Observations from Camp IV
Again we are happy to bring you more observations from camp.
- Remember what I said about Wednesday's practice lacking energy? Well, I don't know if it was the inspiration from Fleck's toughness or what, but today the offense was on. Passes were sharper, catches were better, and everyone had some speed and quickness to them that I didn't see on Wednesday.
- Alex Smith continues to improve each day. Today, he was better than Wednesday and hit several nice passes. It's his footwork that's quickly becoming a treat to watch as well. This guy can run and gives us more options on a play than Rattay.
- Maybe it was the rust from being injured and all, but today, Tim Rattay looked really good. He had that "fling" back in his arm and was constantly throwing with a velocity today that I had not seen in previous days. With that first pre-season game creeping in, there seemed to be a sense of urgency from Rattay that wasn't there in other practices.. Full Story...
- That sense of urgency showed during the 2 minute drills. While Alex Smith successfully drove the starting unit down to score during the drill, with only a mere 4 seconds left on the clock, Smith seemed to be a little less poised during these drills. That's not to say he didn't make good throws, but for certain things like calling timeouts (something Rattay was yelling for him to do) and such, Smith has to become a tad bit quicker.
- The highlight of the 2 minute drill was a deep ball thrown by Smith to Lloyd. Lloyd went up for the catch but was pushed down by either Willie Middlebrooks or Mike Rumph. The referees that attended practice quickly threw a flag on that one. Moments later, Smith hit up the middle for a touchdown.
- While Tim Rattay seemed more poised, his 2nd string offense did not give him much to work with. Rattay was zinging passes in that drill, but many were not caught, poorly run down, or the timing was off with the WRs. Some of it was Rattay's fault, but some of it were the receivers he had to work with.
- Still, Rattay hit Aaron Walker on 4th down to go ahead and score. That was the 2nd time and Aaron Walker is quickly looking like a big threat out there. He's got the size and receiving ability.
- When the team moved back to 7-7 drills, Ken Dorsey threw a pass that was knocked down and then intercepted by Derek Smith. Good play there. In fact, if the highlight of Wednesday's practice on defense was the defensive line then the LBs stood out today. Winborn, Carter, Ulbrich, and Smith---these guys can hustle.
- Carter on pass coverage looks a bit sluggish and amateur. But he's coming along at the position.
- Marcus Maxwell is physically the most impressive WR we have. The way this guy runs down the field can only described by one word: effortlessly. He has terrific stride, and his knees are pumping very high when he runs but he does so without even trying. He also has the kind of frame to add more weight and become a Terrell Owens type of player.
- That said --- I still wish Maxwell had caught that perfect deep pass from Rattay which just hit his fingertips.
- Brandon Lloyd looks more coachable this year. I saw him on the sideline talking to Jerry Sullivan and working on his moves. He also had a terrific practice and caught several, difficult passes. Finally, some step up from Lloyd.
- Arnaz Battle continues to improve, but he needs to catch better. There is no doubt that he has a nice, fluid manuevarbility to him when he does have the ball but sometimes he lets passes get by him.
- Morton, Battle, Lloyd: Those 3 are in competition for the top 3 roles. Morton looks like he's been working out as well.
- The WRs practiced some new sets where two of them lined up fairly close to each other and ran in unison, then, while one broke out on a fly pattern, the outtermost WR broke out of his route and turned around. Nice to see the offense send multiple threats in one direction and bunch up on the D.
- The playcalling on those 2 minute drills was fairly solid. McCarthy was using a ton of 3-4 WR sets and employing the TE. There were guys running underneath and out deep, and it's nice to see that variety incorporated into the WCO again.
- Rayshaun Reed continues to impress in the absence of Shawntae Spencer.
- Besides PJ Fleck, Frank Gore was also missing from the afternoon practice.
- Patrick Estes is a gamer. He had both his knees taped up, a huge cast on his hand, but he still went out there and played. He's coming along, but he's raw and still learning the intracacies of the LT position.
- Hmmm telling sign? Smith received 60% of the snaps today, with 35% going to Rattay, and 5% to Dorsey. So far, Cody Pickett has been a non factor in terms of reps in the afternoon practices with the 1st or 2nd teams, but looks good when he gets the occassional chance.
- The quickness of Frank Gore was thoroughly missed from the RB position. But the team did a lot more passing drills today. There were only a few, occassional runs thrown into the mix.
- The 49ers threw deeper routes today, and both Smith and Rattay looked good throwing them.
- The team practiced fake field goals today and had ISSAC SOPOAGA become a type of TE/receiver on those. This guy is multi-talented. He's huge, but he goes out there and catches and looks good. I'd love to see him used ala Warren Sapp on some goalline situations.
- Kwame Harris was also used as a receiver on those field goals. But he dropped passes and didn't seem all too tuned in for the job.
- Rasheed Marshall continues to get a ton of work at WR.
- Practice ended with Ken Dorsey stepping up to avoid the blitz and hitting Brandon Lloyd on a deep out. The ball was thrown well but Lloyd needed to adjust. He did so and made a fantastic grab. This drew a huge applause from the crowd.
- Overall this was an excellent practice. Very quick, lots of passing, and the team showed a sense of urgency.
Who's Hot:
Marcus Maxwell - Big WR who showed today that he has some power and fluidness to his motions. He looked like a presence out there.
Tim Rattay - Finally showed some velocity on those passes, showing signs of 2003 and those 2 wins we had under him.
Alex Smith - He'll always be hot as long as he continues to look this good as a rookie. Has a good arm and has done everything the coaches have asked of him.
Brandon Lloyd - Several great catches today. Looked quick. Best I've seen of him in all the practices so far.
Issac Sopoaga -- The big man shows some versatility, catching passes and swatting down passes.
Offensive Playcalling - Good mixture on the receiving routes during the 2 minute drill.
Who's Not:
Rashaun Woods -- Another day, another absence.
Maurice Hicks -- Didn't really jump out at me even with an oppurtunity due to the absence of Frank Gore.
Cody Pickett -- Has not had a ton of reps to really put himself into the QB mix.
- Remember what I said about Wednesday's practice lacking energy? Well, I don't know if it was the inspiration from Fleck's toughness or what, but today the offense was on. Passes were sharper, catches were better, and everyone had some speed and quickness to them that I didn't see on Wednesday.
- Alex Smith continues to improve each day. Today, he was better than Wednesday and hit several nice passes. It's his footwork that's quickly becoming a treat to watch as well. This guy can run and gives us more options on a play than Rattay.
- Maybe it was the rust from being injured and all, but today, Tim Rattay looked really good. He had that "fling" back in his arm and was constantly throwing with a velocity today that I had not seen in previous days. With that first pre-season game creeping in, there seemed to be a sense of urgency from Rattay that wasn't there in other practices.. Full Story...
- That sense of urgency showed during the 2 minute drills. While Alex Smith successfully drove the starting unit down to score during the drill, with only a mere 4 seconds left on the clock, Smith seemed to be a little less poised during these drills. That's not to say he didn't make good throws, but for certain things like calling timeouts (something Rattay was yelling for him to do) and such, Smith has to become a tad bit quicker.
- The highlight of the 2 minute drill was a deep ball thrown by Smith to Lloyd. Lloyd went up for the catch but was pushed down by either Willie Middlebrooks or Mike Rumph. The referees that attended practice quickly threw a flag on that one. Moments later, Smith hit up the middle for a touchdown.
- While Tim Rattay seemed more poised, his 2nd string offense did not give him much to work with. Rattay was zinging passes in that drill, but many were not caught, poorly run down, or the timing was off with the WRs. Some of it was Rattay's fault, but some of it were the receivers he had to work with.
- Still, Rattay hit Aaron Walker on 4th down to go ahead and score. That was the 2nd time and Aaron Walker is quickly looking like a big threat out there. He's got the size and receiving ability.
- When the team moved back to 7-7 drills, Ken Dorsey threw a pass that was knocked down and then intercepted by Derek Smith. Good play there. In fact, if the highlight of Wednesday's practice on defense was the defensive line then the LBs stood out today. Winborn, Carter, Ulbrich, and Smith---these guys can hustle.
- Carter on pass coverage looks a bit sluggish and amateur. But he's coming along at the position.
- Marcus Maxwell is physically the most impressive WR we have. The way this guy runs down the field can only described by one word: effortlessly. He has terrific stride, and his knees are pumping very high when he runs but he does so without even trying. He also has the kind of frame to add more weight and become a Terrell Owens type of player.
- That said --- I still wish Maxwell had caught that perfect deep pass from Rattay which just hit his fingertips.
- Brandon Lloyd looks more coachable this year. I saw him on the sideline talking to Jerry Sullivan and working on his moves. He also had a terrific practice and caught several, difficult passes. Finally, some step up from Lloyd.
- Arnaz Battle continues to improve, but he needs to catch better. There is no doubt that he has a nice, fluid manuevarbility to him when he does have the ball but sometimes he lets passes get by him.
- Morton, Battle, Lloyd: Those 3 are in competition for the top 3 roles. Morton looks like he's been working out as well.
- The WRs practiced some new sets where two of them lined up fairly close to each other and ran in unison, then, while one broke out on a fly pattern, the outtermost WR broke out of his route and turned around. Nice to see the offense send multiple threats in one direction and bunch up on the D.
- The playcalling on those 2 minute drills was fairly solid. McCarthy was using a ton of 3-4 WR sets and employing the TE. There were guys running underneath and out deep, and it's nice to see that variety incorporated into the WCO again.
- Rayshaun Reed continues to impress in the absence of Shawntae Spencer.
- Besides PJ Fleck, Frank Gore was also missing from the afternoon practice.
- Patrick Estes is a gamer. He had both his knees taped up, a huge cast on his hand, but he still went out there and played. He's coming along, but he's raw and still learning the intracacies of the LT position.
- Hmmm telling sign? Smith received 60% of the snaps today, with 35% going to Rattay, and 5% to Dorsey. So far, Cody Pickett has been a non factor in terms of reps in the afternoon practices with the 1st or 2nd teams, but looks good when he gets the occassional chance.
- The quickness of Frank Gore was thoroughly missed from the RB position. But the team did a lot more passing drills today. There were only a few, occassional runs thrown into the mix.
- The 49ers threw deeper routes today, and both Smith and Rattay looked good throwing them.
- The team practiced fake field goals today and had ISSAC SOPOAGA become a type of TE/receiver on those. This guy is multi-talented. He's huge, but he goes out there and catches and looks good. I'd love to see him used ala Warren Sapp on some goalline situations.
- Kwame Harris was also used as a receiver on those field goals. But he dropped passes and didn't seem all too tuned in for the job.
- Rasheed Marshall continues to get a ton of work at WR.
- Practice ended with Ken Dorsey stepping up to avoid the blitz and hitting Brandon Lloyd on a deep out. The ball was thrown well but Lloyd needed to adjust. He did so and made a fantastic grab. This drew a huge applause from the crowd.
- Overall this was an excellent practice. Very quick, lots of passing, and the team showed a sense of urgency.
Who's Hot:
Marcus Maxwell - Big WR who showed today that he has some power and fluidness to his motions. He looked like a presence out there.
Tim Rattay - Finally showed some velocity on those passes, showing signs of 2003 and those 2 wins we had under him.
Alex Smith - He'll always be hot as long as he continues to look this good as a rookie. Has a good arm and has done everything the coaches have asked of him.
Brandon Lloyd - Several great catches today. Looked quick. Best I've seen of him in all the practices so far.
Issac Sopoaga -- The big man shows some versatility, catching passes and swatting down passes.
Offensive Playcalling - Good mixture on the receiving routes during the 2 minute drill.
Who's Not:
Rashaun Woods -- Another day, another absence.
Maurice Hicks -- Didn't really jump out at me even with an oppurtunity due to the absence of Frank Gore.
Cody Pickett -- Has not had a ton of reps to really put himself into the QB mix.
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