We’ve already read Palmer is first off the bench at ILB when Matthews goes back outside but the same article said Ryan is already ahead of Bradford. “What stood out most was Ryan’s ability to press the line of scrimmage in the physical half-line, inside-run drill. He consistently took on the guards and fullbacks at the line of scrimmage instead of a yard or two on his side of the ball. That helps close down running lanes.” That’s a stark contrast to a former ILB who gave great effort but made a lot of tackles beyond the LOS (in the wrong direction).
I never liked Palmer's game. Somebody should pass him up, and Ryan was the leading candidate coming in. As for pressing the LOS, it should be noted that's typically the SAM backer's job (best evidenced by the 2010 version of Desmond Bishop in recent Packer seasons), with both Barrington and Ryan being SAM types. You're not going to make a habit of pressing the line with both ILBs unless it's short yardage...otherwise the middle of the field is exposed in play action or on a cutback. Frankly, after looking at Ryan's tape and noting his 4.65 speed, I see his eventual, if not immediate, value-add being in coverage. It's looking like Bradford better have a light bulb go off pretty soon or he'll be in trouble. The Packers have not had much success in these OLB to ILB conversions in recent years (not counting Matthews of course, who is sui generis to start with).
We’ve already read positive things about LaDarius Gunter and that continued Saturday.
The earlier positive thing we heard was his pick on Thursday against Rodgers/Abbrederis on a fade route, the same play Abbrederis suffered the concussion. Alas, I would have liked to see that play. However, later, Rodgers zipped one right by Gunter on a seam route to White (who happens to be very quick). We'll see. By the way, I wouldn't count out White entirely. Abbrederis can't seem to stay on the field and we still don't know if Janis is an NFL football player and not just an athlete.
The story also said Shields is becoming more of a technician (and not depending upon his speed so much) and Barclay looks like the same player he was before the injury.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com.../08/01/believe-matthews-scarier-ilb/31007259/
Those are a couple of the more positive notes out of camp so far. Barclay is the only O-Line backup I'd trust at this juncture; I trust Shields' work includes not giving away so many inside routes.
Another Press Gazette story said Montgomery “caught everything” on Saturday, including an underthrown jump ball.
But did they throw him any deep balls over his head? His college tape indicated he had some difficulty tracking those balls and I seem to recall the Captain citing stats that indicated the preponderance of his drops were on deep balls. I don't see any reason why he can't be productive running the bread-and butter slot routes in any event.
And Sean Richardson got a few snaps at nickel CB with the 1s. It’s encouraging they see him deserving a bigger role, but the traditional nickel CB doesn’t make sense for him. In almost any alignment I think he’d be best either as a quasi-LB or SS.
Agreed. He's got box safety written all over him. It's a situation where they like a guy and think he deserves a "lets see what he can do" opportunity. Injuries happen, life happens, free agency happens. Now's the time to suss out whether by chance there is some previously unknown versatility that will fit in a hip pocket.
The early impression given by Matt Blanchard makes me wish Thompson hadn’t traded up for Brett Hundley.
I still like the Hundley pick while acknowledging that QBs are a crap shoot, more now than ever, even when looking at the the first two picks in this last draft. McCarthy's early impression of Blanchard in OTAs led him to ask the QB, "how come you're not already on somebody's team?" I took that to be a positive impression. However, there are guys who look great in the position room and on the practice field, but come game time they wilt. We'll see what he does in preseason.
Early impressions count for something, but they aren’t always lasting impressions.
I use the "edge of the chair/back of the chair" test. When I see somebody do something that makes me sit up on the edge of chair, that's a guy worth watching. Back of the chair, not so much. I'm not at training camp to see this stuff first hand. But I have seen a couple of clips from around-the-league training camp reports. To illustrate, first I saw Rodgers making a couple of 5-step drops...I don't know if it's possible, but he looked even quicker and more fluid in his set and release; the footwork was stunning; the mechanics flawless. A tear comes to my eye typing this.
Look for him to come out blazing.
Conversely, I saw a couple of Winston's throws. My gosh...his mechanics are terrible...it was back of the chair/cover the eyes material. I don't know if Tampa can fix this guy, but it won't be this season.