Game Observations
- I liked D Williams' decisiveness and explosive burst on that screen pass
- Nothing happened to dampen my excitement about all those offensive linemen (from Brick to Jean-Gilles to McNeal to Mangold etc.)
- The sack they awarded to Dvoracek should have been shared by Watson, who clobbered the QB at the same time (you could hear a pad shatter on that hit). Speaking of Watson, I had the feeling the commentators were evaluating NT's using the same criteria you use for one-gap DT's - and you can't do that.
- And speaking of evaluating linemen, the one thing Fox, ABC and CBS give you during regular season NFL games is a slo-mo of just about every play, with a telestrator to point out key blocks and line play. The ESPN game coverage yesterday, spent too much time interviewing people on the sideline and seldom if ever went to the slo-mo unless it involved a long gainer.
- Both Greenwood and Iwuh had big days (Iwuh is listed as a safety at many draft sites, but if he runs 4.65 as is expected, he'd be better suited for WILL backer.
- Mali has strong hands (and this strength-aspect should not be given short shrift). How many times have we seen a Cardinal lineman fail to bring down a runner or QB with one hand? One of Mali's sacks was via a one-hand grab.
- Signorice Moss was everything they said he'd be.
- If the Texas safety (Griffith) can run faster than 4.55, he'd be an interesting pickup as a large corner/FS - to provide depth for Rolle or to allow either Rolle or Griffith to eventually replace "our" Griffith at FS next to Adrian.
- What impressed me about Byrd was the way he could extend to grab balls thrown nearly too high or too wide for most TE's. That and his consistency catching passes. And if it's more of a blocker you want, Klopenstein looked terrific.
- There's no reason Cutler couldn't develop into a compact NFL QB in the same way Jeff Garcia did. But, just as Garcia, wasn't drafted very high, I don't think a team should risk a Top 10 pick on a guy who may eventually develop. (i.e. For every Garcia and Brady there are a dozen Druckenmillers or Saccas).
- Other than Williams (& maybe Harrison) none of the RB's excited me as much as Howard did in the East - West Shrine game.
- No big surprise that there was more to learn about these guys during the practices than there was during the game itself.
