Saints Camp

[rajncajn]

Saints Training Camp 2007

Wednesday, August 1st

 

 

 

Things are starting to ramp up. Ref’s were on the field today, the offense was allowed to really sustain drives against the defense, and the word is tomorrow is going to be a big day. Even though I’m reaching the end of my time at training camp I’m actually getting more and more excited. 4 days to game day!

 

Injury/Roster Watch

 

Roman Harper was on the field in full pads and participated in the DB drills but didn’t play in the full speed/full unit drills. His place was taken by Kevin Kaesviharn as KK and Josh Bullocks appeared to take turns being the SS. Ninkovich was on the field, and I’m sure everyone is delighted to hear that. He was in shorts and had a brace on his knee, but he was also standing and walking around. Jon Hamm was cut, undrafted Free Agents can only ride the bike in training camp for so long, but his #95 was not retired. I can only assume it was Scott Scharff just off the plane and in uniform. How did he look? Like he just got off a plane and was shoved into a uniform.

 

Kendrick Clancy rotated back in with the 1st team while Brian Simmons remains strictly with the 2nd team. Supposedly Simmons is still struggling some with his knees but honestly I suspect it has more to do with the play of Mark Simoneau, which has been surprisingly (to most) good so far in camp, especially in run defense.

 

Player Notes

 

Eric Johnson – I’ve watched the tight ends fairly closely today and has seen them intermittently over the past week. A few misconceptions I had about Eric Johnson that have been cleared up (and may still exist for you). First he is not as fast as you might think. Fujita stayed with him all the way this afternoon, Mitchell the other day also did a pretty good job sticking with him. So has Shanle and Simoneau. In other words, linebackers can cover him. He is not Tony Gonzalez or Antonio Gates. He has a great feel for coverages, he eviscerates zone coverage, but matched up man-to-man it’s not his athleticism that gets him open.

 

Secondly, he’s a much better blocker then I might have expected. By “much better” I don’t necessarily mean a 3rd offensive tackle “better”, but he holds his own against linebackers, is pretty good getting to the second or third level to block, and is willing.

 

Billy Miller – Billy Miller by contrast may actually be the better athlete. He actually straight up beat Kaesviharn on a deep route today and consistently got behind the other safeties when they were in zone (particularly Chris Reis). The knocks on Miller remain the same. He drops balls (and still does), commits dumb penalties (we’ll see about that) and isn’t an accomplished blocker (getting out-right pancaked by Willie Evans this afternoon).

 

Mark Campbell – Has looked better as a receiver this training camp then I remember him being. Athletically I think he actually matches well with Eric Johnson. His “feel” for the passing game might not be as strong, blocking remains his strong point, but he is a capable outlet at least.

 

John Owens – I continue to root for Owens because I think he’s potentially our most dominate blocker and has decent receiving skills. He’s had a few moments, getting some air underneath him to literally take a football off Trev Faulks helmet a few days ago stands out in my mind, but by and large he probably isn’t doing enough to beat out Campbell/Miller/Johnson, which is unfortunate. Hopefully he’ll get his shot in the preseason games.

 

Alfred Fincher – I haven’t really mentioned him at all so far this camp. Because of how competitive the LB field is and the fact that Fincher doesn’t seem to be getting as many snaps as some of the others I’ve sort of written him off. But over the past week I’ve come to the surprising conclusion that Fincher may arguably be one of our better linebackers in coverage. Yeah, I know.

 

But the fact is he has some of the better hands out of the group and has consistently done a pretty good job in both zone and man. Every day he seems to have a few plays in coverage that stand out, athletic deflections or just locking someone down, and he typically stands out in the LB INT drills with great hands.

 

I don’t know if he has a place on the team, it’s a very competitive group as mentioned, but it’s probably a mistake to completely write him off, especially with people like Troy Evans still struggling.

 

Play of the day – Brees made a now uncharacteristic underthrow that gave 29 Bullocks a chance to make a leaping play on the ball for the INT. Bullocks begins to run the play out towards the end zone when Terrence Copper, demonstrating why we all love Terrence Copper, comes running up behind Bullocks, pops the ball out and recovers it.

 

Finishing plays and going for the strip is something they’ve emphasized with the defense, but Copper showed why he has a place on any NFL roster under any circumstances. He isn’t physically dominate, he doesn’t really do anything “great”, but he plays hard and has all of the “intangible” factors you want out of a player.

 

Quote of the Day

Don’t make it look so easy! -McKenzie to Jason David during DB drills this afternoon.

[rajncajn]

The guys came out slowly, as it was lightening and thundering. It started off with a nice cool breeze. Once the team started, coach Bono had them working punt and punt return. Taking the punts were Bush, Lance Moore, and my darkhorse favorite, Tramain Hall.

 

Then the team went through some walk through drills, splitting into the most likely starters on one field and the others on the second field. Hollis Thomas was continuing to work with the second team, along with Antwan Lake and R. Leisle and Clancy. Josh Cooper and Willie Evans took the lion's share of the snaps at DE, along with Dhani Jones, B. Simmons and Troy Evans at LB. Fincher and Faulk filled in. Nothing special to note as their was no real hitting. I just thought everyone would appreciate knowing who was working where.

 

On the Bike were J. Jones, Hamm, Nink, Palepoi, and one other player without a jersey on that I didn't recognize.....shame on me.

 

when the drills got going more earnestly, I saw a lot of good. Drew is ready. He is sharp, his reads are on, and his throws are crisp and true. When he needs touch, it is there, when he needs the cannon, it is there. He threw some gems today that had the crowd ooing.

Among the DB's, I liked what I saw from Usama Young and Curry Burns as far as the youngsters go. All of the DB's have picked it up a notch, and there were two interceptions and several knocked down passes. Freddy T had a nice break up on a pair of passes that drew responses from the crowd. McKenzie was in solid position, yet still gave up some passes because Drew was just that good. He threaded the ball in where only the receiver could catch it. There was even a play in 32 minute drill work where he hit Devery on the quick slant for the conversion, despite Mike McKenzie being all over Devery and even having full control of DH's face mask.

 

Among the safeties, Bullocks and Bellamy both seemed out of position at times, and the times when Brees burned the corners long, it looked to me as if Bullocks had bitten on the play action and the CB had no help over the top. Of course, with Reggie and Deuce, we expect that to be how the opposing teams will deal with that all season.

 

I thought Bullocks and KK had a good practice overall though. KK especially. Chris Reis looks lost one minute, and then turns in a great play the next. It remains to be seen how he will handle game situations.

 

Drew is definitely liking having all the weapons. He is spreading the ball around, and there are very few drops, though Colston and Patten each dropped what I thought were easily catchable balls ..... one each that I recall. Dudley, the other FB, has hands of stone. He dropped several balls as he came out of the backfield, while I never saw Karney miss a single pass. Devery is starting to show signs of great improvement over his past seasons, and I thought that Meachem had a really good practice this afternoon, though I heard he did not do so well in the morning. He caught everything thrown his way in the pm session. Copper was outstanding. Patten was unbelievable. Colston was sharp. You have to get to McKnight and Ridgeway before you see any weakness at all, and not much there. I continue to think of Hosack as an enigma. He doesn't look like he can run, but then there he is with the ball. He had one beautiful pass reception in a simulated game this p.m. where he came down with the ball between two defenders.

 

Deuce and Reggie look unreal. Pittman is starting to pick things up and looks like he may be a real steal. Branch is working both at TB and FB, and looks serviceable at both positions. Stecker really may be the odd man out, and Pierre Thomas could be a PS project. He has moments of excitement, and then seems lost. Of course, the game is a lot faster and more complicated. I just don't think there is room for him. Same for Dudley.

 

Payton pulled out some interesting formations, with a 5 wide set that included Karney and Branch split wide, Colston and Devery inside on the slot and Bush lined up wide between the left wideout and the left slot. Drew snapped and threw immediately any time he wanted to complete a pass. He did this about four times. Our Defense was in good position it seemed to make the plays, it just happened too fast. Once or twice, Will Smith put a move on Brown, and broke it up quickly, but not more than that.

 

I know it sounds like the offense was doing whatever it wanted, but our DB;s are much improved. Seriously. I only smelled toast on two occasions all afternoon, and I really think it was lack of communication with the safeties that will eventually work itself out as they play together. Our offense is just that good.

 

Mare looks all-world. I think Hanson will beat out Weatherford, and Bergstrom, the rookie place kicker will end up elsewhere. Mare was easily hitting them from 50-55 out.

 

Among the back up QB's, it really looks like Palko is picking things up. He has a tendency to try to scramble out of trouble too much, and I heard the coaches telling him to stay in the pocket more than once, but his throws looked better this afternoon than in previous sessions. Fife and Martin look about the same as they always have to me.

 

With apologies to LSSpam, my winners and losers.

 

Winners:

 

Henderson; he had the best TC practice I have seen from him.

 

Meachem; not only was he catching the ball, his blocking on running situations was very solid. He was sealing off the end very well, allowing for outside gains.

 

Pittman; stock is rising. I think the lights are coming on.

 

Tramain Hall; this may be an UDFA to make the squad......maybe. He turns and runs with the catch as well as anyone I have seen in practice, maybe with the exception of Reggie, who is usually so wide open he doesn't have to slip the defender!

 

Jason Craft; I know, I know, but he looked good this afternoon.

 

KK Instinctive, seems to know when and where to be on every play. Very seldom out of position.

 

Losers:

 

Martin; he just doesn't look sharp enough to be a viable backup, at least he didn't today.

 

Kevin Dudley; he had hands of steel coming out of the backfield from the FB position.

 

Me. That's right, me. I was standing within 2 feet of Reggie after practice and couldn't get his autograph, while he signed for everyone around me. I guess I look like one of those guys who try to sell their stuff on EBAY. He is my second favorite current player, after only Deuce. One of these days, I'll get it. God is good to those who wiat, as every Saint fan that has been around as long as I have can testify. And EBay can kiss my behonkus when I do get it. I still have my Archie signed football, and no matter how bad my finances are, I will always have it.

Edited August 2, 2007 by rajncajn

[myhousekey]

Kind of surprised to hear how well Mare was doing. I was less then thrilled when we got him.

[Sturphy]

Kind of surprised to hear how well Mare was doing. I was less then thrilled when we got him.

 

He could be MONEY in the dome this season. Not a bad FF pick at all I reckon.

[Sturphy]

"Copper was outstanding. Patten was unbelievable. Colston was sharp."

 

Sorry...the homerism here made me chuckle. I never ever thought I'd read, "Patten was unbelievable."

 

Thanks for the info though, much obliged.

[rajncajn]

"Copper was outstanding. Patten was unbelievable. Colston was sharp."

 

Sorry...the homerism here made me chuckle. I never ever thought I'd read, "Patten was unbelievable."

 

Thanks for the info though, much obliged.

Not so sure about the homerism...as I've stated before, I've been hearing from multiple sources that Patten has been great so far as have most of the WRs. Again though, take that from a homers point of view.

[Sturphy]

Not so sure about the homerism...as I've stated before, I've been hearing from multiple sources that Patten has been great so far as have most of the WRs. Again though, take that from a homers point of view.

 

Fair enough. It just made me chortle.

[BOO]

Thanks Rajn. I missed that second one from M S Saintsfan. It's nice for once to be excited and know there's some validity to it.

[tbimm]

Thanks Rajn. I missed that second one from M S Saintsfan. It's nice for once to be excited and know there's some validity to it.

Had this conversation with a guy last night. I found myself explaining to a lifelong Saints fan that this is actually a really good football team!