyrod heaves a 20-yarder to Blake Annen who uses athleticism to beat his man. The next two plays shows how a QB is supposed to handle a pass rusher: On play 1, Tyrod moves to his left, freezing Enemkpali, and then Tyrod executes a delayed handoff to Shady, off to his right. On play 2, Enemkpali, determined not to be fooled again, moves initially to his left and in. Wrong move. Tyrod moves to his left and out, bringing Shady along as a blocker in a QB sweep. Lorenzo Alexander is the edge rusher replacing IK when EJ comes in. His throw to Hankerson is right on the money. EJ executes a hard count, hoping to draw off the D, but it is Marquis Lucas that is tabbed for the false start. He lopes off. You have a soft spot in your heart for the guy. His story of being homeless is still my favorite from preseason. http://bills.buffalonews.com/2016/06/30/from-homeless-and-heartbroken-to-a-shot-with-the-bills/ A QB keeper and a second attempt at a hard count (this time catching the defense's Leger Douzable), plus a nice little run by Jonathan Williams, complete EJ's turn. Cardale tries a hard count and gets another false start, but nobody runs a lap--today's biggest mystery. Cardale throws it long, but it seemed like a Hail Mary to all of us. Kain Colter was in the area. Cardale sends O'LEary into motion on the next play, which is nice to see from the developmental QB. Striker took offense to the way he got blocked on the next play. Tyrod is back in and teaches the D that you really have to cover the RB we send out in the flat every time, because we'll make you pay. IK Enemkpali is drawn offsides by Tyrod, who has also picked up on the hard count nuances first seen with EJ. He throws to McCoy for a chunk of real estate, followed by a throw out wide to Gragg to minimize the pressure. The throw to Clay on the next play may have been a sack by the time he got it off. EJ comes in, and Striker come off the edge quick on the very first snap. Marquis Lucas neutralizes him with his 318 pounds and Great Bend, which was so great it should become a national park. EJ throws a long pass to Boykin, who's making this squad or die trying. An out-route to O'Leary and a QB keeper follow. Gilmore just levels Kain Colter after he makes a reception. He may still be there. Powell runs a crossing pattern OVER THE MIDDLE and hauls it in for a nice gain that's most likely Goodwin's play when the ones run it. We notice that Lucas uses his hands well but loses leverage when he gets too far from his powerful base. He's not as good as Groy, but he'd be a developmental OG as well as RT. Watch him coming to a practice squad nearest you. Tyrod comes in and throws OVER THE MIDDLE to Clay who's at the end zone line....but he drops it. To be fair, Robey had good coverage on him but Clay has to make that catch somewhere in the 7" above Robey's helmet . Robey hasn't grown from his 5-8 height, and Clay's 6-3. On a Goodwin crosser OVER THE MIDDLE, Darby does one helluva good job in coverage, but Goodwin reels it in. They run the same play over (that's called practice), after which Clay has trouble with Tyrod's pass again. Little makes a very nice move and catch on the far side; you'd like to see him make the squad if only for the extra 15 pounds he has on the other 6-2 guys. EJ begins with the Goodwin crossing route. Goodwin makes a Catch of the Day. Nobody is knocking Goodwin's hands any more. He takes a little too long, likely four seconds, before hitting Salas on a hook. You see Tyrod over on the side, talking to Little, you wonder if it was clarifying the route he just ran, or something that's coming up. EJ throws a very nice ball right on the money to Boykin, who runs it out downfield. Behind us, a spectator is being rolled off on a gurney, likely from dehydration. Powell on a crosser OVER THE MIDDLE, looks dependable, and is either the 6th or 7th receiver, depending on Easley and Listenbee. EJ goes into a five-wide, and hits Powell again in the corner for a TD. He hits Blake Annen on an out pattern on the end zone line for a TD from the 12-yard line. Cardale's in at the 12, and throws short of the goal line to Little, who steps in for the TD. Cardale impressed me again as he considered the short receiver, but goes to the downfield Powell for another TD. A bullet pass to Blake Annen for the TD follows, even though the pass looked like the wrong velocity for point-blank range, but Annen's known for his ulta-quick reaction skills. Kicking practice followed, where the instructional goal was to down punts inside the 5 yard line. Schmidt was kicking from the 45, doing those 9-iron shots with the nose of the football down when he drops it. The punts were downed at the 5, the 1, the 1, the 4, and the 1 to make a long paragraph short. In the final 11 on 11, Shady delays and catches a pass OVER THE MIDDLE for about ten. Tyrod "climbed the ladder", moving up in the pocket to deal with pressure and delivered it to him in stride. Tyrod's next pass was OVER THE MIDDLE, and Aaron Williams almost intercepted it. Aaron gave himself 10 push-ups to do. On 3rd and 7, Darby has a near-INT of Goodwin on the crossing pattern. "You gotta hit 88 in stride on that; the ball wasn't where Marquise could take off", my DraftTek companions remarked. But it was good coverage on Darby's part, as well. A draw up the middle by Shady worked better than last week, and Nickell Robey tags Tyrod in the backfield on the next play, but Tyrod lets fly on a 50-yard TD to Little anyway. Cordy and Richie would've seen to a blitzing nickel corner, right? I'm still burning about a certain Buffalo sportswriter saying I can't detect improved backfield communication in practice, so here we go: Rob Ryan on the next play (and maybe Dennis Thurman did too, but Rob's wearing a red jersey today and looks like a tomato with grey mold on the stem) hand-signals, a ILB or Safety barks a word, like "BRICK!" two backfield defenders switch spots on the field, and EJ has to throw the ball into the turf at the blitz his guys can't pick up. On the next play, Mario Butler hand-signals to a fellow defender, and both show an adjustment. Jonathan Williams had more than his share of work today, Wilder got very upset that he wasn't thrown to in the flat (he was wide open, waving his hands, and jumping up and down, but EJ didn't throw to him), we didn't see Gillislee, Boom Herron got very little going, and Baby Gronk did some fruitless led blocking. Several high snaps from the backup OC. We think it may have been Velasco, the 31-year-old, 6'0" guy brought in late in Free Agency. Max Valles got some nice pass rush today on EJ. One more shout-out: Justin Renfrow could push a pile. Working against twos and threes, Renfrow, who's likely a PSOT (Practice Squad offensive tackle), was able to block his man at will. Meanwhile, Seantrel's still looking skinny. Chris Martin has some developmental talent at OT, as well. Hopefully I can see practice tomorrow if it doesn't thunderstorm, and if I'm not hit by lightning. Go Bills! ~Dean Kindig Edited August 9, 2016 by Astrobot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Thanks, short and sweet today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevewin Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Thanks, short and sweet today. You need to F5 until the first line "[i'll remove this when done]" is gone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaaadThingsMan Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Rank ru Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhitewalkerInPhilly Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Who is the a$$hole who says you can't see improved communication? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobot Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 Okay, I'm done. With the post. Not the Bills... Who is the !@#$ who says you can't see improved communication? I'm not allowed to say, but his name rhymes with Fair-of-me Sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Ranks, Rastro! Only seven more of these left... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 You need to F5 until the first line "[i'll remove this when done]" is gone It was a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGOATski Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Interesting. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigantall Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Astro thanks for the updates maybe you should become ole'murphs color guy in the booth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobot Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 (edited) My DraftTek guests and I came up with a 53 to add to the post. Offense (27) QB-3--Tyrod, EJ, Cardale RB-5--Shady, Reggie also KR, JWilliams, Gillislee, Wilder (Week 4: Karlos for Gilly or Wilder) FB-1--Felton WR-6--Sammy, Woods, Goodwin, Dez Lewis, Little; Powell as better KR over Salas (Listenbee NFI, Easley PUP, Boykin to PS) TE-4--Clay, Annen, Dray, Gragg OL-8--The starters (Cordy, Richie, Wood, Miller, Mills) plus Kujo, Velasco, Richardson (Lucas, Groy to PS, Seantrel NFI) Defense (23) CB/S-8--Gilmore, Darby, Robey, Kevon, AWilliams, Blanton, Graham, Sterling Moore DE/OLB-9--Manny, Hughes, Enemkpali, Striker, Spikes, ZBrown, PBrown, Randell, Hawthorne DL-6--Kyle, Dareus, Adolphus, Corbin, Worthy, TJ Barnes Special Teams (3)--Carp, Schmidt, Ferguson Active PUP-2--Shaq Lawson, Reggie Ragland NFI-Designated to Return--2--Manny Lawson and Kolby Listenbee NFI-llness Karlos Williams, Seantrel Henderson, Jonathan Dowling Practice Squad--9 of 10 filled DL Zimmer EDGE Albright EDGE Douzable OT Renfrow OT Lucas OG Groy FB Gronk OLB Valles WR Boykin Edited August 12, 2016 by Astrobot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 'stro -- no Felton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGOATski Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Annen before Clay? Don't even...I can't. 'stro -- no Felton? Heat stroke, I think. Get the man some water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 So cutting Aaron Williams and Cory Graham? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section122 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 We look at Garrison Sanborn (cap hit: $1,057,500) and LSU Free Agent Reid Ferguson (not one of the top 51 salaries) , and there's no difference in the line of the snap, right back to the belt buckle, although Ferguson's gets there a split-second sooner. How does a long snapper know when it's time to hang it up? Does Whaley like the idea of going with a guy who'd save $1M and is going to be around for a decade? I have been saying all offseason that Sanborn was terrible last year. I think Carp's problems can be atrributed somewhat to him as well as my memory of several off the mark snaps to Schmidt. Good to hear that there may be a replacement for him or at least competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 (edited) My DraftTek guests and I came up with a 53 to add to the post. Offense (23) QB-3--Tyrod, EJ, Cardale RB-5--Shady, Reggie, JWilliams, Gillislee, Wilder (Week 4: Karlos for Gilly or Wilder) WR-6--Sammy, Woods, Dez, Goodwin, Little, Powell (Listenbee NFI, Easley PUP, Boykin to PS) TE-4--Annen, Clay, Gragg, Dray OL-5 starters plus Kujo, Velasco, Richardson, Groy (Lucas to PS, Seantrel NFI) Defense (22) CB/S-8--Gilmore, Darby, Robey, Kevon, Blanton, Duke, Sterling Moore, Meeks DE/OLB-9--Manny, Hughes, IK, Striker, Spikes, ZBrown, PBrown, Randell, Hawthorne DL-5--Kyle, Dareus, Adolphus, Corbin, Worthy, TJ Barnes Special Teams-4--Carp, Schmidt, Sanborn or Ferguson, Gay Active PUP-2--Shaq Lawson, Reggie Ragland NFI-Designated to Return--2--Manny Lawson and Kolby Listenbee NFI-llness Karlos Williams, Seantrel Henderson, Jonathan Dowling Practice Squad--10 DL Zimmer EDGE Albright EDGE Douzable OT Renfrow OT Martin RB Wilder FB Gronk OG OC Kugler OLB Valles WR Boykin Powell over Salas? How about our starting safety tandem AW and Graham? Edited August 9, 2016 by YoloinOhio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Excellent notes, as usual. Also your 53 looks good, even if out of order Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLFan Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Powell over Salas? How about our starting safety tandem AW and Graham? Sorry, I know you asked Astro, but ... I think it's Powell vs. Salas and the decision will come down to whether they believe Bush can contribute more at running back than Powell can at WR. I think Salas is the more useful receiver and I would rather see them keep him over Powell, but it is a toss up at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobot Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 'stro -- no Felton? Fixed. It takes a billage to raise a roster. Annen before Clay? Don't even...I can't. Heat stroke, I think. Get the man some water. Fixed. Sorry, I know you asked Astro, but ... I think it's Powell vs. Salas and the decision will come down to whether they believe Bush can contribute more at running back than Powell can at WR. I think Salas is the more useful receiver and I would rather see them keep him over Powell, but it is a toss up at this point. No. Powell's use at PR and KR, saving Bush for regular season, trumps Salas. Plus Salas didn't even get a punt today. Tomorrow I'll count reps. Powell over Salas? How about our starting safety tandem AW and Graham? Fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 I could have posted to each paragraph. But i will select just one. The recognition of M Lucas. You are good and fine man Dean. Well Done all around !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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