Eagles Training Camp 2007

[ice grillin you]

no i didnt but that doesnt mean anything over the course of three traning camp practices...i didnt really see him do anything (good or bad) outside of be bigger...but safties in practice dont exactly get many chances to tackle...most of it is non contact and the small parts of the contact portion seem to stay close to the line of scrimmage...i think in three days one rb got clear into the back field and that was hunt...im sure there were a couple others

i guess by default he should be able to tackle better since hes bigger but id be more concerned with his pursuit and whether hes gonna be able to get to the ball carrier and more so be able to run in coverage...i mean hes noticably bigger...perhaps to much so

regardless of size i just dont think hes a starting safety...perhaps with the improvement at lb and hopefully dl he will be protected and not exposed nearly as often

[SunMo]

regardless of size i just dont think hes a starting safety...perhaps with the improvement at lb and hopefully dl he will be protected and not exposed nearly as often

my thoughts exactly

[PhillyPhreak54]

i was at the 50 yardline in the field 3 big bleachers

also i totally disagree on gaddis...that collision went both ways with neither player having a one sided advantage

hunt got his in there, but i thought gaddis was the guy who got the best shot in. He lowered the pads on him good

[PhillyPhreak54]

1. My first point is going to be about Takeo Spikes. I'm going to say that watching him play LB is so nice. I almost cannot believe we have a "real" playmaking LB. After some of the junk we've seen over the years it is a nice thing to see. Him and Trotter are inseparable and I love it. Spikes' ability to NOT be blocked is what stands out to me. To watch him flow to the ball down the LOS is great. He knows the angles of pursuit and how to keep OL's hands off of him. He made a GREAT play yesterday by running down Ryan Moats from across the field. Moats took a short pass and Sheldon tried to tackle him. Moats shook him off but here come TKO to crush him. Amazing. No hitch in his step, dude is a beast. Me and a friend welcomed him to Philadelphia while on the sidelines yesterday.

2. I really watched Gocong a lot the past two sessions and the good thing about him is he is a big guy who plays downhill. His run defense is much better than his pass coverage right now though. I mean, he can run with the TEs and backs, but he is still raw when it comes to coming out of his break and his drops into coverage. But he doesn't allow himself to get blocked much like Dhani did. Jones would hit the OL at the point of attack and that was it. Gocong takes on the blocker and sheds him and looks to make the play.

3. The linebackers as a whole I am excited about. Not only because Gocong doesn't look like crap or because Spikes is a man-child, but because Trotter is lighter and because Omar Gaither is playing his ass off too. Omar is not only vocal, but he is making plays in the nickel and as a backup MIKE. Today he had a nice pick and he also stripped Tony Hunt at the goal line as Hunt caught he ball. Stewart Bradley is a good sized LB who likes to lower the shoulder on guys. He is also raw when it comes to the coverages, but he (and Gocong and Tank Daniels) work every day after practice with McDermott and Mike Caldwell on the drops and angles.

4. Ian Scott and Montae Reagor arent out there yet but that doesn't worry me much because they are vets and they'll be fine when the season rolls around. And even if they are not, LaJuan Ramsey, who I liked a lot last year, is playing very, very well. He blew up a few plays yesterday and today as well. He has been on the offensive side of the line of scrimmage regularly.

5. Brodrick Bunkley is also impressive. He's lighter and playing with some purpose. He was knifing through the OL today and had a few TFL's. Mike Patterson looks to me that he put on a few pounds, and has been relatively quiet. Which is not bad but I would like to see more from him. Ramsey and Bunkley have been doing most of the damage from that position. Jeremy Clark is picking up valuable snaps too...he might be a PS guy.

6. Lito was out yesterday and today as was Dawk. Will James is playing for Lito with Joselio Hanson now the nickel guy. Hanson has really progressed compared to this time last year. He has been a solid pick-up for them. He no longer needs a huge cushion to play, he will jam guys.

7. Nick Graham is a guy who I think makes the team. He was all over the place yesterday. If they go with 5 corners, Graham has the edge on Barksdale, IMO. He also had a good day today but appeared to be hurt at the end of practice after making a pretty nice pick.

8. AJ Feeley looked bad yesterday and followed today up with another bad session. I don't know what his deal was but it wasn't pretty to watch. Step it up, AJ.

9. Kevin Kolb is pretty good from what little we see of him. He has good mobility and a strong arm. His flaw thusfar has been that he seems to be reluctant to let it rip sometimes. Like he checks it down a bit too much for my taste right now. Let it fly, Kolb. You have to not be afraid to pull the trigger on the long balls. Obviously its because he is young and wil need time to learn the timing. He's also a good dude to shoot the breeze with for a minute. I talked to him briefly today while he was on his way to the WIP tent. I used to live in Texas so I told him I knew all about Stephenville and that we played them when I was a senior. He wasn't on the team then, but I told him that I knew how crazy that town was for their team.

10. Holcomb is Holcomb. Solid but not spectacular. Throws a good deep ball and is a guy who I'd be comfortable with if he had to play.

11. Tony Hunt was worked like crazy these past two days because Buck has been out. Yesterday they fed him the ball time after time and he was blowing dudes up. Him and CJ Gaddis had a beautiful collision in the live drills yesterday. Gaddis lowered the boom on him, but Tony took it and also got his little shot in there too. For everyone who wanted a horse, Hunt appears to be one. Sometimes he runs high like Eddie George, but he'll drop down too. His pass catching needs some work...nothing big, but he had some drops. He also coughed one up after Gaither stripped him at the goal line after a catch.

12. McNabb was out yesterday but playing today. He looks good. He had a little limp towards the end of the day today, but nothing bad. He still took his snaps. He still has the same zip on the ball although he missed a few deep balls because he was front legging them a bit. They came up short.

13. Victor Abiamiri is a big dude. He's built well and is tall. I mentioned last week how it seems he leverages himself well...and he does. He is not a pas rushing demon like Cole, but he can get some pressure. His job I think, is going to be closing off that edge on running plays. That is what the size allows him to do - anchor down and control the edge.

14. Jason Avant was murdered today by Quintin Mikell. I though he was dead for a minute. He still held on to the ball though. He is a fly-paper handed mofo. He catches everything. Mikell lowered the helmet on him and it was pretty loud. Good solid lick and a great job to hold onto the ball.

15. Barksdale is picking his game up a bit too. He's still behind Nick Graham, but you can see some of his skills starting to come through. He had a great INT today. The ball bounced off a receiver, then rolled down the receivers leg and was flipped up into the air. Barksdale picked it and then took it for six.

16. Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis had some drops today. Bad ones too. Curtis was a stud yesterday though. ToastJenkins brought up a good point about how you can tell how polished Curtis is from playing in a Martz offense. His routes are crisp and he knows what the hell he's doing. Today when he had the drops he would do pushups after them and after practice he went to the Juggs machince and caught about 100 balls as punishment for himself. I liked seeing that.

17. Brian Westbrook made a few people look stupid today. Kind of like he did to Tony Parrish in that SF game in 2003 when Parrish and his jock were separated from each other. The first case of him embarrassing someone was Crazy Matt McCoy on 1-1 drills. Westbrook just shook him and got open with ease...turned McCoy around like a top. Then later on the running drills Cole and Howard had him cut off on the outside - or so they thought. Westbrook left them both grasping for air while he motored past them. Cole and Howard were left with grass in their hands and lying on the ground.

[PhillyPhreak54]

18. Better hope Smith makes it through the season, folks. The cupboards are bare behind him. Seriously.

19. Considine has bulked himself up well. He seems to be tackling with more authority and his coverage is also better too. He was running a clinic today on breaking up passes in the backs and TE vs. DBs and LBs drills.

20. Does Jason Davis have a shot at beating out Tapeh? Maybe. But his hands better get better if he wants to beat him out. Davis is a guy who I like and I think Tapeh better be ready to fight for the job. That is not to say Thomas has been bad, because he has not, but Davis is a player, IMO.

21. The light has come on for CJ Gaddis...these last two days he has been making plays. And dishing out some licks too...I liked what I saw from him now versus last week.

22. Ryan Moats is frustrating to watch. Why? Because he can play in the NFL when you look at his speed and moves and all of that stuff. But the damn fumbling...jeez, come on Ryan. Hold onto the ball!! Whats weird is his receiving has improved big time from last year...but yet he still has the dropsies. I love his speed and vision though. Going to be a damn shame if he doesn't work out here because I think he has a future as a decent back in the NFL.

23. MJG is one big dude even after slimming down a tad last year. He's still behind Mr. False Start Scott Young, but he seems to be getting better. I cannot wait to see him in the games.

24. The OL as a whole is still strong and stable. Although the DL is giving them some good battles. No Andrews the last two days because of his ankle, which sucked because I watched to watch Big Shawn murder some folks.

25. Sav Rocca, like TKO, is a physical specimen. That guy KILLS the ball. And his holding isnt too shabby either. Dirk was shank-a-riffic for the most part today although he got some good ones off. But thats his problem...consistency. I really think (and hope) ROcca wins that job.

26. The Freak was flying around a lot today...he made two very nice plays back to back both times for a TFL. He ran Hunt down when Tony tried to go outside and then he ran down a play on the opposite side a few minutes later. He is not as emaciated as people are making him out to be either. Dude's still got game.

27. Matt McCoy is Hannibal Lecter. We all know he has a few screws loose after watching him go nutzo on guys he hit last year. Its funny to watch him with his two different colored eyes, orangeish hair and loner mentality. He is like a caged animal out there...loony. He is hitting some people good too.

28. Marques Murrell is a small DE who is fast. No shot of making the roster but def.  guy to watch out for on the PS.

[ice grillin you]

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

AJ Feeley is notorious for his reputation as a player that practices like shtein but comes to play on gameday.  Apparently, he's living up to it even now.  Good for him.

[mussa]

Not much talk on Sheldon Brown...anything?

[Munson]

i was at the 50 yardline in the field 3 big bleachers

also i totally disagree on gaddis...that collision went both ways with neither player having a one sided advantage

Hah! So was I for a little while. How far up the bleachers were you?

[PhillyPhreak54]

Yeah, thats it. It was fun to watch him juke both Howard and Cole...amazing cuts, that guy.

mus,

Sheldon has been okay. Gets beat more that I would like to see at times, but is still physical. But its hard to get a great read because sometimes they just let the guys catch the ball without much challenge. I would hope he realizes that Will James is playing pretty good though...

[ice grillin you]

westbrook is so far and away better than everyone else on this team its not even funny...his effortlessness is incredible...hes truly a man amongst boys out there

[SunMo]

MVP?

[ice grillin you]

IN

[mussa]

if he got the rock more on the ground and proved he could be a durable back all year long, id say ride that horse til its dead cause that man has skills. IMO underused in the offense and its almost sickening too me. he needs to get the ball on the ground at least 20 times himself. pass all you want I just want it in his hands at least 20 times a game.

[ThirdStreetMafia]

Gotta love Curtis making himself do pushups! How many guys in the NFL do you see doing that...