Belated camp report 8/17 from phoenixrising...

Here's phoenixrising...

I caught the last half of Wed. practice and all of Thur practice. Sorry for the delay, I'm in the midst of selling a house among other things. These are random observations based on what I happened to be watching at the time.

WR: Spent much of my time watching this group. Britt is clearly the best WR we have and it's not that close. Make what you want of that. Austin is running more routes downfield. Even saw a crossing pattern that I've been looking for two years now. Since that one where he got a step and took it to the house if you recall. There was a play on a long pass to the sideline where Goff made a great pass and he bobbled it slightly going out of bounds. Got a nice response from the crowd, but Cody Davis made it a point to come over to the crowd and wave "Out of bounds!" Funny. Don't know if he was in or out, but it pointed out to me how the margin for error is small throwing to TA due to his stature. Brian Quick, I get the feeling, is on the bubble and needs to come up with some plays to stick. He seems to realize it and is trying hard though I don't think he's a high energy guy by nature. I saw him drop a couple, saw him make a couple nice catches where he had to extend to catch it. When I compare him to M. Thomas it's not apparent which one is the 2nd rd. pick and which one is the 6th. I think Thomas runs crisper routes. If Thomas could catch the darn ball I think it might be over for Quick. But Thomas dropped a couple more that I saw. P. Cooper looks like he will be a big contributor. He's got a short area burst that you just don't see from any WR outside of TA. And you see the YAC ability. That Austin Hill kid from 'Zona caught my eye, but he's a longshot to put it mildly. Saw very little of Duke Williams--same for the games. Makes me wonder if they are hiding him for the practice squad.

TE: No Higbee Kendrick is a solid combo TE. Got quite a few touches. Rookie Hemmingway is interesting. I thought he looked lost in the first game, but was more comfortable in practice and got a lot of looks. Used more like a WR, lined up often in the slot. Curious what they have in store for him.

QB: Watched Goff a lot of course. Best arm, no surprise. More impressive in person than TV. The quick release and easy motion makes it seem stronger than it is. He's just got too much going through his head right now. Not yet seeing the abilities I saw in college that I believe will make him special: the quick progressions and recognition and the ability to extend plays. Mannion's accuracy is a little more erratic I think. But he had one play where he stepped up in the pocket to elude a rush and fired a laser about 20 yds downfield on a comeback route. I don't think Goff could have matched that velocity. Keenum is Keenum, though his confidence is way up from where it was when he got thrown into the fire last year.

RB: Not much to say as its hard to gauge with no live tackling, but Gurley's speed is something to behold. And Chase Reynolds is one tough SOB, I hadn't realized that. Guess you have to be to excel on special teams.

OL: Hard to see much from where I was sitting, but saw GRob pancake Longacre. Of course I was only watching because the previous play Longacre had broke through cleanly. Seems that's what we may have for a while yet. I tried to get a look at Jamon Brown. He didn't seem to move as well as last year, maybe not surprising since I think he is coming off a broken leg. But after seeing him plow people in the KC game I'm not worried. Barnes always concerned me, but he got stronger last year and seems stronger again this year and ready to make another step up. Seems to be a leader too.

DL: It's plain to see that the OL's have had enough of Aaron Donald, tempers were flaring. One guy that caught my eye was D. Easley, the DT from NE. Man he's quick off the ball. Dude's got talent, he can help the team. Sometimes a little too quick, tends to jump offside.

LB: Didn't really focus there.

DB: Man, it was good to see EJ Gaines back out there. Looked like the old EJ. Complete football player. Then he was carried off. Crap. Apparently he's OK. His health is a key to the season IMO.

So I met up with Ramzee and his wonderful family after practice. Have him to thank for getting my Tavon jersey signed. Tavon stayed out a half hour after practice signing autographs. What a great guy!

Also, if anyone is going to camp looking for a place to stay and is a cheapskate like me, there is a campground in Irvine(don't laugh) that is pretty nice and seems to always have spots available on weeknights. $20/nite with flush toilets and hot showers. It's called O'Neill Regional Park. About 30 mins from campus with moderate traffic.