Sunday AM Trainging Camp

[c-money]

I made my way out to training camp for the first time this year. Here are a few observations...

There is something seriously wrong with Chris Simms. I would say on average he completed one out of every four passes. This wasn't against defenders most of the time either. He short hopped nearly every out pattern he threw and hung his receiver out to dry by throwing the ball high or behind on slant routes. At this point I would say it is doubtful that he makes the team.

Garcia is excellent on the run. One drill emphasized roll outs and he was super accurate hitting the TE along the sideline when rolling to his right. His deepball is lacking however. He underthrew both of his downfield attempts, causing the receiver to slow down and adjust.

Both Clayton and Stovall looked good. Clayton had two drops to Stovall's one, but they both ran well and made some nice one handed catches. I didn't see much of Boston, and Galloway sat out.

Cadillac looks like he is in good shape, but he was having trouble catching the ball. I saw one drop and several bobbles.

Chad Owens really impressed me. I doubt he has much of an impact in the receiving game this year but he is super quick and runs sharp routes.

They seemed to practice quite a few trick plays today. A flea flicker involving Pittman and Garcia resulted in a long completion down the sideline, but a WR pass by Clayton came out like a wounded duck and fell short of the receiver. Another play involved two halfbacks in the backfield. One would take a shotgun snap and fake a handoff to another back, then run off tackle in the opposite direction.

BK made a real nice pass breakup and Buchanon lined up at receiver for a couple of plays!

Any questions about certain players just ask, but I didn't get to see much of the defense.

[RunDatBall32]

What's a "Trainging" camp?? Is that like training camp?

[Q-man]

Thanks for the report.

runda...that is a word that is not spelled right. kay!

[c-money]

Originally Posted by RunDatBall32

What's a "Trainging" camp?? Is that like training camp?

I do my best to relay information about the team that others can't see but first thing someone points out is a typo. Thanks man.

[BIG BUC FAN76]

Thanks for the report...

some people have nothing better to do than bring negativity to a forum.i.e.(rundatball32)

[TBayBuc#81]

How about the TE's? Anything on Stevens or Smith. Thanks.

[bucs295]

Great report, thanx man.

How'd Gaines Adams hold up today?

[c-money]

Originally Posted by TBayBuc#81

How about the TE's? Anything on Stevens or Smith. Thanks.

They weren't too involved in the pass catching drills. I think it was more of a blocking day for them. I never even saw Stevens, but Alex Smith looked like he was in good shape.

[c-money]

Originally Posted by bucs295

Great report, thanx man.

How'd Gaines Adams hold up today?

Gaines was one of the main reasons I went out there but I only saw him during warm ups and stretching. The defense stayed on the back field away from spectators. I did catch him weaving in and out of the blocking dummies and he looked real quick, but no live action. I'm really pulling for him this year.

One other thing I forgot to mention was that I saw Petitgout pushing around a golf cart type vehicle (the kind with the truck bed in the back) 100 yards up the sideline and back. Dude is huge.

[agray11]

great report thanks


helps out alot to know this stuff

[abucsfan]

1st report of the day for me - thanks!

[TBayBuc#81]

Originally Posted by c-money

They weren't too involved in the pass catching drills. I think it was more of a blocking day for them. I never even saw Stevens, but Alex Smith looked like he was in good shape.

Thanks...appreciate the report. Hopefully the offensive line is improved and the TE's can become more involved in the passing game this year instead of being used mostly in protection.

[PantherSlayer]

Did you see any of P. Warren? Does he have a shot at making the team?

[Boid Fink]

Originally Posted by RunDatBall32

What's a "Trainging" camp?? Is that like training camp?

What? You didn't get the "gist" of the message?

Thanks for the lesson on spelling, Professor...


Dork.

Thanks for the TC update, was a good read from another vantage point.

[AintNoSaint]

Thanks for the training camp info!
Here is a link for you, some info you may well find useful>
http://www.m-w.com/
We are a correct spelling Football bulletin board!

[ultraphli]

I love it. The guy spends his time informing the un-informed on some training camp action, and he gets his ballz busted for a typo?

I was really curious about the WR battle between Boston, Stovall, and Clayton. I hadn't seen any pic's of Stovall recently in the Buc's training camp shots... wondered if he'd slipped down the line.

Did Big Pittman get any action out there?

[randombuc]

Thanks for the report. Was McCown getting any reps?

[BIG BUC FAN76]

Originally Posted by AintNoSaint

Thanks for the training camp info!
Here is a link for you, some info you may well find useful>
http://www.m-w.com/
We are a correct spelling Football bulletin board!

this kind of behavior is what will make people not want to post interesting and valuable information on here..... GROW UP..

[NewBetterBucs05]

Thanks for the report man. It is great to have people who go to TC come back and give us a good breakdown. I really appreciate it.

[TMW]

I also was at the AM practice...a couple of things...

QB - Simms looked bad, and he really didn't get a lot of work. Garcia looked good, but definately wasn't on his game with the long ball. McCown had some nice zip on his throws, and I thought, actually was the most impressive QB. Gradkowski, was a little rough with the 7 on 7's, but ran a great 1-minute drill.

RB - Caddy looked like he was in good shape, but like the original poster stated, dropped a pass, and didn't look confident with the ones he did catch. Alstott had a great moment, where he was running the gauntlet with the coaches swatting at the ball with foam. Well in the middle, he stiff armed the foam as it was coming towards him (out of habit?), knocked the foam out of the coach's hand, and the coach went falling to the ground.

WR - Galloway sat out, Clayton and Hilliard were good, but unspectacular. Boston had a great day though. He made several catches in traffic, during the 11 on 11's, and had a nice leaping one-hander. Stovall didn't catch my eye on anything.

TE - Alex Smith looked good. Runs well for a big guy, caught some nice balls, got a few props from some coaches.

As far as the defense, with no pads, no contacts, it's hard to grade, but the safeties were definately a presence. Will Allen had a pick on a tipped ball, and Phillips almost knocked a guy silly fighting for a pass.

Cato June is fast...Barrett Ruud was not out today, not sure why.

Gaines Adams showed some real speed, Monte said it was his best practice so far, but it wasn't like he "dominated". On the 11 on 11's, he burst past a TE, read the play-action, and would of KILLED Garcia if it were a real game. On the very next play they had a tackle and TE on him, and he burst through the line, but he overran the play and the QB stepped up, though he still may have gotten a sack. Hopefully he continues to improve.

[c-money]

Originally Posted by ultraphli

I love it. The guy spends his time informing the un-informed on some training camp action, and he gets his ballz busted for a typo?

I was really curious about the WR battle between Boston, Stovall, and Clayton. I hadn't seen any pic's of Stovall recently in the Buc's training camp shots... wondered if he'd slipped down the line.

Did Big Pittman get any action out there?

There weren't too many run plays being worked on, but in a blocking drill you could see that Pitt was really enjoying himself. He's one of those guys that takes pride in blocking.

[c-money]

Originally Posted by PantherSlayer

Did you see any of P. Warren? Does he have a shot at making the team?

All the receivers got a decent amount of reps, but he didn't stand out. I saw an assistant coach talking to him a bit but he never worked with the first team.

[bricKtoP]

[xljohn316]

Anything on BJ Askew?

[King Of Crunk]

Originally Posted by c-money

They seemed to practice quite a few trick plays today. A flea flicker involving Pittman and Garcia resulted in a long completion down the sideline, but a WR pass by Clayton came out like a wounded duck and fell short of the receiver. Another play involved two halfbacks in the backfield. One would take a shotgun snap and fake a handoff to another back, then run off tackle in the opposite direction.

This is something that is bothering me. Maybe I'm late on my observation, maybe I'm making too much out of this, or maybe its rght on the money but, I've noticed the last few years that there's always been a buzz during TC about some sort of offensive trickery (Ronde on O, P-Buc at WR, etc.) that never even comes close to being materialized in a gameday situation thusmaking it a complete waste of time and effort. Maybe instead of throwing around gadget plays that he never intends to use Gruden would be better served in making sure that his players can execute the plays he intends to ACTUALLY USE on gameday? I don't know about you but that seems to me to be a much more productive use of TC than doing silly substitutions and trick plays that will never be used.

[c-money]

Yeah I sort of agree. P-Buc only got two snaps at receiver so it could have just been him filling in for an injured receiver or working on his hands or something. But the WR pass by Clayton was ridiculous. By the looks of his throws I doubt that play would ever work.

[King Of Crunk]

Originally Posted by c-money

Yeah I sort of agree. P-Buc only got two snaps at receiver so it could have just been him filling in for an injured receiver or working on his hands or something. But the WR pass by Clayton was ridiculous. By the looks of his throws I doubt that play would ever work.

Yeah I may be blowing it out of proportion but those three snaps would probably be more usefulk in the form of making sure our oline knows what blocks to get to or the wideouts are more clear on their routes when we wanna run Alpha-Onion-Yukon-Geronimo-9865-Flatland-Riverdance-Illusional-784-Josephat.

Thanks for the update on the QB's. I think the Bucs' best bet this year is with Garcia as the #1, but give McCown and honest shot, since nobody really knows what he can do on the field too well (when has he had much of a chance to show it?). Keep Gradkowski on as the third, and get him some more field experience late in big wins or losses. He was, after all, the only QB to throw any kind of a decent game for you last year. He did more than can really be expected of a rookie QB thrown in way ahead of time.

Next season, Garcia can be released (or retained, if he plays up to it), and there should be enough development then for a legitimate starting battle, if Simms ever heals up properly (doubtful. I think he's done. He didn't even look good when he was healthy last year.)

You guys have it better than us. Honestly, I was hoping to get Stanton a little field time this year, slow experience. No go on that one, though.

[PewterCurtainD]

Every year there are several passes from WRs, from backwards lateral or reverses, it will happen, so you might as well practice it. Also, every year we play defensive players on offense, from Sapp to Barber, it will happen, so practicing it will be beneficial. Training camp is largely 'non-contact' so it's hard to practice the run, for obvious reasons. Similarly, defenses in drills won't respect the run because they know they won't be playing against any sort of smashmouth running attack. The only way to keep the defense honest is trickery in this case.

[Calypso Poet]

Originally Posted by c-money

Yeah I sort of agree. P-Buc only got two snaps at receiver so it could have just been him filling in for an injured receiver or working on his hands or something. But the WR pass by Clayton was ridiculous. By the looks of his throws I doubt that play would ever work.

I was at camp a week ago sunday, and Clayton ran that same play. He threw a really nice pass about 20 yards or so to a wide open ike hilliard who dropped it, but the play was there to be made, and the throw was good. We've had trouble blocking long enough to run a normal play the last few years, so trick plays weren't really an option. maybe they are hoping to be able to pull a few out this year.