Graham shines in afternoon practice
The best description I can give of Brandon Graham's play so far at training camp is that I always notice when he's on the field.
Graham shines in afternoon practice
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
The best description I can give of Brandon Graham's play is that I always notice when he's on the field.
Granted, the players did not have pads on, but Graham put in perhaps his most impressive performance since arriving at Lehigh during Monday afternoon's practice, often beating Winston Justice and getting to the quarterback. He also broke up a shovel pass and almost had an interception when called on to drop back into pass coverage.
He spent much of the afternoon working as the first-team left defensive end in the Eagles' nickel package. It's still been Juqua Parker at LDE with the base defense, but Graham is making a major impression even though he's only been here for a few days.
Other observations:
* Both Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick had trouble against the blitz. Kolb threw high to Brent Celek on one play. And Vick was off-target as well.
* Stacy Andrews missed the afternoon session with what the team termed a shoulder injury. Mike McGlynn took his place. So the offensive line looked like this: Justice, McGlynn, Cole, Max Jean-Gilles and Jason Peters. Peters and Justice are the only two that would be starters if the Eagles had everyone healthy.
* Speaking of Jean-Gilles, I'm beginning to think he likes when the Eagles' quarterbacks throw interceptions. Two days in a row, after a pick, he starts running like a wild man with his arms flailing, as if he's looking for a defensive player to slam to the ground. The only problem is that the Eagles are in shorts and no pads, and there's no hitting. So Jean-Gilles just ends up shaking his head as if something very valuable were taken from him. This is very entertaining in person. I'm telling you.
* Riley Cooper burned Dimitri Patterson for a 50-yard bomb from Vick. By the way, Cooper catching a bomb has been pretty much a given during every afternoon practice since he's been here.
* Good tests for both Ernie Sims and LeSean McCoy when the Eagles send McCoy into his routes. McCoy generally had a step on Sims, but the Eagles' linebacker wasn't far behind. He's shown good speed and cover skills so far.
* Ellis Hobbs takes every rep seriously. This is his fifth year in the league, but he gets visibly angry when receivers beat him. That happened this afternoon when Jeremy Maclin got the best of him on a comeback route. Hobbs had pretty good coverage, but the timing from Kolb to Maclin was perfect. Later in practice, Hobbs had the same play read perfectly, but the ball didn't come his way.
* Moise Fokou saw time both with the linebackers and at defensive end this afternoon. We'll see where the experiment goes tomorrow.
* Jason Peters and Trent Cole mixed it up a little after one play. Sometimes it's easy to forget that Peters is even out there. But I guess that's a good thing for a left tackle.
* Yesterday I wrote about the tennis ball drill I saw the defensive backs participating in after practice. Today I got a better look. One player stands behind the other to simulate a DB closing in on a receiver. The coaches then continuously toss tennis balls to the guy in front, while the DB has to swat them away. The goal is to not miss the ball and allow the receiver to catch it.
* Earlier today, I wrote about Fokou, Joselio Hanson and the morning practice.
* And we've got a video up about Bobby April and special teams.
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1 of 2 things is happening: Either Graham is a beast and will be beating the other team's OL during the season, or he is just average and he is beating our OL because they are below average. Not sure which is more likely.— The Reddgie
"This is a daily occurrence every afternoon." How often does it happen?- I too am chomping at the bit to see if graham is all that and worth the big bucks the eagles spent on this pick... I am kind of tired of hearing about andy speaking of his fastballs on the defensive line, as he likes to go small year after year... well stats dont lie the eagles have not had a DOMINANT front four since Reggie, Clyde, Jerome and Mike Pitts or Golic... Teams feared the eagles defense then.. now they figure them out and score at will it seems.. we shall see what this defense does this year....hopefully they will dominate.... but we are still so damn small... cant match up with dallas on either side of the ball...— bigeagle57
- Why do they keep trying to run their LBs (now Fokou) at DE? It looks like they have more DEs than they know what to do with. Not sure what the point of that would be, especially with Fokou, who looks like he could be something if they just let him learn and grow in his position.— jmk1512
Graham is a stud. The Eagles defensive line will be so dominate this year, its not going to be funny. Cole and Parker were good last year but now the Eagles have Graham, Sapp, Tapp and Teo which are more younger and talented guys than what clemons and abirimiri were.— briandawkins20
Comment removed.
Obviously the O line is critical this year. Kolb is deadly accurate with time and not so under pressure. So the key is to keep the D guessing with a commitment to the run. In other words, this won't work with Andy coaching. Should've traded McNabb for Shanahan!— burholme- Comment removed.
- "Kolb threw high to Celek on one play" and Sheil concludes that Kolb "had trouble with the blitz?" C'mon Sheil. It won't be worth reading your posts if this is the type of inane observations and analysis you pull from a practice session.
- I likje what I've heard about Graham so far. He seems like he has a high motor something I never saw out of Abirimiri, Parker, McDougal, insert name here. He has a great attitude too.
- I'm remembering a few years ago when Basket use to catch bombs durning training camp every day. Now is Riley Cooper. Then the regular season begins............It's nice Sims isn't far behind on pass coverage. I guess our DB's will all be good tennis players after camp. I'm not sure what these writers are writing about but it's terrible. So and So said "I'm fine" with a long e', like in "i'm fineeee. Reminds me of the 'pocket' behind the Zoo.— JACK V
@Zeru77...That is about the most astute observation I've read in a long time! Speed rush only works when most of the OL is occupied. In run game, OL pushes the DL. Five men averaging 320 lbs against 4 men averaging 280 lbs. And that's being generous. In pass protect, the OL is back pedaling and the big ends have the wingspan to neutralize a speed rush. I'm afraid Andy Reid is still living in the Jimmy Johnson, circa early 90's era. Problem: O Lineman are bigger, stronger and quicker. I played DT, albeit in high school and Semi-Pro and you can only be successful when pushing the OL back. I give Reid credit for focusing on the lines. That's where the game is won or lost.- Parker did just fine. Yourdaddy where did you crawl out from? And for BigEagle57 NewsFlash Pitts and Golic were stiffs. The star was Reggie is made everyone better due to the constant attention. Your perception of a years ago line must be better with the rearview -- The Dline was Jerome and Reggie -- Clyde was ok and Pitts Golic were servicable. Bunkley and Patterson are much better than Pitts and Golic.
- Kolb to Maclin get used to hearing that this year... I'd be happy if Graham wound up with like 8 sacks and is in on a couple turnovers
- Comment removed.
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