Hammock Parties
04-04-2007, 01:29 AM
http://www.kansascity.com/160/story/58552.html
Croyle raring to go
Quarterback is eager to show Edwards, Chiefs that their faith in his ability to become the starter is well-founded.
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
Occasional winter travels between Kansas City and his home in Alabama provided a convenient excuse for Brodie Croyle. He couldn’t always follow the often-dramatic developments regarding the Chiefs and their quarterbacks.
Word still filtered his way that the Chiefs plan to give Croyle every chance to win the starting position. That process started this week with the beginning of the offseason program.
“It makes you even more eager and more excited about what’s fixing to happen,” Croyle said. “They’re not guaranteeing me anything. They’ve just said they’re going to give me a shot. If I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go. My whole thought is that I’m going to be ready to go and have the best offseason and minicamp and training camp I can possibly have. I want to give them no reason to think anything but that I’m ready to go.”
Conditioning sessions started Monday. Quarterbacks had the first of their three-times-a-week classroom sessions with position coach Dick Curl on Tuesday.
“We’ll talk about protections,” Curl said. “We’ll talk about routes. We’ll talk about defenses and how we’ll try to attack specific coverages. He’ll have to get up on the board after we look at some things. He’ll have to show us what he saw, this is what they did, this is how we’re going to protect it, this is where he should go with the ball in that situation.”
Eventually, Croyle and the other quarterbacks will move to the field to work on mechanics and techniques and do some throwing to receivers. Practice begins in May.
It’s the time of year for individual attention. At quarterback, most of it will be given to Croyle, the Chiefs’ third-round draft pick last year.
Coach Herm Edwards had Croyle on his radar before he joined the Chiefs. Edwards is friends with Mike Shula, Croyle’s college coach at Alabama. Shula provided Edwards with glowing reports on Croyle as his college career unfolded.
When Edwards got around to watching some video of Croyle, what he saw reminded him of Chad Pennington, his quarterback with the Jets. Croyle showed a cool head and the ability to make all the necessary throws.
Edwards would prefer that the 24-year-old Croyle win the job. That would, in theory, solve the Chiefs’ quarterback issues for the foreseeable future.
“This is his second time around, so he should be more knowledgeable about everything,” offensive coordinator Mike Solari said. “You usually see the biggest growth in the second year. He will start to see more things, comprehend more things. At first, everything is thrown at you and sometimes it’s overwhelming. Now, he’s not trying to just learn what to do. He can absorb everything, focus and really learn the details.
“This is a great time for him. It’s a perfect time to give him a chance to compete and show what he can do.”
The Chiefs were hopeful that the slightly built Croyle would return bigger than when he left, but he weighed in Monday at 207 pounds, about where he was when he left in January.
That’s despite his best efforts at meals.
“Ask anybody,” he said. “They think I’ve got a tapeworm, I eat so much.”
At issue is his ability to withstand the punishment of a 16-game season, if that becomes necessary. Croyle indicated he’d like to play at about 215.
“Trent went through the whole season at 212 last year,” he said. “I weighed 2 pounds less than Trent did today. Weight is not all that big an issue for me. It helps when you get banged around and all that. But most of it is how bad you want to get back up after you’ve been smoked. A lot of it has to do with how tough you are and how much you want to play the game. That can take you a lot further than just being 230 or 240 pounds.
“I’m not too concerned about it. Our strength coach isn’t too concerned about it. He’s been with Jake Plummer with Denver the last few years and (Plummer’s) been about 200.”
Ultimately, weight won’t be the make-or-break factor. The Chiefs would rather see his progress on the field.
“It’s one thing to be able to do in it the classroom,” Curl said. “It’s another thing when you’re playing in a game. You really need to get into a preseason game, where the bodies are coming at you full speed. In (offseason practices), you can make a mistake and it can be corrected. During the game, that mistake can get you beat.
“It’s going to be a work in progress. To say we’re going to be there at the first game, that would be great. But being realistic about it, it’s going to take longer than that.”
Croyle raring to go
Quarterback is eager to show Edwards, Chiefs that their faith in his ability to become the starter is well-founded.
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
Occasional winter travels between Kansas City and his home in Alabama provided a convenient excuse for Brodie Croyle. He couldn’t always follow the often-dramatic developments regarding the Chiefs and their quarterbacks.
Word still filtered his way that the Chiefs plan to give Croyle every chance to win the starting position. That process started this week with the beginning of the offseason program.
“It makes you even more eager and more excited about what’s fixing to happen,” Croyle said. “They’re not guaranteeing me anything. They’ve just said they’re going to give me a shot. If I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go. My whole thought is that I’m going to be ready to go and have the best offseason and minicamp and training camp I can possibly have. I want to give them no reason to think anything but that I’m ready to go.”
Conditioning sessions started Monday. Quarterbacks had the first of their three-times-a-week classroom sessions with position coach Dick Curl on Tuesday.
“We’ll talk about protections,” Curl said. “We’ll talk about routes. We’ll talk about defenses and how we’ll try to attack specific coverages. He’ll have to get up on the board after we look at some things. He’ll have to show us what he saw, this is what they did, this is how we’re going to protect it, this is where he should go with the ball in that situation.”
Eventually, Croyle and the other quarterbacks will move to the field to work on mechanics and techniques and do some throwing to receivers. Practice begins in May.
It’s the time of year for individual attention. At quarterback, most of it will be given to Croyle, the Chiefs’ third-round draft pick last year.
Coach Herm Edwards had Croyle on his radar before he joined the Chiefs. Edwards is friends with Mike Shula, Croyle’s college coach at Alabama. Shula provided Edwards with glowing reports on Croyle as his college career unfolded.
When Edwards got around to watching some video of Croyle, what he saw reminded him of Chad Pennington, his quarterback with the Jets. Croyle showed a cool head and the ability to make all the necessary throws.
Edwards would prefer that the 24-year-old Croyle win the job. That would, in theory, solve the Chiefs’ quarterback issues for the foreseeable future.
“This is his second time around, so he should be more knowledgeable about everything,” offensive coordinator Mike Solari said. “You usually see the biggest growth in the second year. He will start to see more things, comprehend more things. At first, everything is thrown at you and sometimes it’s overwhelming. Now, he’s not trying to just learn what to do. He can absorb everything, focus and really learn the details.
“This is a great time for him. It’s a perfect time to give him a chance to compete and show what he can do.”
The Chiefs were hopeful that the slightly built Croyle would return bigger than when he left, but he weighed in Monday at 207 pounds, about where he was when he left in January.
That’s despite his best efforts at meals.
“Ask anybody,” he said. “They think I’ve got a tapeworm, I eat so much.”
At issue is his ability to withstand the punishment of a 16-game season, if that becomes necessary. Croyle indicated he’d like to play at about 215.
“Trent went through the whole season at 212 last year,” he said. “I weighed 2 pounds less than Trent did today. Weight is not all that big an issue for me. It helps when you get banged around and all that. But most of it is how bad you want to get back up after you’ve been smoked. A lot of it has to do with how tough you are and how much you want to play the game. That can take you a lot further than just being 230 or 240 pounds.
“I’m not too concerned about it. Our strength coach isn’t too concerned about it. He’s been with Jake Plummer with Denver the last few years and (Plummer’s) been about 200.”
Ultimately, weight won’t be the make-or-break factor. The Chiefs would rather see his progress on the field.
“It’s one thing to be able to do in it the classroom,” Curl said. “It’s another thing when you’re playing in a game. You really need to get into a preseason game, where the bodies are coming at you full speed. In (offseason practices), you can make a mistake and it can be corrected. During the game, that mistake can get you beat.
“It’s going to be a work in progress. To say we’re going to be there at the first game, that would be great. But being realistic about it, it’s going to take longer than that.”