Brand Spankin' New Training Camp Report

[BillsGuyInMalta]

Just got back from training camp and thought I'd drop a few lines to all of you who couldnt make it. Some of what I'm going to be writing has been said, but I've noticed there hasnt been much attention paid to certain players who I thought had a great couple of days.

 

QB: Already been talked about I see, but Losman didnt look too sharp last night with the Defense going crazy after him. He did make some pretty nice throws though, but his timing is still a bit off. Some of this throws were way off the mark, and it almost looks like he is overthinking things. Like, planning on where the WR is going to be instead of using his eyes and seeing which way he is headed. It just made him look very inconsistent. HOWEVER, what I did notice is that he checks down his receivers very nicely and puts the ball where only his WR can catch it with every single throw. That impressed me quite a bit. This morning's practice he looked very good, connecting with Josh Reed for what would have been a TD if they allowed the play to run (ball accurately thrown right to Reed...who, of course, bobbled it but held on) and lobbed several short to middle ranged passes right to his WRs. He also made a SWEET screen pass lob to McGahee that Willis would have easily taken for +20 yards at least if it were an actual game. He dropped back, waited for the Defense to overpursue, and then threw it perfectly to McGahee. Looked much more comfortable this morning than he did last night. Holcombe looked pretty average both days. He cant throw the long ball with any accuracy (from what I saw) and got picked off today by Clements who ran it back for a TD. Shane Matthews looks like...Shane Matthews. Thompson was pretty craptacular...he did nothing special, and I think he will be gone pretty quickly. Woodbury is interesting. He seems to have decent skills and mechanics, but they also used him as a kickoff returner so methinks that they might hang onto him as a "Slash" type of guy.

 

RB: Remember the speed that Willis had in Miami but lost after his knee injury? Its baaaaaaaacckk. McGahee looked amazing at camp, he's ready to roll. Both days he was making excellent cuts and bowled over poor Constantine Ritzman on one play this morning. Willis did fumble a toss play this morning though, but hey...even the great ones mess up sometime. Shaud Williams and Lionel Gates also looked very good. Didnt see enough of ReShard Lee, but he made a nice run to the outside this morning.

 

FB: Shelton looked very strong, he's much bigger than I remember him last season. But the guy who really impressed me was Jon Goldsberry. Holy Crap, this guy is a beast. I'm calling him to make the squad this year as our #2 FB and finally send the pathetically average Joe Burns out to pasture. Goldsberry had a tremendous block when he came around and completely took Jeff Posey out of a run play last night. It was fantastic, it reminded me of when Steve Tasker used to throw himself at return men. Goldsberry is a gem.

 

WR: The words on everyone's mouth at camp...Roscoe, Roscoe, Roscoe. Our top draft pick really impressed me by catching everything that was thrown at him. Him and Losman hooked up a couple of times during the scrimmages, including a beautiful 40 yarder where Parrish beat his man by at least 10 yards and JP tear-dropped it in perfectly. This kid is going to be a gamer. Moulds and Evans were their reliable selves (except for an easy drop by Moulds where Losman threaded the needle very nicely between two defenders). Josh Reed really does have a fire lit underneath him since he seemed to be coming alive during the drills. Sam Aiken had some nice snags too. Drew Haddad struggled, dropped a bunch of passes during the morning drills. The other WRs are just...meh.

 

TE: Campbell got a lot of passes thrown in his direction and snagged most of them with ease. He didnt look all that fast though...but did he ever? I didnt get to see enough of Euhus, he was an invisible man out there for the practices. Brad Cieslak made a couple of nice catches this morning, which prompted a "CEEEEEEslak" chant from the sidelines whenever he touched the ball. Pretty funny. The problem that I saw with all of our TEs is that we dont have any playmakers there. They all looked good during the TE blocking drills, none of them really screwed up, but all looked painfully slow. Its too bad that Everrett got hurt, I would have liked to see what he could have done.

 

O-Line: Bennie Anderson looks to be a very nice pick up, this guy is huge and really showed some talent in the running drills. Plus, for a big guy he sure can move as he made a couple of swing blocks out on blitzing linebackers. Wish I could say the same with our other new starter, Mike Gandy. To put it nicely...this guy was terrible. He got consistently beat the last two practices, and look overmatched in trying to pass-block. He let Jeff Posey run right past him yesterday afternoon and just stood there, looking to Bennie Anderson. Uhhm...Bennie had his guy there Mike, where were you? He better shape up, or he's gone. Villarial and Teague both looked okay I suppose, but they didnt do anything to stand out. I didnt see enough of McFarland to judge how he filled in for Big Mike. Speaking of Williams, he did practice today and looks to be fine. Just probably a pull or something, he seemed to be okay. The O-Line needs some work though, especially Gandy who looked like he was a rookie last night and this morning. As for the backups, the two who really stood out were Jason Peters and Geir Gudmundsen. Peters basically engulfed whoever tried to get by him except Aaron Schobel. He had a tremendous block on Uyi Osunde where he tossed him to the ground. Also, Peters had some work as a tackle-eligible TE, so look for that trick this year. Gudmundsen amazed me due to one particular play. During the O-Lineman/D-Lineman cooperative drills, Gudmundsen STOOD UP Sam Adams yesterday afternoon. Big Sam tried the bull rush, and Geir just pushed him right over. Big Sam got up laughing, like he was amazed some undrafted rookie LT from Div IAA did that to him. I dont think Gudmundsen makes the final roster, but he easily has the talent to make the practice squad.

 

D-Line: Pat Williams...we shall hardly miss thee. Ron Edwards looked very comfortable playing in Phat Pat's old spot and shut down some run drills quickly. I was watching him in particular and he was all over the place. Tim Anderson was somewhat of a dissapointment, he struggled badly this morning and got handled by Villarial. Schobel had a great last few days, he got to Losman a lot (Whether thats due to his own personal talent or a terrible LT...well, we'll see). Adams and Kelsay didnt stand out, but held their ground as usual.

 

LBs: Takeo, London and Posey all looked fine. Not that its a big surprise, they always look good. Angelo Crowell made some very nice "tackles" today in the practice and was getting a lot of praise from Jerry Gray. Liam Ezikiel got a lot of work in with the backup squads...they must really like him because he was getting a bulk of the work out of all of the LBs. Stamer was VERY intense for most of the practices, the guy is just crazy.

 

Secondary: Nate Clements had a huge last two days. He picked off a pass this morning and also broke up a Losman throw to Josh Reed. Vincent and Milloy really are the backbone of this defense. They both were barking out orders and moving back and forth all over the Defense. Jabari Greer had a great last few practices as well, he defended the rookie WRs with ease. They need to give this guy a harder challenge. Coy Wire looked lonely for both practices. For some reason he was always to the side, just kind of walking up and down the sidelines when the rest of the secondary was practicing. I dont think he was hurt.

 

Special Teams: I wish I could just follow Bobby April around and listen to him for an entire day, because this guy is hilarious. My two favorite April lines for the last two days: "That was absolutely perfect...but it was too !@#$in' slow" and "Nice return Roscoe, who loves ya baby?". Our special teams looked good...EXCEPT for Lindell who got consistently beaten in terms of kickoff length by the legendary Steven Baker. Not good.

 

All in all, it was a great experience. I even got to shake Ralph Wilson's hand this morning...he drove out in his golf cart and watched the practice in the shade, so I followed him after he left and he was talking to some people and signing a few autographs. I got a great picture of me giving a thumbs up and posing with our owner.

 

Losman impressed me with his decision making skills and powerful arm, but he really needs to work on his timing. He was throwing the ball waaaaay too early at times. Plus you could tell he wanted to run, but the staff wouldnt let him during these practices. He needs work...but the skill is definitely there. Actually seeing him play in person, as opposed to just reading peoples' reports on him made me feel a lot better about this season.

[Pete]

Thanks! Great report! Please keep em coming!

[Reuben Gant]

Thanks! Good to hear the eyewitnesses. WGR is reporting that Gates is looking great. Do we have a battle there? Good to hear about Goldsberry.

[richNjoisy]

Hey BGM - your report was excellent. I passed it along to my CNJBBB members.

 

You da man

 

-RnJ

 

O.K. Rockpile - Top that!

[BillsGuyInMalta]

Thanks!   Good to hear the eyewitnesses. WGR is reporting that Gates is looking great. Do we have a battle there? Good to hear about Goldsberry.

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Gates did look good in terms of finding the hole and surging through it. He seemed to have some issues breaking through tackles though, but his vision is above-average for a rookie.

[PISSCHUNK]

Interesting on Goldsberry. I was curious as well. Do we keep six RB/FB now? McGahee, Lee, Shaud, Gates, Shelton and Goldsberry. Heard he is supposed to be a demon on Special Forces as well. Interesting.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

Late

[stevewin]

Woodbury is interesting. He seems to have decent skills and mechanics, but they also used him as a kickoff returner to methinks that they might hang onto him as a "Slash" type of guy.

Who was that guy the Bills used to have who was a college QB but had slash potential - was it Tony Driver? I remember he had a knee injury and played at least one year in the defensive backfield?

 

But the guy who really impressed me was Jon Goldsberry. Holy Crap, this guy is a beast. I'm calling him to make the squad this year as our #2 FB and finally send the pathetically average Joe Burns out to pasture. Goldsberry had a tremendous block when he came around and completely took Jeff Posey out of a run play last night. It was fantastic, it reminded me of when Steve Tasker used to throw himself at return men. Goldsberry is a gem.

I recall reading somewhere that Donahoe indicated Goldsberry's potential contributions on special teams was a huge reason for going after him (Named Best Special Teams Kamikaze in Big Ten by The Sporting News). Hopefully he will be a special teams ace (and finally put an end to Coy Wire's tenure as a Bill once and for all)

 

Great info so far - looking forward to the rest...

[Rubes]

Outstanding! I'm starting to get an idea what heroin is really like.

[HurlyBurly51]

Jesus, this stuff has got me salivating

[stevewin]

All in all, it was a great experience. I even got to shake Ralph Wilson's hand this morning...he drove out in his golf cart and watched the practice in the shade, so I followed him after he left and he was talking to some people and signing a few autographs. I got a great picture of me giving a thumbs up and posing with our owner.

Yeah - but what you missed was second you turned away Ralph stuck his hands in the air and said what the f-ck.

[Zona]

Thanks for the detailed post. I love the stuff on JP. I think he will be fine. The timing ONLY comes during GAMES. Practice dont mean Chitt. I bet this kid is one hell of a GAMER.

[BillsGuyInMalta]

Yeah - but what you missed was second you turned away Ralph stuck his hands in the air and said what the f-ck. 

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Hey, if he wanders out to the field, Ralph is fair game for us crazy fans to get a photo-op with. Besides, who WOULDNT want to get a picture with a goofy Irishman like myself? I also saw Tom Donahoe a lot with RW...I almost went up to TD to tell him about the classic "TD is Satan" thread...but I fear he would eat my soul if I brought it to his attention.

 

And whoops! I just realized I left out the TE report...I'll fix that.

[Ramius]

Great report, keep it coming!

[John from Riverside]

If Losmans biggest weakness out there is "timing" then we are just fine there.....because that is going to take some time.....

 

I am very concerned that Gandy is getting beaten like a drum in every single practice....if he was getting beaten here and there that is one thing......but if everyone across from him is looking like Jason Taylor we are going to need to address this....

[BillsGuyInMalta]

Just thought I'd like to add that sitting in the stands, I overheard one very cute kid ask "Is Woscoe Pawish a wookie?"

 

Internally, I thought "Roscoe is more like an Ewok..."

 

But a damn fast Ewok with amazing pass-catching skills.

[Reuben Gant]

Just thought I'd like to add that sitting in the stands, I overheard one very cute kid ask "Is Woscoe Pawish a wookie?"

 

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How did Han Solo answer that one?

[col_forbin]

Nice report. Thanks

[cale]

Just thought I'd like to add that sitting in the stands, I overheard one very cute kid ask "Is Woscoe Pawish a wookie?"

 

Internally, I thought "Roscoe is more like an Ewok..."

 

But a damn fast Ewok with amazing pass-catching skills.

395532[/snapback]

 

Arruhaahhaa - that should be a sig file...

 

"Internally, I thought "Roscoe is more like an Ewok...But a damn fast Ewok with amazing pass-catching skills."

[Ralonzo]

Who was that guy the Bills used to have who was a college QB but had slash potential - was it Tony Driver?  I remember he had a knee injury and played at least one year in the defensive backfield?

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David Dinkins?

[cåblelady]

Awesome report, BGiM !