Today was the much anticipated start of contact drills in Raider training camp. The players were finally able to put the pads on and clap some helmets– well sort of. The stipulation to start off is there was to be no tackling to the ground by the defense and no cut blocks.
Surprisingly Chaz Schilens was in full gear with pads and helmet. He experienced a bit of a setback yesterday in his rehab when his ankle swelled up. His began practice looking no worse for wear. He took part in passing drills with only the ball boys acting as coverage. But when it came to the actual hitting drills which began shortly thereafter, he was kept off the field as a precaution.
Other than Schilens, Louis Murphy was held out of practice with lingering effects of the concussion he suffered in yesterday’s practice. He was doing some minor jogging on a separate field with some of the training staff.
But here is some of what actually happened ON the practice field on Day 5 of Raider training camp:
Running backs blocking rushing backers
The team began it’s first contact with the running backs in pass blocking against the linebackers. It was clear pretty quickly who was going to shine in this area.
On the runningback side of things, Michael Bush was blowing up oncoming rushers left, right and center. He stood up Ricky Brown with a hard block for the first big crack of the contact drills. Then next play he put a big hit on David Nixon. The linebackers know they will have to do a lot better than that to get past the big athletic body of Michael Bush. His hitting and blocking ability reminds us that he was once an all-state athlete on defense as well as runningback and quarterback.
Among fullbacks, Manase Tonga made a real case to move up in the depth chart. He came into the day looking like he could be on the bubble behind Marcel Reese, Luke Lawton, and Chane Moline. But for the most part the competition is still pretty wide open.
The clearcut winners among the linebackers were Trevor Scott and Rolando McClain. Scott displayed some nifty moves in getting around potential blockers and getting into the backfield. His pass rushing has always been his strong suit so this comes as little surprise. McClain is just a monster. He comes through like a Mack truck and runs over any blockers in his way.
The big loser among runningbacks was Rock Cartwright. He was eaten up all day by oncoming rushing linebackers. Trevor Scott left him in the dust, Ricky Brown pushed him aside easily and McClain just mowed him down like grass. Cartwright will have to significantly improve from this performance if he hopes to keep up with Michael Bennett in the competition to back up Darren McFadden and Michael Bush. So far, it doesn’t look good for him.
Mitchell bursting at the seams
No sooner did I point Mitchell as one of the most likely to scuffle in training camp, but he comes out of the gates expectedly over zealous. He had his first big hit on Darren McFadden. He got a running start and nailed McFadden as he came through the hole at the line. Although he let up a little at the last instant, but the message was sent. He was in coverage on Zach Miller a bit later that he clearly interfered on but that is to be expected this early on.
His tense moment came when he blew up Michael Bennett and took him down to the turf. The offensive players were audibly upset by the take down as was Hue Jackson. Moments later Mitchell was taken aside by Tom Cable and given a stern lecture about taking it down a notch.
After Mitchell’s performance in camp last season, I wouldn’t expect him to be cooling it much if at all. Tempers are going to rise in the coming days and I suspect if he is not involved in the first scuffle, he won’t be far behind.
Today’s key matchups
Robert Gallery vs Richard Seymour
The battle that was worth watching today was defensive end Seymour against left guard Gallery. And Seymour has a lot of work to do. Gallery kept him almost completely shut out. Only once did Seymour even get pressure on Gallery and even then there was nothing doing. This is going to be a matchup to keep an eye on in this year’s camp for sure. To Seymour’s credit however, he did play the run well. And that is what the Raiders want most from him so that is good.
Jason Campbell vs Chris Johnson
Jason Campbell looked great overall. He was executing the play action with precision and conviction. One play in particular he dropped a ball in between two defenders perfectly to Tony Stewart for a long gain. But Chris Johnson seems to have a bit of a bead on him. On two separate plays CJ had near interceptions. On the first one he jumpes a flat pass and had it in his hands only to drop a sure pick six. The second one, he was in great coverage on a long ball and dropped it again. Hopefully Campbell will be less predictible against opponents and CJ is simply just getting better. We will monitor the two of them as camp goes on to see if either is true.
Tommy Kelly vs Anyone
It was a frustrating day for Kelly. He was getting used and abused by Raider olineman. First Cooper Carlisle was shutting him out of the backfield. Then recently acquired backup Daniel Loper came in and did the same. Loper made him look silly a couple times.
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