Cards sign Anthony Becht and Donovan Raiola

[RugbyMuffin]

Anthony Becht didn't do much for the Rams last year but that may not have been his fault considering all of their problems. 6'5", 280 lbs. Decent size.

Decent ?

Not too many 280 lbs TE in any league I know of.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Why can't we actually try to draft a proper blocking tight end instead of trying to throw crap at a wall and pray that it sticks?

Eliminating need, and setting ourselves up for the best player available.

 

[lobo]

WOW!! I wanted Becht to slide to us in the 2nd round in 2000 . Instead, we ended up with Raynoch Thompson. By the way, that was the year we passed on Urlacker and took Thomas Jones in the 1st. Hopefully, Becht should be exactly what we need at TE.

Sort of "the dark days" eh? Raynoch was one of a lonf list of LB's we drafted that we either under-coached, didn't fit in our system (ha) at the time or were just bad football players. Those were the days when our scouting staff were copies of drugstore guide, sporting news or ourlads.

 

[Nate Andews]

LOL - Did the same thing

LOL That makes 3 of us, at least.

 

[perivolaki]

Sort of "the dark days" eh? Raynoch was one of a lonf list of LB's we drafted that we either under-coached, didn't fit in our system (ha) at the time or were just bad football players. Those were the days when our scouting staff were copies of drugstore guide, sporting news or ourlads.

I think Raynoch came into the league with a bum knee, or am I thinking of another one of our busts at linebacker? I think he had very little if any cartilage left in his knees when he came to the pros.

We didn't even do our homework on these guys back then. We always ended up with damaged goods.

 

[JeffGollin]

If Becht can still bring it (and there's no reason he shouldn't - he's appeared in all 16 games in each of 7 or more seasons) his impact, while mostly invisible, could be huge.

We haven't had a really good blocking TE for quite awhile. Coincidentally, we haven't had a really good running attack for quite awhile. As far as the running game is concerned, I wouldn't be shocked if Becht turned out to be the missing piece of the puzzle.

One other thing - before we all go out and buy bus tickets for the many vulnerable TE's on our roster, the signing of Becht could, instead, trigger the end of the lead blocking FB in our offense. We might prefer to go instead to a one-back set with either multiple receivers, 2 TE's and/or an H-Back instead of the FB. Which would be more TE's and fewer (if any) FB's on our roster.

Final point - Within the past week, we've made 6 unsexy but important moves to strengthen the "infrastructure" of our roster. This serves to do two things: (1) put us in a position to "hold serve" with essentially the same roster that got us to the Super Bowl last season. (Anything other moves we make to improve our roster can be considered gravy) and (2) instead of devoting a lot of time & energy on backfilling", we can afford to take a longer view toward building the franchise - by drafting great but raw athletes and then developing them &/or taking a chance or two on a boom or bust type with a high roof/low floor. Or messing around with a slash/wildcat type offensive player.

 

[BIGDADDY_REDBIRD]

I think Raynoch came into the league with a bum knee, or am I thinking of another one of our busts at linebacker? I think he had very little if any cartilage left in his knees when he came to the pros.

We didn't even do our homework on these guys back then. We always ended up with damaged goods.

That was Levar Fisher LB NC State.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

That was Levar Fisher LB NC State.

I always thought Fischer had some promise but his blasted knee never worked.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

If Becht can still bring it (and there's no reason he shouldn't - he's appeared in all 16 games in each of 7 or more seasons) his impact, while mostly invisible, could be huge.

We haven't had a really good blocking TE for quite awhile. Coincidentally, we haven't had a really good running attack for quite awhile. As far as the running game is concerned, I wouldn't be shocked if Becht turned out to be the missing piece of the puzzle.

One other thing - before we all go out and buy bus tickets for the many vulnerable TE's on our roster, the signing of Becht could, instead, trigger the end of the lead blocking FB in our offense. We might prefer to go instead to a one-back set with either multiple receivers, 2 TE's and/or an H-Back instead of the FB. Which would be more TE's and fewer (if any) FB's on our roster.

Did somebody ask for a late round H-Back ?

I would love for the Cardinals to pick up David Johnson, who originally came to the combine as a FB:
http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/david-johnson?id=79589

Where is Steve Bush when you need him ?

 

[john h]

Kinda like Denver's tons of RBs?

Yeah, cuts to come. Stay tuned.

Now we need some RB's for these TE's to block for.

 

[Krangodnzr]

I always thought Fischer had some promise but his blasted knee never worked.

Fisher would've been a good LB without a proper defensive system if his knees hadn't been shot. He was a Steve Keim player, but his injuries did him in. Luck of the Cardinals...

Becht is a role player; all good teams have their rosters loaded with role players. Cardinals teams in the past lacked good role players, and it's refreshing to see the team address those historical deficiencies.