Yeah, it’s the dead period. I’m actually writing about NFL mini-camps and Pitt players.
Tyler Palko gets a nice AP piece that USA Today picks up.
Payton said Palko has handled the first few practices of rookie camp well, though his footwork and throwing need work.
“You see some intangibles with him. I think he’s a pretty good leader,” Payton said. “He’s a coach’s kid and a guy with a pretty quick release. He enjoys football. He likes being around it. So those are all things that are positives. He’s a long ways away and he’d be the first one to tell you that, but we’re anxious to work with him and we’ll see what we have.”
At least he appears to have made it through the first mini-camp without being cut. The constant concern for free agent signees. This article has a headline (…QB Palko makes an impression) and subheadline (Palko starts strong) that suggest Palko had a pretty good weekend, but doesn’t actually explain why. This article, however, simply says Palko didn’t do much one way or the other in camp. Apparently, the quiet hope is that Sean Payton can develop Palko the way he did Tony Romo.
H.B. Blades went to Washington Redskins mini-camp along with fellow late-round draft linebacker Dallas Sartz, with whom he also roomed in Indianapolis for the NFL scouting combine. Defenisve Coordinator, Gregg Williams, likes Blades’ potential.
“H.B. tackles well,” Williams said. “He’s sideline to sideline. He gets his hands on the ball. There’s no reason he can’t do those things at this level as long as he can get the jump mentally. He’s a student of the game. When you have a little bit of a size disadvantage, where are you going to gain the advantage? H.B. will see how London [Fletcher] gained the advantage in a hurry. There are a lot of things that he’ll see that he can mimic and maybe improve at a faster pace.”
Finally. Clint Session gets no attention in Indy, but the Trib has a nice story on the guy drafted ahead of Palko and Blades.
Instead, he went 136th overall, the ninth outside linebacker chosen.
“You guys probably weren’t talking much about me,” he said. “It was always H.B. I’m pretty sure you said, ‘Seventh round or free agent,’ and here I am today.”
Colts president Bill Polian, the man who built the Buffalo Bills’ four Super Bowl teams, told reporters he had a “strong conviction” about Session. Polian also has a defensive coordinator, Ron Meeks, who worked on defensive staffs with Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt at the University of Miami and with the Dallas Cowboys.
The Colts don’t look at size first. They want players who can run and hit. Session does both, which is why he tied for the national lead in forced fumbles (five) last season.
There’s a joke about tackling I could make there, but it’s been beaten into the ground the last few years.
