Astrobot Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) My grandchildren are here but they were with the in-laws today, so I headed for camp. I have very little time to write this, and many people in and out of our aisle of the bleachers, so some holes. Many apologies. Session 1: Kickoff drills using Sammy and CJ Spiller alternating. I'm thinking, "They wouldn't use their best 2 offensive weapons on kick return, will they?" We'll find out in a week. Sammy waits until the last minute to grab the ball; it's unnerving. Session 2: Offense and Defense did first and goal drills. Only EJ and Tuel took reps. They moved the ball out to the 20 for red-zone drills. The OL was Seantrel-Chris Williams-Wood-Urbik-Pears, with Chandler on the RT side. Session 3: Calisthenics. This was when the loud music started, and continued throughout camp. I hope this helps the players. Best moment was when I see Fred Jackson (injured last night) run right at Pepper Johnson and dodge out of the way at the last moment. Thought Pepper would have a pooper right there.' Session 4-5: Offense worked on screens, first Tuel to Bryce Brown, and was made to do it over. Then EJ to Jackson, and Dixon to E-Rod. They'd have to run to the other side so there was less standing around compared to last year. Lewis let fly a nice pass to Mike Williams, who with Hogan were the shining stars of the offense today. CJ has on his red shirt under his jersey; Freddy is in black shirt, black, wrist bands, and black socks. MEanwhile, the D is working on various drills, including picking up a fumble off the ground almost at full speed. WRs are working on getting off the line around off-man and press-man. QBs are working on various step-back drills, and then a drill (again unseen last year) where they get the ball hiked to them and 2 coaches try and hit them with leather cylinders (sometimes hard) while they go through their reads, then pass. RBs are doing cones, stepping over the tops of them, then going zigzagging through them. LBs are reading the hole where the running back is going (done with the 5 garbage cans to represent the holes). There are 8 things going on at once; I counted 10 things the other day. Both are an improvement over the last several years. Less standing around. Observations: Seantrel Henderson is doing pretty well. He plays through the defender and through the whistle. Hairston is holding his own at Guard. Evan Rodriguez (E-Rod) is catching passes out of the backfield along with Summers. Both appear like it's easy. EJ is practicing handoffs to Spiller, Freddy, Anthony Dixon, and Bryce Brown, and Thad, Tuel and Dixon get some time, too. DBs are doing interception drills--you can tell why some of them aren't WRs. Gilmore looks great, and he and McKelvin spend lots of time next to each other talking. Corey Graham is elsewhere.I'm impressed with McClain's power off the snap but you can tell he's working on footwork. Chris Williams is huge, even next to Seantrel. RBs are practicing receptions out of the backfield, and Wingo was surprised by the ball (isn't this what you do for a living? Isn't this what the play was?). Expect him to be gone. E-Rod is looking better but it's still Chandler-Smith-Gragg right now with Moeaki gone. I saw the new TE; he's big but lumbers a bit. Session 6: One WR on 1 DB was fun to watch. Gilmore INT'd Watkins on the first play, but then there was a string of strong offensive plays. Goodwin made a great catch despite being held (flags were thrown). Mike Williams (I'm now a fan) made a nice catch for a TD vs Duke Williams, then Caleb Holley (practice squad potential) caught a TD over Michael Carter. Tori Gurley drew in a nice throw from Tuel, but then Chris Summers got a late pass in the back of the end zone from Tuel which was over his head. TJ Graham didn't see a pass thrown to him (ahem), then Corey Graham drew a PI penalty vs Woods, but it was a TD anyway. After an overthrow of Chandler we had Sammy effortlesssly catch a pass in stride vs Stephon Gilmore to even the score from earlier.Chris Hogan caught a TD vs Dukie Williams, then Thad had the right idea but wrong placement on a long one to Goodwin. Aaron Williams gets props for his great coverage. Lee Smith catches one but is flagged foir pushiNG OFF. Finally, Caleb Holley has a nice catch in the back of the end zone. Chris Summers again got a too-high pass on a fade into the corner. New TE Dominique Jones threw down his defender and drew a penalty. One of my 3 favorite catches was that of Marcus Easley in the corner on a fade, and Easley was seen after the drill giving props to all the DBs, most of whom were smiling. Woods was gummed up in man coverage, and didn't have a catch yet. Naaman Roosevelt had one of the oughest catches in traffic on the next play, and Mike Williams got away with a pushoff, allowing space between him and Duke Williams for the catch. Session 7: Red Zone: EJ was 4 for 4 in his series. His first was another of my favorite passes, a touch pass from the 18 yard line to the center rear of the end zone over CB and S to TJ Graham, pretty and in stride. He then threads the needle to Dominique Jones (yeah, the new guy who'd thrown down his defender) for a TD, then Throws a TD pass to Chandler who was covered by Duke Williams. He ends his series with a completion to Woods for 15 yards, so not a TD but close. Tuel did the 2nd team, and Dixon the 3rd team. Session 8: 11 on 11: EJ audibles at the line, and Hogan makes another favorite catch of the day, diving for a 30-yard pass play. EJ threw it so that the defender couldn't possibly have caught it, but it was to Hogan's credit that he did. EJ fakes to CJ right and bootlegs to the left for 5 or so, then the line showed excellent pass protection for 4 seconds, allowing EJ to hit Hogan again for 20 yards. Summers goes up the middle for about 2 (later his blocking wasn't good either, so I'm calling it now--4 RBs, no FBs this year). Gilmore picks off EJ on the next play as EJ goes for Watkins (later, Watkins will return the favor against Gilmore for a TD). Tuel comes in, Kouandjio is the RT and Hairston is the RG. When EJ returns, Mike Williams makes my most favorite catch of the day, the 50+ yarder you'll see in camp highlights for sure. After a blitz and likely sack by Hughes, EJ completes another one to Dominique Jones. Boobie goes for a long while up the middle (I'm saying 30 yards) with excellent sustained blocks from Urbik and Pears. Sessions 9 and 10 Kicking practice. The outside gunners are Corey Graham, Goodwin, Aaron Williams, Easley. The second group is Woods, Brooks, Robey, and Bryce Brown. First guys down to meet the ball? Easley and Hughes. Session 11: From the 12 (could have been 2-point conversion): They had Summers lined up as a WR, and Aaron Williams broke up the pass. NExt play, Easley tipped the ball but no defender got it. Next play was a TD Easley touchdown. The play confused the coverage, as two defenders went with one WR and Easley was the grateful recipient. Session 12: I watched OL guys go mano a mano for a bit. Hairston looks solid, Seantrel is more impressive each time I see him, and Cyril Richardson is a bulldozer. Comments: ---Mike Williams and EJ are developing chemistry that is palpable. I didn't believe Mike W when he said it wouldn't take much time at all. He was right. ---Kouandjio had a false start. Don't look for him to be running with the ones anytime early in this process. ---Jerry Hughes is going to the Pro Bowl. ---Meeks can hit. He shook up Wingo over the middle today. ---Dixon is a camp arm. No chance he'll be with the team after August. ---Kevin Elliott's drop of an easy TD in the end zone might have cost him a roster spot today. His injury at the end of practice might have been partly hurt pride. ---I don't want Sammy or CJ returning kicks. Edited July 28, 2014 by Astrobot
Gray Beard Posted July 28, 2014 Posted July 28, 2014 Great Read! I'll be looking for Astro Notes thread titles from now on!
Astrobot Posted July 28, 2014 Author Posted July 28, 2014 Thanks. I appreciate the appreciation. Not sure when I go again... Astro
beerme1 Posted July 28, 2014 Posted July 28, 2014 Astro, you have given TJ Graham his send off notice.
Astrobot Posted July 28, 2014 Author Posted July 28, 2014 TJ had the very good TD tonight, in my top four catches. With he and Pears doing well, all that I thought was right, is wrong...
beerme1 Posted July 28, 2014 Posted July 28, 2014 TJ had the very good TD tonight, in my top four catches. With he and Pears doing well, all that I thought was right, is wrong... If TJ was surprised that the ball was coming to him well, he's done. You also punched Summers ticket out. I agree with you that we will carry four rb and no Frank.
OCinBuffalo Posted July 28, 2014 Posted July 28, 2014 I was going to say "I hate to pile on TJ Graham, but", but , I just realized, I don't hate doing that at all. Enough is enough. TJ should be in the first round of cuts. That's the class/Bills thing to do. And, once again, thanks Astro. I look forward to these camp reports every year.
Mark Vader Posted July 28, 2014 Posted July 28, 2014 Thanks a lot Astrobot. Does it look like Cyril Richardson is making progress? How does Lawson look at DE? Do you think we will keep Dustin Hopkins? Who's going to start at RG, Urbik or Hairston? Who looks better at SS, Searcy or Duke?
BoozeCruise Posted July 28, 2014 Posted July 28, 2014 Seems like a lot of Duke Williams getting beat from this summary. Is it just me, or does Hogan look good in every training camp, including the one he was on Hard Knocks with the Fish? Seems like he may just be one of those high motor guys that is just trying harder than everyone else, who mainly play at three-quarters speed. He was an absolute non-factor when he got his chance at real action last season. Guess he could be a WR-5, but I'm not seeing it with a lack of special teams value. Gotta stick with Watkins, Williams, Woods, Goodwin, and Easley. Seems like we are going to be one of the few teams that uses a fullback, or even carries one.
1B4IDie Posted July 28, 2014 Posted July 28, 2014 Thanks Astro. So much better than Rodak's pissing and moaning.
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