My 3 session Camp Review

[34-78-83]

Ok folks, following is a review of some selected players as I saw them over the course of 3 practice sessions. I attended the Saturday AM session and both of the sessions yesterday. Some of this is copied right out of a PM I had already sent but I figured I'd share with all since many are unable to make it to camp. I'll try to review the players based on all 3 sessions, not just one....

 

Gandy- On the first day he seemed to get beat fairly consistently by AS around the outside on passing plays, even when he knew AS was using the spin or outside rush technique. This seems to have become a bit less of a problem, though still an occasional one based on 1 on 1's today, over the course of the 3 sessions. He held up well though all around in the running game when they ran the ball to that side. He seemed to seal off the outside well on plays designed to cut up under the tacke and provided good maintained position on his defender during sweeps and pitches outside of him. I'll give him a C-- in the passing game and a B+ in the running game.

 

Bennie Anderson- He also excelled in the running game, especially Saturday and the early session yesterday. He advanced the line of scrimmage well on plays where he was the lead into the hole. I feel much better about short yardage plays this season. He too though, showed a weakness in pass blocking, more so in the 1 on 1's, where his mobility in space was revealed to be questionable. He didn't stand out as poor in the 11 on 11's though. Straight C in the passing game, B+ in the running game.

 

I need to also mention that this (and Gandy's) evaluation comes with the assumption that you already know we have a very skilled, potent and agressive defense that is freakishly hard to move the ball on in camp....

 

Tim Anderson - It took a while for me to take notice of him mainly because he was listed as # 97 in the program and Banan was also listed at 97. It turns out Tim took #77 and Sape took Big Pat's old #93. Once I finally noticed him it was the third session. He's a big solid guy and looks to be pretty athletic for the position strengthwise. He seems to use leverage and wrestling techniques well to his advantage during matchups and usually wins the LOS, though I don't see him fully breaking away from blocks very well at this point. He may be more of a plugger type who keeps his LB's clean, which is ok in my book. I didn't see any distinct advantage in him over Edwards thus far, but Edwards looked good out there too, albeit as a different stlye of player where he gets up the field pretty well. Grade- Incomplete though I'll pencil in a B- on the running game and a C in the passing game.

 

JP - Showed improvement overall over the course of the 3 sessions. Very strong arm with a tight spiral. He is now going through progressions better than DB ever did as far as I can tell. At first I was concerned about 2 things, both of which he improved on greatly over the 3 sessions: 1. He took off with the ball pretty early on a number of plays where he didn't really need to. 2. He did the exact opposite on some early plays, sitting back and hesitating to get rid of the ball while he looked for that "perfect throw", which would have put him in big trouble. His mobility is obviously a great asset to the offense. He is very attentive to his coaches and the offensive players seem to be responding to him well. As long as he continues to progress, I think his future looks pretty bright. It may take a few real games but shouldn't take much longer than that. I'd give him a low B right now.

 

Lee Evans - Caught nearly everything thrown his way over the 3 sessions, great hands. Frequently provided help as an outlet receiver and came back to the QB very well. Shows very good separation in space, and beat the D deep on a couple plays. Seems to be the most consistent WR in camp right now in terms of just going out and doing his job all around. A solid A Grade for Lee.

 

Parish - Works very well finding seams and creases in the secondary. Shows great speed. I haven't seen his reported quickness demonstrated yet quite as much as flat out speed but I'm sure it's there. Has better than expected hands and will sacrifice his body to make a play. His routes sometimes look a little rounded instead of more straight and angular. Seems to lack concentration on punt returns. I see him ultimately nailing the slot WR job and putting fear into many Nickle backs and safeties on third down. Grade B-

 

Moulds - As usual he is among the most fit players in the entire camp. His routes are still very explosive and precise. Shows great abitlity catching difficult throws above or behind him. Made one concentration lapse yesterday on what should have been an easy catch. Grade B+

 

Shaud Williams- Looks bulkier than last season but hasn't lost any speed or quickness. I did get many opportunities to see him run inside but he showed some great outside moves and a fair degree of power and burst squaring himself back up after getting to the outside. Made a couple nice blitz pickups. Provided a good option as an outlet receiver but didn't get much yardage after the catch. Right now he's got the #2 job in my book but there is Hot pursuit from both Lee and Gates. Grade B minus

 

Mike Williams - obviously was limited by the hammy tweak but ended up playing quite a bit during the 3 sessions I saw. Looks to be in very good shape for his frame this year. His footwork seems better than any previous season. Interestingly, atleast in drills, he was actively involved in a lot of lateral movement plays. He pulled from RT and lead a run off LT on one that made me do a double take. Excellent up the field push in the running game. I didn't see him a ton in passing drills but he didn't stand out as a liability there. Grade B+ ... (he needs to stay healthy for us to succeed).

 

Moorman - Not that a review is particularly needed here but we spent a good 20 min just watching him punt and it was amazing. I've never seen a Bills punter that can as consistently punt so high and yet so far at the same time. Each and every punt came off with a spiral and his placement was very good. He pacticed some goal line opunts that were simply awesome, and would have turned the field position around almost back into our favor! He has no competition of note.

 

Well that's it for now and thanks for reading. If anyone has questions on a player that was not mentioned, I may be able to provide some additional feedback. These were the players I focussed on most though...

[Guffalo]

Thanks for the report, Any observations on Jason Peters, How did Holcomb look? Any Tight End reports?

 

Thanks again

[Cugalabanza]

Thank you! Awesome work. Just awesome.

[34-78-83]

Thanks for the report, Any observations on Jason Peters, How did Holcomb look? Any Tight End reports?

 

Thanks again

396131[/snapback]

 

I was unable to see Peters well on full team drills, but there were a few "line on line" sessions in which I saw him get out in front of the outside rusher consistently well. His footwork seems to be very good. I did not see him block on rushing plays or drills though.

 

Holcomb looked very poised out there. His best areas seem to be very deep throws or very short throws, whereas his medium range throws were a bit hit and miss. He has limited scrambling ability.

 

Trafford looked quite good as a receiving TE. Campbell blocked very well for rushing plays and caught the few passes I saw thrown to him. He seems to be being used mostly in the outlet areas so far , and less so in seams down the field.

 

Hope this helps...

[Guffalo]

I was unable to see Peters well on full team drills, but there were a few "line on line" sessions in which I saw him get out in front of the outside rusher consistently well. His footwork seems to be very good. I did not see him block on rushing plays or drills though.

 

Holcomb looked very poised out there. His best areas seem to be very deep throws or very short throws, whereas his medium range throws were a bit hit and miss. He has limited scrambling ability.

 

Trafford looked quite good as a receiving TE. Campbell blocked very well for rushing plays and caught the few passes I saw thrown to him. He seems to be being used mostly in the outlet areas so far , and less so in seams down the field.

 

Hope this helps...

396146[/snapback]

Thanks, my biggest concern is the health and improvement of the TE's. Anything around the corners will depend on them getting a good jump off the line and getting the linebacker/corner occupied to allow WM to get around the end.

 

Thanks again for the great report!

[JinVA]

Another fine report #'s. I know you just reported in detail on each OL men, but was wondering how you felt about this OL as a unit compared to last year at this time?

[34-78-83]

Another fine report #'s.  I know you just reported in detail on each OL men, but was wondering how you felt about this OL as  a unit compared to last year at this time?

396162[/snapback]

 

I'd like to see more but so far my hunch is that we will be improved in preventing defensive penetration on running plays, and also improved greatly in short yardage situations. In the passing game we will need to be careful with lining up with the proper spacing because there has been a loss in mobility on the left side. I think the two big guards will help Teague do his job better, and that we will face more potentially disruptive pressure on the left side, where Jonas often excelled as a pass blocker. Hopefully JP's athleticism can offset this a bit. We'll see....

[drunkenirishmann]

Oustanding report!!!

[Mile High]

Thanks for the report. Did you notice that yesterday morning on the 7 on 7 drills the duke preston was snapping the ball to JP with the first string? I wasn't there but I just realized that from the a.m. sessions from bb.com.. And if you did what ws your acessment on him? However, in the p.m. sessions it looks like they went back to Teague.

 

a.m. and p.m. practice videos

 

Thanks in advance for your opinion.

[JinVA]

I'd like to see more but so far my hunch is that we will be improved in preventing defensive penetration on running plays, and also improved greatly in short yardage situations. In the passing game we will need to be careful with lining up with the proper spacing because there has been a loss in mobility on the left side. I think the two big guards will help Teague do his job better, and that we will face more potentially disruptive pressure on the left side, where Jonas often excelled as a pass blocker. Hopefully JP's athleticism can offset this a bit. We'll see....

396175[/snapback]

Thanks, and thanks again for an outstanding report.

[34-78-83]

Thanks for the report.  Did you notice that yesterday morning on the 7 on 7 drills the duke preston was snapping the ball to JP with the first string?  I wasn't there but I just realized that from the a.m. sessions from bb.com..  And if you did what ws your acessment on him?  However, in the p.m. sessions it looks like they went back to Teague.

 

a.m. and p.m. practice videos

 

Thanks in advance for your opinion.

396181[/snapback]

 

I did notice duke preston doing some snaps with JP in 7 on 7's and there didn't seem to be any issues with the exchange. It seems to me they are using that drill to get a lot of snap reps for multiple palyers, not just Duke. However due to the nature of that drill I can't really assess his abilities as a blocker. I didn't focus on him during the full team drills.

[34-78-83]

Oustanding report!!!

396180[/snapback]

 

Thanks!

Have you gotten your arse up to camp yet Drunken? I'd like to hear some of your opinions as well...

[drunkenirishmann]

Thanks!

Have you gotten your arse up to camp yet Drunken? I'd like to hear some of your opinions as well...

396546[/snapback]

 

Most definitely.......I get out of work tomorrow @ 3pm.....and since camp is only 10min down the road I'll probably swing by for a while. I also plan on going Monday morning.

[AKC]

Get a chance to see Goldsberry at all? I'm especially interested in his foot speed in run blocking-

[Ghost of BiB]

Gandy- On the first day he seemed to get beat fairly consistently by AS around the outside on passing plays, even when he knew AS was using the spin or outside rush technique. This seems to have become a bit less of a problem, though still an occasional one based on 1 on 1's today, over the course of the 3 sessions. He held up well though all around in the running game when they ran the ball to that side. He seemed to seal off the outside well on plays designed to cut up under the tacke and provided good maintained position on his defender during sweeps and pitches outside of him. I'll give him a C-- in the passing game and a B+ in the running game.

 

I've read some on his footwork (stay away you cretins...you know who you are). How does he do on upper body and hand technique? Also, not being familiar with practice, does the defense know whether they are getting a pass or a running play?

[Rico]

Nice report, thanks 34!

[Fan in San Diego]

Thanks for the report ! It is awesome that you take the time to file a report !

[34-78-83]

Get a chance to see Goldsberry at all? I'm especially interested in his foot speed in run blocking-

396639[/snapback]

 

Sorry AKC, I had heard a few good things about him and meant to pay him some attention but that didn't end up happening... If/When I go again I'll be sure to.

[34-78-83]

I've read some on his footwork (stay away you cretins...you know who you are). How does he do on upper body and hand technique? Also, not being familiar with practice, does the defense know whether they are getting a pass or a running play?

396657[/snapback]

 

His upper body work was quite good from what I saw. He was able to maintain blocks well as long as his man didn't beat him outside for the most part. His positioning and knee bend seemed good as well in those instances.

 

Sometimes the defense does know what's coming, and vise versa for the offense, say when they're working on blitz packages or short yardage running plays.

[Beerball]

Great recap, thanks Like manna from heaven for us outoftowners.

[rockpile]

Great report!

 

I am going now with kids to camp and will be back this afternoon.

 

If you are there I will be wearing the new jersey, #81, with Rockpile instead of Price on the back. Maybe I'll see you there!

 

[34-78-83]

Great report!

 

I am going now with kids to camp and will be back this afternoon.

 

If you are there I will be wearing the new jersey, #81, with Rockpile instead of Price on the back. Maybe I'll see you there!

 

396990[/snapback]

 

Unfortunately I'm a slave to corporate America today

[Beerball]

Great report!

 

I am going now with kids to camp and will be back this afternoon.

 

If you are there I will be wearing the new jersey, #81, with Rockpile instead of Price on the back. Maybe I'll see you there!

 

396990[/snapback]

Can't wait to hear what you have to say. Gonna focus on O-line (including TE)?

[R. Rich]

Ok folks, following is a review of some selected players as I saw them over the course of 3 practice sessions. I attended the Saturday AM session and both of the sessions yesterday. Some of this is copied right out of a PM I had already sent but I figured I'd share with all since many are unable to make it to camp. I'll try to review the players based on all 3 sessions, not just one.... 

 

Gandy- On the first day he seemed to get beat fairly consistently by AS around the outside on passing plays, even when he knew AS was using the spin or outside rush technique. This seems to have become a bit less of a problem, though still an occasional one based on 1 on 1's today, over the course of the 3 sessions. He held up well though all around in the running game when they ran the ball to that side. He seemed to seal off the outside well on plays designed to cut up under the tacke and provided good maintained position on his defender during sweeps and pitches outside of him. I'll give him a C-- in the passing game and a B+ in the running game.

 

Bennie Anderson- He also excelled in the running game, especially Saturday and the early session yesterday. He advanced the line of scrimmage well on plays where he was the lead into the hole. I feel much better about short yardage plays this season. He too though, showed a weakness in pass blocking, more so in the 1 on 1's, where his mobility in space was revealed to be questionable. He didn't stand out as poor in the 11 on 11's though. Straight C in the passing game, B+ in the running game.

 

I need to also mention that this (and Gandy's) evaluation comes with the assumption that you already know we have a very skilled, potent and agressive defense that is freakishly hard to move the ball on in camp....

 

Tim Anderson - It took a while for me to take notice of him mainly because he was listed as # 97 in the program and Banan was also listed at 97. It turns out Tim took #77 and Sape took Big Pat's old #93. Once I finally noticed him it was the third session. He's a big solid guy and looks to be pretty athletic for the position strengthwise. He seems to use leverage and wrestling techniques well to his advantage during matchups and usually wins the LOS, though I don't see him fully breaking away from blocks very well at this point. He may be more of a plugger type who keeps his LB's clean, which is ok in my book. I didn't see any distinct advantage in him over Edwards thus far, but Edwards looked good out there too, albeit as a different stlye of player where he gets up the field pretty well. Grade- Incomplete though I'll pencil in a B- on the running game and a C in the passing game.

 

JP - Showed improvement overall over the course of the 3 sessions. Very strong arm with a tight spiral. He is now going through progressions better than DB ever did as far as I can tell. At first I was concerned about 2 things, both of which he improved on greatly over the 3 sessions: 1. He took off with the ball pretty early on a number of plays where he didn't really need to. 2. He did the exact opposite on some early plays, sitting back and hesitating to get rid of the ball while he looked for that "perfect throw", which would have put him in big trouble. His mobility is obviously a great asset to the offense. He is very attentive to his coaches and the offensive players seem to be responding to him well. As long as he continues to progress, I think his future looks pretty bright. It may take a few real games but shouldn't take much longer than that. I'd give him a low B right now.

 

Lee Evans - Caught nearly everything thrown his way over the 3 sessions, great hands. Frequently provided help as an outlet receiver and came back to the QB very well. Shows very good separation in space, and beat the D deep on a couple plays. Seems to be the most consistent WR in camp right now in terms of just going out and doing his job all around. A solid A Grade for Lee.

 

Parish - Works very well finding seams and creases in the secondary. Shows great speed. I haven't seen his reported quickness demonstrated yet quite as much as flat out speed but I'm sure it's there. Has better than expected hands and will sacrifice his body to make a play. His routes sometimes look a little rounded instead of more straight and angular. Seems to lack concentration on punt returns. I see him ultimately nailing the slot WR job and putting fear into many Nickle backs and safeties on third down. Grade B-

 

Moulds - As usual he is among the most fit players in the entire camp. His routes are still very explosive and precise. Shows great abitlity catching difficult throws above or behind him. Made one concentration lapse yesterday on what should have been an easy catch. Grade B+

 

Shaud Williams- Looks bulkier than last season but hasn't lost any speed or quickness. I did get many opportunities to see him run inside but he showed some great outside moves and a fair degree of power and burst squaring himself back up after getting to the outside. Made a couple nice blitz pickups. Provided a good option as an outlet receiver but didn't get much yardage after the catch. Right now he's got the #2 job in my book but there is Hot pursuit from both Lee and Gates. Grade B minus

 

Mike Williams - obviously was limited by the hammy tweak but ended up playing quite a bit during the 3 sessions I saw. Looks to be in very good shape for his frame this year. His footwork seems better than any previous season. Interestingly, atleast in drills, he was actively involved in a lot of lateral movement plays. He pulled from RT and lead a run off LT on one that made me do a double take. Excellent up the field push in the running game. I didn't see him a ton in passing drills but he didn't stand out as a liability there. Grade B+ ... (he needs to stay healthy for us to succeed).

 

Moorman - Not that a review is particularly needed here but we spent a good 20 min just watching him punt and it was amazing. I've never seen a Bills punter that can as consistently punt so high and yet so far at the same time. Each and every punt came off with a spiral and his placement was very good. He pacticed some goal line opunts that were simply awesome, and would have turned the field position around almost back into our favor! He has no competition of note.

 

Well that's it for now and thanks for reading.    If anyone has questions on a player that was not mentioned, I may be able to provide some additional feedback. These were the players I focussed on most though...

396112[/snapback]

 

Great stuff! I'm hoping the left side of the OL can hold up to the pass a bit better than what you saw, but it's nice to know that they seem to be ahead of the curve in run blocking.