Denver Broncos Training Camp: Day Two Observations
By Steven Kriz
Ty Sambrailo has not had himself a good showing in the first two days of training camp. He has been rotating in with the starters some, but probably only got 33 percent of the reps with Garret Bolles getting the lion’s share of time with the first team Friday. It really hasn’t mattered whether it has been the first team, or the second team he’s working with, he has struggled badly.
On Thursday he was getting beat inside, and outside, and today was no different. During his brief time with the ones, he got lined up across from Von Miller. This is probably not a fair matchup to begin with, but Miller blew by Sambrailo time and time again for a couple of would-be sacks in game action.
Although Sambrailo is noticeably bigger than he was a year ago, the results are nearly the same as they were going against Justin Houston and the Kansas City Chiefs. He is not quick enough with his feet to stay in front of his man, and is especially poor with his hands, failing to deliver any sort of punch to slow his man down. The result: he allows elite level rushers a free run at the quarterback.
It is very clear just two days into camp that Bolles is the best left tackle on the Broncos roster. In the event that Sambrailo has to play any meaningful snaps this season, it would be wise to give him some help in obvious pass situations or these quarterbacks will stand no chance. However, with the way he has fared, Sambrailo is no lock to even make this team. His best chance may be a move inside to guard. This should open things up for Donald Stephenson to win that backup tackle spot
Another player who has had a rough go of it during the first few days has been rookie receiver Carlos Henderson. Henderson, who has got work with both the second and the third team, has struggled with a few drops and a fumble in the first few days. Today, he was receiving an earful from receivers coach Tyke Tolbert.
He ran a very simple route tree at Louisiana Tech, so the adjustment to the NFL may take a bit longer than the Broncos would prefer. I noticed Tolbert working with him for a good couple of minutes after he appeared to run the wrong route with the third team. To Henderson’s credit, the next time he was in was with the second unit moments later where he ran a beautiful route as he hauled in a pass from Trevor Siemian.
The tools that made Henderson a third round pick are obvious. He shows great speed and quickness in and out of cuts. With that said, it may be a bit hasty for him to be expected to contribute a whole lot to the offense right away given the adjustments to. However, if he can clean up the mental errors and put the work in to learn his assignments, he could have a great impact for the Broncos during the second half of the season.