Decent crowd today.
Overall, I'd give the day to the defense. But both sides had some moments. Lot of fire out there today, even from the offensive sidelines which you don't see much of the last few years.
QB - Wilson is what he is, inconsistent. What I liked seeing from him was more willingness to test the middle of the field. He fit passes into some tight windows across the middle. We didn't see enough of that last year. Should open up the offense a little, and probably cause a few more TO's. His TD pass to Siale wasn't pretty, underthrown to the corner but Norris wasn't looking. Did settle down and threw two beautiful passes to Scott for a FD and TD later. Both were facing heavy blitzes and he stood and made great plays. Actually started showing a little more presence in the pocket later.
Hansen is going to be special. Not based on his current play, but how far he's come in a few weeks. He has more pocket presence than Wilson already. Dances around, slides around, kept his eyes down the field, and made some pretty spectacular throws down the field while avoiding traffic. His issue is accuracy over the middle. Very wild when trying to make some throws on the hashes. No reason to believe he can't improve that part of his game as he's already doing in other areas.
Manning was very good in his short stint. Just has a nack for throwing the ball where it needs to be. If he has a clean pocket, he can pick a defense apart. Isom looks really behind, although the offense he was running was pretty conservative. Fumbled on his first snap running the ball in traffic.
RB - Seabrook is a RB, hope he stays there. He was the only RB on the field today who you felt could make something happen. Poole had some carries, didn't do much with them. But he was good in the passing game. That's a better fit for him. As the roster stands, if Book goes down, we may have to throw the ball 40 times a game.
WR - Scott had some great plays. Showed strong hands. Really hope we get back to giving him chances on deep balls, instead of going away from it like all of last year. Singleton had a nice catch on a perfect pass from Hansen. Tyrone Smith is a big body, but really raw. They gave him two chances at jump balls, one he was called for PI, the other was broken up. McClellon took a big hit early and didn't return. Don't remember anything from Young, chances or plays. Poole will make plays from the slot. With Scott, Patrick & Poole I think we can be ok, not dynamic though.
TE - Lot of work for both Moeia & Handley. Handley had a bad drop on a Hansen beauty early, but made some plays. Moeia to me is the most dynamic in the passing game. Hansen and Handley have some chemistry together. I feel like the drop off here may not be as large as I feared it may have been.
OL - Thought they played pretty well honestly. Pass protection was solid. And I thought there were some running lanes available, just none of the backs playing early could find them and take advantage of. Once Uhatafe gets back, should be a pretty good OL.
DL - Good, and deep. Fitts didn't play, but the rotation of Dimmick, Fanaika & Pita is solid. Pita even made a couple nice plays staying home on options. DT did their jobs, nothing spectacular today. LB's were free all day to make plays, and they did.
LB - Really encouraging today. Masina may have been the best defensive player on the field today, if it wasn't for Norris. He was all over the place, sideline to sideline. In position, making plays. Best I've seen him play thusfar. Norris is unreal. The guy chased down Poole on two straight plays to the outside for no gains. Whit was quite. Sunia will be a nice player. Physical and athletic. Was making plays across the field. That five-man group, if healthy, will be just fine.
Secondary. Hatfield had a nice breakup on Scott on a slant. Allen had a nice breakup on a scramble deep pass from Hansen in the endzone. Just got a finger on the ball to knock it off track. The offense took some shots deep on Thompson, he was in good position on all of them, and was only beat by the terrific catch by Scott for the TD. Carter looked quicker than he did last week. Had a big hit on a short yardage stop. Was moving better today. Overall, there was one blown coverage that came late with Manning in the game when a TE was loose. Other than that, I thought coverage was very good. If Christian gets healthy for the early season, and Carter stays healthy, they'll be really good and allow the front seven to attack the LOS. Initially I thought a guy like Butler may be needed at CB, but there's no reason he shouldn't come in at WR. These guys will be fine.
Paul, Patrick and Uhatafe were all running across the field today. All dressed, just not participating, but looking healthier.
Also really like Scalley as ST coach. He was very lively in ST drills. Pease may be the DC, but Scalley really is the "voice" of the defense most of the time.
Good day of work.
Overall, I'd give the day to the defense. But both sides had some moments. Lot of fire out there today, even from the offensive sidelines which you don't see much of the last few years.
QB - Wilson is what he is, inconsistent. What I liked seeing from him was more willingness to test the middle of the field. He fit passes into some tight windows across the middle. We didn't see enough of that last year. Should open up the offense a little, and probably cause a few more TO's. His TD pass to Siale wasn't pretty, underthrown to the corner but Norris wasn't looking. Did settle down and threw two beautiful passes to Scott for a FD and TD later. Both were facing heavy blitzes and he stood and made great plays. Actually started showing a little more presence in the pocket later.
Hansen is going to be special. Not based on his current play, but how far he's come in a few weeks. He has more pocket presence than Wilson already. Dances around, slides around, kept his eyes down the field, and made some pretty spectacular throws down the field while avoiding traffic. His issue is accuracy over the middle. Very wild when trying to make some throws on the hashes. No reason to believe he can't improve that part of his game as he's already doing in other areas.
Manning was very good in his short stint. Just has a nack for throwing the ball where it needs to be. If he has a clean pocket, he can pick a defense apart. Isom looks really behind, although the offense he was running was pretty conservative. Fumbled on his first snap running the ball in traffic.
RB - Seabrook is a RB, hope he stays there. He was the only RB on the field today who you felt could make something happen. Poole had some carries, didn't do much with them. But he was good in the passing game. That's a better fit for him. As the roster stands, if Book goes down, we may have to throw the ball 40 times a game.
WR - Scott had some great plays. Showed strong hands. Really hope we get back to giving him chances on deep balls, instead of going away from it like all of last year. Singleton had a nice catch on a perfect pass from Hansen. Tyrone Smith is a big body, but really raw. They gave him two chances at jump balls, one he was called for PI, the other was broken up. McClellon took a big hit early and didn't return. Don't remember anything from Young, chances or plays. Poole will make plays from the slot. With Scott, Patrick & Poole I think we can be ok, not dynamic though.
TE - Lot of work for both Moeia & Handley. Handley had a bad drop on a Hansen beauty early, but made some plays. Moeia to me is the most dynamic in the passing game. Hansen and Handley have some chemistry together. I feel like the drop off here may not be as large as I feared it may have been.
OL - Thought they played pretty well honestly. Pass protection was solid. And I thought there were some running lanes available, just none of the backs playing early could find them and take advantage of. Once Uhatafe gets back, should be a pretty good OL.
DL - Good, and deep. Fitts didn't play, but the rotation of Dimmick, Fanaika & Pita is solid. Pita even made a couple nice plays staying home on options. DT did their jobs, nothing spectacular today. LB's were free all day to make plays, and they did.
LB - Really encouraging today. Masina may have been the best defensive player on the field today, if it wasn't for Norris. He was all over the place, sideline to sideline. In position, making plays. Best I've seen him play thusfar. Norris is unreal. The guy chased down Poole on two straight plays to the outside for no gains. Whit was quite. Sunia will be a nice player. Physical and athletic. Was making plays across the field. That five-man group, if healthy, will be just fine.
Secondary. Hatfield had a nice breakup on Scott on a slant. Allen had a nice breakup on a scramble deep pass from Hansen in the endzone. Just got a finger on the ball to knock it off track. The offense took some shots deep on Thompson, he was in good position on all of them, and was only beat by the terrific catch by Scott for the TD. Carter looked quicker than he did last week. Had a big hit on a short yardage stop. Was moving better today. Overall, there was one blown coverage that came late with Manning in the game when a TE was loose. Other than that, I thought coverage was very good. If Christian gets healthy for the early season, and Carter stays healthy, they'll be really good and allow the front seven to attack the LOS. Initially I thought a guy like Butler may be needed at CB, but there's no reason he shouldn't come in at WR. These guys will be fine.
Paul, Patrick and Uhatafe were all running across the field today. All dressed, just not participating, but looking healthier.
Also really like Scalley as ST coach. He was very lively in ST drills. Pease may be the DC, but Scalley really is the "voice" of the defense most of the time.
Good day of work.
