Rookie Report 1
By Adam Knoll | October 25, 2009 at 11:25 PM EDT | No Comments
It's time to have our first rookie report of the season, highlighting all the new blood on the roster and giving an honest assesment of the talent being brought through the system.
Understand we have a long way to go. This is just a report to keep those who have worked with us up to date on how we feel they are doing, and where they are in the team's plans. Also, another aside before we begin. We may have 12 rookies on our roster, yet we have only seen about 7 of them, and there is another gentileman that came out (and did very well) that nobody seemed to know the name of. From here on out he is player X.
Player(position possibilities, in order)
Cody Sisk (DE/LB) - Actually not a 'true' rookie since he practiced with us last season all the way up till when we actually put pads on. He's back and as ridiculous as ever. He's been working as an outside linebacker, but his strength is still at that DE spot. He's probably a borderline starter at this point. His smarts and athletic ability really are a nice asset. Grade: A
D'Angelo Richardson (CB/S/WR) - A Physical specimen, Richardson has good ball recognition and make-up speed. He understands the position and doesnt get beat straight up too often. As a reciever though...the hands need work. Knows the routes and they way they are supposed to be run. Could turn into an offensive threat, but for now has to remain a defensive minded candidate. Grade: A-
William Peebles (FB/LB) - Dude is built, and fast as well. Knows nothing of the finer points of football, but thats okay: his two positions dont require them. Has decent hands, coverage ability and I would NOT want to be tackled by him. He did not dissapoint in any area, and impressed in a few along the way. Perfectly above average. Grade: B
Player X (CB) - Made some really nice plays, didnt get to see him much on offense. All I saw was him make some nice adjustments, used his body well and cut off a few plays. Hector and Trion say they know him, so I'm sure he'll be back. Grade: B
Daniel Mikal (QB/CB) - Came in, knew the routes, ran the base formation and seemed to be unafraid to take the lead as far as being eager. However, some actual quotes from the last practice: 'His huddle is a commitee, everyone speaks', 'Stared down the recievers horribly', and 'Afraid to trust his recievers in tight spots'. However, even though his accuracy was off on some easy passes, he did make some nice throws and seems to be coachable. I personally like that even though we threw him in the fire a bit, he didnt combust. As a corner, he's new and needs work. Grade: B-
Brandon Gnaidek (CB) - Only came out for the first day of tryouts, and pulled a hammy. He was respectable when he was out there though, held his own and didnt get beat too badly. Unfortunately, seeing him for half of one practice means we didnt get a great look at the man. Grade: C
Those we havent seen: Rob Schults, Phil Menard, Chris Smith
Just added: Matt Splitt, Nick Del Frate, Andrew Menard, Kyle Ritter
Tryout Wrap-up
By Adam Knoll | October 11, 2009 at 11:17 PM EDT | No Comments
Thats how you do it, short and sweet, get it done. The beginning of the 2010 campain went pretty smooth as the two day tryout brought most of the vets together, as well as some fresh faces to be added to the mix. With the Phoenix having it's eyes set on having an active roster of 25-30, there are only about six to seven spots needed to be filled.
Saturday was brisk with a strong wind that hampered alot of the things we wanted to do. We pushed our full combine to our March tryout, as the overall feeling was that the coldness would drag everybodies true abilities down. What was mostly worked on was skills and scheme setup the first day, and an overall offense vs defense the second day.
Sunday was perfect, we could not have asked for a better day. Whether or not the lack of adverse conditions added to the improved play of the the offense is best to be left unknown. On Saturday, we had trouble, on Sunday we rocked. Anytime you are implementing an entire new system, people get confused. It's not just the rooks that are going to have to learn a new system, it's everyone. The scheme is not difficult to understand, but it takes a thinking man to digest it. One weekend worth of work will not satisfy that need.
The defense, on the other hand, is potent from a coverage standpoint. Being mostly a skelliton OvsD, most of the coverages were zone, but there were alot of new looks and beating it was a chore at times. Most of the nuvleus has worked together before, and seeing as most of the new talent is strickly defensive, the secondary is stacked with talent.
Quick Observations:
As with any tryout, some who said they would show, didnt. The point of having a tryout is to not only evaluate those who do show up, but to weed out those who didnt have the commitment to show. On this team, you will have to prove yourself. Some did, others didnt.
As noted before, the secondary restocking was unbelievable. Every single new man adapted to the scheme well and really worked hard to prove themselves. As such, any fears about the saftey position can be put to bed, as well as th overall depth need has suchwise been filled.
The standout to my point of view, from the new breed, was young D'Angelo Richardson, a corner/saftey/wideout. The first day he was thrown into the fire a bit, and got beat some going against more knowledgeable players. However on the second day he was flying everywhere, even getting a bit of time at WR. His hands looked much improved on the second day and he held his own. If applicable, he will be a major addition to this team.
Veteran Offensive player who stuck out the most may have been Hector Carrasco, running crisp routes and even getting a spin at QB for a second. He looked poised to contribute as his status as #1 WR is becoming established.
Veteran Defensive player is a bit harder to come up with. Playing mostly zone packages all tryout leaves alot to be said about the defense as a whole, not just single players. Richard Linkowski and Trion Brown were just as cumbersome as always, being the smart and agile corners that they are. Chris Bella may have been the most standout, holding the middle with authority as always. Nic Purtee fought off sixkness to participate both days, and there is still no better open field tackler than he.
On the first day, the offense got through its base packages, on Sunday they turned it up a bit and went with a more diverse approach. Words cannot tell how much better the O looked on day two.
Slot reciever looks to be more of a competition than previously thought. Also, 2 new HB sprouted up which couldprovide solid depth behind Weiss. TE was a downside, as Dotson got extensive work there, yet Weiss never really did and no depth was added there besides maybe using Richardson there from time to time. Outside linebacker is still a question mark with the thought of maybe taking one of our better tacklers at corner and putting them there, but no heir appartent has been named. The Phoenix are just as they should be, a talented core looking for the outside pieces to complete thier whole. It will be a fun winter.
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