Post by TheShadow on Aug 26, 2009 16:56:23 GMT -5
NAPA, CA - Monday, August 24
Okay, a bit later in the year than usual, but I made it to Raiders camp on
Monday, along with a LOT of other special guests. (This was the biggest
group I've seen so far, there were at least 200 people watching!) It was
also the first time I've been out there when it wasn't dreadfully hot.
Here's my report:
I spent a lot of time observing the quarterbacks this time, something I
don't usually do... Jamarcus still looks big and slow, maybe its just an
optical illusion but I always come away with that impression. Garcia is
hella loud when he's calling out the plays... moreso than anybody i've ever
heard out there. He sounds like your chain-asmoking grandfather!
Gradkowski was solid, nothing spectacular but gets the job done. All four
actually looked good, with Russell getting most of the snaps with the ones,
although the work was shared pretty evenly. My guess at this point would be
that Frye will be the odd man out when the time comes.
Javon Walker got in a lot of work on Monday. He keep fussing with his knee
in between the action, to the point where it made me wonder if he's still
not right. But after a bit he continued to make adjustments to his OTHER
knee, his waistband, pads, helmet, you name it... I finally realized that
this was a guy that was just plain uncomfortable in his gear out there.
Despite all that, he made some vicious cuts to the ball throughout the
practice, and showed some blazing speed with the ball. Let's see if he
steps up to be "the guy" soon.
Heyward-Bey? Dropped several "catchable" balls, but also caught some
impossible ones, so who knows? When he did catch them, he utilized an
amazing burst of speed. There's no doubt why Al wanted him. Sorry Breo,
but this is NOT another J. Jett... this guy doesn't shy away from contact
after the catch. And he's arguably faster on the football field. He made
a tip toe sideline catch that made everyone gasp at one point.
As for the others, nobody was exceptional. Johnnie Lee was his usual
loquacious self, and he appeared to be doing quite a lot of mentoring to
young Nick Miller... who is listed at 5-9, which is incredibly generous!
Hell, my Akita is bigger than him! Anyway, he is a tough little kid, but I
fear for his life out there... he's not afraid to mix it up though.
I sure miss Chaz Schilens.
Brandon Myles was clearly the most impressive ball catcher out there during
the period he was active. He went to the field house part way through the
session and didn't appear to return. Dunno why. But while he was out
there he caught EVERYTHING in his area code! Watch for this dude! If my
name was Tony Stewart I would start thinking about a broadcasting job or
something. I think a two TE set with Myles and Miller at bookends will
give Russell a good chance to appear competent sooner and for longer. Zach
is so underrated it's crazy. His work ethic is awesome, and he's taken his
skills a notch higher. He's our best offensive player today in my twisted
opinion.
Running backs: Justin Fargas looked to be taking Monday off (faking an
injury) so he could rest up, the other guys all looked explosive and strong,
especially M. Bush. D-Mac stayed behind after practice ended to run a few
sprints by himself without all the gear on... he's ridiculously fast from
one end of the field to the other. Anyway, I know it's just practice, but
please.... can somebody out there stay in their spot and make a stop on a
runner? As excited as an observer can be over watching our runners look
great, the sickening feeling of imagining what LaDanian will do really is
overwhelming. S.O.S. is being sent out as I type. I wish Louis Rankin
was just a bit bigger and heavier.
Which brings me to defense... Ricky Brown is THE MAN! I'm not sure where
he will finally settle in, but he is the kind of impact LB we have needed
for quite a while. Gamebreaker-in-training. Howard looked so-so, Alston
still not 100%, and the others didn't do much to impress. After practice I
chatted with Kirk Morrison after he left the autograph line and headed to
the hotel - he says the elbow is already feeling better and he will
DEFINITELY be ready to go vs. San Diego, maybe even get into the last
preseason game. I've known Kirk a long time, and he is -always- very
optimistic about everything, so keep that in mind before you take the
previous sentence to the bank.
Speaking of impressive prospects, would somebody please make sure that
Desmond Bryant makes the roster? Not just because it would be cool to have
a Harvard guy on the team, but he can BRING IT! How in the hell did they
scout him? He's a diamond in the rough, let's keep him and build around
him.
What else? Oh, speaking of big and slow... why on earth is Terdell Sands
still out there? He's almost as big as the Earth! And he moves at about
the same speed. Just seeing him struggle to keep up when they switched
sets made me feel like huffing and puffing... this guy doesn't look like
he's gonna bust anything this year, other than a buffet or two. Sorry Sands
Fans, but that's how it looks.
Seabass and Lechler were both inactive, so that fun part of the show was not
happening, but its cool. They know what they are doing so no need to mess
around and overdo it in August. Mr Davis did not appear at any time.
Oh, the press conference after the session was packed... so many gathered
around it was hard to hear Cable's remarks, but I did observe him deftly
sidestep the "Bumaye" issue when he was badgered by the ESPN chick - I think
her name is Colleen Dominguez. Anyway, I saw her afterwards and she seemed
disappointed that she didn't get much reaction out of him, but resigned to
the fact that you win a few, you lose a few. Same for reporters I guess.
Anyway, she's not bad! I should have taken more pics of her!
I'm sure I will think of something more later, but that's it for now...
observations by your average joe... Sac D! Go check out the pictures, they
each say 10,000 words. (Or so I'm told)
Aloha
-Sac D-
Okay, a bit later in the year than usual, but I made it to Raiders camp on
Monday, along with a LOT of other special guests. (This was the biggest
group I've seen so far, there were at least 200 people watching!) It was
also the first time I've been out there when it wasn't dreadfully hot.
Here's my report:
I spent a lot of time observing the quarterbacks this time, something I
don't usually do... Jamarcus still looks big and slow, maybe its just an
optical illusion but I always come away with that impression. Garcia is
hella loud when he's calling out the plays... moreso than anybody i've ever
heard out there. He sounds like your chain-asmoking grandfather!
Gradkowski was solid, nothing spectacular but gets the job done. All four
actually looked good, with Russell getting most of the snaps with the ones,
although the work was shared pretty evenly. My guess at this point would be
that Frye will be the odd man out when the time comes.
Javon Walker got in a lot of work on Monday. He keep fussing with his knee
in between the action, to the point where it made me wonder if he's still
not right. But after a bit he continued to make adjustments to his OTHER
knee, his waistband, pads, helmet, you name it... I finally realized that
this was a guy that was just plain uncomfortable in his gear out there.
Despite all that, he made some vicious cuts to the ball throughout the
practice, and showed some blazing speed with the ball. Let's see if he
steps up to be "the guy" soon.
Heyward-Bey? Dropped several "catchable" balls, but also caught some
impossible ones, so who knows? When he did catch them, he utilized an
amazing burst of speed. There's no doubt why Al wanted him. Sorry Breo,
but this is NOT another J. Jett... this guy doesn't shy away from contact
after the catch. And he's arguably faster on the football field. He made
a tip toe sideline catch that made everyone gasp at one point.
As for the others, nobody was exceptional. Johnnie Lee was his usual
loquacious self, and he appeared to be doing quite a lot of mentoring to
young Nick Miller... who is listed at 5-9, which is incredibly generous!
Hell, my Akita is bigger than him! Anyway, he is a tough little kid, but I
fear for his life out there... he's not afraid to mix it up though.
I sure miss Chaz Schilens.
Brandon Myles was clearly the most impressive ball catcher out there during
the period he was active. He went to the field house part way through the
session and didn't appear to return. Dunno why. But while he was out
there he caught EVERYTHING in his area code! Watch for this dude! If my
name was Tony Stewart I would start thinking about a broadcasting job or
something. I think a two TE set with Myles and Miller at bookends will
give Russell a good chance to appear competent sooner and for longer. Zach
is so underrated it's crazy. His work ethic is awesome, and he's taken his
skills a notch higher. He's our best offensive player today in my twisted
opinion.
Running backs: Justin Fargas looked to be taking Monday off (faking an
injury) so he could rest up, the other guys all looked explosive and strong,
especially M. Bush. D-Mac stayed behind after practice ended to run a few
sprints by himself without all the gear on... he's ridiculously fast from
one end of the field to the other. Anyway, I know it's just practice, but
please.... can somebody out there stay in their spot and make a stop on a
runner? As excited as an observer can be over watching our runners look
great, the sickening feeling of imagining what LaDanian will do really is
overwhelming. S.O.S. is being sent out as I type. I wish Louis Rankin
was just a bit bigger and heavier.
Which brings me to defense... Ricky Brown is THE MAN! I'm not sure where
he will finally settle in, but he is the kind of impact LB we have needed
for quite a while. Gamebreaker-in-training. Howard looked so-so, Alston
still not 100%, and the others didn't do much to impress. After practice I
chatted with Kirk Morrison after he left the autograph line and headed to
the hotel - he says the elbow is already feeling better and he will
DEFINITELY be ready to go vs. San Diego, maybe even get into the last
preseason game. I've known Kirk a long time, and he is -always- very
optimistic about everything, so keep that in mind before you take the
previous sentence to the bank.
Speaking of impressive prospects, would somebody please make sure that
Desmond Bryant makes the roster? Not just because it would be cool to have
a Harvard guy on the team, but he can BRING IT! How in the hell did they
scout him? He's a diamond in the rough, let's keep him and build around
him.
What else? Oh, speaking of big and slow... why on earth is Terdell Sands
still out there? He's almost as big as the Earth! And he moves at about
the same speed. Just seeing him struggle to keep up when they switched
sets made me feel like huffing and puffing... this guy doesn't look like
he's gonna bust anything this year, other than a buffet or two. Sorry Sands
Fans, but that's how it looks.
Seabass and Lechler were both inactive, so that fun part of the show was not
happening, but its cool. They know what they are doing so no need to mess
around and overdo it in August. Mr Davis did not appear at any time.
Oh, the press conference after the session was packed... so many gathered
around it was hard to hear Cable's remarks, but I did observe him deftly
sidestep the "Bumaye" issue when he was badgered by the ESPN chick - I think
her name is Colleen Dominguez. Anyway, I saw her afterwards and she seemed
disappointed that she didn't get much reaction out of him, but resigned to
the fact that you win a few, you lose a few. Same for reporters I guess.
Anyway, she's not bad! I should have taken more pics of her!
I'm sure I will think of something more later, but that's it for now...
observations by your average joe... Sac D! Go check out the pictures, they
each say 10,000 words. (Or so I'm told)
Aloha
-Sac D-