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2007 NFL Training Camp – Sunday Wrap Up

NFL

by oiler on Sunday, July 29th, 2007 at 11:19am

  • Donald Driver has a shoulder injury from last season that is still giving him problems.
  • Earlier reports of Derrick Burgess holding out were wrong. He’s talking like a professional and playing out his contract, despite his wishes to get a pay raise. But he’s also sitting out right now because of a hernia surgery he had two weeks ago.
  • When the Falcons hired Bobby Petrino as their head coach, he brought in a different offensive line philosophy to Atlanta. Petrino likes a big, powerful line and the Falcons had been running a quicker, zone blocking scheme over the last few years.

    The beneficiary of Atlanta’s change: Oakland. They picked up former Falcons coach Tom Cable to run their offensive line this season. When you’re as bad as the Raiders’ OL was last season, any change is good change. But this one looks like it could be a great change.



    Robert Gallery is being moved to LG where he can take better advantage of his size and inside quickness in this scheme.

  • With rumors circulating about Michael Strahan’s future, the Giants are reportedly eyeing veterans Marcellus Wiley or Simeon Rice. I personally think Rice will end up in Detroit, with his former DL coach and friend, Rod Marinelli. Hashmarks breaks down the Rice / Strahan effect on the Bucs and Giants, respectively.
  • Texans RB Chris Taylor is out for the season after tearing the meniscus in his left knee.
  • Willis McGahee calls his move to Baltimore the “perfect scenario, perfect situation, perfect team.” Much of the same was said last season when Steve McNair came over. This has got to really be the perfect one, right? How could it not be? The Ravens have had a lot of changes on their offensive line, and Jonathan Ogden has to prove he can stay healthy.
  • The Dolphins are enjoying Cam Cameron’s more laid back approach.
  • Donovan McNabb says his knee is still only 75 percent but swears he can best one of the best even at that level. As long as he’s on the field, he’s probably right.
  • Tatum Bell has “wow’ed” Mike Martz with his skills, and is also happy that he’s out of Denver.
  • Another coach who’s happy with his young running back right now is Bobby Petrino on Jerious Norwood.
  • More Falcons news; since they have all these plays to use with a mobile QB, D.J. Shockley has an opportunity to step up and get involved in the offense.
  • In case you haven’t heard or you’re not convinced, the Bills are using a running back by committee system.
  • The Jeff Garcia-led Bucs will be dumping more passes off to the running backs this season. With the key drops that Cadillac had last year, it’ll be interesting to see this preseason how he can adjust. Williams only had a few drops in 2006, but they all came at important times. He’s got more competition back there now with pass catching specialist Michael Pittman and rookie Kenneth Darby.
  • Recently signed Ted Ginn, Jr says he’s healthy.
  • Despite his offseason troubles, I really like Saints’ first round WR Robert Meachem. He’s gotten behind because of injuries and is still a very raw talent, but his attitude is where it needs to be and he’s got a quiet personality that’ll fit in well under Sean Payton’s staff. Plus, he’s talented as hell.
  • The Steelers are bringing back the no-huddle. This kind of reminds me a bit of their 2003 season when they went 6-10. They came into that year with this whole new philosophy thinking they were going to spread the game out and throw the ball all over the field. When it fell apart, they went back to more traditional Steelers’ football and went 15-1 the next season. We’ll see if new head coach Mike Tomlin can keep things in check here and maintain the team’s identity.
  • Cedric Houston is pretty much done with the Jets.
  • Football Guys has a nice debate on the Giants’ prediction that Brandon Jacobs will get 20-25 carries a game. I agree, the NYG staff makes that with the mind-set that they’re going to be winning 16 of 16 games this season and they’ll use Jacobs to run out the clock. So if they win 9 games all year, you got to figure that Jacobs will get 20-25 in those games, and then probably average closer to 12-15 in the other 7 games. That’s still close to 300 carries and would translate into about 1200 yards and maybe 10 TDs. I’d also like to point out something that isn’t being talked about too much yet, but was apparent during the Giants minicamp. Jacobs has definitely taken some weight off now that he’s has a different role in New York. His endurance will be a big factor with how effective he is as an every down back.