Crash and Walk Away
Footballguy
I made my annual trek to Colts Training Camp in Anderson today. Below are my thoughts in no particular order:
[*]When the "twos" were in 11/11 or 7/7 drills:
[*]Miscellaneous
- Be nimble if you plan on visiting an NFL training camp. They're running it for themselves, not you. A normally scheduled afternoon session might be moved up to a morning time slot if rain is forecast for the afternoon... such as today. Be on their messaging list, or follow their official twitter stream so you aren't arriving as camp breaks out ... as many were today. Plenty of disappointed kids in Colts' attire.
- Go on the day before an off-day if you want to see more team drills and less individual drills.
- When the "ones" were on the field in 11/11 or 7/7s:
Andrew Luck was good today. Not spectacular, but on target more often than not. I don't know what Stephan Holder was seeing earlier in camp, cause I saw no reason to be concerned today. He moved around a lot in and outside the pocket, and his throwing accuracy did not see to be affected when he did. Luck targeted TY way more than anyone else. As a rough guess, I'd say he came close to seeing a half of the targets.
- They ran a lot of three-wide sets, with the usual suspects (TY, Moncrief, and Dorsett). In fact, I don't remember seeing another WR used in that set with the ones. TY made a great one-handed catch.
- All three TEs saw action with the ones. Sorry, @Sigmund, but RoboCop showed his fragility ... landing awkwardly on a TD pass (that he managed to hold on to). Though landing on his butt, he came up limping. He received no medical attention, came off the field right away, but returned later in practice. He also is best described as someone who lumbers and not runs. Doyle was used almost exclusively in a blocking role. Swoop was used in a receiving role, either spelling RoboGlass, or in the slot in 12 personnel.
- Gore looked as good as ever, weaving, cutting, catching, you name it. You couldn't tell he'll soon be getting AARP invites in the mail. Though Todman was used occasionally, the primary backup appeared to be Josh Ferguson. It's hard for me to tell how someone will truly perform when the lights are on, given the type of hitting allowed in training camp, but he looked better than either Todman or Turbin to me.
- The starting cornerbacks were, of course, Vontae Davis and Patrick Robinson. They switched out the CBs in pairs frequently. The next two up were Darious Butler and Jalil Brown. Despite his limited action in year 1, I still like Jalil. He hustles on every play. On one play he was beat on a crossing route, only to stick a diving hand in there at the last minute to knock the ball loose.
- I liked what I saw from the CBs. Hard to tell about the Safeties, given the nature of pursuing and hitting at training camp.
[*]When the "twos" were in 11/11 or 7/7 drills:
The backup quarterbacks were bad ... in many ways ... okay, in every way. Many missed open receivers. Tolzien was the clear, albeit ugly, number two.
- I don't think Ferguson ran snaps with the twos, just Turbin, Todman, and Trey Williams.
- Quan Bray will make the team, and not just as a returner. He showed good skills as a WR running with the twos. Does not look like "just" a special teamer. Teavaun Smith was the only other WR who stood out positively amongst the twos.
- Sorry, Purdue fans, but Anthrop will not be making the team. He could not get good separation, and dropped several thrown his way. Dropping the few passes through your way, when running with the twos is not the path to Canton.
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[*]Miscellaneous
It was interesting to watch the one/one or two/two offensive lineman protection drills. An offensive lineman that stood out to me was #79 Mitchell Van Dyk. I don't think a defender ever got by him, which couldn't be said about anyone else. Very aggressive.
- Chuck Pagano seemed far more engaged than I've ever see him at camp. He was active on the field, talking to both offensive and defensive players in between plays in addition to his coaching staff. All comments by the coaching staff were not PG rated
- Boomstick was doing all the place kicking work; Adam was nowhere to be seen. Pat hit on everything until trying one from 60. For the shorter kicks, he seems to try to be hitting the camera man on the tower. He came close a few times to the delight of the crowd. FWIW, Tolzien was the holder. On on try, someone (I assume Overton) sailed a snap badly and Pat made sure the defense did not get to it before he dove on it. You gotta love his spirit and aggressiveness, even when borderline mad.
- It's interesting to see who hustles and who doesn't. In the kick return blocking scheme drill, you might be surprised to hear who on the coverage team ran the hardest. Mike Adams! I guess you don't stay in the league as long as he has without getting an edge anyway you can. A few of the rookies should have taken notice and followed suit. Sadly, several didn't.
- Chester Rogers and Josh Woodrum were used as returners in the aforementioned drill. Neither will make the cut. Can you say "dropped kickoff" without anyone near you! Yikes!!
