2011 Training Camp / Preseason Observations, News & Tidbits Thread (1 Viewer)

[Faust]

Several surprises could start in Week 1

The window is closing for NFL teams to get their Week 1 starting lineups in place — about a week and a half of practices and a backups-heavy fourth preseason game are all that stands between now and the regular season.

And while there are still position battles to be settled (Pick a QB already, Carolina!!), it looks like we already know of a few unexpected names who could start when Week 1 rolls around.

Names like …

• Phil Costa, C, Cowboys: Costa made Dallas’ 2010 roster after signing as an undrafted free agent and even wound up starting a game. Now, the Cowboys have so much faith in him, despite a preseason knee sprain, that they cut Andre Gurode. How high is the bar for Costa? All Gurode has done is make five consecutive Pro Bowls.

• Marcus Easley, WR, Bills: Of all the players on this list, Easley may have the most work to do to secure a starting spot. But with Donald Jones suffering from a head injury and Roscoe Parrish more suited for a No. 3/slot receiver role, Easley could slip into the lineup opposite Stevie Johnson. The downside? Easley, a 2010 draft pick, has never played an NFL game after hurting his knee last preseason.

• Jason Pinkston, OT, Browns: Unlike Costa’s situation in Dallas, the Browns probably would rather not have Pinkston on the starting line. An injury to Eric Steinbach, which required surgery and will sideline the veteran all year, forced Cleveland to speed up the process with their fifth-round pick.

• Javon Ringer/Jamie Harper, RB, Titans: The circumstances here are well known — Chris Johnson’s holdout means that Tennessee is facing the prospect of entering the season without its superstar running back. That should elevate Ringer into a starting role, but a preseason injury has given Harper a chance. He’s excelled, too, which could shake things up yet again in Tennesee’s backfield.

• Michael Bennett, DE, Buccaneers: The Bucs selected Da’Quan Bowers in the second round of April’s draft with the clear plan being to start him. Instead, Bennett’s simply outplayed the rookie during camp. Bennett started a pair of games last season at defensive end, and barring a late charge from Bowers, he’ll be lined up there again when Tampa Bay hosts Detroit on Sept. 11.

• Evan Mathis, G, Eagles: Philadelphia’s offensive line is in flux with rookies Jason Kelce and Danny Watkins pinning down the center and right guard spots, respectively. Mathis had the look of a solid depth signing when the Eagles landed him this free agent period, but Todd Herremans’ shift to right tackle has opened the left guard slot for Mathis. He hasn’t started since Week 9 of the 2009 season as a Bengal.

• Jerheme Urban, WR, Chiefs: Kansas City signed Urban away from Arizona prior to last season, but the receiver suffered a season-ending injury in the final 2010 preseason game. With the Chiefs drafting Jonathan Baldwin and signing Steve Breaston this offseason, Urban’s role seemed up in the air. Suddenly, after Baldwin struggled early and injured himself in a locker-room scuffle, Urban appears ready to pounce.

• Turk McBride, DE, Saints: Alex Brown started all 16 games at defensive end for New Orleans last year, and the Saints spent a first-round pick on Cameron Jordan out of Ohio State. But following Brown’s release, it looks like McBride, most recently a member of the Lions, will get the nod on the Saints’ starting line.

• Reshad Jones, S, Dolphins: Chris Clemons started 14 games for Miami last season and made 61 tackles. He’s been pushed all camp, though, by Jones, in his second year out of Georgia. Jones started the Dolphins’ third preseason game — a possible indication that he’s taken the lead in the race.

• Will Rackley, G, Jaguars: The Jags signed ex-Packer Jason Spitz this offseason to start at left guard. Instead, it looks like that

 

[Faust]

Three and out: Was Ryan Torain on the bubble?

Ryan Torain’s spot shaky?: It appears that the quarterback competition is not the only one in flux for the Washington Redskins. ESPN Radio 980 cited a “well-placed source” in reporting that running back Ryan Torain was in danger of losing his spot to rookie Evan Royster. Torain looks like he staved off the competition, thanks in part to a better performance against Tampa Bay as well as the mild concussion suffered by Royster. Tim Hightower has earned the top spot on the roster, a position that would have been even stronger without the threat of Torain breathing down his neck. As it stands now, Torain’s fantasy value is mostly as a late-round handcuff.

Cassel, Moeaki leave with injuries: Unlike most teams who hold their starters back in the preseason finale, Chiefs coach Todd Haley allowed many of his starters to play into the fourth quarter on Thursday night and nearly saw misfortune befall his team. Quarterback Matt Cassel left the game after landing hard on his throwing shoulder and TE Tony Moeaki was forced to the sideline after a left knee injury. Cassel told reporters that he was fine after the game and “wanted to go back in,” while Haley was mum on the extent of Moeaki’s injury. Moeaki, who is still trying to get back into shape after offseason knee surgery, remained in uniform and on the sideline for the rest of the game.

Eagles’ Young tweaks hamstring: The Eagles announced Friday that an MRI exam revealed backup QB Vince Young is “day to day” after suffering a hamstring strain in the preseason finale Thursday night. Young looked impressive before leaving, completing 15 of 23 passes for 193 and a touchdown. Young will go undrafted in most leagues, but with all of the Eagles’ weapons, he could be a good waiver wire pickup in the event of an injury to Vick.

 

[Faust]

Observation deck: Giants-Patriots

OK, there are a number of reasons this took all day and you don't want to hear any of them. It suffices to say I am ecstatic to be done watching preseason football for another year and more ready than ever for the real thing.

As for our New York Giants, who finished their preseason by scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter for a meaningless 18-17 victory over the Patriots in New England ... I don't know. I'm trying to be open-minded about what I see, but what I see with the Giants is almost all disheartening. They just do a lot of things wrong. And yes, it was all backups Thursday night, and if David Carr ends up playing significant minutes at quarterback they're cooked anyway. But there were a couple of things that could matter if they leak into the regular season, and I'm 100 percent certain the Giants' coaching staff feels the same way.

For example, when one of your biggest areas of concern is special teams and you get banged for an illegal wedge penalty on the return of the opening kickoff, that's not a good thing. When you're trying to find a No. 3 receiver and one of the candidates (Domenik Hixon, in this case) fumbles on the first play from scrimmage, that's not a good thing. When you're trying to use a rookie punt returner and the kid can't catch the ball, that's not a good thing.

The Giants had holding penalties and illegal-hands-to-the-face penalties that stopped offensive momentum. They had another significant injury, this one a season-ending ACL tear for linebacker Clint Sintim. They fumbled at the Patriots' 1-yard line. They're effectively playing without a useful tight end. Tom Coughlin's challenges aren't even working.

Now, I continue to believe preseason doesn't mean anything -- that it has no predictive value at all in terms of what will happen once the real season starts. The Giants could snap awake nine days from now and start playing well enough to make everyone forget how inept in so many facets of the game they looked in the preseason. But what we have right now to evaluate is what they've done over the past month, and not even the most myopically optimistic Giants fan can credibly say the preseason went well for them.

Some specifics on what I saw in the Giants' (mercifully) final preseason game of this year:

1. Give Jerrel Jernigan credit for toughing it out. And give the Giants credit for sticking with the rookie even as he continues to struggle with the most critical part of punt returns -- actually catching the ball. He ripped off a 42-yard return on his first chance of the night, which showed why they're giving him all of these chances. But then he muffed two in a row, and there's all kinds of footage of Coughlin and Aaron Ross and everybody you can think of working with Jernigan on the correct form to use when catching a punt. I guess I wonder how hard it is to learn something like this and why they believed he'd be a good punt returner if he didn't already know it. But once the ball is in his hands, it's clear Jernigan can do some things with it. So it appears as though they'll keep giving him chances, even if it could cost them early on. The night had a happy ending for Jernigan, as he made a tremendous catch on the two-point conversion pass that sealed the victory. You had to feel good for the guy, after the month he's had.

2. Tyler Sash looks like an athlete. The rookie safety looked quick and nimble and decisive as he came up with two sacks (one of which forced a fumble) and moved well all over the field. There were a couple of times where Tom Brady and the Patriots' offense ran some tricky looks that caught Sash out of position, but that's bound to happen and there are worse things than getting schooled by Brady in a preseason game. You still get the lesson, and it doesn't count against your record.



3. I like Da'Rel Scott better than Andre Brown. It's not personal. I don't even know Andre Brown. I'm just talking about what they look like when they run. Brown looks fine when he has room to run, but he doesn't blow you away as anything special and he doesn't look as though he does much to make it difficult to tackle him. Scott seems to have more speed, keeps his feet moving better and runs with more determination. He earned those 65 yards he got on that fake-punt touchdown, and with cuts looming tomorrow, that's the kind of play that makes it hard for a coaching staff to keep a guy off the roster.

4. I like Devin Thomas, too. Specifically, I like what he does after he catches the ball. He seems to know where his feet are and what he needs to do to find the sideline or the extra yard or two he needs. He seems like he knows how to keep his body between the ball and the defender and protect it while making those moves. He's got the skills in the return game, and the speed, but I was surprised how much I liked him Thursday night as a receiver.



5. The Sintim injury hurts. But there are rookies to take his spot, and it might help someone like Mark Herzlich or Spencer Paysinger make the roster and/or claim more playing time. The Giants liked the way Sintim had been playing, and he was their clear first option off the bench in the case of an injury to one of their starting linebackers. Now it's not as cut-and-dried, and they'll hope somebody from the rookie group can step in when they need to spell a starter.

 

[Faust]

Observation deck: Cowboys-Dolphins

With the Dallas Cowboys' and New York Giants' games still to go, I picked the Cowboys to watch first because I wanted to see rookie running back DeMarco Murray. So it was nice of the kid to catch a 48-yard screen pass up the left side on the team's first play from scrimmage. We've seen the Cowboys use the screen game a lot this preseason, with Tony Romo throwing to starting running back Felix Jones, and it appears as though the Cowboys would like to use the weapons they have on offense to spread out the defense when possible and trade on their speed.

Murray looks like a guy who can help with that. He looked excellent when they got him on the outside, in space, around the edge, able to pick up big chunks of yardage in those spots. That speaks to his athletic ability, which surely showed up on pre-draft tape, and wasn't really a surprise. What the Cowboys and their fans wanted to see from Murray on Thursday night was how Murray looked running between the tackles. With a little more than a minute to go in the first quarter, after picking up 9 yards on first down on a run to the outside, Murray drove hard through the middle to pick up the first down on second-and-1.

A few plays later, on a first-and-15, he showed good patience and made a critical cut at the line to pick up 3 yards when it looked as if he wouldn't get any. So he showed speed, power and judgment. Maybe a little more of a straight-line guy than you'd like him to be, but he clearly brings a lot to the table and should be a more than adequate replacement for Marion Barber as a changeup guy who can give Jones a breather here and there. I was impressed, and if the Cowboys decide to commit to the run game this year, it looks as though they'll have good options.

Some other stuff I saw in the Cowboys' final preseason game, a meaningless 17-3 loss to the Dolphins in Miami:

1. Speaking of running backs ... Phillip Tanner! This guy has been one of my favorite breakout preseason studs, and it was nice to hear Jerry Jones say on the broadcast that Tanner had made the team. I don't know what it means for Tashard Choice, and it sounds as though the Cowboys have yet to sort all of that out, but Tanner has played well enough to earn his spot. I just really like the way he runs -- strong, determined, feet constantly moving. He already has down some technique aspects of the running back position that coaches have to work to teach more talented guys. Interesting deep bench option for them, and he's good enough to make Choice wonder where he stands in terms of playing time, if not roster spot.

2. Rookie offensive linemen. Right tackle Tyron Smith didn't have his best game, getting beaten around the edge early in the game and picking up a false-start penalty later in the first half. But there are times -- more often than not, actually -- when he looks like an unstoppable mauler on that right side. I believe he'll be fine. Left guard Bill Nagy had a couple of tough moments as well (I believe the sack of Stephen McGee with 5:00 left in the half was on Nagy), but it says a lot to me that he seemed to be the one on the left side making the line calls with the starters (specifically Kyle Kosier) not in the game. The Cowboys consider Nagy a relatively seasoned rookie who knows a lot about how to play the position -- and a lot about the responsibilities of the other linemen as well. It wasn't surprising to see him with extra responsibility in a game full of backups, but I wonder if it affected his own play. Still looks like he could stand to get stronger. And finally, rookie center Kevin Kowalski, who I guess is now Phil Costa's backup at center, lost his helmet on a play early in the second quarter and kept mixing it up. Which isn't super-smart, but if you're looking for tough, crazy offensive linemen it's the kind of thing you like to see.

3. Montrae Holland surprised. He's been reduced to a backup role, but it's going to be an important one given the relative uncertainty with the starters on the offensive line. Holland came to camp overweight and had some injury issues that kept him out of action, so the Cowboys didn't know how much he'd be able to play Thursday night. But he played the whole first half and looked good, and that helps Dallas feel better about the depth it has on the line.

4. Defense? I don't know. Again, backups all over the field. Bryan McCann got beat by Brian Hartline when he tried to jump a route. Guys like Alan Ball and Barry Church missed tackles on Larry Johnson on Johnson's 22-yard touchdown run. Church made a couple of nice plays otherwise. I was a little more locked in on the offense in this one. Not sure there's much about the defense that bears serious analysis.

5. Receivers. Kevin Ogletree made a nifty after-catch move to pick up a first down near the goal line on a third-down play in the first quarter. Dwayne Harris showed some shiftiness on punt returns. And Michael Irvin, who was once a receiver, was pretty impressive in the broadcast booth! I thought he did a nice job of focusing on serious analysis even when the guys in the booth with him (including Jerry Jones) seemed more interested in trying to talk about Irvin and his career. Felt like he was trying to educate, which good color analysts who played the game at a high level should be doing.

Anyway, next game counts. See ya.

 

[Faust]

The 'effortless' summer of Denarius Moore

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Jason Campbell knew the Oakland Raiders had a draft steal before the team’s coaching staff did.

A month after the Raiders took the intriguing, but perhaps inconsistent, Denarius Moore in the fifth round of the draft, he quickly drew attention from his new quarterback at a player-organized camp in Georgia during the lockout. As soon as he started throwing passes to his assembled receivers, Campbell wanted to know more about Moore, a 5-foot-11, 194-pound Tennessee product.

“He immediately caught my eye,” Campbell said this week. “I said ‘we need to get some plays for this kid.’ From the first day, it was effortless for him.”

Moore has been the story of Oakland’s camp. He went from being a late-round project with long-term possibilities to a player who looks ready to help the team right away. There is a chance he will start for Oakland in the regular-season opener Sept. 12 at Denver in the second half of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” doubleheader. If Moore is not starting for the Silver and Black early in the season, he will certainly be in the top of part of the Raiders’ receiving rotation.

The Raiders are going to ride Moore until he proves him he was a training-camp fluke. There’s a growing sense that will never happen.

“He’s been tremendous,” Oakland coach Hue Jackson said. “He belongs.”

Moore has impressed the Raiders with his top-notch hands and his crisp route-running ability. He opened eyes early in camp by making every possible catch. Then, it happened on a daily basis. Local reporters have written that Moore is often the best player on the practice field, regardless of position. Now it is a major happening in practice if Moore actually drops a pass.

More importantly, the preseason has not proven to be too much for Moore. Performing well in camp is one thing. Doing it against other first-string defenses is another. Moore has made an impact in all three of Oakland’s preseason games.

“The game isn’t too big for him,” Campbell said. “He’s been just as good in games as he has in practice. Again, the word that comes up most to me is 'effortless.’ He’s just so smooth for a rookie.”

I watched Moore closely last week against New Orleans. He looks like a complete player. He ran perfect routes and was active in the run game, delivering some nice blocks, which is not always a given for a young receiver. He looked like a complete, confident player.

Oakland’s potential for fast success is ironic. The team gave Darrius Heyward-Bey $23 million guaranteed when it drafted him with the No. 7 overall pick in 2009. Heyward-Bey has yet to develop and is in danger of falling behind this potential draft mega-steal.

So how does a talent like Moore slip all the way to the fifth round?

Moore was inconsistent at Tennessee. He had two 200-yard-plus games, but there were games in which he didn’t make an impact. Still, he averaged 20.9 yards per catch on 47 catches last season and finished strong.

Scouts Inc. gave him a sixth-round grade. In Mel Kiper’s draft book, he rated Moore as the 20th best prospect at receiver. NFL teams clearly agreed with those assessments, and he lasted all the way until the No. 148 overall pick.

“A lot of times success depends on the fit and I like this fit,” Kevin Weidl of Scouts Inc, said. “He is a Raider-like receiver. He fits the system. It doesn’t surprise me that he is having success. He has great hands and he runs good routes. There have been questions about consistency and the tightness with the way he runs and questions about his toughness, but we looked at him as a guy with big potential. Sometimes, it just happens quickly.”

Added Steve Muench of Scouts Inc.: “There were things that he did very well, so I can see why the team is excited about him. The question has and will be can he do it on a regular basis.”

Of course, we won’t know that answer until Moore plays in the regular season, but, so far, he is on our radar and that’s not always the case for a fifth-round pick. Moore, a soft-spoken player who had a reputation at Tennessee as being coachable and a good teammate, deserves credit for not allowing his preseason success to get to his head. He is simply going out to practice each day with improvement on his mind.

“Coaches say I’m doing a good job, players say I’m doing a good job,” Moore said. “So, I guess I’m fitting in pretty well with the team right now.”

Actually, Denarius, you’ve fit in since May.

 

[Faust]

Well, with most leagues either having their drafts and auctions completed or to be completed soon, my work here is done.

406 replies and 18,000+ views - thanks for everyone who added to this thread and I know that this thread was helpful for many of us!

Good Luck in your leagues this year!

- Faust

 

[maxwelledison]

Well, with most leagues either having their drafts and auctions completed or to be completed soon, my work here is done.406 replies and 18,000+ views - thanks for everyone who added to this thread and I know that this thread was helpful for many of us!Good Luck in your leagues this year!- Faust

Really great work, Faust. Can't thank you enough for the effort.

 

[Incogneto]

You're the man, Faust! this was a daily read for me! Much appreciated!

 

[Ketamine Dreams]

Awesome thread!!! Thanks so much!!!

 

[NajehHejan]

great job faust, best of luck to you

 

[Fighting Noles]

Yes - THANK YOU, Great stuff here all preseason!