Today was the ninth practice of fall camp. Practice was 10:30 to 12:30 and we talked to Justin Ludwig afterwards. It was the usual 90-degree heat with high humidity. Here are some position-by-position thoughts;
QB
Again, it was a mixed bag for Mike Wright, who made a couple of long downfield throws today but also had one or two that were really ill-advised. He, Ken Seals and AJ Swann all got a lot of reps today.
RB
The coaches have talked about this being a three-man committee between Ray Davis, Patrick Smith and Rocko Griffin, but Maurice Edwards is starting to nudge his way into that conversation a bit. Davis clearly looks like their best and I like his versatility as a receiver, too.
WR/TE
Will Sheppard had a nice day today. On the whole, the bunch has had a solid camp and it seemed like there weren’t a lot of drops today. Devin Boddie was down for a few minutes and I was concerned that maybe there was a significant injury but he returned and was fine. They’re really happy with their TE room and I asked Lustig a question about Justin Ball, who’ll be a factor. You can hear his answer on video.
OL
There was a little variability in who they lined up with the first team today but that may have just been the normal mixing of first- and second-team guys. One thing I have noticed is they seem to run pretty well behind RG Xavier Castillo and RT Bradley Ashmore.
DL
The big question is, when do they get Daevion Davis, Christian James and Devin Lee back? James at least had a helmet on today and so I take that as a good sign. They’re happy enough at star with Miles Capers, Michael Owusu and Darren Agu that Elijah McAllister is now a full-time DE, though that’s going to be Nate Clifton’s job.
Agu has really come on in the last week and I think will help now. I think the star position could be really important because right now I don’t see them generating a pass rush with power among their DL.
LB/anchor
I think the pass-rush situation also makes the Ethan Barr-Kane Patterson conversation and interesting one, because Kane has started to come on and be a disruptive guy in the backfield, and that’s not really Barr’s game.
They are really monitoring Anfernee Orji’s workload; I’m not sure he’s taken a snap the last three practices. I see no evidence of injury.
Anchor CJ Taylor hasn’t participated in the last 2-3 practices and I’m not sure what’s up there.
CB/S
It was another nice day for Jeremy Lucien, who I think has had a better second week than first week. De’Rickey Wright had been playing with an injury and he looks full-speed now and that should help.
ST
I don’t know what else to say about P Matt Hayball except that he’s an All-American-level talent and I’m not kidding in the least. He hits 55-to-60-yard punts with regularity, his placement has been terrific and Lustig said his hang times range from 4.4 to 5.0 seconds, which, in his words, puts him at or near NFL level.
I’ll be back out there again tomorrow.
QB
Again, it was a mixed bag for Mike Wright, who made a couple of long downfield throws today but also had one or two that were really ill-advised. He, Ken Seals and AJ Swann all got a lot of reps today.
RB
The coaches have talked about this being a three-man committee between Ray Davis, Patrick Smith and Rocko Griffin, but Maurice Edwards is starting to nudge his way into that conversation a bit. Davis clearly looks like their best and I like his versatility as a receiver, too.
WR/TE
Will Sheppard had a nice day today. On the whole, the bunch has had a solid camp and it seemed like there weren’t a lot of drops today. Devin Boddie was down for a few minutes and I was concerned that maybe there was a significant injury but he returned and was fine. They’re really happy with their TE room and I asked Lustig a question about Justin Ball, who’ll be a factor. You can hear his answer on video.
OL
There was a little variability in who they lined up with the first team today but that may have just been the normal mixing of first- and second-team guys. One thing I have noticed is they seem to run pretty well behind RG Xavier Castillo and RT Bradley Ashmore.
DL
The big question is, when do they get Daevion Davis, Christian James and Devin Lee back? James at least had a helmet on today and so I take that as a good sign. They’re happy enough at star with Miles Capers, Michael Owusu and Darren Agu that Elijah McAllister is now a full-time DE, though that’s going to be Nate Clifton’s job.
Agu has really come on in the last week and I think will help now. I think the star position could be really important because right now I don’t see them generating a pass rush with power among their DL.
LB/anchor
I think the pass-rush situation also makes the Ethan Barr-Kane Patterson conversation and interesting one, because Kane has started to come on and be a disruptive guy in the backfield, and that’s not really Barr’s game.
They are really monitoring Anfernee Orji’s workload; I’m not sure he’s taken a snap the last three practices. I see no evidence of injury.
Anchor CJ Taylor hasn’t participated in the last 2-3 practices and I’m not sure what’s up there.
CB/S
It was another nice day for Jeremy Lucien, who I think has had a better second week than first week. De’Rickey Wright had been playing with an injury and he looks full-speed now and that should help.
ST
I don’t know what else to say about P Matt Hayball except that he’s an All-American-level talent and I’m not kidding in the least. He hits 55-to-60-yard punts with regularity, his placement has been terrific and Lustig said his hang times range from 4.4 to 5.0 seconds, which, in his words, puts him at or near NFL level.
I’ll be back out there again tomorrow.
