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Rams43
Here's HopHead Ram (slightly edited)...
I talked to him a bit at the end of that practice. I will just add a few comments to his.Here are a couple of observations that stood out to me on my final camp practice of the year.
I love the way McVay coaches these players. I was in the corner of the redzone when they were doing the 1 on 1 Redzone drills and he was so detailed oriented on how the receivers ran their routes. He would go up to them and tell them how to adjust their route based on what the D was giving them. Attention to detail.
Sammy Watkins appears to have ZERO after effects regarding his foot injury. He was planting and cutting at full speed with no apparent discomfort or effect. The other thing I noticed about Sammy is when he catches the ball, he always goes up and grabs it and never waits for it to come to him.
I have to agree and he seems to have nice soft hands at least in the limited reps I was able to see.The Defense continues to win the day. Do not know if that is a product of the Defense is really good or the Offense just hasn't clicked yet. Probably a little of both.
On Goff, For the most part he looked OK today. He threw some really nice long balls. He did have 2 Int. The first one, he just locked onto his target from the start and made a bad throw, The second INT was targeted to Sammy and to us, it looked more like the Sammy and Goff were not on the same page.
The bad throw was to Cooper and had no arc, it was too flat which allowed the defender to get the ball. If he had more of an arc he could have made it over the defender. The same issue came up once the first practice I attended.Josh Reynolds showed up today. He displayed his speed and his ability to go up and grab the ball. Thomas was also out there making some nice grabs.
Both palyers looked really good with the 2s.
Everett continues to stand out in practice. I really think his YAC potential will be a huge factor in this offense this year.
I liked him more than Higbee in that practice. However, one most note that Higbee was running against the 1s for the most part and Everett against the 2s. At times they were on the field together.Connor Barwin is just a beast. He never stops and was in the backfield all practice long.
I also liked that when the 2s were running the last set of practice, he was talking to Whitworth. Whitworth came over to the D side of the field and the two were talking. The other non-SD scrimage I attended I noticed Whit talking with Sullivan and the OL coach during that last set. I like Whit working with the new vets. It definetly sets a good tone.
On a side note, one of Phillips' former DEs from Houston came to watch practice. He is hoping to make a squad and talked to Wade prior to practice. After practice, he was talking to Barwin, who was a team mate in Houston.Pace Murphy needs to go. He is just a swinging door. Cannot tell if it is poor technique or just a lack of talent but he is a liability at LT
Really liking what I am seeing with Smart, He was also disrupting plays in the 11 on 11. He will find playing time this year.
More Ball Security Drills today and some Tackling drills. No cool motorized tackling dummies this year
: Those were kinda cool.
Now that he pointed that out, that is something missing from last year. Also there was no catching tennis balls drills that the WRs used last year.I love our Defensive Back Coaches. Aubrey Pleasant is very vocal and gets his players pumped up after every play. Ejiro Evero is a little more subdued but always in the middle of the field watching his guys. I think this unit will surprise a lot of people.
Wade Phillips is just a cool cat. He never screams, never yells. Just stands there watching and communicating with his staff and lets them do their job.
After practice, Elvis and I were watching Troy Hill and he appeared to be walking a little gingerly. Once he got to the gate, a couple of trainers grabbed his pads and helped him back.
Hophead and Elvis did point that out just as I was leaving.My final takeaway from Training Camp 2017- The overall mood of our fellow Rams fans is tempered enthusiasm. We have had our hearts crushed so many times that we are reluctant to believe anything is going to be better. We want to believe this year will be different and on the surface it absolutely appears to be. McVay has brought in a level of energy that we have not seen in this team in a very long time. How that translates in the W/L column we will have to wait and see. I am excited for this 2017 squad (but realistic) 8-8 is probably the ceiling for this team but this is football and you never can tell.
