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Training Camp Day 3 takeaways

So I got up at 5 am yesterday morning and waited hours in line, got roasted in the sun.... What? You guys don't want to hear about me. You....want me to get to training camp?... Fine! but I'm still gonna pout quietly to myself.

Actually it was a pretty amazing experience. Ill go down the list of players and position I observed and give my impressions, if I didn't write someone in here then I didn't get the chance to observe them.

Today was the first day in full pads so there was a bit of hitting going on, not too much, they still are taking it easy but they did unleash a few nice pops.

Punt Returns:

Percy Harvin looked great and is absolutely the fastest Seahawk on the field, hands down. There was not a single dropped punt return today, I can only assume because Pete was personally overseeing this drill. Percy was the fastest, even his jog is faster than my top speed. Paul Richardson runs similar to Percy - he is very skinny but has the same kind of stride, and he's fast as well, but it did not equate to Percy's speed. Paul also juggled a punt return before hauling it in, this was right in front of Pete so not sure if that will effect his chances. Everyone else was pretty average, from Earl Thomas to Jermaine Kearse to Robert Turbin. Pretty much what you'd expect, nothing very flashy. I don't know if we risk Percy on punt returns and kick offs but right now it's not looking like we have any standout candidate for the job other than him, and he really only gets it due to his speed.

D line:

Cassius Marsh is fast and fun to watch, he is every bit as quick off the ball as advertised but... He is awfully thin and really could use some bulking up. Benson Mayowa looks bigger but he didn't show me much today, and Scruggs looks good but it's early to tell. Kevin Williams looked real nice, and this was probably the most encouraging thing to see -- he seemed to be a great fit and did a lot of work with the first team. Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett... Do I even need to say it.. They are studs.. Just studs... They looked fantastic today.

Jesse Williams looked really good today too, faster than he did last year at camp before he was hurt. Overall, our D Line was the best group I witnessed today, they look beastly.

Receivers:

Phillip Bates caught two long TD passes over defenders today in 11 on 11. He looked great -- granted it was not 1st team defenders but it was still mighty impressive -- and he also had some other really nice catches to the sidelines.

Percy Harvin had some incredible catches today, one in the two minute drill that gave the #1 offense a first down after a diving catch (please don't get hurt) and he caught a few nice short passes which he turned into longer runs. He did however drop a pass over the middle that big him right in the bread basket.

Doug Baldwin absolutely torched Byron Maxwell in passing drills for a touchdown, the separation was embarrassing. Paul Richardson ran some very nice and polished routes. I got to watch him work against Sherman and while he didn't catch anything on him (they didn't dare throw at Sherman) he made Sherman work for it; he's very quick off the line and during 11 on 11 he ran a few out routes and a stop route to perfection for small gains each time literally ran off the defender and then came back, pretty flawless route running. I wanted to see Norwood but he did not practice today sadly.

DBs:

Not much to mention here, Sherman had a nice tip in scrimmage and pretty much locked everyone down. However he got beat on an inside route in passing drills and ended up essentially tackling whoever it was, looked like Kearse to me, the ref flagged him for it and of course Sherman got up and pleaded his case. I had to snicker at this, I had a bad angle from where I was but I could have seen from a mile away that he held him, I think Sherman would just rather have the flag than get beat.

Jeron Johnson looked pretty good stepping in for Kam; he allowed a pass over the middle that would have been Vernon Davised into oblivion if Kam were there and this were a full speed hitting game but he was right there to wrap up, he was technically sound but just didn't have the presence that Kam does.

Didn't see much of a Earl at all, quiet day for him, and other than Byron getting beat by doug not much there either. Jeremy Lane looked amazing though.

Linebackers:

KJ and Bobby if course looked sharp and amazing those are the only two I really had the chance to observe I wanted to take a peak at Pierre-Louis but I just didn't didnt get to it, hopefully at a later camp date.

Tight Ends:

Zach Miller dropped a wide open out route right in his hands from Russell in 11 on 11. I'm still in disbelief that it happened. Luke Willson looked great as usual, maybe a tad bulkier but still quick and shaper than ever. Anthony McCoy looked great, caught some really nice passes and looked to be right in the competition this year.

Running Backs:

Still no Marshawn. Turbin was taking most of the #1 snaps and some of the #2 snaps, he looked ok, nothing special, he looks generic, he's fast, has good moves, just like every running back in the NFL. Christine Michael looked amazing and explosive in the brief time he took snaps, he injured his shoulder and sat out the rest of practice but appears to be ok. Spencer Ware and Derrick Coleman both looked pretty good too and had a couple nice runs and catches.

Offensive Line:

Justin Britt got a lot of first team work today, he looks skinny, very skinny, pretty much like the O line version of Cassius Marsh. He needs to bulk up a bit but he's fast off the line and seems to have a good grasp of his assignments also he went against Cliff Avril and held his own so not bad. Alvin Baily didn't look to be in great shape, I'm kinda dissapointed here as he was one I was impressed with from last year. The biggest and most pleasant surprise of our O Line is James Carpenter, if his jersey didn't have his name on it I wouldn't have guessed it was him, he looked waaaaaay slimmer and a lot more muscular. He still has his leg braces but he's looking lean and in shape and his work in the line was great today.

Qbs:

Russell looked ok today, he had a few over throws but was otherwise on the money, the offense struggled a bit in the 2 minute drill against the second team d, they moved down the field to get in FG range for haushka and then attempted a fake FG that failed, Gresham actually made a decent throw, it was a little low but he was open and just dropped it, it was kind of an odd call from the 20 with only seconds on the clock but oh well. In that same 2 minute drill Russell opened op with a beautiful sideline pass for 40 yards to Phillip Bates which got called back on a very suspect OPI call. They inched their way down the field rather un impressively other than Percy's acrobatic catch. Russell had a nice scramble for about 25 yards in 11 on 11 later in the practice. Tjack looked good, sharp, pretty much like what he is, a veteran Qb who knows the system, he jumped right in and was on the ball when needed. Pryor... Oh dear... Pryor looked pretty aweful. He is whole heartedly unconvincing as a passer, towards the end of 11 on 11 he scrambled left on a broken play then scrambled back right with defenders all over him, I thought they were gonna whistle it dead but they never caught him, he got loose and connected for a nice play down field but it was long after the play had degenerated into madness. I will say this, the dude can run, he took off on a scramble up the sidelines and made Kapernick look sad with his speed.

I'm hoping to get to see some of the positional players that I missed when I go again on the 4th and the 10th. I ended up meeting Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, and Byron Maxwell and shaking their hands and getting autographs and pictures so that alone made the sunburns and exhaustion worth it. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask and I'll answer as best as I can, most of what I observed is above but if there is something specific you were curious about please ask.

Thanks for reading!