6/7/2007 1:31:36 PM
Omens

As a receiver, you want the first thing to come back to you from a long layoff of football to be your vision. Being able to pick up the flight of the ball is an integral part of catching it. Being able to pick it up in the air in time to get your body and hands in place in order to make the catch is something that sometimes takes guys a couple of days or even a week or so to gain back after a hiatus. The first thing that you actually get back is your speed and strength in terms of just running around and getting open. And the last thing to come is usually your footwork, and by footwork I mean break point mechanics, and foot speed in and out of cuts, or to avoid contact. For me personally, it’s taken my footwork 4 days to get to where I feel even remotely comfortable with it. I run a ton of routes during the offseason, and do a multitude of drills to facilitate a smooth transition, but unfortunately there’s no substitute for the real thing it seems. For the reasons stated above as well as the fact that in a new offensive scheme, there is more thinking than reacting going on for the first few days from an offensive standpoint, it is to be expected in most cases like ours that the defense will outshine the offence for the first little while. How little a while can depend on the defense, as well as how quickly that offensive scheme is learned, applied and allowed to gel cohesively. One of the best things I’ve noticed about this camp is that, our offence, while it is new to everyone top to bottom From QB, to O-line, to Receivers/Backs…has not been outshone and has not looked out of place at all. This could of course be interpreted in two ways, that the offence will be very good, or that the defense may not be clicking on all cylinders yet, but either way I think it bodes well for the Eskimos as a team. For one, even if the defense isn’t clicking yet, with the athletes, and coaching that we have in place…it most certainly will be sooner than later. And second, if the offence can maintain and build on this trend as we become comfortable in this system...well…put it this way, it’s very difficult to lose a game if you’re outscoring the other team.

I digress…©

KP8