06-17-2024, 05:24 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-17-2024, 08:15 PM by purplefaithful.)
Caleb Williams:
How he has fared so far: The Bears held very little back from their rookie quarterback as he began learning the offense, and his ability to "chunk information, put it into buckets and operate" impressed coach Matt Eberflus throughout the spring.
Coaches encouraged Williams to experiment with different throws in OTAs and minicamp to see what windows he could hit while making sure his footwork timed up with when he released the ball. The 22-year-old quarterback naturally experienced ups and downs in practices while going against an experienced defense that used movement and disguises to challenge the rookie, but every now and again Williams got the better of his teammates.
"He moved us a couple times with his eyes," linebacker T.J. Edwards said. "The first day it had me and Tremaine [Edmunds] hot about it, but he's impressive for sure." -- Courtney Cronin
Jayden Daniels:
How he has fared so far: Daniels never looked overmatched or confused during spring practices, which is a key reason the Commanders had him working exclusively with the first group in the mandatory minicamp.
Daniels impressed teammates and coaches with how prepared he was, a byproduct in part of showing up every day at 5:45 a.m. for film work and his own walk-through session. But he looked sharp throwing the ball with anticipation and in how he has gone through his progressions. So far, he is exactly the player they thought they had drafted.
"He's got a swagger to him," coach Dan Quinn said. "He really has a very firm handle on the things that we're doing, but he also has the humility of a young player ... knowing that he has a lot to prove." -- John Keim
Drake Maye:
How he has fared so far: After starting spring practices as the No. 3 option behind Jacoby Brissett and Bailey Zappe, Maye was the No. 2 option by the end of mandatory minicamp.
His comfort level grew with each practice, and he capped his spring with a TD pass to fellow rookie Ja'Lynn Polk in a got-to-have-it situation -- one second on the clock, ball on the 5-yard line, bragging rights on the line until the start of training camp. "Every day he's gotten better," Brissett said of Maye.
"He's constantly trying to find ways to get better, making some nice throws out there, and you're seeing his progression come alive." -- Mike Reiss
Michael Penix Jr:
How he has fared so far: Penix was the story of the draft when he was taken at No. 8 after the Falcons had already signed Kirk Cousins. Penix has shown flashes of brilliance this spring, especially on the deep ball.
But he also has been plagued with inconsistency, missing some touch passes. Not a huge surprise for a rookie QB.
Penix has mostly worked with the team's backups, with veteran Taylor Heinicke seemingly second string behind Cousins, at least at this point. That's fine with the Falcons, who surely hope Penix is absorbing knowledge. "His humility shows every time he speaks with you guys, every time he walks in the building, in the meeting room," coach Raheem Morris said of Penix. -- Marc Raimondi
JJ McCarthy:
How he has fared so far: In sum, McCarthy looked like a quarterback with the talent to be a top-10 pick but with the inexperience of a 21-year-old. In other words: Exactly what should have been expected. At times, he fit darts into small windows against aggressive coverage. On other occasions, he bounced passes to receivers with no defenders in the drill.
McCarthy kept the appropriate perspective throughout. "Failure is inevitable in sports," he said. "You've just got to learn from them and learn from those little dips and not be attached to them emotionally." -- Kevin Seifert
Bo Nix:
How he has fared so far: Nix is in a three-way battle for the starting job with Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson. Coach Sean Payton split the work evenly among the trio throughout the offseason program, which ended Wednesday with the second minicamp practice.
Nix has shown he has developed at least some comfort level with the playbook and has displayed accuracy, particularly in the short and intermediate routes.
Payton has consistently lauded Nix's maturity thus far. "We gave [the quarterbacks] a lot, we gave all three of these guys ... there was a lot of install in a short period of time. ... Overall, though, it's what we saw [in him before the draft], what we evaluated, and that's encouraging."
The three quarterbacks, including Nix, are expected to work with most of the team's pass-catchers on their own in early July to get a head start on training camp. -- Jeff Legwold
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/4032...raft-picks
How he has fared so far: The Bears held very little back from their rookie quarterback as he began learning the offense, and his ability to "chunk information, put it into buckets and operate" impressed coach Matt Eberflus throughout the spring.
Coaches encouraged Williams to experiment with different throws in OTAs and minicamp to see what windows he could hit while making sure his footwork timed up with when he released the ball. The 22-year-old quarterback naturally experienced ups and downs in practices while going against an experienced defense that used movement and disguises to challenge the rookie, but every now and again Williams got the better of his teammates.
"He moved us a couple times with his eyes," linebacker T.J. Edwards said. "The first day it had me and Tremaine [Edmunds] hot about it, but he's impressive for sure." -- Courtney Cronin
Jayden Daniels:
How he has fared so far: Daniels never looked overmatched or confused during spring practices, which is a key reason the Commanders had him working exclusively with the first group in the mandatory minicamp.
Daniels impressed teammates and coaches with how prepared he was, a byproduct in part of showing up every day at 5:45 a.m. for film work and his own walk-through session. But he looked sharp throwing the ball with anticipation and in how he has gone through his progressions. So far, he is exactly the player they thought they had drafted.
"He's got a swagger to him," coach Dan Quinn said. "He really has a very firm handle on the things that we're doing, but he also has the humility of a young player ... knowing that he has a lot to prove." -- John Keim
Drake Maye:
How he has fared so far: After starting spring practices as the No. 3 option behind Jacoby Brissett and Bailey Zappe, Maye was the No. 2 option by the end of mandatory minicamp.
His comfort level grew with each practice, and he capped his spring with a TD pass to fellow rookie Ja'Lynn Polk in a got-to-have-it situation -- one second on the clock, ball on the 5-yard line, bragging rights on the line until the start of training camp. "Every day he's gotten better," Brissett said of Maye.
"He's constantly trying to find ways to get better, making some nice throws out there, and you're seeing his progression come alive." -- Mike Reiss
Michael Penix Jr:
How he has fared so far: Penix was the story of the draft when he was taken at No. 8 after the Falcons had already signed Kirk Cousins. Penix has shown flashes of brilliance this spring, especially on the deep ball.
But he also has been plagued with inconsistency, missing some touch passes. Not a huge surprise for a rookie QB.
Penix has mostly worked with the team's backups, with veteran Taylor Heinicke seemingly second string behind Cousins, at least at this point. That's fine with the Falcons, who surely hope Penix is absorbing knowledge. "His humility shows every time he speaks with you guys, every time he walks in the building, in the meeting room," coach Raheem Morris said of Penix. -- Marc Raimondi
JJ McCarthy:
How he has fared so far: In sum, McCarthy looked like a quarterback with the talent to be a top-10 pick but with the inexperience of a 21-year-old. In other words: Exactly what should have been expected. At times, he fit darts into small windows against aggressive coverage. On other occasions, he bounced passes to receivers with no defenders in the drill.
McCarthy kept the appropriate perspective throughout. "Failure is inevitable in sports," he said. "You've just got to learn from them and learn from those little dips and not be attached to them emotionally." -- Kevin Seifert
Bo Nix:
How he has fared so far: Nix is in a three-way battle for the starting job with Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson. Coach Sean Payton split the work evenly among the trio throughout the offseason program, which ended Wednesday with the second minicamp practice.
Nix has shown he has developed at least some comfort level with the playbook and has displayed accuracy, particularly in the short and intermediate routes.
Payton has consistently lauded Nix's maturity thus far. "We gave [the quarterbacks] a lot, we gave all three of these guys ... there was a lot of install in a short period of time. ... Overall, though, it's what we saw [in him before the draft], what we evaluated, and that's encouraging."
The three quarterbacks, including Nix, are expected to work with most of the team's pass-catchers on their own in early July to get a head start on training camp. -- Jeff Legwold
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/4032...raft-picks
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