1. Russell Shepard was the best receiver there ... hands-down. He and Jefferson hooked up on several long flies and their timing on their slants and hooks was much better than the timing of the random QBs and WRs who had never thrown to one another before. 2. Both Shepard and Jordan Jefferson were sponges. When they weren't warming out or throwing at the Air it Out competition, they were hanging out with either Peyton or Eli. Was good to see that they were having less fun than the others -- all business. Hope it translates into good things in the fall. Here's a photo I took. Enjoy. https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&...ttid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_gbha6xbc0&zw
Welp, since BHelm asked: 1. Taylor Potts from TTech won the skills contest. I don't think he missed a throw the entire event. Very impressive. 2. Alabama fans have no lives. There were a ton of people from Alabama who drove in from Tuscaloosa to watch Greg McElroy throw. 3. The Simms kid at Tennessee has a CANNON. Like 100 mph Roger Clemens-like cannon. 4. Andrew Luck was the best overall passer there. 5. Shepard gets along with probably everyone on earth. 6. Jefferson hit the 10-yard target easily, hit the 20 yard target easily. Just airmailed the 30-yard target. Lots of oo'ing and ah'ing from the fans as he threw. Like I said above, the warmup passing tree from Jefferson to Shepard was fun to watch. It seemed like no matter how hard or far Jefferson put it, Shepard found a way to get under it and bring it in. Tommy Tuberville was in town. I am doing a slew of work-relating things from the camp, so basically anyone can ask me about someone who was there and I can tell you how they looked, performed, etc... It's too hard to think of them all off the top of my head. But to anyone who has never been, it's worth the trip to Thib. You get to see Peyton and Eli, as well as probably 50 college QBs -- 20 or so of them among the elite in America.
Thanks for the info Clair, great to hear. How does JJ's arm strength compare to the rest of the group? Above avg., but not quite elite is what I'm expecting to hear, is that about right?
good, strong arm. probably the upper tier of the entire class. Simms had the strongest arm there, easily. I was very impressed by that kid.
As long as JJ can just be competant, I think we'll be fine. A cannon of an arm is nice (see Jamarcus Russell), but I'm really excited to hear he was hitting the 10 and 20 yarders with ease!
Clair, I heard Jarvis Landry was there catching balls with Shepard as well and decked out in P&G. Did you get a good look at him?
that was going to be one of my questions.... where you would rank jj in this group. also, you mentioned that shep brought in the passes thrown by jj even when a bit off. how did he do with other qb's? same with jj and other receivers. was he able to connect as well with others? i am wondering how either one of them will do with someone else, or if they just have a great chemistry and have been practicing together that much. i really like what i am reading over all. sounds like they have a real want to get better. (in clm speak.)
Couldn't help it, this gave me a chuckle. I am very much looking forward to football season. I need a distraction from current events for a while!
Glad to see JJ is there learning from top notch QB's. Hopefully he will pick up on some of Peytons habits and really become a student of the game. He has all the physical tools, just needs to get the mental part down. The Manning camp is a good place to start.
The connection from say Andrew Luck to Russell Shepard wasn't nearly as good as it was from JJ to Shepard. Just like the connection from JJ to some random high school or Nicholls receiver wasn't nearly as good, either. They just had the timing down, and while other QBs were waiting for the WR to break to complete the pass, etc... JJ and Russell were able to throw before the break, etc... It made the process look a lot prettier. One problem I have with Russell is this -- and I don't know if he will do this in a game or not, so I won't complain about it until the season. But a lot of times, he'd be well under the football, then he'd jog for a second, then leap and make a jumping catch. While yes, it looks awesome, it'll also get you killed during the season. I'd like to think with actual defenders on the field that wouldn't happen, though. Just throwing it out there.
thanks for the info. i wondered how much of it was from practicing together and chemistry of working together and how much of it was pure ability. im hoping that they can both do somewhat as well with others. especially jj, hoping he can hit all the receivers as well. of course with ours, if he practices as much and they all get each others rhythms down that will help.
