Who are you most excited to see during these OTA workouts? Are there any players in particular you feel need to have a good showing? – Chris Miller/Santa Fe, NM
Nick Eatman: For me, I've learned my lesson when it comes to watching players in practice, especially without pads. You really can only evaluate the ones that are actually doing things that we can see from the sideline. Did he catch the pass? Was the pass thrown accurately? Did the cornerback stay with his man? Maybe, occasionally the pass-rush drills but even that, without pads, it's not always easy to evaluate. Now, the coaches can certainly do a great job when they look at the film, plus they know what the actual assignments are. But for me, I'll go with some skill positions. How about Jalen Tolbert? He's said all the right things this summer but now it's time to put it to the test. Of course, I want to see the tight ends. Want to see what Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot have for Year 2 and where they stand next to Luke Schoonmaker. That's a spot I want to see during this offseason as well.
Patrik: I'll give you two answers to this one: an obvious one and one that is far from it. First and foremost, I'm dying to see Mazi Smith in uniform and getting work in with the veterans. Granted, no hitting is allowed, but the conversations I've had with the rookie first-round pick tell me all he does, every minute of every day, is starve for football action. So even if it's simply me assessing his technique against first-teamers, count me in and then some. He's going to have a good showing, I just want to see how good it'll be. The other player I'm staring at is rookie sixth-round pick Eric Scott Jr., because I'm hoping he shows me why Will McClay lights up when talking about him. His film is promising, given his ability to take the ball away and his actual speed (not his tweaked quad number of 4.7s) combines nicely with his build, but he's still raw, and he'll be challenged early by the WR corps. I want to see if he gets off to a fast start that might give him a nice lead-in to minicamp and ultimately to training camp.
