Sponsor
Columns
Camp Notes - ROOKIE MINI CAMP NOTES ~ PM SESSION
Enlarge Text
Decrease Text
Print this Article
send this article to a friend
comment
Add This
bookmark
facebook
twitter
rss
Posted On: 5/4/07
Written By:
The afternoon session was a bit crisper than the morning session and that’s to be expected. The intent of these camps is to give the players the time to embrace and understand the terminology as well as where and when to go during practice in an effort to improve the efficiency of future organized team activities (“OTA’s”) and of course summer camp.
It’s very difficult to gauge how effective these practices are for linemen. Technique is stressed and movements and contact are both simulated. These days are nothing more than small building blocks in a foundation for the men in the trenches.
Rick Neuheisel appears to be clearly in charge of the offense much the same way Jim Fassel was during practices in ’06. The Ravens’ offensive coordinator spent most of his time this afternoon coaching up quarterbacks Troy Smith and Cullen Finnerty, working on spacing with receivers (such as a double out pattern to one side called Rock/Lava) and emphasizing cadence and terminology.
The Ravens coaches simulated Cover 2 and Cover 3 schemes and forced both Smith and Finnerty to read and throw to the holes in the zone. Both quarterbacks received praise for making the proper reads. Smith holds the ball up high around his ear when cocking his arm into a trigger position. At times this morning and this afternoon, he seemed to short hop a few receivers when hurrying his throws.
Smith threw well on designed rollouts when he squares up nicely to his target. On one such throw he delivered a nice fastball about 18 yards downfield to Yamon Figurs who was running a route towards the sidelines. Figurs dropped it. Go Figurs! Brian Billick shouted that “you need to catch that ball.” Both he and Neuheisel complimented Smith on the throw. Later Neuheisel was heard telling Smith after a 25 yard post corner toss to Matt Willis, “How much air is relative to how much space you have.” In other words, if the receiver is open yet close to the sidelines, take off some trajectory on the throw.
Finnerty throws a nice ball but today struggled a bit throwing while moving to his left. He doesn’t square up to his target as efficiently as Smith. Neuheisel reminded both Finnerty and Smith during footwork drills that quickness in your steps is more important than depth.
Receivers coach Mike Johnson worked with receivers on catching fundamentals on balls thrown behind them. He also was quick to point out the importance of tucking the ball away on skinny posts with the ball located on the hip opposite the defender. He also stressed the importance of field awareness after Matt Willis ran his pattern out of bounds. “Catching a ball out of bounds is not going to do us any good.”
Other observations…Marshal Yanda looks to be about 6’3” tall and his stature looks more like that of a guard than a tackle. While time will tell how effective he can be as a tackle, from my vantage point he doesn’t appear to have the reach that you expect from a tackle. If that is the case, the Ravens would appear to have a logjam at guard and the bet here is that Keydrick Vincent is on the bubble…Antwan Barnes brings speed and bulk to the tweener position. He’s been compared by more than one source outside of the Ravens’ brass to Robert Mathis from the Colts. It’s easy to see why at least from a physical perspective. He has the potential to really make a mark on special teams and in blitzing sub packages…Diminutive CB Calvin Bannister reminds me of Corey Ivy. He appears to be a feisty competitor and he is powerfully built…Prescott Burgess was coached up heavily during practice in 7 on 7 drills. Burgess’ frame is a bit like Tommy Polley’s with a bit more bulk. He did well covering tight ends Kendrick Ballantyne and Marcus Freeman…Rex Ryan looks great and has dropped some weight. Perhaps he was inspired by the Dan Marino NutriSystem Diet Plan. If he keeps it up, perhaps he will be like a couple of other former Ravens’ assistants (Mike Nolan & Jack Del Rio) and go on to be a sharped dressed head coach wearing Reebok suits...The rookies will practice twice tomorrow, once from 10:15 to noon and then again from 3:15 to 4:45.
Post your comment
«Go back to the previous page.
Enlarge Text
Decrease Text
Print this Article
send this article to a friend
Add This
bookmark
facebook
twitter
rss
Posted On: 5/4/07
Written By:
Sponsor
Polls
Press Feeds
Check us out on Twitter
- 5/21/12: All things considered is pot smoking in the #NFL really all that bad?: http://t.co/YAlJtg7s
- 5/20/12: Has the #NFL gone up in smoke?: http://t.co/FnR2tMLi
- 5/18/12: Happy 75th B-day Brooks Robinson. Remarkable in all ways. Thanks Brooks & thanks #RoyFirestone for this great tribute: http://t.co/72tSgefo
- 5/18/12: Why Foster, McCoy and Rice are equals and should be paid accordingly: http://t.co/Q1R93XNe
- 5/18/12: @theNFLchick A little birdie told me your season might start in June @BmoreChix
View all tweets & follow us!
E-News
Sign up for Email Alerts and get the best deals and news in your inbox.
Copyright © 2012 24x7 Network, LLC, All Rights Reserved
Website Design by D3Corp Ocean City Maryland
Website Design by D3Corp Ocean City Maryland