Team covets guard-center cut by Cards

[40yearfan]

Posted on Tue, Aug. 03, 2004





Team covets guard-center cut by Cards

BY BILL WILLIAMSON

Pioneer Press


MANKATO, Minn. — The Vikings on Monday pursued the possibility of acquiring offensive lineman Pete Kendall, who was released Sunday by the Arizona Cardinals.

The Vikings contacted Kendall's agents to see if he might consider joining the team, probably as their top backup at guard and center. However, Kendall, who would prefer to play center, has received a lot of interest and is looking for a long-term deal.

Kendall probably will go to a team that gives him a longer contract and a chance to start. No visit is scheduled with the Vikings.

 

[nidan]

Backup guard is way different to starting center

 

[Arvos]

The Lions have him scheduled.....

To visit tomorrow. They have an opening at LG and want Kendall there......

 

[CardLogic]

No surprises here...

Pete will be playing somewhere in the NFL this season.

 

[kerouac9]

Pete will be playing somewhere in the NFL this season.

Well, at least for the first 12 weeks of the season, or so...

 

[Russ Smith]

I'd be very surprised if Kendall has to take a backup job. Just last night they were talking on local radio that the 49ers were interested. They are starting Eric Heitmann and Kyle Kosier at LG and RG, they like Heitmann but are concerned about Kosier and there was talk of signing Kendall and moving Heitmann to LG. Part of the rationale is apparently concern that Kwame Harris is now the LT and they want a more seasoned veteran next to Harris to "help" him.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Pete wants to play center because his body can't handle the punishment anymore. That's why Mac moved him there last year. Even then he still couldn't last an entire season.

 

[Shane]

Wow a shock that Pete will be payed well and playing somewhere else real soon

 

[Russ Smith]

Pete wants to play center because his body can't handle the punishment anymore. That's why Mac moved him there last year. Even then he still couldn't last an entire season.

Wouldn't you rather have Pete for 12 games and Step for 4 than Step for 16 games at a lower level?

That's my whole point, I just don't buy that Step is going to walk in and play as well as Kendall did. Hell over on the Bronco board there was speculation that the Broncos might be interested in Kendall.

This is not the typical guy we cut who winds up backing someone up in the XFL, this is a proven starter being cut for non football reasons, that's why it's controversial.

 

[Shane]

Wouldn't you rather have Pete for 12 games and Step for 4 than Step for 16 games at a lower level?

That's my whole point, I just don't buy that Step is going to walk in and play as well as Kendall did. Hell over on the Bronco board there was speculation that the Broncos might be interested in Kendall.

This is not the typical guy we cut who winds up backing someone up in the XFL, this is a proven starter being cut for non football reasons, that's why it's controversial.

That makes to much sense Russ.

 

[Savage58]

Wouldn't you rather have Pete for 12 games and Step for 4 than Step for 16 games at a lower level?

Not I, I'm all for Step getting thrown into the fire. Get him the reps, get Leckey the reps, get them some experience. McCown is young, and can run, let him run really fast. Seriously, I like Step and think it's a good move to get him up and going soon, yes he'll struggle what rookie doesn't. We'll be better off come 2k5, 2k6 with him starting early this year.

 

[kerouac9]

Wouldn't you rather have Pete for 12 games and Step for 4 than Step for 16 games at a lower level?

You're acting like you can just "plug and chug" offensive linemen and make it work, Russ. I know you're too astute an observer of the NFL to believe that.

Offensive line chemistry starts now. Having Kendall in the lineup instead of his replacement or being a distraction as a backup is going to disrupt that chemisty. Good offensive lines are better than the sums of their parts, just ask KC, Green Bay, Tennessee, and Indy. The converse of this is true in Arizona, where Shelton, Kendall, Gruttadoria, Davis, and Clement failed to gel and were probably performed less than the sum of their talents.

If Step can keep the offensive line motivated and physical for 16 games, even if he's physically performing at a lesser level than Kendall could have performed at the position, it's better for the team. The alternative is another 12 games of disinterested overall offensive line play but technical competence in the middle.

 

[Russ Smith]

You're acting like you can just "plug and chug" offensive linemen and make it work, Russ. I know you're too astute an observer of the NFL to believe that.

Offensive line chemistry starts now. Having Kendall in the lineup instead of his replacement or being a distraction as a backup is going to disrupt that chemisty. Good offensive lines are better than the sums of their parts, just ask KC, Green Bay, Tennessee, and Indy. The converse of this is true in Arizona, where Shelton, Kendall, Gruttadoria, Davis, and Clement failed to gel and were probably performed less than the sum of their talents.

If Step can keep the offensive line motivated and physical for 16 games, even if he's physically performing at a lesser level than Kendall could have performed at the position, it's better for the team. The alternative is another 12 games of disinterested overall offensive line play but technical competence in the middle.

But we can just plug in a rookie like Step now and the line will gel by the start of the season? Our first game is in what 37 days? Step will get camp and 4 preseason games and he's going to be too busy learning the linecalls and adjusting to the speed of the NFL(remember he couldn't participate in much of the earlier camps). I think it's a bit naive to believe in that short of time a rookie is going to get so in synch that he's going to improve a line by himself.

The base disagreement we seem to be having is you seem to genuinely believe that DG cut him because he thinks Kendall somehow hurt the chemistry of the whole OL, while I think Green cut him for other reasons and cited chemistry because he knows if he tells the truth, Kendall will file a grievance.

If things go as I think, before the start of the season, Big will move back to LG, Shelton will be the LT, and whover is playing better of Wells or Spikes will be the RG. That's a whole lot more shuffling to worry about.

I guess I don't see the problem in using Step to spell Kendall, have him start if and when Pete gets hurt, and then possibly NEXT year, beat out Kendall? We already had room for him under the cap, and he'd apparently done well enough in minicamps to convince DG he was the starter.

 

[Russ Smith]

Not I, I'm all for Step getting thrown into the fire. Get him the reps, get Leckey the reps, get them some experience. McCown is young, and can run, let him run really fast. Seriously, I like Step and think it's a good move to get him up and going soon, yes he'll struggle what rookie doesn't. We'll be better off come 2k5, 2k6 with him starting early this year.

I like him too but I'm already concerned about Josh lasting 6 games with the amount of hits he takes, to have a LT (assuming Big stays there) with a lack of quick feet, Wells, and Step, not to mention Clement, we may just get Josh killed.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Wouldn't you rather have Pete for 12 games and Step for 4 than Step for 16 games at a lower level?

That's my whole point, I just don't buy that Step is going to walk in and play as well as Kendall did. Hell over on the Bronco board there was speculation that the Broncos might be interested in Kendall.

This is not the typical guy we cut who winds up backing someone up in the XFL, this is a proven starter being cut for non football reasons, that's why it's controversial.

I agree that Kendall is a better player than Step right now. I was shocked when they let Kendall go because he was slated to be a starter. However I now understand why this was done. This is now Dennis Green's team. You either buy into it or your out. Now everyone on the team knows that no one is safe, even a proven veteran.

Yes Pete was one of our best players on the line last year but what exactly did that get us? I'm not going to shed any tears over this move. Hell I'd like to see Green continue to make changes on the O-Line. I'm tired of the Big Red Lie!

 

[Shane]

Chris Mortenson stated today on ESPN that he and his sources fully believe that he was cut because of the complaints that were filed and nothing more. He stated that Green was most certainly trying to send a message to the team.

 

[kerouac9]

But we can just plug in a rookie like Step now and the line will gel by the start of the season? Our first game is in what 37 days? Step will get camp and 4 preseason games and he's going to be too busy learning the linecalls and adjusting to the speed of the NFL(remember he couldn't participate in much of the earlier camps). I think it's a bit naive to believe in that short of time a rookie is going to get so in synch that he's going to improve a line by himself.

I did a whole list of rookie Cs that started. The Cards had Step rated as a second-round prospect. I have confidence that Green (The Nutty Professor) and Wiley know what they're doing in this aspect. Did Christy start as a rookie 6th rounder (or whatever)?

Days are one thing, but I think that the classroom work and snaps (of which there will be many, many) are the more important thing. Linecalls don't have to be made by the center. If this is going to be a huge problem (though I don't anticipate it being such), then Spikes, who has NFC Championship and Super Bowl credentials, can make the line calls. It's important to get these guys playing like a group. If the Chiefs feel like they can get a unit to gel in 37 days, then why can't the Cards do so?

The base disagreement we seem to be having is you seem to genuinely believe that DG cut him because he thinks Kendall somehow hurt the chemistry of the whole OL, while I think Green cut him for other reasons and cited chemistry because he knows if he tells the truth, Kendall will file a grievance.

Honestly, I don't expect Step to be better than Kendall--especially not right away. I think that there were four or five factors that contributed to Kendall's release, and the aggregate of those made him too large a liability to keep around. I just remain committed that the sky isn't falling just because our overpaid, underperforming injury-case center got released when we have no fewer than four players with experience at the position on the roster.

If things go as I think, before the start of the season, Big will move back to LG, Shelton will be the LT, and whover is playing better of Wells or Spikes will be the RG. That's a whole lot more shuffling to worry about.

I guess better to get it out of the way now. Lots of teams have shuffling on their offensive lines. It's not like this is just an Arizona thing.

I guess I don't see the problem in using Step to spell Kendall, have him start if and when Pete gets hurt, and then possibly NEXT year, beat out Kendall? We already had room for him under the cap, and he'd apparently done well enough in minicamps to convince DG he was the starter.

Because Kendall was a headache for reasons beyond his individual on-field performance. Perhaps something showed up on later tape review that coaches didn't like. Perhaps Green realised that Kendall was a divisive presence on the roster. Perhaps Kendall didn't show appropriate committment to his and Wylie's system. We'll never know. Honestly, I'm fine with casting him off. We'll see whether or not he remains a starting NFL lineman or not in the next couple weeks.

Again: offensive lines can be better than the sum of their parts. If having Step in there improves the play of everyone else--and I expect it to--this is a good decision for the team.

 

[Russ Smith]

I did a whole list of rookie Cs that started. The Cards had Step rated as a second-round prospect. I have confidence that Green (The Nutty Professor) and Wiley know what they're doing in this aspect. Did Christy start as a rookie 6th rounder (or whatever)?





Again: offensive lines can be better than the sum of their parts. If having Step in there improves the play of everyone else--and I expect it to--this is a good decision for the team.

Don't want to draw it out too long we obviously won't agree and that's cool. 2 things.

Most of the list you named were guys who won jobs early, they didn't win a job 2 days before camp opened with almost no minicamp experience.

Why do you think this line will improve with Step, is it something about Step, or do you really think Kendall(who only played C for one year anyways) has been the problem with this line all along?

Another concern, this morning I'm reading an article about Jeff Garcia, and Jeff Faine is just raving about him " he makes his reads so quick and so decisively it's much easier to block for a guy like him." They were of course saying that Holcomb and Couch took too long and made the OL look bad(remember how often our new starting QB got sacked last year). Then Faine said something about how much more comfortable he was than last year, that it took him until about midseason before he could go out and just play, and not be constantly thinking. He said the combination of HIS experience of 1 year, plus Garcia, was going to make Faine's job a LOT easier this year. IIRC, Faine was essentially the starter right away, he had more camp than Step will.

I can't help but wonder how a guy like Step, who nobody rated as high as Faine, is going to come in with less time, and a much less experienced QB, and do what Faine apparently couldn't, fit right in?

I hope you're right and I hope DG is right but I think this move was done for all the wrong reasons and is probably going to cost us over and over this year.

 

[ajcardfan]

BTW Russ, Jurecki said today that Shelton weighs 341 and that is down from 380.

 

[Russ Smith]

BTW Russ, Jurecki said today that Shelton weighs 341 and that is down from 380.

Thanks, wow that's still above his playing weight and yeah 380 really was huge for him. But then I never believed his listed weight of 335 last year anyways.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Don't want to draw it out too long we obviously won't agree and that's cool. 2 things.

Most of the list you named were guys who won jobs early, they didn't win a job 2 days before camp opened with almost no minicamp experience.

Why do you think this line will improve with Step, is it something about Step, or do you really think Kendall(who only played C for one year anyways) has been the problem with this line all along?

Another concern, this morning I'm reading an article about Jeff Garcia, and Jeff Faine is just raving about him " he makes his reads so quick and so decisively it's much easier to block for a guy like him." They were of course saying that Holcomb and Couch took too long and made the OL look bad(remember how often our new starting QB got sacked last year). Then Faine said something about how much more comfortable he was than last year, that it took him until about midseason before he could go out and just play, and not be constantly thinking. He said the combination of HIS experience of 1 year, plus Garcia, was going to make Faine's job a LOT easier this year. IIRC, Faine was essentially the starter right away, he had more camp than Step will.

I can't help but wonder how a guy like Step, who nobody rated as high as Faine, is going to come in with less time, and a much less experienced QB, and do what Faine apparently couldn't, fit right in?

I hope you're right and I hope DG is right but I think this move was done for all the wrong reasons and is probably going to cost us over and over this year.

I don't agree with K9 who I think lives in fantasy land. The O-Line will not be better with Step this year than it would with Kendall at center.

However I think this move was a one time shot for Dennis Green to show that he really means business. Personally I don't think Center is a hard position to fill so I'm not that concerned. That's why I think Green chose Kendall. He was a respected Vet who was expendable.

Now if our O-Line was best in the league last year I would be leading the Dennis Green Witch Hunt.

 

[kerouac9]

I hope you're right and I hope DG is right but I think this move was done for all the wrong reasons and is probably going to cost us over and over this year.

I'm a closure guy, so I'm going to end with this little ray of hope: we play in the NFC West. The starting DTs that Step is going to be lining up across from are Cedric Woodard [0]/Rashad Moore [1] (SEA), Damione Lewis [0.5]/Ryan Pickett [1] (STL), and Bryant Young [3.5]/Anthony Adams [1.5] (SF). The bracketed numbers are their 2003 sacks. That's not exactly a murders' row of DT talent. The entire division combined for 7.5 sacks last season.

If we were playing in the AFC South, with guys like Marcus Stroud, John Henderson, Albert Haynesworth, Robaire Smith, etc., to contend with, this would be a big deal. The best DT in the division that Step is going to see is a declining Bryant Young. At least that should make you sleep better at night.

 

[Skkorpion]

BTW Russ, Jurecki said today that Shelton weighs 341 and that is down from 380.

utter nonsense.

 

[MadCardDisease]

I don't agree with K9 who I think lives in fantasy land. The O-Line will not be better with Step this year than it would with Kendall at center.

However I think this move was a one time shot for Dennis Green to show that he really means business. Personally I don't think Center is a hard position to fill so I'm not that concerned. That's why I think Green chose Kendall. He was a respected Vet who was expendable.

Now if our O-Line was best in the league last year I would be leading the Dennis Green Witch Hunt.

In fact I think Green has been planning to do this for some time now. When he drafted 2 centers I thought it was strange but I assumed that they would be able to play guard also so I didn't put much into it. Now it all makes sense.

 

[40yearfan]

utter nonsense.

How so Skkorp? Is he heavier, lighter?