OK lets talk a little about the offensive line. I'm still getting used to all the changes in personnel so bare with me. Jake Long gave up a couple of sacks today. One of them Charlie Anderson just left Long in the dust. Anderson was a tad late though because Vonnie Holiday blew right by Smiley at the same time and he was closer so he got the sack. Jake had his moments though. He also had his way with a couple of the more speedy pass rushers. Once he gets his mitts on a player who is much smaller than him its pretty much over, and he is excellent at directing them out and away from the Qb's back. You can really tell he's been nothing but a Tackle for the last 4 years. Holiday can give him some problems though, and that's probably a good thing. It might have been good to have JT going up against Long but with how powerful Holiday is, it's gives Long a chance to lock horns with one of the NFL's very good players. He did do a good job on more than one occasion with both Merling and Holiday though. I really like Justin Smiley. He gets off the line very well for a big man, and with him and Jake on the same side you can see some nice holes open up once in a while. I really wish they could find a very good veteran LG so Smiley could move over to RG though. He is such a good run blocking guard, and has real good speed but for now LG is where he probably belongs. Satele was getting a real workout today. More on this with the defensive write up I'll make up. Darilek is just a serviceable guard at this point. He's fairly solid, and quite versatile as well. Carey is quietly drawing no attention being back at RT and that's a good thing. He's been very solid, and quite possibly the better of all lineman so far. Plus he looks to be in pretty good shape. Ndukwe played a little bit of LT today but mostly at Center, and he's not that bad. A pretty good kick out on the speedy Moses had me take notice of him but Moses whooped him the next play. Donald Thomas was playing LT as well. Murphy was at LG McKinney was back at practice and played some Center for one quick series then moved back over to RG. In their own individual drills the lineman were working a lot on drive blocking and sealing off the ends. Long is one excellent drive blocker. Holy Cow this dude can use his legs when he's run blocking. Carey was also very good here, as was Smiley, and Murphy. The Defense OK let me go right to the DT's Ferguson is a beast and was giving Satele a hard time most of the day. Here is one for you. Soliai had a real nice practice. He was knocking the snot out of the Centers, and Guards and was doubled up on for most of those plays. He got nice push, and even better did not get pushed back. I'd say one of the better practices I've seen out of him. Come on LIGHT BULB.....stay lit !!! Rod Wright is playing LDE, and I'm not so sure he belongs there, but he sure thinks he does. He's getting off the line with some burst and is really surprising me. Randy Starks is also playing LDE Merling makes you take notice of him once in a while. He runs down the line well, and gets plenty of push when he's on. Jake got to lock up with him, and probably got the better of him but I say look out for Merling in preseason games if he's going against some second string LT's. I think he can handle them, and it should give him some confidence. Matt Roth is playing a little of LDE, and pass rushing OLB Langford had a much better practice on Saturday. Today he was getting pushed backwards a lot. Crowder made a nice play right up the middle on Ricky. He and Ayodele were manning up the ILB spots for the first team. Edmond Miles almost got an Int today on Beck. He is playing behind Ayodele. Quenton Moses was the OLB on the right side, and saw a couple of plays on the left as well. He looks like he might have slimmed down a little to be more of a Lb'er. Overall the front 7 has been 5 up front and 2 Lb's on almost every single play. Will Allen banged his knee during a collision with Ronnie Brown but continued and was noticeably bothered by it for a couple of plays, but it looked better after that. Nothing too serious I'm sure. OK I know I'm always running late when I say I'll deliver a second part to these so I'll post what I've got for now, and if there are any questions I'll try to answer them all. I'm off to bed.... I'm not sure when I'll be back at camp. Hopefully I'll be able to get in at least one practice during the week. So for now, I hope all of you enjoy.... Oz
I think the regime hopes Murphy can come on enough at LG to become the starter there by the end of prseason. Smiley, being a vet, could shift to RG fairly late in camp and still manage the switch. Conversely, Shawn needs to work at LG right through camp to have any chance of being able to play there this year. I don;t think Murphy will start at LG unless someone goes down with an injury later in the year, and/or once Jake is comfortable out there. Actually, it's probably a bad idea to put him on the left side next to Jake at all. Glad to hear Murphy is a good drive blocker, though. As for Samson, he will improve a LOT playing against Ferguson every day. Especially because Jason is a mentor type, who wants to teach the other players. I'm sure he and Samson will discuss tactics and tips off the field. I think Rod Wright was a steal when we drafted him in the 7th round. You'll see why this year. He plays with GREAT quickness and agility for a man his size (he is bigger than you'd expect, seeing him move), good leverage, and some strength too. he is not a Pro-Bowler, but he can certainly be a productive starter, imo. He reminds me of a Luis Castillo. His disruptiveness will help the OLB on that side a LOT. I have heard underwhelming things about Randy Starks. I think we'd cut him at the end of TC if we had more decent guys at that position. How has Matt Roth looked in space? I can;t picture him being fluid/agile. I *can* picture him waving those croc arms at the balls passed overhead. Wait a sec.... Beck through THREE Ints... AND Miles ALMOST intercepted Beck? good Lord. Beck musta looked sharp today. Could you tell what had Beck throwing so poorly? 7 on the line? Sounds like lots of blitzing will happen. Thing is, part of the 3-4's appeal is that you can;t always tell who is coming... but do either of our DE's have the ability to drop back into space if we send other guys? I KNOW Ferguson ain't dropping back into coverage. Wonder what his 40 time is? Thanks for a great camp report, Ozzy. I would kill to live close enough to get to camp.
