Saturday, July 28, 2012

Some Chiefs Camp Day 2 Observations

Part of my day at camp...Day 2 for the Chiefs.

Practice kicked off with the Field Goal team.

Nothing much to take away outside of the fake.  Roll out right...intermediate drag and cross, with a backside post working the end zone.

For the next part of practice I checked out the defensive drills.

I checked out the ILB position group.  At half speed and no pads, didn't really walk away with much.  The drill they ran was a watered down version of the Oklahoma drill.  ILB's came down hill, engaged blocker, disengaged to runner...seemed they knew the proper technique...but with no pads.

Position Groupings.

Mike-Belcher, Siler, Campbell...Will-DJ, Greenwood, Leon Williams, and Heyman

Eventually got bored and walked over to where the D-line was practicing.

Romeo and Pleasant were over there and they worked all of the linemen together initially.  They were working a two gap drill similar to linebackers where they slow-played pressure and disengaged.  Then the D-line broke up into positions.

Position Groupings.

LE-Jackson, Gordon, Ropati Pitoitua...RE-Dorsey, Poe, Bailey, Bair...NT-Toribio, Powe.

Instant observation...Pitoitua, Jerome Long, Ethan Johnson had a hard time through the drills...think they are a ways behind the rest of the group.

Notes on the D-line.

Powe displayed great leverage and I think he is coming along quickly...may be a factor in the rotation.

Dorsey is by far the most polished from a technical standpoint...hands, leverage, and footwork were great.

Dontari Poe-not displaying great leverage...bends at waste and doesn't drive through hips...still showed great upper body strength.  But he's legit, just behind on the technique...after watching him I wouldn't be concerned.

Gordon/Toribio-both are similar...great upper body power, neither have the best feet or leverage...but stout enough.

The next drill the d-line ran was a recognition one.

They had two offensive linemen in front of them and had to read and react to their steps...appeared that most were making the correct reads so that is certainly a positive.








Friday, July 27, 2012

Chiefs Position Battles: Mims vs. Stephenson

Backup Left Tackle-David Mims vs. Donald Stephenson

David Mims
Height-6'8"
Weight-335
Age-24
College-Virginia Union (Undrafted 2010)

Overview:
His size jumps out on paper and his range jumps out in pass protection. Even at his size Mims showed the range to protect against a speed rush. Still raw but already can do the hardest thing for Left Tackles to do.

Side Note:

When Gaither was released the transaction Chiefs made was to bring Mims on 53 man roster.  Could be Chiefs were protecting Mims in that transaction and Gaither was just collateral damage.

Donald Stephenson
Height-6'6"
Weight-312
Age-23
College-Oklahoma (3rd Round 2011)

Overview:

I see him as an athlete playing LT more than a LT. Extremely athletic but plays without leverage, and technique is non-existent. Questionable power (19 bench reps at combine). He compensates lack of power by using momentum, which requires speed, which gets him off balanced and kills his technique.

My Guess:

Mims wins the back-up job (role he ended with last year), and Stephenson develops. Wouldn't shock me if Stephenson changes positions, he's a versatile enough athlete.