Some thoughts.
Romo seems to be moving around fine. He doesn't look ginger when he is running and when he steps into his throws. He does look sloppy mechanically throwing without his base underneath him and trying to arm it. It resulted in some ducks downfield. He can still torque his fastball. He did juke some rush stepping up and over to a throwing lane for a completion. He is going to have to take some hits but he is one tough SOB. I don't doubt him.
Weeden has the arm and is accurate but I do worry about his pocket presence. The second units interior line is decent with Nwaneri, Patrick and Leary/Bernadeau. He is also going to get to play with the ones in the first preseason game. He needs to work on that part of his game. He needs to use his OL and not work against it.
Vaughn/Hanie feasted on the young corners too. I don't know how to judge very many QB reads so I am not going to front. The passing attack was effective all the way through. Vaughn seems to have a presence out there but that could be me reacting to camera work.
The camera angles for the webcast were bad. I understand that they have to deal with the field and venue as it is but the shot was out of either endzone and fit to the OL. That meant anyone out on the perimeter could not be seen. Because it was from the ground level when the action starts it is difficult to gauge what is going on as people move in and out of visibility
Henry Melton is quick and has a bevy of moves. Martin is a strong guy with good feet and hands that can stone him when he gets his hands on him but Melton can stop that from happening from time to time and get upfield. Melton used a rip move and pure quickness to that end. Most OG are not as good as Martin is and I think Melton will be effective for us.
The battle between Leary and Bernadeau is going to be a good one. Bernadeau had a big issue with awareness last season where he would not see blitzes and the like coming at him until it was too late. One benefit of the shot was you could see the players eyes and Bernadeau's were scanning the field and not locking in on the guy in front of him. I love high definition. I hope he is taking in where the rush might come from. The defense was liberal with the blitz and the interior line held up well. He has natural bend and anchors like a pro. Leary came to play though. His motions are crisp, quick and powerful. You can tell he works with Tyron Smith because he looks a little like him with his footwork. You can see he is taking to the coaching because he moves with an efficiency that I did not see from him last year. He also works to counter the moves DL try to put on him and when he knocks their hands away, their rush is over. Very powerful and looks to have had an excellent offseason.
The backups are a mixed bag. Parnell could not handle Wilson in those end of game situations they ran. He looked really sloppy setting up and I just recalled Mike Mayock screaming at Alex Barron, 'get your butt down.' Wilson got the edge. The second sack Parnell gave up to Wilson was not his fault. Weeden left the pocket and all Parnell could have done is tackle Wilson. That being said I don't know what happened with his lateral quickness and flexibility? Did he hurt his knee? The next guy they brought in though actually got to run block Wilson and that run off tackle was a different story. Aladenoye even got his long arms on him on a rush the next down. Dude looks like a upside down tunip with arms. He showed that if you get your hands on Wilson he has trouble getting away. Then on 3rd and 7 Wilson blew by him for a would be sack later in the period. Wilson looks impressive pass rushing but in no way do I ever want to see him trying to deal with OT against the run. If Wilson starts beating the starters then I will be a believer
You really couldn't see the RT because of the nature of the end zone shot. When the RT when wide he left the shot and the LDE wasn't even in the frame. I tired to watch Wentzel some and during the stunt 2v3s he looked like he had good feet but did not seem particularly powerful. Looked a bit like Doug Free tbh. I couldn't see how he was doing against Crawford and the like as the second team RT. I didn't really get a gauge of the strongside either way so I couldn't tell you how Witten, Hanna or Escobar blocked either. They were never inline in any shot.
Bishop is my pet cat so I latched onto him every chance I could get. In the 2v3 he unveiled a spin move i had never seen from him before that was effective. He seems very raw compared to Melton or Mincey, guys who have repped their moves hundreds of times for pro coaches. Really interested to see McClain play but alas. Anyway, he used a rip move on Frederick that turned him and he was able to get upfield. On another rep Fred stoned two moves from him and slapped his hands away. He then got low and bull rushed which did work but by that point the play would have been over long ago. He is relentless though and Frederick barked at him after the rep.
He got a lot of work with McClain out. He took all the second and third team reps. When he was isolated on the center, Ronald Patrick mostly, he got push. He would just charge him and deliver a blow and PAtrick did give. He didn't overpower Patrick mind you but it was enough especially on running downs that they did start double teaming him. They teach DT when that happens to sink a knee and leverage to hold on. He did that well. Now maybe Wilson got blown off the ball once but that is not his fault. He lines up inbetween the OG and C, the A gap, and three times they asked him to stunt into the B gap to the guards outside shoulder. Twice he was disruptive and scuttled the play.
You can see the techniques that the coaches are teaching him and he is taking to it. Marinelli and Lett do a very good job developing linemen and it is a pleasure to watch.
Coleman is very quick and he gets upfield. He needs to work on getting off blocks Malena at one point ran right by him as he failed to get disengaged from the guard in time. He needs to get stronger in the upper body or do a better job handfighting but his quickness upfield is impressive.
Rayford is active but you would like to see him make plays. He didn't. None of the other DT impressed me although Dartawn Bush's name was called. Again the SDE, like Crawford or Rayford when he lined up out there.
For the interior oline backups, I noticed Nwaneri in that he competes. He is not over powering but he is scrappy and he doesn't get fooled by the way DL try and set up there pass rush moves. He is very savvy if you will. Patrick looked neither quick nor overpowering but he seemed competent.
The backs were behind the camera shot for the most part but all of them had a measure of success.
Getting Dunbar in space appears to be a core tenant of what Linehan is trying to do. Murray will see his receptions increase too if the scrimmage is any indication. While he never coached under Martz, you can tell he pulled from his playbook when coaching his offense because he definitely has a WCO feel to the Coryell style downfield attack. His offense was a good choice for Garrett who values being able to attack the defense from all over the field, inside and out.
they don't tackle in the run period so it is hard to gauge how well things worked but they are keeping the stretch right and left. The zone power off the G/C combo was also on display. Saw them run simple off tackle too. Nothing too interesting like screens or a pitch to the outside though I was hoping to see something of that nature. I know most of our guys can pull.
The skill position guys I will be more brief regarding as i could only see them when there was a highlight for the most part.
The importance of good corners was on full display. The Dez and Scandrick back and forth was well chronicled and i don't know that i have much to add to that. Outside of Scandrick, Patmon and Williams showed both why the coaches see promise and why they still need a lot of work. Webb looks small and offered no resistance whatsoever. He does not seem to have built on last year like you would like. The QBs showed the corners no respect and threw on them early and often to a large amount of success. Some plays were made but not nearly enough as opposed to what the offense did.
Church still plays sound football and finds his way around the ball. Wilcox plays with an intensity and a desire that stands out. Sure he had that hit but he clearly has the passion that Garrett talks about. He sees things better and the game is not too fast for him. As his recognition improves so will his game and I am interested to see what his ceiling is. His arrow is up.
I am going to withhold comment on Heath until I see him play tackle football. He undoubtedly has the head to play the game but he was overpowered last year. He may have gotten stronger and he may not have. I want to see. Hamilton was around the ball too. His coverage on the very large Escobar was pretty good. Escobar had position and fought for the ball though. More on that later. I want to see Hamilton react to deep routes run at his zone but for what he was given in the brief time he was in there he was there for the would be tackle. Hope he mends to see on Thursday.
The LBers looked pretty good. Carter was slow to realign on an offensive shift eliciting a push in the correct direction from Durant which was troubling but outside of that seemed to make quick decisive reads. Durant is comfortable enough making line calls, is quick, and plays with an intensity i like. He sets a good example for the younger players. The SAM spot is Wilber's and he isn't giving it up. Potential rivals in Durant and Holloman are not getting any snaps there.
the OLB in general are doing a good job getting into their drops and making plays on inside routes from the WR while keeping tabs on the RB. Wilber and Hitchens in particular stood out in this regard.
Holloman transformed his body. He used to look pudgy where now he looks solid. He runs better too and he ran pretty well before. He ran the third team mike and made a play on a deep ball 40 yards downfield that was impressive. He can clearly cover the deep middle for tampa 2 looks. I could see him starting at MIKE or WILL if he keeps coming on. Don't be surprised if he unseats Carter. He is a playmaker plain and simple.
Watching McClain in his two point stance scanning the offense, he certainly looks the part of a ILB. Prototypical MIKE size. He runs well and with urgency. I don't know if he makes the right reads but he sees the field well and is decisive. I want to say he is instinctive but I am comparing him to Carter and Lawrence learning it last year and they looked as deer in the headlights as routes were run at them from time to time. Carter was typically only a step slow to react but Lawrence wouldn't react at all to stuff run at him until after the completion was made.
They were throwing at the corners downfield mostly when Lawrence was in there but to his credit he was lining Sapp and Smith up when the third team was out for the final series.
Witten still runs powerful routes. It is the only way I know how to describe it. He uses his size to clear a path and fight for the ball when its thrown his way. His route tree would make great instructional video for possession receivers. Escobar is using his size and strength in his route running too. I was very critical of him versus Denver where he didn't fight for the ball on an in route and allowed the LB to pick the ball off. The reception he made for the TD was on a slant but nonetheless it was good to see him fight off a determined Hamilton for the completion. I want to see him run those in and curls and get the ball but so far so good. I have no idea how he blocked which was irritating because he was out there for some run plays but he wasn't in the shot. I didn't notice Hanna beyond that he was the first person to step to Bryants defense after Wilcox started throwing haymakers. He did look to have a noticeably bigger bubble so he definitely put in work this offseason.
I want to say that I loved to see Wilcox make that hit. It was a thing of beauty right to the chops and I would love to see him hit Darren Sproles or Pierre Garcon just like that if they want to run inside. That was a good job as he let Bryant come down and gather himself a little before he launched that double forearm shiver right to Bryant's chest plate. He has a very good feel for attack angles and the rules. He just needs to learn to not fight back when people step to him like Bryant did or he is going to get thrown out of games. Let them get thrown out if they cannot remember they are playing football where hitting is legal.
