August 2, 2005 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Evening Practice)

August 2, 2005 New York Giants Training Camp Report (Evening Practice)

by BigBlueInteractive.com Contributor Ben Ad Rock

Here are my impressions of Tuesday evening’s practice.

First, the campus is all torn up at the tennis courts, so all the seating is right at the edge of the grassy knoll, which is pretty uncomfortable. It will likely be a disaster for Saturday’s joint practices, but what the –. I’ll go anyway.

They practiced in the middle away from any close view. The best location would probably be over the side away from campus, but that field was inaccessible because there was a youth football camp going on.

I ran into John G in Albany, Bob from Annapolis and Ed in FWB. They are all really good guys to hang with. I watched the second half of practices with John. Same disclaimer as always: It’s one practice. It means little. But sometimes it is nice to hear impressions. John and I were talking about how he has become a pariah for noticing that Burress appeared to be having troubles over the first day or two of practices. One word of comment that would go mildly unnoticed in conversation is picked apart chewed up and spit out when it reaches print.

I didn’t have a very good view and I dumbly neglected to bring field glasses. I first started watching the DBs (as they were close to the fence). Jack Brewer really seemed to be struggling today. He dropped stuff, he made weird turns. He really fights the ball. Of course this was just an interception/pass catch drill and he’s a special teams guy and a safety. Still, he seemed brutal. Holy crap is Corey Webster big! He has a bicep that looks like leg. Will Allen looked very good. He even caught balls thrown at him (which may be a first). Frank Walker, Curtis DeLoatch (except when he dropped an INT in the 2 minute drill and dropped for a quick 10 pushups), and Will Peterson all looked good.

Wow! Rich Seubert looked really good and he looked like his old chippy self, driving several people around the field with blocks. I know it doesn’t matter much because guys are going at about 3/4 motor at best during these types of practices, but it certainly is heartening to see him out there with legs of the same approximate size (whereas last year one was markedly smaller than the other). I said to John, “Do you see a limp?” John said, “Don’t draw me into that whole fight…” For guys I didn’t know at all, DE Adrian Awasom and JDT onas Seawright flashed some on the defensive line.

As far as the RBs were looking, Tiki looked great as always. Mike Cloud flashed some. I couldn’t get a good read on Brandon Jacobs or Ryan Grant, but Derrick Ward made some good plays. A lot of that probably has to do with looking elsewhere. Ten people watching these practices likely see ten different things.

The QBs looked out of synch. Actually, I think Lorenzen looked the best today. I was surprised. From what I read, he was still huge, but he has lost a lot of weight from what he was at college. He doesn’t look like a lineman. Speaking of looking like he lost weight, Kendrick Clancy looks positively small. There’s no way he is 300 punds. Maybe he is going to swing on the line a la Legree? I didn’t get a good view at him taking any snaps at end though.

I didn’t see TE Visanthe Shiancoe drop any balls, but I never saw him catch one cleanly. I don’t think that will cut it. Shockey dropped a couple and screamed. He didn’t like that. They did some interesting substitutions with wideouts. Whereas the defense played pretty straight up by units, the receiving corps was being substituted constantly. All and any guys might be on at any time. I saw FB Jim Finn flanked out one time. The best-looking receivers were probably in this order: Amani Toomer, Tim Carter, Jamaar Taylor. Plaxico is definitely looking pretty rough at the moment, but he is also nicked up, so who knows how much that may be affecting him. He may also be confused by all this “forward pass” nonsense after spending last year in Woody Hayes’ offense at Pittsburgh.

Eli is looking a little rough right now. The deep out is just not there yet, but I’m sure it will come along. It’s not like anyone wants anyone else starting at QB.

Danger Moose was asking if I could discern some of the battles on the line. The line is pretty hard to make out from this practice. They were mostly away from everything. I’ll keep looking on Thursday and Friday. It was similarly hard to read the TEs from today. Seubert looked great. David Diehl looked completely at home back at guard. It’s important to remember he looked like a revelation at guard as a rookie. He definitely gets the lowest to the ground in his set, so his height can’t work against him. I think he’s going to be Pro Bowl quality this year.

I have never seen a fourth arm in camp get the ball like Lorenzen has. He may really be more in the thick of things than anyone has been reporting. I think he has lost perhaps 60 pounds from when he was at KY. Taylor and Carter looked very good (John and I kept yelling at defenders to stay away from their legs).

Osi Umenyiora and Luke Petitgout had a pretty interesting battle. I can’t tell if Luke was getting him wide enough or if the redshirts were saved by the no-hit rule. Osi gives Luke about as much as he can handle, in my opinion. However, Luke may just be riding him safely beyond the pocket. We know Luke has issues with speed and Osi is nothing if not a speed merchant.

Anyway, more on the way later this week.