Some notes from Training Camp

[PalmerToCJ]

From Lance McAlisters blog...

Thoughts from Georgetown
I drove down to watch the Saturday morning 9-11am session.
Things that jumped out/sights seen:
*ESPN's Chris Mortensen watching practice on the sidelines with jeans and a t-shirt on. Marvin came over and spoke to him during practice for about 5-minutes. Chris talked to Chad afterwards. No camera around at that point.
*Sight of camp: Landon Johnson. Holy crap! And I mean holy crap. He looks like a totally different player. He has added 20-25 lbs of muscle. You should see his upper body. He did it with diet and lifting...and had an offseason to do it without worry of the health of his shoulder. I kept looking at the roster to see his number and then looking at him to see if it really was him. It was.
*What a thrill it must be for Newport Central Catholic/Georgetown QB Jeff Smith to be in camp at his old school, and playing for the Bengals.
*5th round QB Jeff Rowe appeared a little shaky. As one observer said, "Not good when your QB has a wind up like Robin Roberts"
*A very vocal Ed Hartwell yelling at the offense, "Come on....were playin' football now!"
*TJ Wright, CB out of Ohio U., tipped several passes and looked like he knew what was going on.
*Play of the day: Keiwan picking off a pass and lateraling to Deltha O'Neal...and a fired up O'Neal high fiving teammates
*Catch(es) of the day: Chad up and over Deltha, one hander by Henry, Brazell with a couple of leaping catches
*Awfully nice to spend a practice watching Carson, without watching his knee and weight transfer.
*Kenderick Allen, DT, is HUGE.
*Marvin White, rookie S, looks like if he hit you, you would know it.
*Ahmad Brooks is simply a stunning football figure to look at and watch.
*I could see Kenny Irons really doing some big things this season.

Interesting on Landon, contract year... I guess he came prepared to be paid.

Ahmad and Marvin White will be amazing for the next few years.

[PalmerToCJ]

And more...

Observations from the morning practice at Georgetown:
*Scary moment: Free agent TE Sean Mulcahy appeared to sustain a neck injury during drills. He was strapped to the board and taken by ambulance to the UK Trauma Center in Lexington. Initial word was "encouraging"...nothing definitive. He is said to be alert and have feeling in his feet and legs.
*Where's Carson?: Carson did stretching with the team, in a t-shirt and shorts....then jogged off the field and did not practice. He had a "pre-planned" workout scheduled with Strength and Conditioning Coach Chip Morton.
*Wobble, wobble: Georgetown QB Jeff Smith appeared a little shaky early in passing drills....throwing a couple of passes that wobbled, another was overthrown and one behind a receiver.
*Welcome to the NFL: TJ appeared to school rookie Leon Hall on a couple of routes. Hall looks smaller than the listed 5'11.
*Hands off!: Rooke CB TJ Wright smacked QB Jeff Rowe pretty good when Rowe scrambled out of the pocket.
*Play of the day: Converted LB Eric Henderson leaping high into the air and making an off-balance interception. He then danced, dodged and made a nice return as players on both sides hooted and hollered.
*How'd he go undrafted?: Florida LB Earl Everett jumped out. Man is he quick! He beat TE Daniel Coats silly on a blitz drill.
*Checking 'em out: CNNSI's Peter King was on hand...wearing a Red Sox' hat. CBS Sportsline's Clark Judge was on hand as well.
*Keeping tabs: Tab Perry was praised by coaches for crisp routes and nice footwork....but had several drops.
*WR Benny Brazell was impressive for the second straight time I've watched him. That man has the smallest waist I've seen on an NFL player.
*Serious Stuff: I love how serious and how hard Chad Johnson works on routes.
*Bring it on: During WR drills, the OL and TE's were walking to the other end of the field in a line. Chad jumped in and proceeded to deliver a shoulder hit, one by one, to each of them.
*Look Ma'...one hand: Punt returners did a drill where they fielded punts with one arm craddled against their body.
*Big Dude: NC WR Jesse Holley is a big one.....6'2 213
*Whiff King: OSU FB Stan White totally whiffed on a block for the second straight practice I've watched him. Jim Anderson yelled, "Son, what are you doing?"
*Catch of the day: Chad over the shoulder to beat TJ Wright.

Yesterday in the Oklahoma drill Chad called out Eric Henderson (lol), he said he was going to go after Jeanty but he would've been killed if he did.

[ironman4579]

King recently posted this about Hall.

"5. I think if you are looking for an impact rookie who will be ready to play opening day on the Bengals, you're looking at smooth-as-silk cornerback Leon Hall, the top pick from Michigan. Watching him cover on the practice field this morning, I thought I was looking at a fifth-year pro, not a rookie in his fifth pro practice. He looks confident and will compete with Deltha O'Neal for the starting job, opposite last year's first-round pick, Johnathan Joseph. Joseph is out with a foot injury right now, but the Bengals expect him to be ready to start the season."

[PalmerToCJ]

Thanks for the post.

Deltha is finally motivated this year and he's playing to get paid (FA next year), I honestly expect Deltha to start all year if he doesn't get injured and Leon will be great depth in the event he does get hurt then take over next year.

[themaninblack]

very encouraging happenings for the defense. the eric henderson pick and landon johnson's increased size are making me rly happy.

[derza222]

Plus the development of Brooks is going to be huge, he's going to explode this year. Marvin White could push for a starting job by the end of the year and give some nastiness to the defense. Looks like Johnson could have a big year, Everett was a nice UDFA sign, and Jeanty/Henderson will look nice at SLB. Add into that some improvements at corner and you have a team with nice LB depth and an improved secondary. Plus you could see a guy like Peko making a big step in his second year, which would be absolutely huge.

[themaninblack]

young talent. i love it.

[PalmerToCJ]

I'd be happy with Peko if he didn't even step up this year, he was everywhere last year. I gotta say that was a find by Marvin.

Looks like the Oline is strong again as well, only thing I'm worried about is if Ghiaciuc goes down. Everywhere else we have good depth via Kooistra, Andrews and Whitworth because only one of them will have a starting spot.

[themaninblack]

i also liked the article about the oline working together in the offseason that was on the bengals site. "FINISH", i like it.

[ironman4579]

Sounds like Hall has been impressing the coaches so far, or at least meeting their expectations. I think he'll be pretty good as the nickle for you guys this year.

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/disp...3_DM7HAJU.html

[PalmerToCJ]

i also liked the article about the oline working together in the offseason that was on the bengals site. "FINISH", i like it.

Yeah they're really focusing on teamwork and have to do readings every night that say why teamwork is so important. Have you watched the Kenny Irons interviews on Bengals.com? They're awesome, he makes you laugh a lot and gives some insight into how coaches want business conducted.

Seems like we'll be better at WLB this year with Hartwell/Johnson, Henderson seems like he'll be a viable backup with potential.

I think instead of the 3 saftey sets we saw last year we'll see 3 CB sets this year because of our depth there.

Supposedly Keiwan has been the best CB in camp this year covering Chad well. Keiwan always seems to do good in camp then come preseason he gets put up in man on a faster CB and gets burned (see Lee Evans). Keiwan would make a GREAT cover 2 CB, just not good for us.

So far from what I'm hearing the Oline is MUCH improved and has great depth, Ahmad is impressing, Carson and the WR's are clicking better than ever, they're hoping to let the D play more aggressively this year (seems like I hear that every year though).

[J24]

Anyone know how Madieu is doing in Camp because I have saw from ESPN insider that he is on the Hot seat this season and with Marvins latest comments I kinda of believe him.

[themaninblack]

if landon johnson really is that big he should be a monster this year. he's always been athletic as hell and a solid tackler, now he can throw that haymaker with his added size.

[Aftermath]

Whats the deal about TJ being much faster than last year.

Sounds like our offense will be #1 next year, cant wait for the season.

[PalmerToCJ]

Whats the deal about TJ being much faster than last year.

Sounds like our offense will be #1 next year, cant wait for the season.

Evidently he's been training all offseason and working on his speed, they interviewed him before camp and asked him if he'd be faster and all he said was "you'll see".

I think Landon officially weighed in 7 pounds heavier, McAlister guessed a bit high but still he's put on some mass.