The Mini Camp Thread....(updated Sunday)

[mmmbeans]

awesome! Thanks!

[raleigh-panther]

I just wanted to thank Zod and the rest for the updates.

Being stuck in Raleigh, well, there is little coverage of the Panthers on local news, and of course, all I hear about now are the Hurricanes. I guess anything is better than the continuing ACC, year-round b-ball coverage.

[monstercat]

I hope you can make it tomorrow Mr. Scot, because that was some first class reporting my friend. Thank you.

[Bones McCoy]

godly summary

[scpanther22]

For the afternoon session, I spent more time watching the defensive guys, but I caught some of the offense too.

First notice: Lovers of aggressiveness may just have something to be happy about this season. Last year, it seemed like the defensive backs jumped routes so few times I started to wonder if they were being coached not to do so. Today, early in the afternoon session, I saw Charles Godfrey jump a route and break up a Delhomme pass. I’ll be hopeful to see more of that this season.

Speaking of Delhomme, noticed this afternoon that he was very chummy with his offensive linemen, especially Jordan Gross and Ryan Kalil. Smart move for a QB.

During the initial stretching, I noticed a few guys getting a little extra help from the staff. Thomas Davis, James Anderson, Kevin McMahan and Dante Wesley were all getting extra help, with one (Davis, I think) getting assistance from strength coach Jerry Simmons.

Back on the topic of aggressiveness: Don’t be surprised to see a heavy emphasis on takeaways this season. Early in the session, the defense split into three sections, each run by a different coach (DL coach Brian Baker, LB Coach Richard Smith and secondary coach Ron Milus, with DC Ron Meeks in the middle observing). Each of the three areas was a different drill to teach stripping the ball, and the player groups rotated so that they got teaching from each coach.

The coach I was closest to was Brian Baker. And I can tell you this much. Baker talks constantly when he’s coaching. His mouth was non-stop, and I have a few quotes from him listed below.

During the drill, Baker kept referring to the guy going for the ball as “the stripper” which made me chuckle. Captain Munnerlyn wasn’t chuckling though, and neither was C J Wilson. Baker got onto both of them for the way they were doing their strips. Tyler Brayton seemed to be having a little better time, as he did a lttle barking at Everette Brown when they were going at each other (little bit of rookie initiation there perhaps).

Speaking of Brown, they used him some as a blocker on punts today. Not a punt blocker, a blocker. Might be wanting to use him in coverage.

Shortly after, linebackers went heavy into some running/pass catching drills. A lot of catches, but some drops too. Undrafted linebacker Brit Miller, without being told, went to the ground and did some pushups after dropping a ball thrown right at him (nice work ethic, kid). New vet pickup Mike Juergens had a really nice looking pick in there. He actually looked decent all around (today, anyway).

Defensive line next went to some shuttle type drills. During these drills, Kemo and Lewis were very vocal, snarling, growling, grunting and urging teammates on. Got a chance to see just how quick Everette Brown’s feet are with these drills. His first step really is quick. Also saw that Coach Baker is going to need to settle on a name for Kemo, I think, because during these drills I heard him call out “Maka”, “Mocky”, and “Kemo” (stick with that one I say).

Interesting drill followed. After having the guys do some tussling with each other trying to teach how to get off of blockers, coach Baker had them do the drill again with their eyes closed. The purpose, he said, was to teach them how to “feel their way along the line” so that they could keep their eyes attined to finding the ball. Interesting concept. Noticed Everette Brown doing well here again, along with Corvey Irvin.

Sad to say, one guy wasn’t doing so well. Undrafted DT Marlon favorite isn’t living up to his last name, except as the favorite target for Coach Baker, who got on him several times. Favorite looked slow and heavy footed, honestly. Justin Kershaw and Lonnie Harvey both showed more than he did. Not sure Favorite lasts long if he doesn’t improve.

More of Gary Barnidge showing sticky fingers, including a really nice diving catch on a pass from Matt Moore. Also wondering, because I could swear Jeff King looks faster than I remember him being. Also more good stuff from young guy Kevin Brock. He did a great job of beating everyone downfield one play to catch what would have been a TD. The afternoon session made me again wonder if the TE position is going to get more use this season. WR,Kenny Moore also continued to look impressive.

Watched a lot of line drills (OL vs DL). Notable moments here included:

- watching Everette Brown do the same dip and rip I’ve seen him do on video

- Gerald Cadogan completely walling off Justin Kershaw

- C J Davis doing likewise to Babatunde Oshinowo

- Nick Hayden splitting a double between Davis and Jeff Otah

- A really nice swim move to get past the line by Tyler Brayton

- A spirited matched between Lonnie Harvey and Keith Gray

- Travelle Wharton completely thwarting Casper Brinkley

- Wharton later getting utterly abused by Ma’ake Kemoeatu

- Corvey Irvin breaking through two guys cleanly (forget who)

- Hilee Taylor getting easily past one of the rookies

- Justin Kershaw beating Geoff Schwartz pretty badly

- Jordan Gross frustrating Charles Johnson

- Duke Robinson thoroughly owning Lonnie Harvey

One other thing I think you can look for this season: QB fundamentals. During the last part of practice, QB coach Rip Scherer had all four QBs off to themselves. Wasn’t close enough to hear, but I could see he was working on basics of dropping back, setting up and planting and making the throw. Noticed at one point he even stopped jake in mid-drill and had him run it again. You could tell he was getting pretty deep into it with all the guys, honestly.

Another thing: I’d say Scherer is a big believer in using the hard count. Noticed the QBs using more of that today than I could remember previously. Victims today included rookies like Everette Brown and Corvey Irvin, vets like Charles Johnson and, sadly, Jeff Otah. I find myself wondering if Scherer plans to remake the QBs on roster from the ground up (not necessarily a bad thing).

Sight of the day: Steve Smith absolutely abused Richard Marshall on a smoke route pass from Delhomme. Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come from Smith, not Marshall. Also noteworthy, Chris Gamble looked good in what I saw of him.

Quotes heard through the session…

From Brian Baker:

“Gotta train your body to do it. Gotta train your mind to do it.” - to the DL

“Show me what you’ve learned.” - to Corvey Irvin

“Don’t matter if you’re little as long as you’re fast.” – to Everette Brown

From Danny Crossman:

“Watch the smack.” – to someone who was apparently getting mouthy

“Attack that sumb—ch” – to the guys rushing the punt

From DC Ron Meeks:

“Oh, come on now.” – loudly, after the D gave up a big pass to Kevin Brock

“You’ve gotta see the field. See what’s happening.” – also to the D after giving up a big run to Decori Birmingham

Again, no participation in drills from DeAngelo or Jonathan Stewart, although they were present. Pretty sure I saw Beason doing some drills though.

And lastly, looks like the sompetition for the gunner spots is just as wide open as the one for long snapper. Trying out they had…

- Kevin McMahan

- C J Wilson

- Marcus Monk

- Derrick Clark

- Kenny Moore

- Quinton Teal

- Sherrod Martin

That's all for now. Don't know if I'll be able to get out tomorrow or not (hope so).

thanks..for this..i hope you can go out tommorow your write ups are nice...and i hope we start using TE in the passing game more this season too.

[Mother Grabber]

Thanks much from the West coast. Spent about 10 sec on the waste that is the Observer site, and then came here to read some real reporting...

[Kurb]

Good write up Mr Scot

[ItsNotGonnaBeAlright]

That....was beautiful.....

Great to hear that this coaching staff is much more "hands on" than what we're used to. Also great to hear that there is a focus on fundamentals and specialized procedures (like stripping). As long as the boys can take it to heart, we don't have a whole helluva lot to worry about.

[Mr. Scot]

Couple of remaining things left out of earlier posts:

Marty Hurney watched the whole afternoon practice today from the field. When he left, he had a huge grin on his face, the kind I used to hear referred to as a (cake)eating grin. I doubt you could have wiped that grin off with a bottle of 409 and a roll of paper towels. My guess: He likes what he sees.

Ryne Robinson still looks a little iffy receiving, but great after he has the ball.

They’ll need to train Duke Robinson in proper use of his hands at the NFL level. A couple of things he pulled today would have been sure flags (of course, that’s fixable).

On one of the line drills, Everette Brown tried his spin move on Jeff Otah, but Otah used his superior height to keep Brown under control. Chalk that up to experience over exuberance. I’m sure Brown will work on it, though. He truly does go full speed from start to finish. Never saw a dropoff in his intensity. Later on when they were running plays, Brown lined up at left end and did a good job of getting up over Otah trying to knock down a pass. Those two may just sharpen each other the way Gross and Peppers once did.

Ryan Kalil looked good today, particularly strong on a line drill where he controlled Nick Hayden (and I could be wrong, but I think Hayden is bigger than before).

On the line drill where Duke Robinson owned Lonnie Harvey, give credit to Harvey for effort, but Duke had Harvey tied up so bad that DL coach Brian Baker just yelled for them to stop, pulled Harvey aside for a few words and then had him run it again. He did a little better, but I’d still give the win to Duke.

WR Depth is as expected: Smith, Moose, Jarrett, Robinson. Next on the list looks to be Jason Carter and Kenny Moore, followed by Marcus Monk and Kenny McMahan.

Speaking of K Moore, he and Delhomme connected on a really nice looking pass across the middle. I’d definitely love to see us keep him, and if he continues to look like he does now once the pads are on, I’m not sure he could be successfully “stashed” on the practice squad.

New LB coach Richard Smith has a raspy voice reminiscent of John Fox.

And lastly, there actually was a #90 jersey on the field today, although it didn’t belong to a disgruntled defensive end. It was worn by a little boy who was there with his dad.

I probably won’t get to attend tomorrow’s session or Sunday’s, but what I saw today was encouraging.

That said, anyone can look good when there’s no pads and no real hitting. We’ll see what happens down the road when it’s really on.

[Fireball77]

Mr Scot your reports are AWESOME, thank you. Love the emphasis on coaching you have detailed (esp Scherer). And Marty's grin too. I like that Otah is going against a speed rusher with moves like Brown. The speedy guys are usually his downfall IIRC.

[carpanfan96]

Nice write up as always Mr. Scot, the report was top notch. They should give you a job at the observer or such.

[MorgulKing]

Mr. Scot, the Observer should be paying you for these reports.

[Murph]

Appreciate it Mr. Scott.

[bigskypanthersguy]

Mr Scot gives better quality, for free, than ESPN and the Disturber combined.