Patriots Training Camp Day 11 (@ Philadelphia)

[Silver Blue&Red]

Based upon previous success rate of rookie WR's here, the fact that these aren't real games (or even games for that matter) and the probability that tweeters are overreacting to the good plays. (Even Greg Salas looks fantastic out there today accoring to the media!)

for a baseball comparison see Jackie Bradley Jr.

You could be right, but after this off season, I'll bask in the possibilities, even if they could be fluff. Enjoy the moment.

 

[VrabelJr]

That was some sick shake by Amendola.

Yeah that really caught my eye, too. I also noticed how quickly Thompkins seems to get separation.

 

[Demosthenes]

Some vids from yesterday's practice.


Pats WRs vs Eagles DBs.
DB's Square Off vs. Patriots' WR's


Pats DBs vs Eagles WRs.
WR's Take On Patriots' DB's

 

[Uncle Rico]

Question for camp veterans on the board:

Is the lack of commentary on line play simply a function of it being hard to measure in these settings? Or is it simply a gap in the reporting?

 

[BradyFTW!]

Perspective from the Philly side, by Jimmy Kempski of Bleeding Green Nation:

- The #Eagles need someone other than Brandon Boykin to step up at CB

- 1-handed grab by Riley Cooper.

- Matt Barkley picked by Aqib Talib in 1-on-1's. Rare.

- Avant beats Talib, Talib tries to strip him, Avant laughs.

- For my temporary Pats followers, Kyle Arrington looks tremendous in 1-on-1's.

- All three punters here (Donnie Jones, Brad Wing, and Zoltan Mesko) are left-footed. What do you know, Chip and Bill?

- Kyle Arrington gets up gimpy after contested catch with Avant. Right foot.

- Boykin just accidentally ran over Julian Edelman in PR drills.

- Trevor's Lindley - Aqib Talib fight. Not much of a fight, but I'll give the round to Talib.

- Hey look, it's Chris Polk with another long run.

- Vick rips a sidearm bullet around a D lineman and hits his target on the fly over the middle. Awesome throw.

- I think I mentioned this yesterday, but Tom Brady is awesome.

- Aaron Dobson play of the day. Readjusted, changing the shoulder he was looking over on deep ball... twice... Before making catch. Wow play.

- This "Kimbrell something or other" dude on the Pats is fun to watch too. Just made great back shoulder catch.

- Wow. Greg Salas! Got WAY up and snagged a one-handed grab 40+ yards down the field. Amazing play. Cris Carter-esque.

- Another drop for Bryce Brown. Polk is breathing down your neck, Bryce.

- Preseason QB to be announced today by Eagles, reportedly. I'll save you the surprise. It'll be Vick (no inside info).​

Seems like Talib has been a bit boom-or-bust these last two days. Whenever you hear about him, it sounds like he's either jumping a route and making a play or giving up a long bomb.

As for Arrington being terrible in 1-on-1s, how much you read into that really depends on what the drill is. If it's the same drill as the video posted earlier in this thread, then it doesn't worry me at all, because we already know he's bad at that. Sticking to a man 1-on-1 down the sideline is something that he's never been able to do. Gods willing, though, he won't have to do that much/at all this year, and will be able to play exclusively in the slot.

 

[Deus Irae]

Also, depite being lanky, Sudfeld is a good blocker.

Sudfeld is not a good blocker. It's a significant weakness in his game.

 

[tonyto3690]

It's hard not to get excited hearing about Dobson killing it.

 

[Deus Irae]

Ok, having hard T.C. reports from both sides of the aisle, here's what we seem to know and "know" (people should feel free to add as they feel fits):

Tom "F"'n Brady is still the man

Dennard's injured and it's affecting his play

Talib's looking great against pretty much everyone not named DeSean Jackson

Mallett's looking a bit better in 1-on-1 and 7-on-7, but basically the same in 11-on-11

Dobson is up and down, and may be the #3 rookie WR for the Patriots right now

Thompkins has been adept at using his body when he's not gotten separation

Tebow's up and down, with a lot of struggles in the standard offense, but showing some signs of improvement there

Amendola's as expected

Riley Cooper is going to be a key player for his team because of all the injuries

Tavon's not getting it done

Sudfeld has continued to be a catching machine

Boyce gets the best separation among the rookies, but seems to have suspect hands to this point

 

[Gronkandez]

I'm just not letting myself get too giddy about the prospects of these young WRs plus Sudfield. I be watching intently on Friday to "do my own scouting" to see what the buzz is but even if they look great I'm going to make myself be cautiously opptimistic.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Also, depite being lanky, Sudfeld is a good blocker. There is a video on Youtube where Sudfeld said the Nevada coaches won't even allow the TEs on the field unless they do a good job blocking. Basically the better you block, the more reps you get. I don't know if he's in Gronk's stratosphere when it comes to blocking, but Sudfeld has that blocking mentality.

Yah but has Suds mastered that PAT forearm blocking technique yet?

 

[patchick]

Fairly easily. It is redundant, though.

Ooh, linguistic props to you! It never occurred to me before that the "lying" part of "lying prostrate" is unnecessary.

Meanwhile, in non-linguistic discussion...maybe this is wishful thinking, but it seems to me that this year's rookie patch-catching camp phenoms are different from those of the past: they all have bona fide NFL size, speed and athleticism. A guy like Bam Childress may do everything right in practice but just can't keep up when the opposition starts competing at 100% physicality.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Some vids from yesterday's practice.


Pats WRs vs Eagles DBs.
DB's Square Off vs. Patriots' WR's


Pats DBs vs Eagles WRs.
WR's Take On Patriots' DB's

Just watched the WR's, and I see that Boyce and Thompkins are very difficult to cover 1 on 1. Both have excellent hands, as does Dobson, who will win MOST jump balls on high passes.

 

[jmt57]

Question for camp veterans on the board:

Is the lack of commentary on line play simply a function of it being hard to measure in these settings? Or is it simply a gap in the reporting?

Good question. I asked a couple of the reporters the same thing and the response I got was that they couldn't really tell much of anything on individuals from these type of practices. However, one did make the comment that the interior first team OL looked very good from what he noticed.


I am anticipating a lot more analysis on the individual players for the positions we have not been getting much on (OL, DT, DE, LB) thus far after Friday's game.

 

[Kontradiction]

Question for camp veterans on the board:

Is the lack of commentary on line play simply a function of it being hard to measure in these settings? Or is it simply a gap in the reporting?

To be honest, this is the first year in all the seven that I've been active here that I can remember Twitter updates from beat writers dominating the camp reporting. They happened here and there the last couple of years, but mostly it was articles being posted where OL play would be mentioned. So, in all, I think it's just the function of Twitter updates now dominating camp reporting more than it being hard to measure.

 

[Deus Irae]

Question for camp veterans on the board:

Is the lack of commentary on line play simply a function of it being hard to measure in these settings? Or is it simply a gap in the reporting?

Line battles are probably the best thing to watch in the first preseason game, because that's the first time they're going 100%, reporters get a lot of the line battle reporting wrong, and scheming is minimal so we get to see more of the raw abilities in matchups.

 

[JMC00]

Sudfeld is not a good blocker. It's a significant weakness in his game.

Where'd you pull that from? Your ass?

It wasn't all about his prowess as a pass-catcher, though, because his presence as a blocker was second to none last season. Per Ben Volin of The Boston Globe, Sudfeld graded out as a 94.6 percent blocker and had a hand in 24 touchdown-scoring plays

Y! SPORTS

 

[patchick]

Ok, having hard T.C. reports from both sides of the aisle, here's what we seem to know and "know" (people should feel free to add as they feel fits):

...

Dobson is up and down, and may be the #3 rookie WR for the Patriots right now

What I've been gathering about Dobson isn't so much "up and down" as pretty consistently awesome in some skills and weak in others. Tremendous hands, timing/leaping, and body control, but still raw in route running, which limits how he can contribute.

 

[jmt57]

Some additional comments from Eric Galko of Optimum Scouting:

- Tim Tebow playing quarterback with 3rd team = massive fan migration. And erratic downfield throws.


- Spoke to another #Eagles writer about Polk vs Brown. We agreed: Don't read too much into it.Polk could beat him, but hasn't supplanted...yet.


- (Q.: Which WR on New England impressed you the most?) -- Josh Boyce looks more NFL ready than expected. Thompkins too.


- (Q.: Thoughts on Mallett?) -- Looks more poised and controlled, less stiff than at Arkansas. Can't say he's a future NFL starter though.


- (Q.: what was your overall impression of the QB's for the Eagles? Specifically Barkley?) -- Thoughts have changed much since early camp: Vick the most ready, Foles flashes and offense suits him, Barkley future starter.


- (Q.: Thoughts on Dobson?) -- Showed off elite ball skills today. Footwork still off in routes. But he looks the part if a starter.


- In college, Dobson had to use wide catch radius because his QB play sucked. Now with Brady, he uses it to make plays in traffic/over DBs.


- (Q. re: Tebow, and 'Not what other reporters are reporting. Said he looked pretty good today.') -- Actually (Tebow) did get better over practice. But most throws still late.


- (Q.: In the practices I attended Talib was the best on the field...How did he hold up against the Eagles WR?) -- Played well in short area coverage/press yesterday. My apologies, didn't notice him as much today.


- (Q.: If you could compare the main Patriots' Wrs to established NFL Wrs ability wise & potential who do they remind you off ?) -- Amendola-Welker, Dobson-Lloyd/VJax, Boyce-Jennings.


- (Q.: Anything to say about Collins, Jones and Hightower on Pats' D?) -- Not really. DL/LBs on opposite side of the field (need binoculars to see clearly) most of practice. Not full contact in team.


- (Q.: Are they going to get 1 on 1s in coverage vs RBs and TEs? (Talking about Collins and Hightower specifically)) -- I haven't noticed it yet, other than early yesterday outside of team stuff.​

 

[Sicilian]

Line battles are probably the best thing to watch in the first preseason game, because that's the first time they're going 100%, reporters get a lot of the line battle reporting wrong, and scheming is minimal so we get to see more of the raw abilities in matchups.

There's nothing I find more comical than when reports give us the Won-Loss-Tie records for one on one line battles. Great, Solder won two out of three "battles" when it was just him and one defender coming straight at him. Quite telling

Don't get me wrong, good drill to work on some technique and get re-acclimated to contact, but means nothing when it comes to gametime.

 

[chasa]

Just watched the WR's, and I see that Boyce and Thompkins are very difficult to cover 1 on 1. Both have excellent hands, as does Dobson, who will win MOST jump balls on high passes.

Dobsons catch at teh 4:05 mark was lovely.