Rookie Mini-Camp Day 2: Hartline, Turner Step Up On Second Day
May 2, 2009
By Andy Kent
MiamiDolphins.com
One day after the two high-profile cornerbacks - first-rounder Vontae Davis and second-rounder Sean Smith - and soft-spoken quarterback Pat White commanded the spotlight on and off the practice field, it was the wide receivers' turn on Day 2 of rookie mini-camp at the Dolphins training facility.
Brian Hartline and Patrick Turner, Miami's fourth-round and third-round picks, respectively, in last weekend's draft, were the chief topic of discussion following this morning's first of two practices and have left differing impressions on Head Coach Tony Sparano. Hartline, who surprised some by opting to declare himself eligible following a not-so-productive junior season at Ohio State, brings about a number of different possibilities in the mind of Sparano and his coaching staff.
"First of all he's a very, very smart guy, along the lines of like a (Greg) Camarillo type of guy from that standpoint," Sparano said. "I think he's going to be a guy that's going to have a lot of position flexibility and be able to play a couple of different positions, but he's kind of been brought up in the slot, meaning at Ohio State they used him there an awful lot in the slot and I think that's been maybe his strength."
Sparano also identified special teams as an area where Hartline could be valuable having returned kicks and punts in college as well as having been on the return and coverage teams as a gunner. In fact, during his conference call with the media after he was drafted Hartline talked about how he likes to "crack heads" when covering kickoff and punt returns, which is the type of attitude on special teams Sparano looks for out of his players.
During position drills Hartline made a nifty one-handed catch and later on in 11-on-11s he caught a perfectly thrown ball from White over his outside shoulder behind Davis down the right sideline. His comfort level in the passing game was evident and he seems to have grasped what is being thrown out of him out of the playbook in the meetings before practice, pointing to his agility, getting out of his breaks and knowing his assignments as his strengths.
"I thought it went okay, besides the rush of running simple routes and reading things on the fly and things like that, but overall I felt like I had a pretty good handle on it," said Hartline, who is being reunited with his former Ohio State teammate and fellow receiver Ted Ginn, Jr. "Again, there's so much more to learn. This is nothing compared to rest of the playbook so it's kind of hard to judge it at this point. I'm excited and glad to finally be in camp and I'm anxious to keep going."
My B. Youre right. I thought you all would be more welcoming.....
" When Jupiter aligns with Mars..."
