VIDEO: Denard vs. the Jets, Roh's 1st Sack EDIT: Also Roy Roundtree Impersonating Taylor Mays
Since I can't embed, below you'll find Denard Every Carry/Catch vs. the Jets. Someone was asking about Craig Roh's sack last week, someone on the interwebs (who, looking at the username, is probably related to Craig), took a video of it happening on their TV.
Those will be the only two videos for this week. Demens didn't have any tackles in his game, I wasn't going to cut BWC up again, since he likely didn't do anything that different from last week. Roh didn't have any tackles/sacks in this past game vs. the Eagles. Roundtree had 1 catch for 18 yards, and supposedly a funny segment in Hard Knocks making fun of former USC S Taylor Mays. If I find it, I'll add it to the thread.
EDIT: Cut up Roundtree as Mays. Pretty funny stuff.
August 21st, 2013 at 1:25 PM ^
Good stuff. Still weird to see Denard as a RB.
August 21st, 2013 at 1:41 PM ^
That's F'd up man.
August 21st, 2013 at 2:20 PM ^
my mind stopped working for a second after that happened.......
August 21st, 2013 at 4:25 PM ^
Roundtree as Mays
August 21st, 2013 at 6:18 PM ^
a Michigan Man do anywhere. The reaction of his teammates is priceless.
August 21st, 2013 at 6:39 PM ^
but from their reaction, Roy was spot-on. Even if he doesn't get a lot of reps as a rookie, there's got to be a spot on the practice squad for someone with his comedy skills.
I Googled Mays in the meantime. I assume he was the guy in the white shirt who kept hiding his head. But since he's smiling, I feel better about him not taking it out on Roy in practice.
August 21st, 2013 at 6:58 PM ^
August 21st, 2013 at 8:09 PM ^
He was one of Carroll's boys and got really upset when Carroll passed him over to chose Earl Thomas.
Also kind of an idiot and obsessed with super heroes. I think he's been in every episode of Hard Knocks asking teammates what super power they would choose.
August 21st, 2013 at 9:33 PM ^
Yeah he's a 14 year old in a NFL body.
August 21st, 2013 at 7:03 PM ^
Theme: Things Bengals/fans know that the world may not know. And others that they didn't.
We also knew that the rookie show is one of the highlights of training camp, but we didn't know that Michigan wide receiver Roy Roundtree is now officially one of the 10 most hilarious guys in the league. His imitation of the eclectic Mays had his teammates rolling in the aisles.Mays has been accused of showing off his physique by his buddies and Roundtree was dressed up virtually like a ballerina as he went preening through some drills.
August 21st, 2013 at 5:43 PM ^
the run outside, but he wasn't able to do much between the tackles. He will definitely need to polish up that part of his game if he's going to get any significant PT.
August 21st, 2013 at 1:19 PM ^
The Denard video is set to private and thus unviewable.
August 21st, 2013 at 1:21 PM ^
Try it now. I forgot it does that automatically. Gotta figure out how to turn that off.
August 21st, 2013 at 1:26 PM ^
Denard looked great until they went 2s vs 1s at the end there. Wonder if he'll see a lot of snaps behind MJD this year.
August 21st, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
And by that I mean, when the wildcat came into vogue in the NFL, teams would put their second string QB as third string and list their wildcat guy as second string (because of some rule about not being able to bring back in the starter until the 4th quarter if you use the third string or something). If the first string goes down though, the third string guy becomes your starter.
I think Denard is that way as a third string RB. He'll likely get more regular touches because he provides some versatility and can attack the edge better than the other RBs on their roster. But if MJD gets hurt, Denard will likely play the same role, only as a second string RB. That's my opinion so far, he has some improvement he still needs to make to become a viable every down guy but he can likely fit a role of need better than others right now.
August 21st, 2013 at 2:28 PM ^
August 21st, 2013 at 4:04 PM ^
third string back =/= third down back
August 21st, 2013 at 2:29 PM ^
I think they killed that.
August 21st, 2013 at 2:38 PM ^
that puppy is so cute, yet makes me so sad at the same time...
August 21st, 2013 at 3:53 PM ^
August 21st, 2013 at 3:55 PM ^
That was pretty much my wife's whole Wedding vow.
August 21st, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^
But he's still a little high and he's inconsistent with how he uses his forward lean. A lot of times he still kind of just leans his body into tacklers, almost trying to dip underneath them. He doesn't yet do a good job of consistently squaring his shoulders, getting good squat strength from his hips and knees, and churning forward for more yards. He struggled a few times in the short yardage situations because of that, still needs to learn the difference a bit between a QB running the ball and a RB running the ball. He has the skill, I've seen it from him before, just needs to make it more consistent.
He also still gets a little comfortable in the backfield, likely because he's used to having an extra blocker or at least half blocker from his reads. Gotta be a little quicker getting forward or pursuit from the backside will catch up.
Also a nice play by Roh. Still don't know if he has a true position in the NFL, and that RB is making zero coaches happy, but I'm hopeful that Roh can stick on a practice squad, get a little more used to his weight, gain some of his athleticism and burst back, and make a decent career at the SDE spot.
August 21st, 2013 at 2:53 PM ^
I'm not sure Denard will ever be the kind of back that "squares his shoulders, getting good squat strength from his hips and knees, and churning forward for more yards." His value is speed and elusiveness, not power through a tackler.
August 21st, 2013 at 3:01 PM ^
Then you won't make it as a RB in the league, it's as simple as that. He needs to learn to run more like a RB if he wants to be versatile enough at the position. He can't get by at that level with just speed and elusiveness, because defenses are too fast if they know that's all you can do.
August 21st, 2013 at 3:22 PM ^
To be frank, do you really expect Denard to have a long NFL career as a running back?
I love the guy as much as the next Michigan fan, and I think he's all heart and tough as nails, but I'm not expecting him to evolve into an every down RB.
August 21st, 2013 at 3:56 PM ^
August 21st, 2013 at 4:18 PM ^
If he wants to have a long NFL career, it'll likely be at RB, and he'll need to learn those things. He may be able to play some WR as well, but I don't think he's good enough at that alone either to stick around.
I think he can learn to run better between the tackles and be an "Offensive Weapon" as he was originally billed. He has the skill set, he just needs to become more consistent and learn. Right now though, that "weapon" seems quite limited, although very good at the few things it can accomplish. But that's not his path to a sustained career.
August 21st, 2013 at 1:31 PM ^
Watching the Denard clips, I've got to wonder if there's any purpose to his running inside other than to setup the outside run.
That said, I love these clips of Michigan alums. Thanks!
August 21st, 2013 at 1:36 PM ^
He showed some of it at Michigan. But he needs to get more comfortable with how to attack holes, how and when to slip through with a shoulder turn, when to square up and stuff. The only way he's going to get that is with reps. He has the leg strength to be an inside runner, I have no doubt about that, and he has the agility to make it so defenders can't get solid hits on him, it's just going to take practice and reps for him. Likely, this year at least, he's much more likely to be primarily and outside runner until defenses start doing things - such as to widen out the DEs or stacking OLBs - to stop the outside run. Then he shoudl be able to run between the tackles with a bit more comfort.
August 21st, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
David Harris with a late hit on Denard? Probably one of Lloyd's guys having it out for one of RichRod's players.
/s
too soon?
August 21st, 2013 at 6:10 PM ^
Their first was Denard giving Harris a friendly pat on the tusch after an earlier play. Don't know if the two were related.
Being at the game, I also noticed that in warm-ups Denard was tossing the ball. Not exactly a passing drill, but maybe he's still working on his hands. He had some nice catches in the first game, but practice reports were that he was having trouble holding on to the ball. So it seems they haven't given up on his versatility but may think he'll be more use to them right now as RB.
August 21st, 2013 at 1:47 PM ^
Looked explosive!
Then I rewatched and notice he was unblocked. Still good on him for getting that first. I hope he makes the team.
August 21st, 2013 at 1:49 PM ^
Good lord some of that Jags blocking.....
August 21st, 2013 at 2:14 PM ^
August 21st, 2013 at 2:19 PM ^
August 21st, 2013 at 2:25 PM ^
I'll definitely try, but I might be in a situation starting Sunday where I don't have access to these video sources anymore. If I do, I'll certainly keep these up, though.
August 21st, 2013 at 2:19 PM ^
still fast.
August 21st, 2013 at 2:19 PM ^
That sack by Roh was more or less picture-perfect. Very nice to see these guys doing the things they did here at the next level.
August 21st, 2013 at 3:45 PM ^
I mean, I loved it and all, but two guys had a chance to block him and whiffed. I guess he side-stepped one.
August 21st, 2013 at 4:25 PM ^
I should never post my first reactions...I did watch it again and yeah, not exactly stellar blocking by Chicago's offensive line (actually, none at all off the snap) and some disorganized attempts to block Roh late led to that sack.
August 21st, 2013 at 7:34 PM ^
so that one of them can block him.
August 21st, 2013 at 2:23 PM ^
I mean to Michigan fans, his ability to succeed at the next level won't be because he won't give it everything. I think the pounding inside was determined to see what kind of punishment he's capable of taking. I just love his attitude and body language. Now, he may get worn down as the season moves into late fall, but Denard can be a real weapon for the Jaguars. I mean Harris cracking him on the sideline was a friendly reminder that fellow alums or not, they play for keeps in the NFL.
As for Craig's stiuation with the Panthers, it's really hard to decipher whether he'll stick this year. VanBergen didn't make the squad last year, and Roh is not exactly getting a lot of game reps. If he can survive the big cut in the next couple weeks and get assigned to the practice squad, there is a chance he could become active at some point during the season. We'll see. He probably will play only on special teams this week.
August 21st, 2013 at 2:24 PM ^
August 21st, 2013 at 2:31 PM ^
I will be the Monday Morning QB hindsight guy. Denard looked pretty slick at RB. Had he moved to RB and slot WR going into last year, now seeing what we have in Devin as a true QB, have to think the team would have been better off last year and very explosive. I know this has been debated ad nauseum, but watching Denard look like an actual tailback, you have to think if they had spring and fall of Denard at RB/slot along with Fitz and Devin at QB, it would have been a dangerous combo.
August 21st, 2013 at 3:31 PM ^
August 21st, 2013 at 3:35 PM ^
Denard can get the corner. That loosens up the defense and opens up the running game. I think it could have opened thing up for the team even with the horrid interior blocking.
August 21st, 2013 at 2:51 PM ^
Jacksonville's OL is terrible. That is all.
August 21st, 2013 at 3:05 PM ^
Every time I see the ball pitched to denard I expect him to slow up and chuck it deep. I guess that's not in the cards with his elbow injury... but one can dream.