Newcomers have short time to prove value

Published on January 10, 2006 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Orlando Predators News Release


ORLANDO, Fla. (January 10, 2006) -- Sixteen days....but throw out three days for mini-camps, the day after the Tampa scrimmage and the season ticket holder dress rehearsal...and it's really just 11 days. That's the amount of time a first-year player has to impress coaches and show they deserve a roster spot on the Orlando Predators 2006 roster.

"It's not a lot of time. We have sixteen days of camp, but we used the first three days to install our offense and defense," head coach Jay Gruden said. "Arena Football is a different game and the guys that are playing it for the first time do not have luxury of a lot of time to pick up the nuances of the game."

The Predators situation is more interesting because the team has 21 first-year players in camp - the most in recent years. The total includes only five players with "arenafootball2" experience, leaving 16 players who have never played the game before.

It becomes more challenging because the Predators practice facility lacks the walls and nets of an actual field. A pre-season scrimmage in Tampa on Jan. 18 will be the only time these players will compete inside an arena during training camp. "The Tampa scrimmage will be extremely important for the first-year players," Gruden said. ‘A lot of jobs will be won or lost that night."

After the first full days of camp, several of the new players have caught Gruden's eye. Jermaine Mays, who played wide receiver and excelled on special teams in college before being switched to corner in the NFL, is one of those players.

"Learning the other side of the ball is so tough for some guys, but Jermaine has looked good on both sides so far," Gruden said. "He appears to be the type of player this game was made for."

Gruden also pointed to WR/LB Javarus Dudley, OS DeAndrew Rubin, and lineman Jim Sodano as first-year players that have made impressions in the early days of camp. Dudley was a standout wide receiver at Fordham, while Rubin is a speedster who played at South Florida and went to camp with the Tampa Bay Bucs last fall. Sodano excelled at center in "arenafootball2" with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers last year.

"I am pleased with the overall talent of the first-year players, but we have a long way to go before playing Georgia in the first game," Gruden added. "All the players need to keep improving during training camp."

CAMP NOTES: The Predators lost a second player to the NFL this week when lineman Sean Guthrie signed with the Washington Redskins...Orlando will retain the player's Arena Football League rights...before the start of camp, WR/LB Derrick McCoy was signed by the Tampa Bay Bucs...In an unusual move, head coach Jay Gruden only brought two quarterbacks to camp this year in starter Joe Hamilton and back-up Jake Eaton...the departure from the normal three quarterbacks in training camp was made to give Eaton as many snaps as possible in practice...Eaton excelled for the Manchester Wolves in "af2" last year...lineman Kevin Johnson is attempting to return to the Arena Football League after an absence of more than four years...Johnson last played in the AFL in 2001 for Los Angeles (two games) and his last full year in the league was 1999 for the Predators...the Predators will work out twice tomorrow, with a normal practice starting at 8:30 a.m...following a 20-minute break, the team will spend their second session on special teams work.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from January 10, 2006


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