Pete Bounces Well

[kerouac9]

As for positional ranking, how many Cards WERE rated in the top 24? On a losing team with little exposure, a Center isn't going to get a lot of notice.

Josh McCown: "Top Veteran Prospect" (After 28 Ranked Players)
Marcel Shipp: "Top Veteran Prospect" (After 26 players)
James Hodgins: 8 of 16 reviewed
Anquan Boldin: 18 of 30
Leonard Davis: 10 of 23
Calvin Pace: "Top Veteran Prospect" (After 29 players)
Ronald McKinnon: "Past Their Prime"
Levar Fisher: "Top Veteran Prospect" (After 25 players)
Renaldo Hill: "Top Veteran Prospect" (After 29 players)
Duane Starks: "Not Rated Due to Injury"
Dexter Jackson: 19 of 25
Adrian Wilson: 21 of 25

That's 12 players of 22 starters. That Pete Kendall didn't cause a blip on the radar while Justin Hartwig (another coverted Guard) speaks a little bit about whether or not these guys were paying attention.

 

[cardsunsfan]

Josh McCown: "Top Veteran Prospect" (After 28 Ranked Players)
Marcel Shipp: "Top Veteran Prospect" (After 26 players)
James Hodgins: 8 of 16 reviewed
Anquan Boldin: 18 of 30
Leonard Davis: 10 of 23
Calvin Pace: "Top Veteran Prospect" (After 29 players)
Ronald McKinnon: "Past Their Prime"
Levar Fisher: "Top Veteran Prospect" (After 25 players)
Renaldo Hill: "Top Veteran Prospect" (After 29 players)
Duane Starks: "Not Rated Due to Injury"
Dexter Jackson: 19 of 25
Adrian Wilson: 21 of 25


That's 12 players of 22 starters. That Pete Kendall didn't cause a blip on the radar while Justin Hartwig (another coverted Guard) speaks a little bit about whether or not these guys were paying attention.

So there's 18 better receivers than Bolden? According to this I guess Leonard Davis is a better player How about Dexter Jackson I better he is better than 19 of 25... I think this a load of crap...

 

[Wild Card]

I don't think that Kendall was anything special at either position. PFW didn't place him among the top 24 players in the league at Center, and... It never looked like he was clearing massive holes in the middle when he was playing guard.

K9:

Whether or not Pete Kendall was among the league's best centers last season isn't the point. Whether he was the best center on the Cardinals' roster a week ago is. And he was. The Cards' o-line is worse without Kendall than it was with him, at least in the short term.

In the long term, who knows? Maybe Alex Stepanovich will be a quick study. Maybe Frank Garcia can fill in until the rookie figures out the NFL. Maybe neither will happen, and Josh McCown will spend the first half of the season fumbling snaps and running for his life.

The one thing that's clear is that Dennis Green won't tolerate any form of opposition from his players. Even if the opposition is only to full-contact drills without pads, a specific violation of league rules. Even if the opposition is from a veteran who Green has publicly identified as a starter, and one of the better players he inherited from the previous staff. It's Green's way or the highway, no matter who you are.

So Kendall gets released. And the Cardinals are left to choose between rookies and journeymen to snap the ball to their third-year QB, who has all of three lifetime starts under his belt.

And the mindgames continue.

WC

 

[Redheart]

K9:
... It's Green's way or the highway, no matter who you are...
WC

I happend to catch "Hoosiers" on T.V. last night; my favorite all-time basketball movie.

There are SO many parallels with that movie and this topic. Your quote could almost have come out of Gene Hackman's mouth when speaking to his players in the closed locker-room after a tough loss...a loss where he only played four guys because the fifth guy who was able to play was not following his directions...and he kept him on the bench.

There was also this surley group of town "elders" who were very dis-satified with the coach's "new-fangled" ways, questioning evey move, and almost manged to run him out of town...the coach did not have must patience with them either...

 

[kerouac9]

Whether or not Pete Kendall was among the league's best centers last season isn't the point. Whether he was the best center on the Cardinals' roster a week ago is. And he was. The Cards' o-line is worse without Kendall than it was with him, at least in the short term.

I disagree. There's a world of difference between releasing a Pro-Bowl center and trying to replace him with a rookie or journeyman (even a journeyman who started for two playoff teams) and releasing an average player and replacing him. Kendall was an average center. According to PFW, even a below-average center. We have the ability to replace him with a center that can become an above-average center (whom the Cards rated as a second-round pick), or continue with a journeyman who may or may not be as average as Kendall was.

The contributing factor to this is that continuity and chemistry are more important along the offensive line than any other corps on the football field--excepting possibly the secondary. During Pete Kendall's four-year stint as left guard and center, you can't argue that the offensive line has been an effective or cooperative unit. They've never seemed to have the attitude to succeed. Pete Kendall, with his age and injury history and independant spirit, may have been a contributing factor to that.

Dennis Green, with his history of unearthing and building Pro Bowl linemen, should probably be given the benefit of the doubt in this case. I'm not certain that this new younger, more mobile group can't be superior to the plodding interior line that we've seen the past few years.

 

[Tangodnzr]

I spent close to 10 years in professional sport, and in my experience, one of the first guys to get cut or traded when a new coach arrived was the CLUB HOUSE LAWYER.

BINGO!!!!!

 

[Tangodnzr]

K9:

Whether or not Pete Kendall was among the league's best centers last season isn't the point. Whether he was the best center on the Cardinals' roster a week ago is. And he was. The Cards' o-line is worse without Kendall than it was with him, at least in the short term.

In the long term, who knows? Maybe Alex Stepanovich will be a quick study. Maybe Frank Garcia can fill in until the rookie figures out the NFL. Maybe neither will happen, and Josh McCown will spend the first half of the season fumbling snaps and running for his life.

The one thing that's clear is that Dennis Green won't tolerate any form of opposition from his players. Even if the opposition is only to full-contact drills without pads, a specific violation of league rules. Even if the opposition is from a veteran who Green has publicly identified as a starter, and one of the better players he inherited from the previous staff. It's Green's way or the highway, no matter who you are.

So Kendall gets released. And the Cardinals are left to choose between rookies and journeymen to snap the ball to their third-year QB, who has all of three lifetime starts under his belt.

And the mindgames continue.

WC

EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT POST!!!!!!!

RIGHT ON !!!!!!!!!

 

[kerouac9]

So there's 18 better receivers than Bolden? According to this I guess Leonard Davis is a better player How about Dexter Jackson I better he is better than 19 of 25... I think this a load of crap...

I don't know, but Scouts, Inc., has him ranked as the 12th WR in the NFL. That's a little lower than I'd but him, but he's definitely somewhere between 8 and 10.

 

[Tangodnzr]

ahh yes....Homer K9 and his ever present and unbounded Cardinals enthusiasm and optomism.

 

[MadCardDisease]

K9:The one thing that's clear is that Dennis Green won't tolerate any form of opposition from his players. Even if the opposition is only to full-contact drills without pads, a specific violation of league rules. Even if the opposition is from a veteran who Green has publicly identified as a starter, and one of the better players he inherited from the previous staff. It's Green's way or the highway, no matter who you are.

So Kendall gets released. And the Cardinals are left to choose between rookies and journeymen to snap the ball to their third-year QB, who has all of three lifetime starts under his belt.

And the mindgames continue.

WC

Problem is, only Denny Green and probably Graves and Bidwill know the exact reason for Kendall's release and they ain't talking. Pete said he never complained to the Players Association.

 

[Arvos]

Thank you.....

The Cards lose is the Lions gain.....

The Lions are supposed to sign him to a two year contract early next week. He will be the starter at the left guard opening day in a Lions uniform. He is better than any player we can put into that position, and will really soldify the offensive line. The existing line was very good at pass blocking but sucked at run blocking. The additions of Damian Woody and Kendall will be awesome. Other than being a "tattletail" what was the beef with him. Can he run block????

 

[ajcardfan]

The Cards lose is the Lions gain.....

The Lions are supposed to sign him to a two year contract early next week. He will be the starter at the left guard opening day in a Lions uniform. He is better than any player we can put into that position, and will really soldify the offensive line. The existing line was very good at pass blocking but sucked at run blocking. The additions of Damian Woody and Kendall will be awesome. Other than being a "tattletail" what was the beef with him. Can he run block????

He's very solid on technique for both run and pass. He's smart and he is aggressive. The drawbacks are he can be overpowered and he has had injury problems the last three seasons. If I was a Lions fan, I'd be most worried about the stingers he said he was really worried about last year. He said they were getting worse and he was afraid he would just go numb for good. He is not a sure thing to finish the contract or even this season. But, I like Kendall, he will not embarass himself when he plays and I wish him well.