Shady And The Art of Blitz Pickup

- Posted by Sam -

One of the big problems that the Eagles have had in developing their young running backs, such as Ryan Moats and Tony Hunt, has been getting them up to speed on how to pick up blitzes in the NFL. Seems like they have hit on a new idea -- drill it during training camp. And the good news is that our great running back hope, Shady McCoy, seems to be excelling in this area. Reuben Frank reports:

The Eagles introduced a new drill into their training camp routine this summer, and it's quickly becoming a crowd favorite and a highlight of the steamy mornings at Lehigh.

It's the blitz pickup drill, pitting defensive backs and linebackers vs. backs and tight ends. It's a live, full-speed drill with a real snap to a coach who's serving as the quarterback. There's no hiding if you don't get the job done. You're right out there on your own in front of all your coaches and teammates and 10,000 fans.

The Eagles ran the drill Saturday, and they just ran it again at this morning's practice at Lehigh for about 20 minutes.

The star of the drill on the offensive side was rookie LeSean McCoy, who was not considered a good blocker at Pitt but showed great aggressiveness and strength picking up blitzes. On the defensive side, the star was Chris Gocong, which isn't surprising since he was a pass-rush specialist at Cal Poly.

By the way, it is worth clicking through the link above to read the whole article. Frank's 4th and 26 is worth following, and this post in particular is exactly the kind of detail that the "blog tent" or whatever they are calling it at Lehigh can provide us with.

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Meanwhile, it is worth a note that the other great training camp hope, Cornelius Ingram, missed practice this morning with a swollen knee -- the same knee that had ACL surgery. Certainly not a good sign.