Patriots' Training Camp Day 3 (Sunday July 28)

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Cannon as the starting RG is something I think takes this OL to a historic level.

Starters
LT- Solder; 6'8 320
LG- Mankins; 6'4 310
C- Wendell; 6'2 300
RG- Cannon; 6'5 340
RT- Vollmer; 6'8 330

I've been hoping for this combination ever since drafting Canon/Solder (with the exception of Wendell of course until we actually saw him), looks like it could be our best run blocking line in the BB era if Canon is ready. Monstrous on both sides. And Connolly is great depth all over the interior. If there was a self pleasure smiley I'd put it here.

 

[belichick010405]

As is to be expected, we're getting inconsistent reports about individual players. That's great to see.

As is to be expected, Patriots General Manager Deus Irae reports that there are inconsistent reports about individual players. That's great to see.

 

[Clonamery]

LOLB- Hightower
DT- Armstead
NT- Wilfork
RE- Jones
ROLB- Collins
SILB- Spikes
WILB- Mayo

The thought of a lineup like this makes me giddy. The youth, the athleticism, the thought of Jones and Collins both coming off the same side is the only thing scarier then to monsters like Hightower and Armstead coming off the same side.

P.S. I know this lineup is premature, but I'm willing to deal with Ninkovich and Kelly for now .

Flexibility!

 

[Deus Irae]

Perhaps that is due to much of the commentary being immediate reaction to single plays, rather than an overall review of individual player's performance for the entire day. Dobson and Dowling in particular are two that seemed to have a mixture of good and bad plays today. For example:

Ras-I Dowling didn’t look great in 7v7 and 11v11, but his physicality was present early and often, giving Dobson fits in blocking drills.​

Perhaps. I love getting the differing opinions, because it gives us a good idea of where to focus our attention. Tebow's been up and down, so following him at a practice is a good idea. On the other hand, unless Brady shows real signs of struggling, there's no need to pay much attention to him.

When you're dealing with a 90 man roster, this makes focusing on the question marks easier to do. It will also eventually lead us to see which reporters have which binkies, which will enable us to take that into consideration when reading reports.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Kenbrell Thompkins WR Patriots Training Camp - YouTube

Not much of him, couldn't get his long TDs from Tebow.

 

[Rob0729]

As is to be expected, Patriots General Manager Deus Irae reports that there are inconsistent reports about individual players. That's great to see.

Well Deus is saying that there are a lot mixed reviews on Dobson. So he has got a point there. Most of the reports are all over the place. Some say he is one of the biggest bright spots in camp and others say he is THE biggest bright spot in camp. I don't know how two people can watch the same player and see such vastly different things.

Deus wants the WRs to all be busts so he can biatch all season on how the Pats let Welker go. He did the same thing for the last three years with Seymour. His act is very transparent and rather pathetic.

Seriously, he thinks there has been inconsistent reports on Dobson? The only negative thing I read about him is he struggled in a particular one on one drill and maybe he dropped a pass.

 

[belichick010405]

Well Deus is saying that there are a lot mixed reviews on Dobson. So he has got a point there. Most of the reports are all over the place. Some say he is one of the biggest bright spots in camp and others say he is THE biggest bright spot in camp. I don't know how two people can watch the same player and see such vastly different things.

Deus wants the WRs to all be busts so he can biatch all season on how the Pats let Welker go. He did the same thing for the last three years with Seymour. His act is very transparent and rather pathetic.

Seriously, he thinks there has been inconsistent reports on Dobson? The only negative thing I read about him is he struggled in a particular one on one drill and maybe he dropped a pass.

I think that these reports are great and frankly I could give a **** about Deus. He is nothing more than a bloated windbag that frankly knows nothing about football.

JMT - great reports today. Some real good stuff.....

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Reports of Dobs having some difficulty getting off the line in press coverage. Kirwin opined that he's too focused on running the right route and missing the little things. That's to be expected of a rook's 1st weeks in my view.

 

[Brady6]

Kenbrell Thompkins WR Patriots Training Camp - YouTube

Not much of him, couldn't get his long TDs from Tebow.

I don't know much about this kid; what exactly was it that prevented him from being drafted? Or even viewed as a high priority UDFA? Injuries, production, talent?

 

[Brady6]

Reports of Dobs having some difficulty getting off the line in press coverage. Kirwin opined that he's too focused on running the right route and missing the little things. That's to be expected of a rook's 1st weeks in my view.

I think it is great to see him on the 1st team already, I was expecting him to be behind Jenkins initially, much like Jones started camp behind Scott and Hightower behind Carpenter last season.

 

[Rob0729]

Reports of Dobs having some difficulty getting off the line in press coverage. Kirwin opined that he's too focused on running the right route and missing the little things. That's to be expected of a rook's 1st weeks in my view.

That is a minor issue for day three of training camp. But as you said, Kirwin says that is typical in a rookie who is trying to remember his assignments and not focusing as much on the play itself.

Overall, the views on him have been glowing though.

But then again, training camp reports really don't mean much. We really won't know what we have until we actually see our team in real action. Many studs in training camp turn into duds in real games and many duds in training camps turn into stars in real games.

 

[jmt57]

A couple of comments about Aqib Talib that I just had to pass along:

Talib got philosophical today: "I never know where I’m going to be tomorrow. Nobody does." - Jeff Howe​

Followed by this response:

Talib is a true Zen master: Last year, he was asked about importance of footwork, and said, "Eyes and feet go hand in hand." - Christopher Price​

 

[patsinthesnow]

I don't know much about this kid; what exactly was it that prevented him from being drafted? Or even viewed as a high priority UDFA? Injuries, production, talent?

Everything To Prove: The Kenbrell Thompkins Story - The News Record: Sports

Arrested 7 times, expelled from highschool twice, and transferring schools will hurt your stock.

 

[manxman2601]

This kid will end up being one of the steals of the 2013 NFL Draft. He is as physically gifted as any player that came out at DE/OLB this year.

Whilst I respect your enthusiasm, in terms of physically gifted, Buchanan is some way behind the likes of Ansah, Jordan or Mingo. It's why they went at the top of the first round whilst Buchanan went in the seventh. Now if you're talking about relative value, then I'm much more on board with your train of thought.

 

[manxman2601]

Well Deus is saying that there are a lot mixed reviews on Dobson. So he has got a point there. Most of the reports are all over the place. Some say he is one of the biggest bright spots in camp and others say he is THE biggest bright spot in camp. I don't know how two people can watch the same player and see such vastly different things.

Deus wants the WRs to all be busts so he can biatch all season on how the Pats let Welker go. He did the same thing for the last three years with Seymour. His act is very transparent and rather pathetic.

Seriously, he thinks there has been inconsistent reports on Dobson? The only negative thing I read about him is he struggled in a particular one on one drill and maybe he dropped a pass.

There is a report that Dobson, on the first day in pads, struggled at a drill absolutely fundamental and relative to his ability to get open in the NFL. It's more than nothing. Should he be written off because of it, of course not. But looking good out of pads and being an NFL receiver are two very different things and it's worth keeping an eye on.

 

[Fencer]

- Talib said he’s been real impressed with Dobson and Thompkins’ ability to get off the line. “Either you have it or you don’t”
- Belichick has gotten to WR Kenbrell Thompkins. Q: How old we're you when you knew you wanted to play in NFL?" A: "It's a day to day process"

So is Dobson good at beating the press or not?

LOL on the Thompkins quote. Probably one of the few ways he can hit back at BB this early.

 

[Uncle Rico]

There is a report that Dobson, on the first day in pads, struggled at a drill absolutely fundamental and relative to his ability to get open in the NFL. It's more than nothing. Should he be written off because of it, of course not. But looking good out of pads and being an NFL receiver are two very different things and it's worth keeping an eye on.

I've seen such a report mentioned here but haven't seen an actual report. Do you have a link? All I've seen on the subject is this:

Talib: Good release by Dobson, Thompkins

... which seemed pretty positive on the subject — and came from an experienced player on the field.

 

[MTM558]

There is a report that Dobson, on the first day in pads, struggled at a drill absolutely fundamental and relative to his ability to get open in the NFL. It's more than nothing. Should he be written off because of it, of course not. But looking good out of pads and being an NFL receiver are two very different things and it's worth keeping an eye on.

I was there in person. The drill everyone is referring to seemed to be a 1-on-1 WR vs. CB drill, in which the receiver must fight past the Cornerback to get their release. Dobson got by a few times, if I recall, but when paired against Dowling (and maybe Arrington too once, hard time seeing all the numbers from my vantage point) he was stonewalled.

In every other drill though, Dobson has flashed and looked pretty smooth out there. Beating press coverage is definitely something for him to work on, and if he can't consistently he may find himself used more as a "Z" receiver, similar to Anquan Boldin.

But as you said, we can rave and speculate as much as we want, let's wait for games to start before we really judge. 2 weeks to go/

 

[FourierSeries]

I was there in person. The drill everyone is referring to seemed to be a 1-on-1 WR vs. CB drill, in which the receiver must fight past the Cornerback to get their release. Dobson got by a few times, if I recall, but when paired against Dowling (and maybe Arrington too once, hard time seeing all the numbers from my vantage point) he was stonewalled.

In every other drill though, Dobson has flashed and looked pretty smooth out there. Beating press coverage is definitely something for him to work on, and if he can't consistently he may find himself used more as a "Z" receiver, similar to Anquan Boldin.

But as you said, we can rave and speculate as much as we want, let's wait for games to start before we really judge. 2 weeks to go/

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

The overwhelming majority of the things I've heard about Dobson have been positive. Talib seems to think he has what it takes to be a good receiver in the NFL.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

from all the updates it looks we are going to have a monster year :rocker: