First of all, I need to start by saying
@VeteranRamFan, I saw that girl first. She was two people in front of me in line. Unfortunately, the line was moving pretty quickly today. It would've been nice to have a 35 minute long wait in line that I had yesterday. She looked incredible from the angle that you took the picture from, but she looked 100 times better from behind. You could not imagine my surprise when I saw that picture.
I didn't meet up with
@VeteranRamFan and
@bubbaramfan today because I was with a different friend, so we didn't talk at all today, but seeing that photo really cracked me up just now.
On to football.
“I mean, he’s looking guys off mid-throw where he’s throwing across his body and the ball is out before receivers are looking,” laughed Kupp. “The self-ease within his drops and how he’s manipulating guys, that’s kind of the big thing I’ve seen. When you’re really watching him, the command that he has already over some of these concepts — that’s just going to get better over time.”
The throw itself, Kupp described, was a “fringe throw” during which Stafford held the safety to the backside.
“It was something crazy — we had a bust on the play, and the guy who was supposed to go on the safety on the backside busted his route,” Kupp said. “For (Stafford) to still hold that safety and then no-look this pass down the field, and being able to, on the no-look, move an underneath defender … was pretty insane. It was an unbelievable play.”
So, I feel a little validated reading this today. The one thing that stands out for me with Matt Stafford is that he really looks off the safety before making the throw. It's not just that he looks one way before throwing the other way, it's far more complex than that. He sometimes looks to the short left before switching and looking deep left for the throw. Other times, he looks one way, then throws it the other way. And still other times, he doesn't look off the safety at all because it's a quick out, a quick slant, a WR bubble screen, or a RB swing pass.
What is a safety supposed to do? Bite on the short throws? Stay deep at all times? It's fucked up to do to a defense. I don't know how I would play him if I were on the defense because most players telegraph what they are going to do. Stafford does not do that. Between how open the wide receivers are going to be and what Stafford does with his eyes, the Rams will be scoring a lot of points this year.
I'm not sure how much there is to add to yesterday's report, but I will try my best to remember what happened. This Bryce Perkins guy looks stellar. While he looks raw at times, he just throws a really beautiful ball. Hodges and Wolford may have more in-game experience, but Perkins looks nice. My friend and I were saying that it would be nice to have Perkins as a number two QB. Of course, we never want to see him on the field. Ever.
In terms of offensive formation, I think we are going to go back to the 11 personnel that we saw in 2018. It looks like the rotation that is a favorite is Van Jefferson, Kupp, and Woods, along with Tyler Higbee and Darrell Henderson at tailback. It may just be that they are installing 11 personnel plays right now, but I'm seeing that particular combination the most. Occasionally, Jake Funk will step in for Henderson, and DeSean Jackson will step in for Van Jefferson, but I think those are our go-to guys based on today's and yesterday's reps.
I saw RB Xavier Jones come in a number of times with the ones as well. He looked really nice and smooth, especially on the one-cut and run upfield type of plays.
Nobody is throwing at Jalen Ramsey in 7-on-7, which makes sense. Robert Rochell looks really damn good out there. I think the defensive coaches will need to find a way to get Rochell into the game, even if that means putting him at nickel or something else. He's a big, long, rangy defender, and he seems very smart as well. I dunno if it's smart or instinctive, but he has a nose for the ball. I hope we see the type of development out of him that we've seen from Darious Williams and Terrell Burgess and Taylor Rapp and Jordan Fuller. Hell, any corner is going to look good on an Aaron Donald-defense.
It is really nice to see Aaron Donald in training camp. When he was holding out, we didn't see him. During COVID last year, we didn't see anyone, but it's just really nice to see him out there. I miss Brockers though. I think he leaves a void that kinda sucks. A'Shawn looks leaner and meaner than he has in the past.
I couldn't tell you much about the rest of camp because the scrimmages were on the far side. While my binoculars helped, there were too many obstructions to see much more than personnel groupings and who made the completions.
I got my first look at Jacob Harris. He is a BIG boy. Very tall and strong-looking. He is going to be hard to keep on the sidelines if he really has a 40-in. vert and a 4.4. 40-yd. dash.
Kupp, Woods, Van Jefferson, and all of the other wide receivers look very good.
Landon Akers made some nice grabs on the 2nd team.
Ben Skowronek looks great. He is catching almost every ball, even in traffic. He's a big target, and he has that weird thing that fast, tall players have where he doesn't look like he's running that fast, but he's eating up a lot of ground in a hurry. He already looks like a preferred target of Wolford's. I like where this is heading, but we have such an embarrassment of riches on offense. No wonder they didn't want to take a lineman.
Speaking of linemen, Max Pircher is a BIG, BIG MAN. He is stout and just looks like a mountain. If you watch him, he is constantly looking talking to either Havenstein or Whitworth. I think he's going to somehow make himself indispensable.
I didn't get a chance to see Ernest Jones much because I was on the wrong side of the field.
NOTE: If you're heading to camp, take a look at the two displays in between the two fields. If it is facing your side, find a good seat and sit down. If it is turned away from you, go find a seat next to the other end of the field. It's the scrimmages that you really want to see.
@VeteranRamFan and
@bubbaramfan: I missed you guys today. I will join you at the next one.
Cheers!
P.S. Thanks for all of the comments and appreciation. I enjoyed reading the replies and compliments. It is greatly appreciated!
I used to live in Laguna Nigel and that has always been the kind of scenery there.
