NY Nole Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Just got back from this morning's camp, here goes: The Good: 1. T.O. - First impression was this guy is really big. I've never seen him in person before and he is a very tall receiver (dwarfed our DB's). It is easy to see why this guy is a play maker -- because he is so big and conditioned that he can easily beat a jam or fend off a DB for position. I know TO had issues with dropped balls last year, but the guy is catching every thing thrown his way (let's hope this continues when the bullets start flying for real). He made McGee look like an amateur on a goal line route, when he fought off the jam, made a quick move to the outside and grabbed a pass for a touchdown (then he threw the ball into the crowd where it was dropped by a fan). The guy is really making it look easy and I'm glad we got him. 2. Eric Wood - I will go on record and say Wood will be our BEST offensive lineman (he is not far from it right now in my opinion). I spent alot of time watching him (and the rest of the OLine because they were in front of me for the majority of camp). Wood is very big and powerful. When he gets his base set and locks onto a defender -- he wins. He appears to struggle with elite speed (particularly fast stunts around the outside). When matched up on Stroud, he lost a few battles like that and gave up would-be sacks. However, he improved steadily throughout the course of the practice and never got beat by the same move from Stroud again. One play in particular that I remember was when Wood got set, squared his shoulders, locked onto Stroud and stood the big man up (barely losing any ground). This left me in amazement since Stroud is a beast (see below). Wood was in a constant rotation with Seth McKinney for first team reps, which I believe is pointless. If McKinney starts the season as a starting RG, look for Wood to takeover shortly thereafter and end up in many pro bowls in the future. 3. Marcus Stroud - talk about a menacing presence. This guy is picking up right where he left off a year ago. He is quick as hell on stunts and was consistently winning match ups or at the very least creating havoc. The Bad: 1. Both offensive tackles - I have read other TBD camp reports about our tackle play and hoped they were just being overly pessimistic or chalked it up to being so early in camp. I'm here to report things haven't changed much on this front. Hopefully it was just another bad day for Walker and Butler -- but from what I saw today this could be problematic. While both struggled (mightily) I think Butler was the worst. He was consistently beaten by Kelsay and Trent would have been sacked multiple times. Walker, while not brilliant by any stretch, had quicker feet and at least slowed down the edge rushers coming from his side (although 68 would have given up a few sacks today too). Too make matters worse, our backups really didn't fare any better - although I do believe Bell shows alot of promise. Bell was the #2 LT and rotated in at RT behind Jonathan Scott. Bell is athletic for a man his size and has good footwork. His problem appears to be his strength at holding up to bull rushers and anticipating the rush moves. For instance, he excels at getting wide and taking away edge rushers' angles -- but struggled to get in front when they crossed back to the inside. Scott, from what I saw is a big guy with a powerful base, but lacks good footwork and had his share of technical mistakes. Chambers didn't practice. Hold your collective breath Buffalo and hope Kugler works some magic. 2. Ryan Fitzpatrick's arm - I am a fantasy football fan and actually had Houshmanzadeh last year when Palmer went out... I grew to loathe Fitzpatrick. When the Bills signed him, I hoped they secretly transplanted RoboCop's arm on him and kept it on the low down. What I saw at camp doesn't have me believing this was the case. While I will give credit to Fitz for throwing a nice deep pass that was on the money -- he routinely placed the ball on the wrong shoulder making it more difficult for his receivers. His out routes were also not good as the ball seemed to take forever in getting there and I was left imagining the sight of a Patriots DB taking one back to the house after Fitz served him up. For all those Hamdan fans out there, Fitzpatrick is the second best QB on the Bills right now (ie. Hamdan is no better). The Ugly: 1. Keith Ellison - although I really didn't pay too much attention to the LB's, Ellison appears to be a LB in a safety's body. He did nothing to stand out and really does not look the part out there. He looks like an exploitable part of our Defense. Sorry -- don't have any good observations on Harris or Bowen because I really didn't focus on them. That being said -- here's hoping one of them lights it up in pre-season and relegates Ellison to his rightful backup slot. Misc: 1. Levitre had all reps at first team LG. Levitre & Hangman are the 2 smallest lineman but both have great instincts and seem to get to the right spot. Levitre is almost the opposite of Wood in that his footwork is really quick and he rarely gets beat by speed. His problem is that he is not as strong as Wood and cannot simply lock on and drive his guy out. He uses more of a finesse style. Hangman is also smaller -- but seems to have a nasty streak and uses great leverage to fend off his opponent. I like the makings of our interior line and think it could be our strength. 2. The Wildcat made an appearance. Fred Jackson lined up behind center and had Dominic Rhodes/Lynch as the pitchmen. I was surprised that Parrish wasn't in this formation as I think Jackson and Parrish could pose serious matchups in this scheme. 3. Moorman hasn't lost his touch. Still kicks one hell of a punt. Player to watch: Shaine Smith -his real value seemed to be on Special Teams. He partially blocked a punt and generally made some nice special teams plays. He was working on the ST first unit much of the day. Doubt he makes the team as a WR but you never know. sorry for the long post -- will focus more on Defense next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThereIsNoDog Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Thanks for the report. Perhaps moving Walker back to RT and starting Bell at LT is the way to go. And regarding Bell failing to get in front of DE's when they crossed back to the inside, was that in 1-on-1 drills? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 TDB? Two drive Bills? NOOOOOOOOOO! JK, THANKS FOR THE WRITE UP!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Don't apologize for the long post - it was wonderful and filled with great bills training camp info that I'm craving right now. Thanks so much for writing this, I'm looking forward to your next report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NY Nole Posted August 1, 2009 Author Share Posted August 1, 2009 Thanks for the report. Perhaps moving Walker back to RT and starting Bell at LT is the way to go. And regarding Bell failing to get in front of DE's when they crossed back to the inside, was that in 1-on-1 drills? They actually ran 1 specific drill where they would alternate rushing half the line (T-G-C vs. DE, LB, DT). Bell did this drill as both the LT and RT. His first step was very quick and did a good job sending his man wide, but had difficulty when the defender took the inside route. During the 11on11 is when he got beat on a cross back move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThereIsNoDog Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 They actually ran 1 specific drill where they would alternate rushing half the line (T-G-C vs. DE, LB, DT). Bell did this drill as both the LT and RT. His first step was very quick and did a good job sending his man wide, but had difficulty when the defender took the inside route. During the 11on11 is when he got beat on a cross back move. How many times? And on one side or both? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NY Nole Posted August 1, 2009 Author Share Posted August 1, 2009 How many times? And on one side or both? The time he got beat by the defender crossing back in front of him, he was playing LT. I'd say he took 3-4 reps at each tackle spot in the drills. I'd say he fared a bit better at RT. During the 11/11, he played mostly LT -- I lost my vantage point of him when he was at RT. The Bills went exclusively no-huddle during the 11-on-11. Something I almost forgot to mention, Langston Walker was sucking wind at one point in the team session. Seeing that, I almost laughed at the thought of Buffalo using the no-huddle (though I understand that is what training camp is for). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACor58 Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Just got back from this morning's camp, here goes:The Bad: 1. Both offensive tackles - I have read other TDB camp reports about our tackle play and hoped they were just being overly pessimistic or chalked it up to being so early in camp. I'm here to report things haven't changed much on this front. Hopefully it was just another bad day for Walker and Butler -- but from what I saw today this could be problematic. While both struggled (mightily) I think Butler was the worst. He was consistently beaten by Kelsay and Trent would have been sacked multiple times. Walker, while not brilliant by any stretch, had quicker feet and at least slowed down the edge rushers coming from his side (although 68 would have given up a few sacks today too). Too make matters worse, our backups really didn't fare any better - though I do believe Bell shows alot of promise. Bell was the #2 LT and rotated in at RT behind Jonathan Scott. Bell is athletic for a man his size and has good footwork. His problem appears to be his strength at holding up to bull rushers and anticipating the rush attack. For instance, he excels at getting wide and taking away edge rushers' angles -- but struggled to get in front when they crossed back to the inside. Scott, from what I saw is a big guy with a powerful base, but lacks good footwork and had his share of mistakes. Chambers didn't practice. Hold your collective breath Buffalo and hope Kugler works some magic. Jarius Byrd better turn out to be one hell of a player because we could have drafted Phil Loadholdt, who is projected to start at RT in Minnesota, in the second round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catholic Guilt Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 NY NOLE - thanks for the camp report, very informative... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThereIsNoDog Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 The time he got beat by the defender crossing back in front of him, he was playing LT. I'd say he took 3-4 reps at each tackle spot in the drills. I'd say he fared a bit better at RT. During the 11/11, he played mostly LT -- I lost my vantage point of him when he was at RT. The Bills went exclusively no-huddle during the 11-on-11. Something I almost forgot to mention, Langston Walker was sucking wind at one point in the team session. Seeing that, I almost laughed at the thought of Buffalo using the no-huddle (though I understand that is what training camp is for). They should keep Bell at one spot. Guys coming at you from the right versus left, from what I've been told and especially at this level, is a lot more hard/different than one would think. And if today is any indication, maybe moving Walker back to RT and getting the Bell at LT era started now is the best way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartacus Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 They should keep Bell at one spot. Guys coming at you from the right versus left, from what I've been told and especially at this level, is a lot more hard/different than one would think. And if today is any indication, maybe moving Walker back to RT and getting the Bell at LT era started now is the best way to go. yeah - with this plan we can start the Fitzpatrick era now as well. the surest way to get your QB killed is for your OT to give up the inside move - where whatever help they provided on the outside is completely wasted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThereIsNoDog Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 yeah - with this plan we can start the Fitzpatrick era now as well. the surest way to get your QB killed is for your OT to give up the inside move - where whatever help they provided on the outside is completely wasted There's supposed to be help from the LG, if not RB's. In any scenario involving Bell at LT, there will need to be extra attention given to that side of the field. Hell, even with Walker there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike32282 Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Very nice report. But one thing, I was confused with it too.... Stupar changed his number. He's #88. The #87 that you kept seeing was that new WR we signed, Shaine Smith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason268152 Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Thank You for the info! You the man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fixxxer Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Excellent repor NY NOLE, thanks a lot. Our tackle situation is worrisome to say the least, I hope they can figure it out before the start of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thoner7 Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Jarius Byrd better turn out to be one hell of a player because we could have drafted Phil Loadholdt, who is projected to start at RT in Minnesota, in the second round. E. Brown will be running circles around Loadholt for both of their respective careers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartacus Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 There's supposed to be help from the LG, if not RB's. In any scenario involving Bell at LT, there will need to be extra attention given to that side of the field. Hell, even with Walker there. the 2nd quickest way to get your QB killed is to have your rookie interior OL give up the middle to those pesky 3-4 nose tackles and LBs while trying to help to the outside If Bell can't handle a simple one-on-one move, he will be dangerous to the health of the QBs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 They should have left the right side of the line alone and play Chambers at left tackle like they did part of last season. I have more confidence in Chambers at left tackle than I do Walker and think Walker is top 10 RT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NY Nole Posted August 1, 2009 Author Share Posted August 1, 2009 Very nice report. But one thing, I was confused with it too.... Stupar changed his number. He's #88. The #87 that you kept seeing was that new WR we signed, Shaine Smith. Thanks for the correction Mike. Those damn camp guides should have a roster update insert or something. Shaine Smith (#87) was in fact the player who I was referring to. Doubt he makes the team in the long run, but he was all hustle out there today and really played well on special teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Misc:2. The Wildcat made an appearance. Fred Jackson lined up behind center and had Dominic Rhodes/Lynch as the pitchmen. I was surprised that Parrish wasn't in this formation as I think Jackson and Parrish could pose serious matchups in this scheme. They did this Thursday night also with Roscoe behind center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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