Was in Pittsford for 2 days and saw the Bills practice twice. Observations.
Wed.
1, Manuel - saw him throw 1 bad one to Woods which was INT'd. Woods didn't turn around, which made me think it was a blown assignment but other than that, he looked good. I like the one formation with Fred & Spiller together in the backfield. Read option to Fred going inside with Spiller looping out on a swing pattern. Manuel executed it quickly with giving the ball to Fred or pulling it out and hitting a quick strike to Spiller in full flight. Praticed it many times with different options. He also has the option to run himself but no need in practice. Keep that one in the playbook as it looked sharp. Was finding Woods and Williams very well. Ball got there quickly and the coaches seemed to be telling him he doesn't have the time he thinks he does. Always wonder when the real bullets start flying. We'll see.
2. Tuel - Delivered the ball well but many were slightly behind the WR's. Was getting 2nd team reps. Average arm but seems decisive and knows the playbook. Average athlete.
3. Thad Lewis - gamer but balls are all over the place. Short stuff OK, anything over 15 yards is an adventure.
4. Watkins- is quick and is learning his routes. Dropped an easy one but looked good otherwise. Did forget a couple plays and heard about it. Rookie learning.the O.
5. Mike Williams - just throw the ball to him whether he's covered or not and he will catch it. Manuel really needs to trust this guy because he fights for the ball like a badger. Great hands.
6. Woods - see #5. Precise routes.
7. Hogan - it's not false hype. He catches everything. Some bad balls by Lewis were plucked out of the air.
8. Goodwin - remembered 2 catches where he was 7 yards in front of the poor CB trying to run with him, May be the fastest guy in the NFL.
WR, RB position is fine. Didn't notice Bryce Brown or Dixon too much but stuff was going on on each end of the field. We were sitting several rows up at the 45 yard line, looking back and forth.
OL was Pears,Urbik,Wood, Williams & Henderson. Henderson isn't bad at all. Has great feet and just needs reps. Mistakes are expected but we lucked out with him. Please stay straight.
The D
1. Brandon Spikes- flat out stud. Practices like he plays...out of his mind. Fearless hitter.
2. Dareus - No big plays but the double team cannot move him and he still makes tackles at the LOS.
3. Stefan Charles- The possible fill in for Dareus if suspended early. The guy can really move and is mega strong at 6-5 325. Pepper Johnson was all over him a few times for taking the wrong angle on some snaps but showed his happiness other plays. That he's getting so much attention tells me they want him the be one of the backup DT options, along with Branch.
4. CB's as a whole - looked good. Tight coverage. Gilmore looked really good. So did Corey Graham.
5. Safeties - Searcy stood out to me. Coverage was good and closed fast on a few running plays.He and Aaron Williams look good. Meeks is aggressive. Looks much bigger than Duke Williams.
Punters - Jake Dombrowski had a couple punts that were absolute moonshots. 60-70 yards with lots of hang time. He has a cannon for a leg. Don't know if they like him better than Moorman but he sure looked better. Then the bad whether rolled in and practice was done before they finished the ST. work.
Thurs.
Lots of technique/ formation walk thru today. Preparation for Sunday night.
QB's did some long tosses to the WR's who went 1 on 1 with the CB's. The only QB that looked good was Manuel. The 2nd best at it was the 4th stringer, Dennis Dixon. The guy is so tall and thin. Tuel was very average and Lewis was way off. Graham dropped a couple easy ones and i would be shocked if they kept him over Hogan.
They had an all rookie left side of the 1st team OL ( LT Henderson,LG Richardson ). Then Urbik was back in when OG Williams walked off with a toe injury.
Saw some great drills between the OL/DL practicing running plays and execution on both sides. The players were really hitting within the front 7. Spikes doing a lot of barking and getting everyone fired up. Both sides had their moments but I really enjoyed that.
Went to 11 on 11 and and within the first couple of snaps, Manuel tossed a long bomb down the left side perfectly to Watkins, who beat Gilmore by 2-3 yards for a 98 yard TD. Watkins is still learning the playbook but looks like a star in the making.
Then the Bills started a long ST's session to end practice and we left about 20 minutes before it ended to get a good seat on the shuttle bus back to Sutherland High School, where we parked. You can wait in long lines for several buses to fill up before you get on, if you wait until the last whistle. The Bills were letting Hopkins kick off and would use the jug machine sometimes to launch the ball. Hopkins is barely making it to the end zone and must be considered a long shot to make it as a kickoff specialist. Goodwin was always deep as the primary kickoff returner. Didn't see the punters today.
That's a wrap. Lots of good food and laughs with friends Wed. night at Outback Steakhouse. Great breatfast at Hicks & McCarthy's on Main St. Thursday. Try to catch a few practices every summer and Pittsford is such a nice place to visit.
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Originally Posted by Swiper
