Much of the emphasis this offseason has been placed on the wide receivers acquired in free agency, but it will be the rookie tight ends who take this offense to the next level.
Both Hayden Hurst and Mark Andrews display soft hands, catching almost every pass thrown their way.
Hurst always seems to have a step or two on the linebacker covering him and turns up field with ease and explosion for extra yards. One of his best catches of the day came during a 7-on-7 goal-line drill, where he hauled in a pass with Albert McClellan draped over him. Hurst does everything right, and without a doubt will be the starter against the Bills in Week One.
Andrews, on the other hand, has really impressed me with his blocking skills, sealing the edge for runs to the outside, something he was knocked for coming out of Oklahoma. His receiving skills were never questioned and giving his size and athleticism he will have a ton of highlight reel catches.
Other notes:
Sticking with the rookies, linebacker Kenny Young ran with the first team defense in 7-on-7 drills. Young possesses great poise and does not get lost in coverage like most rookie linebackers. Young has a nose for the ball and is consistently around the play. I like him a lot and would not be shocked to see him take over as the starter next to C.J. Mosley.
While Tony Jefferson did make a cameo appearance during 11-on 11-drills, picking off Joe Flacco, it was second-year player Chuck Clark lining up in the defensive backfield with Eric Weddle. The 2017 sixth round pick from Virginia Tech has taking great strides heading in year two. His snaps will increase this year.
The wide receiver screen game is a point of emphasis this training camp. One interesting look in particular was a quad formation on the right side of the field ( 3 wide receiver and 1 tight tight end) and a single wide receiver on the left side. This formation provides multiple options as to who will actually catch the ball and then have three blockers ahead of them after the catch. On one play in that formation, Lamar Jackson pulled the ball down on a designed run and got up field for a nice gain. This offense has a lot of new wrinkles.
Both Willie Snead and Janarion Grant had rough starts to practice. Snead had two drops on balls that hit him in his hands on individual drills but rebounded well to finish practice.
Grant, who is fighting for a roster spot, had three drops during individual drills. He did respond with a highlight reel catch during 11-on-11 drills with a one-handed grab down the sidelines from Jackson in double coverage. Grant had another catch later on in practice where he pulled a ball into his body with one hand.
Running back Gus Edwards is a player to watch over the next three preseason games. He had two nice runs to day, one up the middle and the other on the right side. Both runs would have went for 15+ yards in the regular season. Do not be shocked if he beats out Kenneth Dixon as the third running back. Dixon, while on the field today, still does not seem to be running at full speed.
One other interesting note, both James Hurst and Orlando Brown, Jr. split time with the first team offensive line at right tackle. I believe Brown, Jr. will win the job, but it was nice to see how Hurst get some work with the first team.
Even though he hasn’t seen much work in the first two preseason games, Sam Koch still has it. Koch, age 35, was booming kicks at the beginning of practice and is showing no signs of slowing down.
