Amendola Update: Danny Impresses In First Practice

by Seth C on May 3, 2008 6:52 AM CDT in Football

Danny Amendola is creating quite a stir at the Dallas Cowboys' mini-camp. Up first is an article that I missed on Thursday from DMN's Albert Breer, comparing Amendola to Welker:

"Being the shorter white guy who played hard, made little plays, and being a punt returner as well, you couldn't help but draw comparisons," Amendola said. "From when I first got it here, it was 'Wes Welker Jr.' Every time I hear that, I must think I'm doing something right. It's an honor being compared to him."

While Captain Leach feels that Amendola is faster, Welker was/is quicker:

There is one more thing that Amendola will have to take with him, though, and that's the ability to adjust on the fly until he becomes indispensable. Leach calls Welker a "master of that," and says while there are differences between the two - the primary one he cited was that Amendola's faster and Welker's quicker - he adds that there are more similarities.

"They're both pretty gritty guys at key times," Leach said. "And they play with a high effort level and go full speed at all times."

I've never thought that Amendola is faster than Welker, but I'll say it again, the ability to get open, in space, is incredibly valuable. That's all that the Texas Tech offense is, adjusting to the defender and finding the open space (I know it's more than that, but you get the idea). This really bodes well for future Red Raiders.

So Amendola participates in one practice and he's already a bad-ass. From the DMN Cowboys Blog Breer says that Amendola shined at this first practice:

3) Amendola shines: I know Timmy already addressed this, but there was a whole lot to like about Danny Amendola (and not just because I wrote about him this morning). He runs sharp, precise routes, gets in and out of his breaks quickly, and knows how to set up a DB. Plus, he didn't drop a ball. It's worth noting that Jenkins couldn't stop him once in one-on-ones, at least in the three instances I say the two match up.

We're not quite done, next, per Rob Phillips of DallasCowboys.com, Amendola caught the attention of Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, having this to say about Amendola:

"One that didn't drop a ball was the boy from Texas Tech."

Snip

"He really runs routes well and he's got that quickness," Jones said. "He will be able to separate in the NFL. Of course a smaller, quicker guy has to separate to make a team and be productive."

Make sure and check out Fox34's coverage of Amendola as he stumbles a little through his first press conference. Funny stuff and some good footage from the Cowboys mini-camp.

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