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Saturday, May 03, 2008

Live blogging from morning practice Saturday...

... OK, just kidding.

I'm sure you guys already know about the little web blog hiccup concerning live blogging from practice. Whatev. Less work for me. And more work being done throughout corporate America as guys now can't be online here rather than doing their jobs.

As you may know I wrote a column about Jake Long for today's paper. I was truly impressed by his work Friday. Now, I realize it is a rookie camp and he is facing rookies and free agents. I realize there is no contact. I realize he will have plenty of long, hard, bad days in the months ahead as he learns to be a pro.

But yesterday you could see he is special. He moves well. I'm not talking well for a man his size, I'm talking well for anybody. He is not a big, lumbering, slow Big 10 guy. He moves well! And once he gets his technique down, he'll be fine against Big Time pass rushers.

Chad Henne revealed Friday that he took injections after five games last season to numb the pain of a separated right (throwing) shoulder. That injury sapped his passing velocity and affected his play. But it also showed pro teams that he's gutsy.

Some things I'll be looking at today:

Can Jalen Parmale catch the ball cleanly? He was hit and miss Friday.

Can Jayson Foster follow a pretty good first day with a better second day? The trouble with a lot of rookies is they think they've arrived after one day. They haven't. Some think once they do something well, that's good enough. It isn't.

Coaches are looking for and demanding IMPROVEMENT. So Foster was good Friday. He needs to be better Saturday.

I want to concentrate on DE Kendall Langford today. GM Jeff Ireland said he runs a 4.9 at 287 pounds, which is something that caught a lot of teams' attention during the draft. Let's see if that flashes at some point today.

Finally, I'll be focusing on CB Will Billingsley also. Who is this guy? He wasn't drafted last year and sort of disappeared. But he supposedly runs a 4.3 in the 40 which makes him special already. We'll see if that speed is accompanied by some instincts and coverage ability.

See you after practice.

19 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's me Zoidberg! Wowowowowoeeee

10:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Armandito!

Let us know know Marcel Reece does, i think he's wearing Marty Booker's number "86".

11:09 AM  
Blogger Dr Michael P Kane said...

Nice to see you changed your whiney baby tune from yesterday. While we all appreciate and love the info you bring, to be honest, we'd rather have a great football team than a happy journalist. If Parcells et. al. think this is the best way to build a top football program for us then we are behind it 100% and if you have to blog from memory 2 hrs later, well so be it. Jason used to do the same type of whiney baby crap and, to be honest, I don't think anyone misses it. To us fans, the journalists are not as important as the team. Although, we do like you guys too.

11:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've fallen and I can't get up!

11:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks - this is the kind of info that I'm looking for.

12:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Excellent post, drkane.

12:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good info Mando, How did Devon Hess LOOK??

12:41 PM  
Blogger Solomon said...

Here's a clue as to what Sparano thinks of his QB's:
When talking about the three he used their names like this:
"Chad, Beck, and McCown." LOL!!!
Not saying Henne's the starter from that quote, but using the first name of one guy and the last names of the other two is kinda telling. LOL!!!

1:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think you mean, DAVONE BESS.

1:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

These camps will not leave me impresses with Jake; as you said, he goes against rookies and free agents with little contact. I wanna see him up against JT. The thing that impressed me with him is his penalties and sacks (or lack thereof) in college!

1:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

mando,

how is merling doing and what side is he on? a lil coverage of LB's and RB's. what base defense are they running the 3-4

thankx

harri

1:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Prediction-> Jake Long will be in a couple of scrums during training camp in August. He is going to frustrate the hell out of d-linemen and that's great for the offense. We finally have some guys on the o-line who play tough and don't back down. Great article this morning Armando. NYScott

1:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it will be good for Long to line up against JT during practice sometimes, in terms of his learning and tehcnique against fast, agile, dancing fools. Maybe that will be JT´s contribution from now on to the Dolphins since he thinks the past means he is special and need not be bothered with current performance or going thru the programs expected of all players.

Fan since 82

Rick

2:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jesus Christ Armando, I had hoped you left your no-blogging fit where it was on Friday, and not drag it into Sat. I just want to hear about my team!!!!!!!

This kind of self aborbed rhetoric is getting old:

"Whatev. Less work for me."

Less work for you? You're so superior now. You can't have the ice cream and now you sniff you didn't need it to begin with. Why is it less work when you have to type it up later?

"guys now can't be online here rather than doing their jobs."

Does that mean US???? Excuse me, I work 10-11 hours a day. We're doing our jobs, thank you. Now do yours.

2:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

cross-posted from update 'cause I care:
Armando---J. Long did not know who S. Ross was, and I presume, never said hello to him during practice yesterday. I await your columns and blogs about how this rift & this insult threaten the teams future and once more reduce the Fins to laughingstock. Should Huizenga intervene and broker an introduction? Will Parcells & Ireland be subjected to Ross's wrath? Come on dude, hop on this Controversy before LeBatard. PTI, here you come!

2:44 PM  
Blogger One Angry American said...

Well FinsFan, I have been busy at work lately. I had to catch up after all the draft talk and then I went on a seven day trip to the coast of Spain and Italy. So you predicted Jake Long, good job. Your insight was light years beyond everyone else's. I am just glad we got a solid player.

You must remember that if Henne was the FUTURE and this regime knew it, they would not have passed on him at 32. And if they were still determined to get him, they would have traded up for him. They said they were sure Green Bay would take a QB yet they still gambled and just hoped GB would take Brohm. If Henne was the future for sure, they would have traded up a spot with GB to get him and GB would have done it because they knew Miami would want Henne and not Brohm. So Henne was an inexpensive value pick. He will be paid less than Beck and McCown. He will be the number three QB this year and he is injured.

Remember Parcells picked up Romo as a project but he gave Quincy Carter every chance to be successful. And Parcell's guy may be Henne but if Beck can do the job he will become Parcells guy. Booker was jettisoned because he is small and didn't play special teams. I bet Parcells likes Ronnie Ricky Ted and Samson. He didn't draft them. Ronnie Brown was born for this offense.

Just don't jump on the Henne train too quickly. Parcells is savvy and remember, SPORANO will decide who starts. And I think he like Beck. Beck needs a real opportunity with this regime. Last year he wasn't prepared. Cam never intended on playing him for even a snap.

4:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i cant wait till the rookies get to camp with the pro's.

chadleyb

6:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chad Henne may be the future of the franchise, as long as he doesn't start against Apalachian State every single week of his pro career.

6:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hiccup? Dude, you choked!

8:34 PM  

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