Last night, we hosted a Q&A session on our message board. We fielded a bunch of great questions from our board members. These are the highlights of that session. We hope to host another one on the board, which is tentatively scheduled for August 24.
Question – ed2rummy
In terms of consistency how is Butler doing? How about his speed and his fluidity of his cuts?
Answer – Brian Bower
Jeremy Butler is faring well since the start of camp and getting better each day splitting reps between the first and second team offenses with the absences of Marlon Brown and Breshad Perriman.
His speed has gotten incredibly better since last training camp and his routes have been crisp. If I would have to pick one thing for the Butler to improve upon it would be to have much cleaner breaks on his outside routes. Barring injury, Butler is going to make it a difficult decision for coaches come roster cut-down time.
Question – wickedsolo
Is the hype around Steven Means for real? Or, are they just pumping him up like they’ve done with other players?
Answer – Dev Panchwagh
I don’t think Means hype is coach speak. It’s legit. He’s a very talented pass rusher that could really make a difference as a third rusher. He’s made a number of plays in training camp already, and he’s caused havoc in the backfield. He’s a big, long athlete with pass rush moves that will factor into the team’s sub packages.
Means plays the run well too. So I think he gives you a little more value than McPhee in that respect. But McPhee is a more refined rusher at this point. Means is still raw.
Answer – Ken McKusick
To me, Means is one of the most interesting players in camp. 3 years of cheap control, he’s listed as a DE on the roster and OLB on the depth chart and that harkens of McPhee to me. He has a good motor in the pass rush as well. Lots of upside.
Question – Will Cloyd
Do you think that Matt Schaub was the right choice as a backup QB?
Answer – Tony Lombardi
I think given his familiarity with west coast principles, Kubiak’s similarities to Trestman’s offense and his physicality relative to Joe Flacco’s, Schaub is a good choice.
If they need a couple of wins during an unfortunate stretch when Joe is out, Schaub has a stronger chance of making that happen than someone so physically dissimilar from Joe. The balance of the squad doesn’t have to adapt as much nor is the play calling vastly different than it might be with a guy like Tyrod Taylor.
Plus, Schaub’s real value could come in the classroom during game planning sessions or on the sidelines. His experience could help Joe on the fly, something that could help make minor in-game adjustments.
Question – Michael Sedjro
A few questions. Defensively, how is the scheme looking? Are we seeing more pre snap movement? More blitzing? New blitz packages perhaps? Is the tendency to play more man or more zone?
Answer – Ken McKusick
There is a blitz drill and the defense runs some blitzes in practice, but you don’t get much of a look at that in 11-on-11. I did notice:
- Means had a stunt sack in a Red Zone drill that was impressive.
- They are showing and coming with the double-A gap blitz with some frequency
- When I’ve been watching the safeties, they have been doing a good job of showing blitz and dropping.
- We’ve seen some blitzes off the slot, but far less than I would expect in the regular season.
Many of the drills are set up for man coverage, but I honestly haven’t seen a tendency I could report to more man or zone in 11-on-11.
Question – Minion
Are there any “surprise” players that might be inching their way towards a roster spot? Any UDFA not named Carter or Perry standing out?
Answer – Brian Bower
Sadly there haven’t been many UDFA’s that have turned a lot of heads so far in camp.
If I had to choose one, however it would be guard Leon Brown. Brown (Alabama) has great size (6-6) and moves well for his size. He has been running with strictly the third team offense but has been powerful in pass protection. Will have an uphill battle though to steal a roster spot.
Also see first reply about wide receiver Jeremy Butler. He has the best chance.
Answer – Ken McKusick
The surprise UDFA who has caught my eye is Daniel Brown, the 6’5″ WR. He’s a very big body, who seems to block out well and teams are going to need more red-zone threats with the increased importance of the 2-point conversion this year.
Question – Sarcasticfury
Does the recent defensive dominance have anything to do with the absence of Perriman and the guards?
Answer – Dev Panchwagh
I would say not having the entire offense healthy has been part of the issue. However, I really do see improvement from the defense overall that leads me to think they’ll be dominant against most offenses. The biggest difference has been on the back end. You get Smith back, you have Arrington, and you also have Will Hill in a more natural playmaking spot at SS with Kendrick Lewis, who has been a ball magnet so far in camp.
That is a major talent uptick from last year. The front seven has continued to play at a high level. So overall, expect this D to be among the best in the league barring injuries.
This is only part of the Q&A. If you have any questions, look through the thread. It may have been already answered!
