Tavern Talk: Why I Love Camp

National Football Post

I love training camp. I love the whole feel of it, from the routine to the practice to the tape watching to the male bonding and especially to the late-night snacks. Camp allows you to study the players on your team and the league and gives you time to work on your craft as an evaluator.

(Speaking of snacks, we used to have a chart at the hotel to keep track of one of my favorite trainers and see if he could maintain a perfect meal record. Team employees were required to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack each day. At the end of the week, we would post his averages, which usually hovered around 89 percent. His performance easily won first prize every year, and I’m very confident he will win again this year.)

 

Will Amani Toomer Be Able To Help Matt Cassel This Season?

With the signing of Amani Toomer in Kansas City, I’ve been reading what a great move it will prove to be for the Chiefs. However, unless Toomer can escape bump coverage—something he struggled with last season in New York—Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel will be left holding the ball, waiting for someone to get open.

 

Hines Ward

The same dilemma might be occurring in Pittsburgh, where Hines Ward must prove he still has the speed, burst and, most importantly, quickness to defeat press. Ward will need to show defensive coaches in the NFL that he can handle press, or he’ll have a man in his face the entire game.

 

Then There Is TO

Many people feel Terrell Owens was dismissed from Dallas for his poor behavior, but just as important, was his inability to consistently beat press coverage, which made him a liability at times and resulted in his termination.

When teams rolled to Owens, he was not the same player, so the Cowboys had to motion to create space. Since the NFL is not the CFL, teams can only motion one player at a time. If you’re a team that has too many receivers who struggle to separate from bump coverage, your passing game is going to struggle.

In Buffalo, Owens will not face rolled coverage—Lee Evans will. If teams don’t roll to Evans, he’ll put 100 yards on them before halftime. Trust me on that.

 

Final Thoughts

Camp brings the entire organization together—all the scouts and personnel people get to watch practice.

What used to make me laugh is when the scouts would run down to watch one-on-one drills with the receivers and defensive backs. What’s the sense in evaluating that drill unless it’s against press man-to-man coverage? Free access is not often found in the NFL and watching a receiver run routes against off coverage is really not evaluating—it’s just watching.

When a receiver cannot escape press coverage in practice and camp, you can almost be certain he will not make the team unless he has a long history with that team, and there’s another receiver who will see rolled coverage.

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