Scout’s Eye: 3 Rookies Held Their Own On Day 1

If this were a heavyweight fight, I'd give Day 1 to Tyron Smith over Robert Quinn. It's not that Quinn was poor, but Smith was just that much better. Quinn still has the ability to work the edge and break blockers down, but he was unable to consistently do that to Smith. Where he was able to get Smith was an outside pass rush move that he converted on the fly to an inside move. This was where he did catch Smith off balance and he was able to complete the rush.

Jourdan Lewis couldn't have covered Reggie Davis any better than he did -- and he still had the ball completed on him. It was just a beautiful ball delivered by Cooper Rush off play action down the right sideline. Lewis did everything right except come down with the ball. Davis was able to slow up just enough to use his body to keep Lewis from knocking the ball away from him. Davis tracked and high-pointed the ball and showed strong hands to bring it down.

Tony Pollard must have known something was up when Dak Prescott moved him up closer to the line of scrimmage. Prescott was trying to put him in position to pick up a blitzing Leighton Vander Esch, who showed no mercy on the rookie. Pollard did the best he could to hang in there and stay in front, but it looked like he was on roller skates. Pollard will learn to bend his knees and strike a better blow.

It's just too hard for Taco Charlton to get off the ball, engage and then restart his rush. If it's not one complete or continuous movement, he doesn't have a chance. His best chance to defeat La'el Collins is to attack his outside shoulder with quickness and hope Collins misses with his hands. Charlton was unable to gain any type of traction this way. Collins was able to kick/slide in front without being affected too much.

Beautiful execution by Jon'Vea Johnson on the "sluggo" route against Chris Westry to haul in a big pass from Cooper Rush. Johnson sold the route hard to the inside and Westry became distracted when Blake Jarwin was running the "out" to his side. It was just that little bit of hesitation which allowed Johnson to break back to the outside to give him the necessary separation despite Westry doing all he could to chase him down. The ball was in a spot where Johnson never had to break stride.

Nice reaction by Joe Jackson on a zone drop to snatch a deflection off the hands of Rico Gathers. It's not often that you see a defensive end drop in those situations and make a play but Jackson was right there. It was a ball that should have been caught by Gathers. It was thrown head high by Mike White and Gathers really struggled with it. His hands were in place but he just lost concentration.

I liked the power that Dorance Armstrong showed in the 1-on-1 pass rush drill. Armstrong was on Cam Fleming before he had a chance to get out of his stance. As Fleming was retreating into his set, Armstrong was able to take his left hand and drive it into Fleming's chest, driving him back. Fleming was never able to recover and Armstrong would have gotten the sack. Armstrong has been filling in for DeMarcus Lawrence during OTAs and minicamp and has carried himself well.

I continue to see good things from Daniel Wise. Not only does this guy beat blockers at the point in the run game, but he affects the quarterback as well in the pocket. He's been able to carry things over from the OTAs and minicamp to here in Oxnard. But I will say that I am still waiting for the coaches to give him more of an opportunity to work against blockers that might be better than him. He fights really well in his weight class, so maybe that will happen sooner rather than later. His quickness and explosiveness have been impressive since arriving from Kansas.