Campin' - BGN live at training camp 8.03.07
by JasonB on Aug 3, 2007 3:03 PM EDT
in Philadelphia Eagles News
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PrintI just got back from Lehigh and watching the morning practice and figured that I'd share some quick impressions.
First, if you plan on going up to camp... tack one hour onto any amount of time you've allotted to get up there. The traffic was horrendous. The Eagles announced that 18,000 people showed up for the morning session, that's most since the 20k that showed up on TO's first day at Lehigh.
Now to practice... It was blistering hot with absolutely no breeze and I could definetly see that several of the players were feeling it. Anyone who wasn't 100% fit and in shape is sure going to be after this camp.
I really like what I saw from rookie TE Brent Celek. He got alot of snaps with LJ on the sideline and really impressed. He certainly doesn't have LJ's speed, but he gets off the block well, finds seams, and does a good job catching the ball away from his body. Plus, he's a noticably big figure out there. He seemed to tower over the Eagles LBs and DBs that covered him. I think he could be a more athletic Chad Lewis, which wouldn't be so bad.
Kevin Kolb spends most of his time when he's not taking snaps standing next to Kelly Holcomb and chatting him up.
Max Jean-Gilles got into his second fight in as many days... unfortunately I didn't see it! He went at it with LaJuan Ramsey. Frankly, I like seeing that fire from MJG.
Sean Considine actually does look noticeably bigger this year. No one is ever going to mistake him for a Roy Williams or Sean Taylor in terms of size, but he's definitely not as slight as he was last year.
It's just funny watching Jeremy Bloom out there. He honestly looks like a little kid out there next to the rest of the team. That said, he's been getting open and he gave max effort everytime I saw him on the field. I got in a bit late thanks to the traffic, but apparently Bloom has made some nice plays early. There's quite a buzz around him. Plus, did you guys know he used to be an Olympic skiier and model?!!?11 OMG!
Ryan Moats continues to be an enigma. He looked very fast and very shifty whenever he got the ball, but on a longer run in a non tackling drill he was stripped of the ball. You can't hope to make it in the NFL if you can't hold onto the ball... especially if you weren't even being tackled.
Finally, no one got bigger cheers today than punter Saverio Rocca. He was routinely booting 60-70 yard punts with staggering amounts of hang time. Punting from around the 15 he was backing Bloom up to the goal line and the coverage team was just about there when the ball was arriving. Even when he doesn't boot 60+ yards, he hits towering kicks. I wish I had a stop watch, because the hang time on these things was unreal. There was no doubt that he outshined Dirk Johnson today, who actually shanked a couple punts badly.
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Nice report
I am green
How about that Sav Rocca? It would be pretty cool if he makes the team.
As for Ryan Moats, time's up.
by Dire Radiant on Aug 3, 2007 7:11 PM EDT reply actions
Fly Eagles, Fly......
I am giddy at the thought of having a punter bigger than any linebackers. Imagine if Reggie Bush or Devon Hester break through the defenses and have this guy to get past....KABLAM! Aussie football is a lot tougher than most folks imagine.....I'm sure this guy knows how to tackle.
How did Rocca do with holding the ball? Should he beat Dirk out for the job, would he hold, or is Matt Schoebel slated to be the holder?
How did Penn Stater Tony Hunt look? I know it's early, but who do you think will make it... Buckhalter, Moats or Hunt?
And how did Chris Gocong look? Do you think he'll start? And what of Takeo Spikes?
And of course, the obvious question... what does McNabb look like? Is he favoring that knee and wearing the brace? Will he be totally immobile now?
Sorry for the ton of questions! I'm still trying to talk my 17 yr. old into making the trip with me as we have in previous years. It's better to hear what a fan thinks instead of being told what to think by ESPN or some other media guy.
Answers!
Honestly I didn't see much of Hunt. I'm not sure why. Buckhalter looked quite good. My guess is that it's Westbrook and Buck with Hunt getting limited carries this year. So far Buck is the clear #2.
Can't say that I saw alot from Gocong. He wasn't bad, but he didn't jump out either. I did notice that Brent Celek did a good job when he was lined up against Gocong, but frankly I wasn't sure whether he was someone elses' responsibility or whether he just beat Gocong. I think someone would have to come out of no where to take the starting job from him.
It's funny you should ask about Spikes because I didn't mention him in my post but I was talking about him to a friend tonight. He looks like he's manned the weakside for this team for the past 10 years. He looks so confident and so comfortable out there. He never looked out of position, he's moving very well, and at least from afar it looks like he's already best friends with everyone. It's early, but I think there's a good chance he could be the most dramatic upgrade at any position this year over last.
McNabb wasn't wearing the brace and seemed like he was moving fine. You could see he moves gingerly in 7 on 7s with no rush and he can think about it... but when the rush is live it doesn't look like he's thinking of the knee at all and moving normally.
my impression
I thought McNabb looked pretty good rolling out and moving around. He seems to have a good connection with Kevin Curtis already.
I thought the receivers in general looked good and were hanging onto the ball. I saw Brown, Baskett and Curtis make great catches on McNabb passes. Reggie Brown SMOKED his brother Sheldon on a deep route, but Donnie overthrew him.
I saw Westbrook, Hunt, and Buck make nice moves, and the play BGN described where Moats was stripped. He also looked lost on some passing routes. I was sitting in front of the "Ryan Moats Haters Club" though, so I may have let myself get biased.
Be afraid, Dirk Johnson, be very afraid.
I though Kolb held the ball too long, and was a little wild with his throws. I'm glad we have Feeley, but Kolb showed a good arm and some mobility.
Joselio Hanson had a nice pick off Kelly Holcomb.
D-line seemed to get good pressure. All of our QBs should be thankful for their red jerseys. I had trouble seeing who was after the QBs, but I think Bunkley got one of the sacks and seemed to be getting pressure, Gocong (couldn't tell where he'd lined up) had another. In general, I didn't really have the best vantage point to watch the linebackers, but I didn't notice any glaring mistakes.
Good call on Celek -- he and Schoebel both made some nice catches, and LJ (in red jersey) looked fine playing with the first team in the afternoon.
No WIP presence up there this year? What's wrong, Cataldi, you don't want to have to see that the majority of Eagles fans love Donovan McNabb? Everyone got applause for making plays, but McNabb got cheers for just walking out on the field.
On the crowd:
Great crowd. I left York at 5:00am, got to Lehigh at 6:45, and there was already a line to get in. My friend left Princeton, NJ @6:45, and after a drive that should have been an hour according to MapQuest, got there at 9:40. Last year I went to (I think) the 2nd to last day of camp, and it wasn't crowded at all. If I can make it up next year, I may switch back toward going near the less-crowded end of camp.
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