Fri 8/4 camp report by Merlin... (very slightly edited)

Here's Merlin...

Just got back traffic was stupid goin up the 15 tonight. So I'm going to throw my notes down here before I forget wtf happened:

* Was great meeting fellow board members there and talkin some football while watching our team continue its transition into what I pray is a good passing offense.

* Setup there was great. Never did find the water bottles or drinks/food, but you know I damn well found the beer garden and it was cool except for some reason you can't leave the area with your beer. Kind of stupid tbh, but they went down so fast it didn't really matter. I'd like to see more vendors spaced around with water too but they definitely made the entire experience pretty nice with the sun shades.

* Early on I enjoyed watching GZ kick. He was kicking from the 50 on the right hand side field where the posts are very narrow, and it looked from my vantage like most of them were on target or very close. Later on they moved him to the other side where they set up the regular size posts and he was nailing it. Not a surprise or anything based on watching him before, the guy is always impressive in warmups/practice.

* Watched the offensive groups doing their thing pre-scrimmage, and while discussing Kromer and the OL group Bubba and I agreed that there was a lot more teaching going on this year with actual snaps and corrections by the staff vice the standing around and talking. Overall the practice was quick and efficient in that way. At the same time the pass catchers and QBs were doing their thing and of course all looked well since the defense was on the other field.

* Scrimmage started up and right out the gate Higbee had a few drops in a row that were "last year" looking. The first was a pass down the middle that would have been 7 but he couldn't quite bring it in (he got a hand on it but it was placed high and didn't bring it down, would have been a tough catch but still). Second was back of the endzone he should have had, where it was perfectly placed by Goff in his hands and he flubbed it (seemed like the contact coming got into his head). Third was a fade that again Goff put right there and he dropped, man that one was kinda Cook-like tbh.

* That same possession Goff hit both Kupp and Woods in the flat for TDs. Also the play design for that series tended to have the wideouts outside the hashes in their routes for the most part it seemed, with the TEs challenging the middle to back of endzone.

* Then Everett made that catch and as I remarked afterwards no TE on our roster makes that catch last year. He went up and got it with a defender on him then came down with his feet inside the line. NFL catch right there folks.

* The defense on that entire series leading up to the redzone stuff did a great job of smothering guys, but also closing fast and getting hands on the ball to prevent receptions. Saw just about everyone do something good, even Alexander who on the play for a second I was thinking was a CB before realizing he was too damn big. Then of course in between the TDs in the redzone stuff we saw the Joyner pick which was all him and instinct, very nice.

* First team offense overall seems to still be behind the defense, but that said they routinely do good things in protection and passing. What makes it hard is you don't have the hits on the QB. So trying to eye it is objective but I'd say overall yeah, the D is still ahead and I'm not sure if the offense could run the ball on the defense.

* Second team the gap between the D and O is a bit more profound to my eye. Defense clearly has better depth and those guys were firing the F off to the point where I suspect some of the "good" things the O did wouldn't have happened in a real game.

* As Vet mentioned we discussed Hemingway's absence, so not sure if he was dinged up. But it was noticeable that Wilson is gaining some ground based on his snaps, and he looked pretty good. Wilson's not going to stretch the seam or blow by LBs, but damn he's big and he's solid, and I think there is trust building with the staff. Where that goes who knows. But the TEs right now are a very interesting discussion group in terms of who is kept, that's for sure.

* Let's see oh yeah we noticed Thomas running some real hard routes early on, and I didn't realize it was him at first until Bubba let me use his binoculars. I had watched him run routes last year and let's say the difference is so profound that I am still thinking it might not have been him.

* Re the receivers in general: clear starters right now are Woods, Kupp, and Cooper. Woods and Kupp are basically the top two targets hands down. But Cooper looks good too, and is very integrated into this offense right now with Tavon out.

* Goff looks pretty good. I don't think he's anywhere near where he needs to be. But he's dishin the ball quick, it's coming out fast and accurate, and I noticed a couple things that tell me the wideouts and him are getting very good connection. Like when he throws the ball to lead the receiver away from the hit, getting it to the right side/shoulder and the receiver expecting it, etc. We're not going to be subjected to guys running wrong routes, they've moved way beyond that stuff now IMO and the floor has already been raised a bit. One thing I looked for that I didn't see was him showing he could look off defenders, doesn't mean he can't do it or anything but I was hoping to see it.

* Mannion made some nice throws. So did Orlovsky. But again it just seemed like the twos on offense got swarmed.

* Couple unheralded types caught my eye: Shakeir Ryan and the RB who was wearing 37, I was told it was Llorens. I kept thinking he was Brown lol, intriguing kid at the RB position had a nice run. Hard to say how much of the power he showed was real, since they're not going full tackling to the ground but he definitely flashed a couple times to my eye at least.