DHB vs Crabtree
- Thread starter Tony
- Start date
well Gallery is pretty much solid at the Guard position and should make the probowl this season.. I really like the addition of Barnes to our oline.. dudes been solid in jacksonville and really helped their run game out.. And I like our new center Satele that we got from the dolphins much better than Jake Grove.. they pretty much swapped centers with us.. Satele has been solid for the fins despite playing through injury last season.. I feel he too can be a probowl player for us and help us big time with our running game... our oline should be fine as long as they give Russell enough time to throw and open up holes for our running backs.. now Dline is still a big ? mark... can Burgess get back to doing what he did in his first seasons with Oak? will Kelly live up to the big $? and man can Sands step it up?? our run D was horrible last season.. we can only hope shit goes well this coming season
Damn... DHB gotta step up. He dropped 3 catchable passes in a row???? Lack of concentration or what???? Come on DHB step up bro'!!
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Di...a-forgettable-first-impression--44761517.html
SAN FRANCISCO — At Raiders minicamp, I got my first in-person look at first-round pick, Darrius Heyward-Bey. Ohmigawd.
That is not meant as a compliment.
The Raiders were running an offensive drill, with no defenders on the field. DHB, as he prefers to be called, went down the right sideline and quarterback JaMarcus Russell rifled a pass to him. The ball dropped over Heyward-Bey’s left shoulder and he dropped it.
The next two passes were on shorter routes, square outs over the middle. One of the questions about DHB was his ability to run routes, but he ws picture perfect on these. Quarterbacks Bruce Gradkowski and Jeff Garcia put the ball right in his hands. He dropped both of them.
At the previous day’s practice, as I heard second-hand, in full-squad practice, he tipped off cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha with his eyes, and Nnamdi stepped in front of him for what should have been an interception. Another rap against him in college was that he didn’t like contact and on Friday, there were two occasions when, on short passes to him, he hunched his shoulders against an expected hit instead of using his size to extend and catch the ball. Both times, defenders were able to reach over him to knock down the pass.
He was excused from afternoon practice on Saturday and the one practice on Sunday because his hamstring tightened up. All in all, not an auspicious beginning. But then, even his collegiate offensive coordinator talks of DHB as needing a couple of years to reach his pro potential. Heyward-Bey joked after Friday’s practice that there should be a redshirt year in the NFL. Actually, there is. It’s called your senior year in college.
Al Davis loves speed, of course, but other football people look at production in college. Michael Crabtree had that, but the Raiders passed on him. Through his mouthpiece, Tom Cable, Davis has compared DHB to Randy Moss, but Moss caught 26 touchdowns in one year in college. This guy caught 13 in three years.
Through Cable — reminder to self: Check to see if Cable actually has an earplug to get Davis’ instructions — Davis has also compared the Raiders’ second-round pick, Mike Mitchell, to Jack Tatum. I was on the Raiders beat when Tatum was drafted and I remember vividly that Tatum was a super player at Ohio State, on the highest level of collegiate play. Mitchell hits hard in the videos I’ve seen, but it’s against a much lower level of competition.
When players are productive at a high collegiate level, there’s a much better chance they’ll be productive pros. When Darren McFadden came to his first camp last year, it was obvious that he not only had the speed Davis loves, but was a complete player. He wowed everybody watching his first practice.
DHB? Not so much.
On the plus side of the minicamp, Russell was very impressive, throwing every kind of pass. He’s always had a strong arm and he’s learned to use a soft touch on short passes. If he gets good protection from the offensive line, which is still a question, he could have an outstanding year.
But will the first-round pick be a part of that? Not unless he has a huge improvement in the next four months. I wouldn’t bet on it.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Di...a-forgettable-first-impression--44761517.html
SAN FRANCISCO — At Raiders minicamp, I got my first in-person look at first-round pick, Darrius Heyward-Bey. Ohmigawd.
That is not meant as a compliment.
The Raiders were running an offensive drill, with no defenders on the field. DHB, as he prefers to be called, went down the right sideline and quarterback JaMarcus Russell rifled a pass to him. The ball dropped over Heyward-Bey’s left shoulder and he dropped it.
The next two passes were on shorter routes, square outs over the middle. One of the questions about DHB was his ability to run routes, but he ws picture perfect on these. Quarterbacks Bruce Gradkowski and Jeff Garcia put the ball right in his hands. He dropped both of them.
At the previous day’s practice, as I heard second-hand, in full-squad practice, he tipped off cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha with his eyes, and Nnamdi stepped in front of him for what should have been an interception. Another rap against him in college was that he didn’t like contact and on Friday, there were two occasions when, on short passes to him, he hunched his shoulders against an expected hit instead of using his size to extend and catch the ball. Both times, defenders were able to reach over him to knock down the pass.
He was excused from afternoon practice on Saturday and the one practice on Sunday because his hamstring tightened up. All in all, not an auspicious beginning. But then, even his collegiate offensive coordinator talks of DHB as needing a couple of years to reach his pro potential. Heyward-Bey joked after Friday’s practice that there should be a redshirt year in the NFL. Actually, there is. It’s called your senior year in college.
Al Davis loves speed, of course, but other football people look at production in college. Michael Crabtree had that, but the Raiders passed on him. Through his mouthpiece, Tom Cable, Davis has compared DHB to Randy Moss, but Moss caught 26 touchdowns in one year in college. This guy caught 13 in three years.
Through Cable — reminder to self: Check to see if Cable actually has an earplug to get Davis’ instructions — Davis has also compared the Raiders’ second-round pick, Mike Mitchell, to Jack Tatum. I was on the Raiders beat when Tatum was drafted and I remember vividly that Tatum was a super player at Ohio State, on the highest level of collegiate play. Mitchell hits hard in the videos I’ve seen, but it’s against a much lower level of competition.
When players are productive at a high collegiate level, there’s a much better chance they’ll be productive pros. When Darren McFadden came to his first camp last year, it was obvious that he not only had the speed Davis loves, but was a complete player. He wowed everybody watching his first practice.
DHB? Not so much.
On the plus side of the minicamp, Russell was very impressive, throwing every kind of pass. He’s always had a strong arm and he’s learned to use a soft touch on short passes. If he gets good protection from the offensive line, which is still a question, he could have an outstanding year.
But will the first-round pick be a part of that? Not unless he has a huge improvement in the next four months. I wouldn’t bet on it.
