On offense, wide receiver Sinorice Moss has been an (admittedly extremely) early camp sensation. Moss, 5-8, 185, is built to take advantage of early-camp practices that allow him to exploit open space with his quickness, but Moss stood out in the 11-on-11's, hauling in two bombs, one from Michael Vick and one from Mike Kafka.
Moss has showcased the impressive burst that got him drafted in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Of course, as part of a loaded group of wide receivers, Moss will have to fight and claw just to make the roster. He'll also have to avoid the injury bug that has plagued him throughout his career thus far.
On defense, the standout day came courtesy of last year's Canadian Football League sack champion, defensive end Phillip Hunt. During the full-team 11-on-11 session that closed practice, Hunt was a terror for the offensive line, providing constant pressure. Head coach Andy Reid awarded Hunt with at least two sacks during the period, eliciting a question from Reid to the offensive line, "Is anybody going to block this guy?"
Like Moss, Hunt finds himself in a position crowded with talent, but he'll have every chance to produce in the preseason and force his way into Jim Washburn's cavalry.
While Moss and Hunt stood out, they did so in large part because we don't know what to expect from them. Meanwhile, it's safe to say that the best player on the day was running back LeSean McCoy, who seemed to be playing at a different speed than many of the players on the field. During one-on-one drills in which linebackers cover the running backs and tight ends on pass routes, McCoy was effortlessly getting wide open. On one play, he put a double move on Keenan Clayton that earned raves from assistant coach Duce Staley - though he ended up dropping the pass.
Then, during the nine-on-seven drills, which consist of only running plays so the defense knows what's coming, McCoy was still able to carve up the defense, shifting away from would-be tacklers up the middle with ease.
The most impressive performance put up on defense during the linebackers-in-coverage session was put up by Jamar Chaney, who several times was able to stay with the receiver down the field step-for-step and bat the pass away. He capped that off by pumping up the crowd in anticipation of the nine-on-sevens.
Personnel wise, there were no surprises with either first team, though Mike McGlynn remained the "starting" right guard after A.Q. Shipley got a look there Friday. It was interesting to see how the respective second-team offensive and defensive lines lined up however. On offense, the linemen were, from left to right, Austin Howard, Julian Vandervelde, Shipley, Dallas Reynolds and Fenuki Tupou.
On defense, the second-team defensive line was, again from left to right, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, Trevor Laws, Victor Abiamiri and Darryl Tapp. Abiamiri is an interesting note, as he has worked almost exclusively at defensive tackle thus far, the idea being that he can bring pressure up the middle like he did early in the 2009 season. The second-team linebackers, meanwhile, were Rashad Jeanty and Keenan Clayton on the outside with Greg Lloyd in the middle.
