Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
QB (3): 13-Warner; 7-Leinart; 2-St. Pierre.
Both Warner and Leinart looked sharp last night, which is very good news for the team and the coaches. Leinart played with poise, very good footwork this time around (buying time in the pocket and stepping into his throws) and impressive accuracy. Essentially he slowed everything down and generated more snap on his throws. Even if Warner starts, Leinart can feel much better about himself and can feel confident that when turned to he can deliver. St. Pierre would have had better numbers if his receivers had played well.
RB (3): 32-James; 34-Hightopwer; 28-Arrington.
James has had a very good pre-season. Hightower has been a nice surprise, but is still making rookie mistakes, a la missed blocks and fumbles. Arrington was great at picking his spots and is running with an extra gear when he sees daylight.
FB (2): 45-Smith; 46-Castille.
Smith is clearly the better blocker. Castille is clearly the more versatile. It would not be that surprising if one of these FBs gets cut. The Cardinals don't use the FB that regularly in their offense, which makes keeping two a luxury that quite frankly they may not be able to afford with the other talent and need areas on this team. If Smith were more of a contributor on special teams, his roster spot would be a lock. Castille is a solid ST player and has already been carved a creative role in the offense. He is PS eligible, but, might not pass through waivers.
If the team could use Jerame Tuman (or one of the linemen) as a short yardage blocking FB...then the team could keep Castille and let Smith go.
WR (5): 11-Fitzgerald; 81-Boldin; 15-Breaston; 85-Urban; 80-Doucet.
Talented unit featuring two Pro Bowlers and bolstered by three solid contributors. Now that the team's ST depth has improved, Sean Morey, because he doesn't factor into the offense, is on the bubble. If the Cardinals keep 2 FBs, Morey is likely the odd man out this time.
TE (3): 84-Tuman; 82-Pope; 89-Patrick.
Hopefully Ben Patrick will be ready to play this week. Whiz loves the two TE sets and would love to stretch the Niners out...but the more he plays the two TEs the more he needs all three TEs to contribute.
OL (9): 69-Gandy; 74-Wells; 63-Sendlein; 61-E. Brown; 75-L.Brown; 76-Lutui, 50-Johnson; 72-Keith; 70-Ross.
The pass protection last night was good, but the run blocking was poor, especially from the second unit that dominated the Raiders last week. Pat Ross has added stability as the 2nd center and needs to be kept until Al Johnson is healthy. When Johnson returns, look for the Cardinals to add a veteran tackle, especially after the injury scare they had with Gandy last night. The Cards will re-sign Elliot Vallejo to the PS. They like the progress he's making.
DL (7): 90-Dockett; 97; Robinson; 94-Smith; 93-Campbell; 78-Branch; 91-Iwebema; 98-Watson;
After watching Calais Campbell last night play about as athletic a performance as Cardinal fans have seen from an interior defensive lineman, one has to wonder just how soon he will start. Antonio Smith hasn't shown up in the four pre-season games anywhere near the way Campbell has. Iwebema played his best game last night, as did Alan Branch who physically owned the middle. Dockett was excellent as well.
LB (9): 56-Okeafor; 53-Haggans; 54-Hayes; 52-Beisel; 58-Dansby; 95-Highsmith; 55-LaBoy; 92-Berry; 59-Harrington.
Highsmith and Harrington both played well enough again last night on STs and in the base defense to warrant their roster spots. Hightower was actually paired with Beisel as the 2nd string ILBers, which says he's made this team. Hayes was pretty solid last night, but all the others didn't make many plays. It's funny but there are key guys in this defense the Cardinals haven't seen much of anything from in the pre-season due to injuries or inconspicuous play: Watson, Smith, Okeafor, Green, Rolle, all come to mind.
Brandon Moore looked a bit slow and out of shape, although he looks physically strong, yet didn't play or tackle as physically as his size would suggest. Matt Stewart did not tackle well all pre-season. Joe Tafoya played his best game last week, but had a tough night last night. The coaches like him...and if he's not picked up by another team, he could be added back later on.
DB (9): 26-Hood; 29-Rodgers-Cromartie; 24-Wilson; 47-Francisco; 21-Rolle; 22-Ware; 25-Green; 20-R. Brown; 35-Celestin.
DRC is so smooth...like Campbell, he should be starting very soon. The tough decision here was Celestin over Adams. IMO, Adams brings more value as a gunner and crafty underneath cover man, but seeing as the Cardinals made Celestin a game captain two weeks ago and Celestin played one of his better games last night, they will go with him and know they can re-sign Adams to the PS.
ST (3): 1-Rackers; P-TBA; 48-Hodel.
The fact that the Cardinals already had a punter in last week for a tryout is a clear indication that Dirk Johnson won't make it. Johnson did little last night to change the coaches' minds. The worst repurcussion of this may be what happened last year if the new punter/holder and Rackers don't meld. Maybe the coaches will finally correct this by having St. Pierre hold.
PS (8): QB-Morelli (or a RB); T-Vallejo; WR-Long; DE/NT-Banks, DE-Dykes; CB-Adams; CB-Bain; S-Keyes.
Jason Banks, Lance Long and Dennis Keyes had good games last night and there may have been coaches' discussions about them for the 53 man roster.
It wouldn't be a surprise if some of the following players are brought back to the PS at some point this year: RBs-Vincent, Baylark, Johnson (FB), C Satele; T Clifford, G-Meddar, G/C Harvey, TE-Miller, DE-Robinson, LB-Holloway, CB-M. Brown.
Both Warner and Leinart looked sharp last night, which is very good news for the team and the coaches. Leinart played with poise, very good footwork this time around (buying time in the pocket and stepping into his throws) and impressive accuracy. Essentially he slowed everything down and generated more snap on his throws. Even if Warner starts, Leinart can feel much better about himself and can feel confident that when turned to he can deliver. St. Pierre would have had better numbers if his receivers had played well.
RB (3): 32-James; 34-Hightopwer; 28-Arrington.
James has had a very good pre-season. Hightower has been a nice surprise, but is still making rookie mistakes, a la missed blocks and fumbles. Arrington was great at picking his spots and is running with an extra gear when he sees daylight.
FB (2): 45-Smith; 46-Castille.
Smith is clearly the better blocker. Castille is clearly the more versatile. It would not be that surprising if one of these FBs gets cut. The Cardinals don't use the FB that regularly in their offense, which makes keeping two a luxury that quite frankly they may not be able to afford with the other talent and need areas on this team. If Smith were more of a contributor on special teams, his roster spot would be a lock. Castille is a solid ST player and has already been carved a creative role in the offense. He is PS eligible, but, might not pass through waivers.
If the team could use Jerame Tuman (or one of the linemen) as a short yardage blocking FB...then the team could keep Castille and let Smith go.
WR (5): 11-Fitzgerald; 81-Boldin; 15-Breaston; 85-Urban; 80-Doucet.
Talented unit featuring two Pro Bowlers and bolstered by three solid contributors. Now that the team's ST depth has improved, Sean Morey, because he doesn't factor into the offense, is on the bubble. If the Cardinals keep 2 FBs, Morey is likely the odd man out this time.
TE (3): 84-Tuman; 82-Pope; 89-Patrick.
Hopefully Ben Patrick will be ready to play this week. Whiz loves the two TE sets and would love to stretch the Niners out...but the more he plays the two TEs the more he needs all three TEs to contribute.
OL (9): 69-Gandy; 74-Wells; 63-Sendlein; 61-E. Brown; 75-L.Brown; 76-Lutui, 50-Johnson; 72-Keith; 70-Ross.
The pass protection last night was good, but the run blocking was poor, especially from the second unit that dominated the Raiders last week. Pat Ross has added stability as the 2nd center and needs to be kept until Al Johnson is healthy. When Johnson returns, look for the Cardinals to add a veteran tackle, especially after the injury scare they had with Gandy last night. The Cards will re-sign Elliot Vallejo to the PS. They like the progress he's making.
DL (7): 90-Dockett; 97; Robinson; 94-Smith; 93-Campbell; 78-Branch; 91-Iwebema; 98-Watson;
After watching Calais Campbell last night play about as athletic a performance as Cardinal fans have seen from an interior defensive lineman, one has to wonder just how soon he will start. Antonio Smith hasn't shown up in the four pre-season games anywhere near the way Campbell has. Iwebema played his best game last night, as did Alan Branch who physically owned the middle. Dockett was excellent as well.
LB (9): 56-Okeafor; 53-Haggans; 54-Hayes; 52-Beisel; 58-Dansby; 95-Highsmith; 55-LaBoy; 92-Berry; 59-Harrington.
Highsmith and Harrington both played well enough again last night on STs and in the base defense to warrant their roster spots. Hightower was actually paired with Beisel as the 2nd string ILBers, which says he's made this team. Hayes was pretty solid last night, but all the others didn't make many plays. It's funny but there are key guys in this defense the Cardinals haven't seen much of anything from in the pre-season due to injuries or inconspicuous play: Watson, Smith, Okeafor, Green, Rolle, all come to mind.
Brandon Moore looked a bit slow and out of shape, although he looks physically strong, yet didn't play or tackle as physically as his size would suggest. Matt Stewart did not tackle well all pre-season. Joe Tafoya played his best game last week, but had a tough night last night. The coaches like him...and if he's not picked up by another team, he could be added back later on.
DB (9): 26-Hood; 29-Rodgers-Cromartie; 24-Wilson; 47-Francisco; 21-Rolle; 22-Ware; 25-Green; 20-R. Brown; 35-Celestin.
DRC is so smooth...like Campbell, he should be starting very soon. The tough decision here was Celestin over Adams. IMO, Adams brings more value as a gunner and crafty underneath cover man, but seeing as the Cardinals made Celestin a game captain two weeks ago and Celestin played one of his better games last night, they will go with him and know they can re-sign Adams to the PS.
ST (3): 1-Rackers; P-TBA; 48-Hodel.
The fact that the Cardinals already had a punter in last week for a tryout is a clear indication that Dirk Johnson won't make it. Johnson did little last night to change the coaches' minds. The worst repurcussion of this may be what happened last year if the new punter/holder and Rackers don't meld. Maybe the coaches will finally correct this by having St. Pierre hold.
PS (8): QB-Morelli (or a RB); T-Vallejo; WR-Long; DE/NT-Banks, DE-Dykes; CB-Adams; CB-Bain; S-Keyes.
Jason Banks, Lance Long and Dennis Keyes had good games last night and there may have been coaches' discussions about them for the 53 man roster.
It wouldn't be a surprise if some of the following players are brought back to the PS at some point this year: RBs-Vincent, Baylark, Johnson (FB), C Satele; T Clifford, G-Meddar, G/C Harvey, TE-Miller, DE-Robinson, LB-Holloway, CB-M. Brown.
