Training Camp Update

Training Camp Update

Volume 1, Issue 2 – 8/9/05

Intro

You've heard us talk about the Footballguys Strategy Guide Magazine. We're really proud of that publication, but things have happened since the magazine was written. Some important things.

To keep all our Footballguys subscribers on top of everything, we've created our incredibly detailed Camp Updates. They're an exhaustive look each week covering every bit of news you need to know to stay completely on top of every team. Quite simply, they're the key to Dominating Your Draft.

This is the first of five training camp updates from us. We'll break down every team's skill positions and position battles. It's the stuff you'd see if you were there at every camp. This Camp Update was created by our own Bob Henry and reflects the most up-to-date info regarding each of these teams.

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Happy reading and let's have a great 2005 season,

Joe Bryant and David Dodds

Owners, Footballguys.com

Arizona Cardinals

QB: As expected Kurt Warner looked good in the first few days of camp. Coach Dennis Green indicated that Kurt was throwing well and looking sharp. Green’s pleased with the development of the offense overall and specifically with Warner. Of course, ask Kurt and he’ll be the first to say he can recapture the glory years of his past. Keep tabs on Josh McCown, too. Knowing Warner’s recent history and relative ineffectiveness it won’t be a big surprise if he’s forced into action at some point. McCown and 3rd stringer John Navarre each threw a nice TD in Thursday’s practice. Navarre hit Bryant Johnson on a 40-yard pass down the right sideline against the first team defense while McCown located FB Obafemi Ayanbadejo in the end zone during a goal-line drill.

RB: So far so good for J.J. Arrington. He’s looking sharp and on top of his game in the opening week of camp. Green was noticeably happy after watching a rather physical practice last Wednesday stating, “There were some really nice plays. You saw J.J.’s speed and speed can really be a good thing with this offense when you can spread people out.” RBs coach Kirby Wilson also had glowing praise for Arrington, “He's been well-coached, No. 1, and No. 2, he comes from a very good offensive system where he was allowed to be what he is, which is a very good runner tackle-to-tackle, outstanding perimeter run skills.” The first week of camp hasn’t changed our mind. Arrington looks like he’ll be the man this year.

Troy Hambrick was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform, or PUP, list and the Cardinals signed veteran RBs J.R. Redmond and James Jackson to add more competition to the mix. Marcel Shipp was also on the PUP, but the team welcomed him back to practice on Wednesday (Aug 3rd). “We’re working step by step with him and he is looking a lot better,” said Coach Dennis Green. “He had done well with his conditioning the first two days and everything seems to be falling back in place for him. It’s good to have him back out there.” As Shipp gets stronger he’ll be part of the mix, but it’s unlikely he’ll start opening day over Arrington.

WR: Anquan Boldin inked his new four-year extension and was a happy camper up until Thursday when he broke his nose being tackled by safety Aaron Francisco. He’ll miss up to three weeks after having surgery Friday to reset his nose. In Boldin’s absence Charles Lee and Lawrence Hamilton split reps with the first team offense during the rest of the morning practice. A player to watch in camp is rookie Dan Sheldon, aka “Seabiscuit”, as he was dubbed at Northern Illinois. Sheldon is only 5’8”, 173 lbs but he led the nation in punt returns as a sophomore with a 22.7 yard average.

TE: Eric Edwards left practice last Wednesday with a pectoral injury and immediately scheduled an MRI which revealed a partial tear. “That was the best thing that could have happened,” Edwards said. “It could have been a lot worse. They thought it was a lot worse until they got the MRI.” He’ll miss between two and three weeks. Edwards is competing for the starting job along with four other inexperienced players in Bobby Blizzard, Adam Bergen, Aaron Golliday and John Bronson. Currently, it’s rookie Adam Bergen taking snaps with the first team. Keep an eye on this competition, particularly on Bergen, who was a good pass-catching TE in college.

Defense: Reminiscing to last year’s surprise training camp cut of G Pete Kendall, Dennis Green struck again. This time it was DT Wendell Bryant who was summoned by the reaper unexpectedly. On the flipside, new safety Robert Griffith has been setting the tone in practice recently laying out RB Josh Scobey drawing the crowd’s praise. Griffith has been impressive so far. DT Kenny King injured the same wrist that forced him to miss the 2004 season. Overall, the defense is looking good during the first week of camp. They didn’t allow a rushing TD during goal-line drills while forcing two fumbles. On one play, MLB Gerald Hayes met a diving J.J. Arrington at the 1-yard line stopping him cold and keeping him out of the end zone. LB James Darling also had a big hit on Arrington.

Free agent WLB Orlando Huff also got into the act with a nice blast on Arrington during 9-on-7 drills. Needless to say, Arrington is getting plenty of greetings from his new teammates. DE Calvin Pace delivered a nice blow to Ayanbadejo forcing a fumble (Ayanbadejo’s 2nd in as many days). DE Bertrand Berry was able to penetrate on a couple of plays politely tapping backup QB John Navarre on the shoulder. Needless to say, if hitting QBs were permitted, Berry would’ve run Navarre’s bell on those plays. Rookie Ernest Shazor didn’t report to camp and was placed on the reserved/did not report list. Dennis Green indicated he was dealing with some issues. It sounds like he’s a little bitter about going undrafted after initially being dubbed a 2nd round pick potentially.

Special Teams: During a mock game this week, PK Neil Rackers connected on both his field goal attempts (32 and 31 yards). After a poor showing on returns last year, the Cardinals are paying extra attention to blocking schemes on kickoff and punt returns in practices this year. As expected, WR Bryant Johnson, RB J.R. Redmond, and rookie WR Dan Sheldon practiced punt returns this week. Other candidates for the punt return job include CB Antrel Rolle, WR Reggie Newhouse, and rookie WR LeRon McCoy.

Cardinals Depth Chart
QB Kurt Warner, Josh McCown, John Navarre, Timmy Chang
RB J.J. Arrington, Marcel Shipp, Troy Hambrick, James Jackson, J.R. Redmond, Larry Croom (3RB), Josh Scobey (KR/3RB), Damien Anderson, Roger Robinson
FB James Hodgins (inj), Obafemi Ayanbadejo, Harold Morrow, Casey Moore
WR Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, Bryant Johnson, Charles Lee, Lawrence Hamilton, Reggie Newhouse, Dan Sheldon (KR/PR), Fabian Davis, LeRon McCoy, Carlyle Holiday
TE Eric Edwards (inj), Adam Bergen, Bobby Blizzard, John Bronson, Aaron Golliday
K Neil Rackers
DE Bertrand Berry, Chike Okeafor, Peppi Zellner, Calvin Pace, Antonio Smith, Tyler King
DT Darnell Dockett, Russell Davis (NT), Kenny King (inj), Ross Kolodziej, Tim Bulman, DeVone Claybrooks, Keith Wright
MLB Gerald Hayes, Lance Mitchell, Greg Carothers
OLB Karlos Dansby (S), Orlando Huff (W), Darryl Blackstock (S/W), James Darling (W), Eric Johnson, Isaac Keys (W), Isaiah Ekejiuba (S)
CB David Macklin, Antrel Rolle, Eric Green, Robert Tate, Rhett Nelson, Raymond Walls, Aaron Francisco, Jermaine Hardy
S Adrian Wilson (SS), Robert Griffith (FS), Ifeanyi Ohalete (FS), Quentin Harris (FS), Adrian Mayes (SS), Clarence Curry (FS), Ernest Shazor (SS)

Atlanta Falcons

QB: One of Michael Vick’s primary goals this camp is improving his accuracy. During the first couple days of camp Vick looked great throwing the football to the left side of the field, but he struggled at times throwing to the middle of the field and to the right. In his 2nd season in the West Coast offense Vick hopes to improve his accuracy and his overall passing, but he may have to do it while working with a pair of younger, inexperienced receivers. After the American Bowl, Falcons QB Michael Vick said he feels far more comfortable entering his second season in offensive coordinator Greg Knapp's West Coast offense and Head Coach Jim Mora Jr. said the fluidity and familiarity in the way the first-team offense performed against the Colts was a good sign.

RB: T.J. Duckett continues to make progress and, as reported last week, dropped 24 lbs in the first two days of camp due to the sweltering heat. He dropped 13 lbs the first day and 11 more by the middle of Tuesday last week. "I'm drinking as much water as I can, but I don't have an answer for it," Duckett said after a two-hour evening session. "This is the hottest I've ever witnessed in my life. I've never lost this much weight on a daily basis." That didn’t temper Duckett’s feistiness as he and LB John Leake mixed it up after Leake got too rough. The leaner and meaner Duckett drove Leake into the ground taking exception to Leake’s aggressiveness.

WR: First round pick Roddy White was signed, sealed and delivered after missing the first nine practices. White hit the ground running though. He made several outstanding plays during receiving and goal-line drills. Coach Mora was pleased, “I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm impressed by some of the things he does”. White narrowly beat him to a Vick pass on an 18-yard out pattern, while Hall got the better of him on other plays. After practice, DeAngelo Hall called White “like Larry Fitzgerald without all the hype” when he was asked how the rookie is playing. White will play the “X” position according to Mora. If Vick emerges as a legitimate passer to compliment his legs, one of the guys in this group might finally emerge with some fantasy value. Despite the late start White is expected to put pressure on Dez White to start opposite 2nd year WR Michael Jenkins. Brian Finneran is also in the picture as is deposed starter Peerless Price, who relinquished his starting job to Jenkins. Meanwhile, Dez White had a brief scare after landing awkwardly on his abdomen and experiencing chest pain. He visited the hospital then was later cleared to practice.

TE: Alge Crumpler had some minor knee issues to work through early in camp, but it was minor. He didn’t require any fluid to be drained and coach Mora said “it’s nothing to be concerned about”. He’s just adapting to the wear and tear of camp. Apparently, it didn’t slow Crumpler down much. He’s already in mid-season form. Coach Mora didn’t hold much back gushing about Crumpler recently. "He's better than advertised, in my opinion," Falcons coach Jim Mora said. "I think you can make an argument that he's the best player on our team, the best pure football player on our team. There's nothing he can't do. He's a great blocker. He's levelheaded and he's got great hands. In our opinion, he's the premier tight end in football." Needless to say Crumpler is in position to return to the Pro Bowl if he remains healthy.

Defense: One of the main battles in training camp is among the safeties. Bryan Scott is still being held out of contact drills but he’ll return soon and is expected to start at free safety with Keion Carpenter at SS. Meanwhile, Ike Reese and Demorrio Williams are competing for the SLB job. The additions of Ed Hartwell and Ike Reese have given the Falcons LBs an added swagger in camp. Perhaps the biggest impact player for the Falcons defense this year might be 2nd year corner DeAngelo Hall. Hall finished his rookie year on a high note and is looking good in camp. He sure doesn’t lack confidence either. Hall talked about regaining his confidence, "You've got to have the swagger and, after what I went through last year, it's definitely good to have it back. If you play cornerback, you want people to notice you, because teams are coming after you anyway. So, I'm just kind of saying, 'OK, here I am.' I really don't mind sticking out, not at all." Other defensive players worth noting are DT Brandon Mitchell and DE Brady Smith. Mitchell tweaked his back while Smith will be out for at least another three weeks after undergoing neck surgery.

Special Teams: PK Todd Peterson made both his field goal attempts (28 and 36 yards) during the American Bowl on Saturday. Punter Michael Koenen handled all the kickoffs, getting anywhere from 60 to 74 yards (excluding one squib and one he put out of bounds). Rookie WR Brian Bratton handled most of the return duties on both kickoffs and punts. Rookie WR Cole Manger fair caught a punt and WR Romby Bryant returned one kick. None of the three receivers are likely to make the final roster.

Falcons Depth Chart
QB Michael Vick, Matt Schaub, Ty Detmer, Bryan Randall
RB Warrick Dunn (3RB), T.J. Duckett (SD), Jason Wright, Deandra Cobb (KR), T.A. McClendon, Marlion Jackson
FB Justin Griffith, Fred McCrary, Carey Davis, Kevin Dudley
WR Michael Jenkins, Dez White, Peerless Price, Roddy White, Brian Finneran, Kendrick Mosley, Romby Bryant, Lawrence Bady, Cole Magner, Kerry Johnson
TE Alge Crumpler, Dwayne Blakely, Eric Beverly, Mark Anelli, Steve Cucci
K Todd Peterson, Ryan Rossner
DE Patrick Kerney, Brady Smith, Brandon Mitchell (DT), Junior Glymph, Chauncey Davis, Khaleed Vaughn, Erik Flowers, Gabe Nyenhuis, Anthony Herron
DT Rod Coleman, Chad Lavalais (NT), Jonathan Babineaux, Antwan Lake, Darrell Shropshire
MLB Edgerton Hartwell, Jordan Beck
OLB Keith Brooking (W), Demorrio Williams (S), Ike Reese (S/W), Michael Boley, Jordan Kramer (W), John Leake (S), Adrian Archie (W), Michael Brown (S), Derrick Tinsley, Hannibal Thomas
CB DeAngelo Hall, Jason Webster, Kevin Mathis, Allen Rossum (KR), Christian Morton, Byron Jones
S Bryan Scott (FS), Keion Carpenter (SS), Ronnie Heard (SS/FS), Rich Coady (FS), Kevin McAdam (FS), Ettric Pruitt (FS), Shawn Mayer (FS)