Heisman watch-Troy Smith up-date

Well, it certainly has been a while since my last real blog. Training camp has kept me quite busy, between reports, pictures and videos being put up on our site and family life, I've been wiped out. The last time we "spoke" I touched on Troy Smith and the expected struggles a rookie quarterback has assimilating to the NFL. Between learning the verbiage of an NFL offense, acclimating with new teammates and learning to read the complex looks of a pro defense compared to college, not too mention the difference in speed and talent, most young quarterbacks struggle in their first week of camp. Troy was certainly no different. While he did have some great plays, the number of head scratchers certainly out weighed the wow factor scale. Troy has been putting in serious time in the film room, paying close attention to not only his coaches and the advise from Steve McNair and Kyle Boller, but also watching the two veterans in action against the league's number one defense. Last week, Troy would hesitate just a split second to launch a pass, the result sin college are usually a completion with little yards after the catch. In the NFL however, it ends up being an incompletion, a tipped pass or worse, an interception. The speed of defenses, the abilities of the defenders are just that much better than at the college ranks. In the first week of camp, during skell or 7 on 7 drills, here you can see Troy not trusting his eyes, delaying for just a split second and the pass, almost being picked. http://extremeravens.com/multimedia/videos_and_film/7-on-7_drills_20070730652/ Later on that week, Smith fails to maneuver in the pocket during a live scrimmage, to find a clean look and passing lane, instead, forcing a pass over the middle, late. Any quarterback will tell you, when you throw over the middle, late, bad things happen. Troy finds this out, fortunately, it is only practice... http://extremeravens.com/multimedia/videos_and_film/troy_smith_picked_by_ronnie_prude_20070731701/ These are just two plays, and yes, Troy did have success in the first week, but the head scratchers clearly tipped the wow factor scale against Troy. This week, after a scrimmage, after more studying and another week of getting to know his teammates, young Mr. Smith looked more relaxed in practice. This was evident in his play on the field. As you will see http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v160/ravenatic/?action=view¤t=7on7-TroySmithtoMattWillis-td.flv during the skell scrimmage, troy doesn't hesitate, he calmly looks over the defense and fires to the open man, before the defense can react. The pass looks off target, but it is thrown away from the safety (Ed Reed) where only his receiver (Matt Willis) can make the catch. If Smith had thrown it more inside, Reed easily has the interception, at best, the pass falls incomplete. Later on that day during the live scrimmage, Troy again trusts what he sees and makes the right throw. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v160/ravenatic/?action=view¤t=Thirdteam-TroySmithtoDamienLinson-t.flv Again, these are just samples of Troy's play, but this past week, the good plays far out weighed the bad ones, showing the improvement in Smith. Does this indicate Troy is going to be a good to great NFL quarterback? Not at all, nor do they show he will be a poor quarterback either... The first preseason game for the Baltimore Ravens is tonight. Generally speaking, Brian Billick, as with most coaches, doesn't keep his starters in for very long. Smith should see extensive playing tonight, albeit against players who may or may not be in the NFL or at least not starting any time soon. Still, tonight will be a step down the road to see if Troy can make the transition to the NFL. For the fans of Smith out there, if you can not see the action, stay tuned to this blog, tomorrow I will give another up-date or head on over the ExtremeRavens.com for more information on tonight's game.