Observations from Camp VII
Here are the latest observations from training camp. Thanks again to guest contributor Vin.- The most depressing part of the day came as I walked in and took my seat, observing a player on crutches with a boot around his foot. The player turned out to be #19 Marcus Maxwell, a much talked about player who was excelling in camp. I'm not sure as to the extent of the injury, but he was on crutches and seemed to be only putting a tiny amount of weight on the bad foot. Eek.
- The second most depressing part of the day came towards the end of practice when I wondered why I had not seen Eric Johnson. Then, off to the sideline gathered around all the other players, was #82...in a protective boot around his leg. It looks like a high ankle sprain from the looks of it, but again, Eek.
- Rayshaun Reed looks more aggressive and natural in coverage than Willie Middlebrooks. Every practice, Reed has been making a play whether it be swatting down passes (as he did today) or being tight on coverage.
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- Ahmed Plummer still doesn't look all the way back. Sure he's out there and it's nice to have his presence in the defensive backfield, but he still needs to get back some fluidity and turn around better. There was a deep pass to Fred Amey today where Plummer was clearly beaten and could not turn around to stop Amey.
- In the absence of Marcus Maxwell, Fred Amey has been another solid contributor thus far and showed some quickness. He had the highlight catch of the day, that deep pass from Smith I just mentioned.
- Speaking of Smith, he looked more like a starter today (well he is...at least for Saturday) than ever. He had a solid delivery to his passes and even hit the deep pass today, something he hadn't done all training camp long.
- Smith also faired the best of our QBs in the two minute drills, bringing the team the farthest down field (towards the 20 yard line). Rattay did not get as far.
- I wish Smith would have been a bit quicker in that two minute drill. When he brought the offense down to the 20 yard line there were only 10.6 seconds left on the playclock.
- I don't know if it's the offensive line showing its lack of depth due to the numerous injuries that the unit has suffered or just great defense, but there was a portion of 7-7 drills where the pass rushers from the outside linebacking spot (Peterson, Winborn, Carter) or the d-line consistently came crashing into the QB for 4-5 straight plays. All of those would have been sacks had it been a real, live game situation.
- It was nice to see Julian Peterson practice. He certainly brings some added and needed speed to the unit.
- Dwaine Carpenter continues to show that he maybe one of the 49ers' most jazzed up and intense players. Today on punt return coverage he disrupted Rasheed Marshall's concentration, causing him to drop a punt return. How did he do this? By screaming and yelling all the way down as he charged of course.
- Cole Farden, the backup punter, had a better day today than previously. But I'll still take Andy Lee's consistency any day of the week.
- The rash of injuries (Eric Johnson, Frank Gore, Justin Smiley, Jonas Jennings, David Baas, Marcus Maxwell) seems to have caught up with the offense. The unit looked fragile and depthless out there today.
- PJ Fleck made another tough grab up the middle, and held onto the ball as well.
- Justin McCaddley had the 2nd highlighted catch of the day. A diving catch on a slant type route into the end zone. But he later dropped 2 catchable and important passes from Tim Rattay during the 2 minute drill.
- Rashaun Woods made absolutely no contribution, or very little contribution, to practice today.
- Ken Dorsey is starting to fade out of the QB picture. That 3rd QB slot for him might be all he can muster this season as he hasn't really done anything to warrant moving up ahead of Smith or Rattay.
-That said, having Dorsey as 3rd Qb is quite comforting.
- Barlow showed some quickness and elusiveness today, cutting into the open field.
- Overall, I'm starting to worry about the injuries. We seem to show some fragility as more and more guys go out, especially on offense. We need our o-line to return to health and the Maxwell and Johnson injuries were noticed.
Who's Hot:
Alex Smith - Looked like the starter.
Rayshaun Reed - Aggressive corner who's playing better than Willie Middlebrooks.
Dwaine Carpenter - I love this guy's intensity. He'll be a contributor, either on special teams or situational defense.
Julian Peterson- The defense is that much quicker when he's on the field.
Fred Amey - Very quick. We could use him as a kick returner.
Who's Not:
Ahmed Plummer - Looks stiff and needs to turn the corner on deep passes.
Rashaun Woods - Yeah, he's out there.....doing absolutely nothing.
Cody Pickett - All but out of the QB picture. Good luck on practice squad.
Justin McCaddley - 1 nice catch followed up by 2 fundamental drops.
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