Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
First of all, congratulations to the Cardinals for acquiring T Brandon Gorin from the Patriots. Gorin is a solid player and a legitimate starter at RT.
This trade solidifies three of the five offensive line positions...LT (Leonard Davis), RG (Milford Brown) and RT (Brandon Gorin).
The questions are: at LG, Reggie Wells is a good pass protector, but he's an inconsistent and sometimes ineffective run blocker. Apparently 2nd round pick, Deuce Lutui, from USC, is not ready to start...and there has been little to no talk about Elton Brown moving over to challenge for the LG spot.
There has been some speculation that Wells could be tried at center, where it would appear that Nick Leckey, a solid technician, is making a strong case to supplant Alex Stepanovich as the starter.
Hopefully Wells and Leckey will fit the bill, otherwise, it may still be very difficult for the Cardinals to establish a respectable running game.
Do the Cards have another trade or two up their sleeves? Can they find a run blocking LG, so they can move Wells to center? Are they going to stand pat with their three TE prospects in Bergen, Edwards and Pope...when it appears none of them offers the team an NFL caliber blocker from the TE position, at least not yet...?
What about the #3 quarterback situation? If Warner gets hurt, the #3 becomes the #2...
What about the linebacking situation? Would the Cardinals be better off acquiring a middle linebacker so they can swing Gerald Hayes over to strong side linebacker?
And, wouldn't it be wise for the Cardinals to try to add another cornerback?
At this point the Cardinals will most likely go with what they've got...but another trade might pay huge dividends...
I was wondering this morning whether Matt Leinart would have had a two week holdout if he had been told from the get-go that he would be in a competition for the starting job with Kurt Warner and John Navarre?
Leinart had been told all along that the club would prefer him to tote the clipboard for a year while Kurt Warner takes the snaps...Leinart was told that he would compete with John Navarre for the #2 job...which, in reality, is almost laughable.
Leinart has played the party line by saying that he's in a good situation backing up a Super Bowl MVP and learning the ropes...but, Matt Leinart is too much of a competitor to want to stand idly on the sidelines week after week....which is why, if the Cardinals had given Leinart the incentive to compete for the starting job, I would be willing to bet you that Leinart would have signed and been in camp on time.
Knowing that all he had to do in camp was beat out John Navarre for the #2...and knowing that he didn't have a chance to start unless Warner was injured, did not put a sense of urgency in Leinart to be in camp on time.
Is there any question that competition makes a football team better?
Look at what's happening in the Cowboys' camp. Tony Romo took all the snaps at QB in the first pre-season game...and Romo performed well. Did that light a fire under Drew Bledsoe? Bledsoe played lights out last night...and played with a sense of urgency...had he not been pressed by Romo, one would wonder whether last night would have been another ho-hum pre-season game for Bledsoe.
Look at how well and hard FS Robert Griffith played for the Cardinals at New England. Isn't Griffith hearing Aaron Francisco's footsteps?
Whether young challengers for starting positions have a legitimate chance or not, establishing good, healthy competitions at all positions can be of tremendous benefit to a football team in its pursuit of putting the best, most competitive players on the field.
This trade solidifies three of the five offensive line positions...LT (Leonard Davis), RG (Milford Brown) and RT (Brandon Gorin).
The questions are: at LG, Reggie Wells is a good pass protector, but he's an inconsistent and sometimes ineffective run blocker. Apparently 2nd round pick, Deuce Lutui, from USC, is not ready to start...and there has been little to no talk about Elton Brown moving over to challenge for the LG spot.
There has been some speculation that Wells could be tried at center, where it would appear that Nick Leckey, a solid technician, is making a strong case to supplant Alex Stepanovich as the starter.
Hopefully Wells and Leckey will fit the bill, otherwise, it may still be very difficult for the Cardinals to establish a respectable running game.
Do the Cards have another trade or two up their sleeves? Can they find a run blocking LG, so they can move Wells to center? Are they going to stand pat with their three TE prospects in Bergen, Edwards and Pope...when it appears none of them offers the team an NFL caliber blocker from the TE position, at least not yet...?
What about the #3 quarterback situation? If Warner gets hurt, the #3 becomes the #2...
What about the linebacking situation? Would the Cardinals be better off acquiring a middle linebacker so they can swing Gerald Hayes over to strong side linebacker?
And, wouldn't it be wise for the Cardinals to try to add another cornerback?
At this point the Cardinals will most likely go with what they've got...but another trade might pay huge dividends...
I was wondering this morning whether Matt Leinart would have had a two week holdout if he had been told from the get-go that he would be in a competition for the starting job with Kurt Warner and John Navarre?
Leinart had been told all along that the club would prefer him to tote the clipboard for a year while Kurt Warner takes the snaps...Leinart was told that he would compete with John Navarre for the #2 job...which, in reality, is almost laughable.
Leinart has played the party line by saying that he's in a good situation backing up a Super Bowl MVP and learning the ropes...but, Matt Leinart is too much of a competitor to want to stand idly on the sidelines week after week....which is why, if the Cardinals had given Leinart the incentive to compete for the starting job, I would be willing to bet you that Leinart would have signed and been in camp on time.
Knowing that all he had to do in camp was beat out John Navarre for the #2...and knowing that he didn't have a chance to start unless Warner was injured, did not put a sense of urgency in Leinart to be in camp on time.
Is there any question that competition makes a football team better?
Look at what's happening in the Cowboys' camp. Tony Romo took all the snaps at QB in the first pre-season game...and Romo performed well. Did that light a fire under Drew Bledsoe? Bledsoe played lights out last night...and played with a sense of urgency...had he not been pressed by Romo, one would wonder whether last night would have been another ho-hum pre-season game for Bledsoe.
Look at how well and hard FS Robert Griffith played for the Cardinals at New England. Isn't Griffith hearing Aaron Francisco's footsteps?
Whether young challengers for starting positions have a legitimate chance or not, establishing good, healthy competitions at all positions can be of tremendous benefit to a football team in its pursuit of putting the best, most competitive players on the field.
All previous posters on this thread are long time posters...
