One thing to keep in perspective with these observations is that this will likely be the first organized practice these players have seen since the first week of January – at best. The most likely things any observer can expect today is to see players shaking off the rust, or determine which players have been working hard between their last game and this first practice.

The Lions coaching staff ran a very crisp, high-paced practice to start the week that began with a warm up of stretching and mobility drills and concluded with some light, short-distance sprints. Once the short sprints concluded, the horn sounded and the drills got underway at a quick pace.

WR & TE Drills

Receivers ran a variety of catching drills that emphasized them running short routes and coming out of the breaks sharply. The coaches constantly preached for them to get their heads around into the turn and not to let any balls drop to the ground. Footballs were fired with high velocity at the receivers from less than 10 yards away as they either ran towards the pass or coming out of breaks. After this, the receivers caught in cuts with a coach standing near the break with two long pads at his arms to strike the receivers after they made the initial catch and tried to run up field.

Eventually the staff incorporated cones drills with the cones in a square formation so the receivers had to run five yards and catch a high velocity throw at each of the four turns. After this drill, they ran a gauntlet drill with receivers weaving in and out of four, seven-foot high, padded cones catching too passes during their turn.

Once the receivers were warmed up sufficiently with these drills, they were paired with quarterbacks to run outs and digs, progressing to the stage where the offensive tandem of QBs and WRs faced corner backs on outs or deep streaks. When this was over, WRs joined the rest of the skill players for five-on-seven drills, and then 11-on-11 to conclude practice.
Tight ends ran similar drills but were paired with linebackers in the one-on-one match ups with a North QB throwing them the football.

RB Drills

RB drills began warm ups that incorporate a short burst with the ball. They moved onto cone drills to weave in and out with clean footwork and then into another footwork drill with foot-high pads to run through to work on keeping their knees high as well as to work on lateral movement with a wider angle.

Once sufficiently warmed up with these drills, they started receiving drills with short swing passes and flat routes. This progressed to one-on-one drills versus linebackers where they had to catch the ball in coverage. They would tell the North QBs which route they planned to run before the snap, and then release up field towards the linebacker to make their break and attempt to catch the ball. The backs later joined the rest of the skills players for 5-on-7s, and concluded the day with drills where they got to run the ball in their shells 11-on-11.

WR Notes

Dorin Dickerson (Pittsburgh): The first thing that stood out to me was the fact that Dickerson was listed as a receiver and ran these drills considering he was listed as a TE and used as a move-TE at Pittsburgh. He demonstrated consistent hands and I didn’t see him drop a pass until midway through his fourth drill. He wasn’t the quickest of receives in these drills, but for a TE/WR, I didn’t expect him to be. That said, he was quick out of his breaks and relatively sharp. I expect scouts to like his ability, but to wonder what his true position will be.

Mardy Gilyard (Cinncinnati): I studied Gilyard during his junior year and came away impressed with his athleticism, but underwhelmed with his routes and hands. As a junior, he trapped the football to his body and rarely tried to catch passes with good hands technique. His route tree was also severely limited due to a spread attack that incorporated shorter routes to exploit his tremendous skills after the catch. This year, he seemed much better using his hands to catch the football – and this was as recent as his Sugar Bowl appearance. However in his first practice with the North squad, Gilyard performed more like the Gilyard of his junior year. He fought the ball more than any receiver on the north squad on these drills with the balls fired to him at a high velocity from a short distance.
He dropped no less than seven passes in these drills, most of them bouncing of his hands and he was clearly frustrated with himself each time. The coaching staff appeared to be instructing him to catch the ball more with his fingers and not his palms. They also continued to remind him to get his hands up faster and with better form. In drills versus corners, Gilyard tipped off his breaks numerous times. His first break was rounded off and the Boise State CB Kyle Wilson undercut the WR for the interception. On a deeper route, Gilyard tipped off another break, looking hesitant on what route he was running. Despite this rough start, Gilyard was easily the most explosive receiver on the field and he did make some nice grabs of throws away from his body. 

Taylor Price (Ohio): This was my first time seeing Price play, although I have games of him in queue to review in the coming months. What I liked was his ability to adjust to the errant throw and catch the ball away from his body. However, as the drills progresses he seemed to lose focus and fought the ball, dropping some easier throws. Once the drills versus the defensive backs got underway, he rebounded and didn’t make as many mistakes, continuing to show skill at catching less than perfect passes.

Danario Alexander (Missouri): Alexander had and up and down practice. He missed some passes during the early drills, drawing some attention from Lions QB coach Scott Linehan. He then looked smooth in the high velocity drills. However, he remained up and down in five-on-seven drills, fighting the ball a couple of times and then rebounding with a couple of good catches.

Jacoby Ford (Clemson): He was the most consistent receiver on the north squad today. He wasn’t as quick out of his cuts as Gilyard, but he was fast enough and in control of his body. What he did better than all of the receivers as catch the football. In fact, I don’t remember seeing him drop a pass in any drill. He was also frequently getting open in the one-on-one, five-on-seven, and 11-on-11 drills. The QBs targeted him mostly on shallow routes, but he also managed to get separation and make clean catches on deep outs. What was telling was the fact the north quarterbacks gained confidence in Ford early and increased his targets as the five-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills progressed.  Interestingly, Ford’s impressive play in the team drills came after he cramped up just after a quick practice break while returning a kick off. He got cramps in both calves and literally waddled slowly down the field, stretching his calves for five minutes. However, when it was time to get opposite a corner, he looked perfectly fine until the very end of practice when he cramped up again. Nothing major, but telling that his body was acting up and he still looked like the most reliable receiver on the field for the north squad.

RB Notes

Chris Brown (Oklahoma): He appeared a little bigger and more muscular in person than he did on film, which isn’t something I observed with other players I have seen before. He exhibited nice quickness in the initial cone and pad drills.  I watched him catch one pass in the LB vs. RB short route drill and the coach instructed him to get more depth on his route. He did look the ball into his hands and make a clean catch.

Joique Bell (Wayne State): Bell is a runner with sturdy legs and a strong core, although about as tall as Chris Brown. He demonstrated a good straight-line burst. I thought he didn’t look as fast as the best backs in the agility drills and his receiving skills seemed a little raw today because he had a few rough plays. In the 11-on-11 drills, he showed good technique running with good pad level. He didn’t stand out to me, but the full contact drills should be more telling.

LeGarrette Blount (Oregon): Blount flashed some real quickness for a man of his size. His footwork in the cone drills looked clean and he definitely ran with decisiveness and aggression in the 11-on-11 drills. He caught the ball reasonably well, but there were a couple of plays on the LB vs. RB receiving drills where he simply didn’t look agile out of his breaks. A minor thing that could be telling about him as an athlete: one of the team warm ups is an exercise where players stand on one foot while stretching the quad on the other leg and then do an exercise where they keep that foot in the air and kick it backwards before firmly planting it to the ground. They alternate legs with this exercise and Blount demonstrated noticeable difficulty maintaining balance on one foot. In contrast Mardy Gilyard, the most agile player I saw at a “skill” position, looked like he could have stood on one foot for the rest of practice and not even give a hint of a wobble. Balance is an important trait in and RB and I’m curious whether something this little may give a hint about this aspect of his game. Probably not, but something I’ll be keeping in mind as I watch him.

Lonyae Miller (Fresno State): Miller got shallow on a route in LB vs. RB pass drills, but he also showed some skill getting his head around quickly and making good catches in tight coverage. He had a very noticeable burst that might have been the best on his squad. In 11-on-11 drills, he made the best lateral cut in the hole I saw from any back today. When you watch these drills, plays like this stand out in stark relief to others and Miller’s ability to move laterally was impressive.

Rashawn Jackson (Virginia): Jackson got individual tutoring on blocking by one of the Lions coaches for 20 minutes before warm ups commenced. The coach had a blocking pad and was instructing Jackson on better technique to deliver a punch and drive forward. Jackson was probably seen as Al Groh’s most consistent runner this year and because UVA runs a spread offense, Jackson wasn’t used in a traditional FB setting as much in 2009. I like Jackson’s fundamentals as a runner, but he lacks the burst to be a Chris Snelling kind of ball carrier. He catches the football well, looking it into his body and showing good concentration in coverage.

TE Notes

Ed Dickson (Oregon): Dickson looked smooth getting downfield and caught the ball cleanly in the limited opportunities that I saw him. I didn’t see him have trouble catching any passes, but I didn’t see him get great separation against LBs, either.

Garrett Graham (Wisconsin): I thought Graham was the smoothest TE on the field for the north squad. His ability to turn up field after the catch was effortless on a consistent basis and he caught the ball cleanly in most drills. He made catching the football look easy. He looked relaxed and confident today in a practice where other players seemed a bit more calculated and nervous not to make a mistake.

Mike Hoomanawanui (Illinois): The Illini TE has the size, but all the LBs on the north squad had a speed/quickness advantage in drills. QBs routinely overshot Hoomanawanui, who simply struggled to get to the ball on the targets I observed.

QB Notes

Of all the positions, the north quarterbacks were the rustiest of the bunch. I’ll reserve most of my commentary for Tuesday. However, here are some brief impressions of each.

Sean Canfield (Oregon State): Canfield short-hopped several throws on out routes and lacked good ball placement on others. His throwing motion also seemed slow and elongated in his delivery in five-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills. He also lost some confidence and held onto the ball too long, opting to run up the middle in these drills, which is somewhat pointless in this situation.

Dan LeFevour (Central Michigan): LeFevour started rusty with some underthrown passes due to poor footwork on drills requiring to make quick turns and to deliver the ball, but he shook it off as practice progressed, hitting his WR Ford on an out route at the left sideline while rolling left. He had good zip and placement of the ball on the play and this stood out. He had some mix-ups with his receivers in 11-on-11 drills, and he could be seen talking to his coach about the route he expected his teammate to run. Both of these plays I saw were deep routes where it appeared the receiver broke the wrong direction.

Tony Pike (Cincinnati): Pike had some zip on his passes, but I his throws seemed no less wobbly than his peers on this windy day. He was more accurate than his peers early on, but in the five-on-seven drills, he grew increasingly hesitant with his decision-making after making a poor throw that was picked off by the LB mid-way through one of his rotations. For the next three attempts he waited long enough that I probably could have jumped the fence, run onto the field, and at least caused a nuisance before someone decked me.

Miscellaneous Notes

Kid in a candy store-hero worship moment: I don’t believe in athletes being heroes, but you would not have gotten this answer from me between the ages of 8-16. Standing in the lobby after the weigh-ins and telling Cecil that if there was one person a the even I would have to approach at some point and act like a fan I would be my favorite player of all-time, former Browns/Redskins/Ravens RB Earnest Byner. The Titans current RB coach has been credited for providing guidance to players like Priest Holmes, Jamal Lewis, and Chris Johnson. One of the more underrated runners in this draft, I had a big smile on my face watching him walk into the room. He looked at me a couple of times because I was looking at him while talking to Cecil which probably ruins the opportunity for me to run into him and approach him without thinking I’m some nut. It didn’t matter it felt good to feel 12 again.

On aisle two of the candy store: Mean Joe Greene walking past me, making eye contact, smiling and exchanging hellos. One of the best defensive players ever walked past me and despite his age and three decades removed from the game, you could still see how imposing of a player he must have been. I thought he might not be able to catch me now, but if he did I would probably never walk the same. Good thing he’s a nice guy…