Training camp 2013 news

[barrett]

I went yesterday and I agree it was just way too crowded to enjoy it. They hand out twice as many tickets as they should. I was there by 7:15 and didn't come close to the bleachers. I ended up at the front of a group in the endzone that must have been 5-6 deep. I went and got water about an hour in for my son and didn't see anything after that.

From what I did see, Hopkins really impresses me. He looked great coming out of his breaks. He ran a little 7 yard option route in the slot against man coverage and would have scored a long TD in a game setting. He was out of his break and turned up field while Daneal Manning was still breaking. He is a very sudden athlete and a big play threat. He is a "fast in a phone booth" type. He also really attacks the football rather than letting it come to him (this suprised me since I think his football background is somewhat limited for a prospect of his level, being a basketball guy until a few years ago).

I think we have a real player there.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by barrett

I went yesterday and I agree it was just way too crowded to enjoy it. They hand out twice as many tickets as they should. I was there by 7:15 and didn't come close to the bleachers. I ended up at the front of a group in the endzone that must have been 5-6 deep. I went and got water about an hour in for my son and didn't see anything after that.

From what I did see, Hopkins really impresses me. He looked great coming out of his breaks. He ran a little 7 yard option route in the slot against man coverage and would have scored a long TD in a game setting. He was out of his break and turned up field while Daneal Manning was still breaking. He is a very sudden athlete and a big play threat. He is a "fast in a phone booth" type. He also really attacks the football rather than letting it come to him (this suprised me since I think his football background is somewhat limited for a prospect of his level, being a basketball guy until a few years ago).

I think we have a real player there.

Thanks Barrett, I appreciate your elaboration of Hopkins. I was just buried so deep in the crowd standing around the EZ, then there was the Texan players who were standing in front of them and watching but not participating in the scrimmage, I got nothing more than a brief glimpse of Hopkins. But now you are another pair of eyes and you too are saying we may have scored big in this Draft to secure some real help in our passing game, and that's very encouraging.

[Keith]

Set your DVRs for the annual NFL Films 30-min year in review...

ABC-13 in Houston, 5-5:30pm Sat 8/3

...this was supposed to air on ESPN2 at 1:30am earlier this morning, but it was delayed 10 mins and my DVR didn't know that.


Back on topic...
One of the things I think back to watching camp workouts is that you're watching Texans vs. Texans. Mercilus getting stonewalled by Duane Brown, wait, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Hopkins putting a move on Joseph, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Keep in mind too that the defense knows what the offense is doing and vice versa.

As for the camp attendance, it has soured my willingness to attend for sure. Crowds are now in excess of 5k. Early times the crowds were often 2k... this isn't just because the team is more popular now due to its recent playoff successes. It's because the team is releasing more tickets. There was plenty of demand 10 years ago, but tickets were scarce. Tough to complain about a free ticket, so I'll stop here, but I miss being able to watch camp practices like we did back in the day. /grumpyoldman

[cadams]

Went this morning. Got there at 7 and the crowd was already way too big. Got to watch drills for about 45 min, then hit the fan zone. My son had a blast, but I agree with others about them handing out too many tickets. Security guys said that people were there at 3 am waiting to get in for bleacher seats.