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The Official Bradley Sowell Era Thread
- Thread starter Mulli
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As a point of trivia, 'era' means 'was' in Spanish. He's already being talked about in the past tense.
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CFLredzoned
Hall of Famer
FWIW, on Big Red Rage, Campbell said Sowell uses his hands better than any of the other Cardinal OL. And he's athletic.
Garthshort
ASFN Addict
I've never seen Bradley play and know that he's very inexperienced, but style and size wise, he reminds me of former Arizona LT, MIKE GANDY, who played very well in our Super Bowl run. Mike, of course, was a veteran, I have my fingers crossed.
http://www.revengeofthebirds.com/20...rting-lt-bradley-sowell-what-to-expect-sunday
From our own Vermont Maverick...looks like a bunch of mistakes, a bunch of learning, and a bunch of decent play.
Or, Levi for less money and less hair pulling out because you expect a guy like that to be beat like a drum. At least when Sowell messes up, I won't cry inside because of his draft status and how long we've tethered ourselves to his poor play.
From our own Vermont Maverick...looks like a bunch of mistakes, a bunch of learning, and a bunch of decent play.
Or, Levi for less money and less hair pulling out because you expect a guy like that to be beat like a drum. At least when Sowell messes up, I won't cry inside because of his draft status and how long we've tethered ourselves to his poor play.
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A "bunch of decent play"? Lol...okay.
There's more decent play on there than mistakes actually. If I called all of them a bunch, you can't call one out because you don't like it. I actually undersold the decent stuff on that link, Cheese. Or did you just watch the first two gifs where he looked like Levi 2.0?
There is a good mix of downside, upside and average on that link. There is not an overwhelming set of evidence in that link to say either "he's gonna suck" or "he's going to be good."
Next time look past the first two nasty whiffs and see the other gifs. There are a few outstanding blocks in that package.
I know, I know...it is VERY hard to look past those first two gifs. They are nasty...but they could have easily been red #75 on those. Remember, this guy isn't replacing Joe Thomas.
There is a good mix of downside, upside and average on that link. There is not an overwhelming set of evidence in that link to say either "he's gonna suck" or "he's going to be good."
Next time look past the first two nasty whiffs and see the other gifs. There are a few outstanding blocks in that package.
I know, I know...it is VERY hard to look past those first two gifs. They are nasty...but they could have easily been red #75 on those. Remember, this guy isn't replacing Joe Thomas.
Good article, doesn't help my kool-aid very much, but BA stating that Sowell got stronger through last year made me happy since I thought Batiste suffered from backup syndrome - where you can only play 3-4 games before you wear out for the season. Or maybe that should be Kolb syndrome...
kerouac9
Klowned by Keim
I don't really think it's fair to say "This guy made significant growth" when you only looked at one game, and we only got to see some half-dozen snaps from that game.
Most offensive linemen in the NFL are going to win some battles and lose some battles. Even a UDFA starter isn't going to give up a sack on EVERY SINGLE PLAY they're in the game, just like how Joe Thomas sometimes allows a guy to get by him once in a while.
I don't know what to expect from Bradley Sowell, but I will say that my expectations are exceedingly low. Saying "We don't think that Brad can be any worse than Levi Brown" isn't saying a ton, especially when it's mixed in with "this guy is going to make a ton of mistakes, and we hope he learns and gets better by the end of the season."
Most offensive linemen in the NFL are going to win some battles and lose some battles. Even a UDFA starter isn't going to give up a sack on EVERY SINGLE PLAY they're in the game, just like how Joe Thomas sometimes allows a guy to get by him once in a while.
I don't know what to expect from Bradley Sowell, but I will say that my expectations are exceedingly low. Saying "We don't think that Brad can be any worse than Levi Brown" isn't saying a ton, especially when it's mixed in with "this guy is going to make a ton of mistakes, and we hope he learns and gets better by the end of the season."
82CardsGrad
7 x 70
I agree 100% across the board. Small sample size, one game...can't really say he grew or learned in that game. There was good, bad and average in those selected plays, just like you could pull on most guys.
The only difference in your expectations and mine, IMO, is that I also had incredibly low expectations for Levi Brown. You have Levi slightly more elevated that I do (not that you are his biggest supporter or anything, nor am I his biggest detractor). I've simply had enough of him, and he has absolutely zero upside. If Sowell can give you remotely the same type of production, even if it is a bit less, he still has the opportunity to improve which Levi clearly was no longer doing.
kerouac9
Klowned by Keim
I was watching coaching film from the first half of the Tampa game, and there was nothing that I saw where the team could have reasonably said, "Enough of Levi Brown. He's just never going to get it."
He blew one cut-block on a WR screen to the other side of the field, and that was about it. Even stood up Gerald McCoy on multiple occasions and handed off the DE on stunts well.
The question that I've been asking myself is that now that Levi's gone, who's our best offensive lineman? Are you really stronger by trading away your best/most talented OL and replacing him with a UDFA, even if he "tries harder" or whatever? Is Eric Winston (on his third team in three seasons) our best OL now? Is Daryn Colledge (injured and widely expected to be released at the end of the year)?
Our best OL is on IR, unfortunately. Winston is the best active one...and he's fell off a lot.
So this makes two moves by Keim that, IMO, are head scratchers. Releasing Schofield and now trading Brown with Sowell as the replacement. I am hoping this isn't a pattern year after year and just a first year cleansing.
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Ryan Williams making the roster but not being active...
Wouldn't the Ryan Williams and the cutting of Schofield be BA decisions? He has control of the roster when it is populated by Keim.
Scho is a bit of a head-scratcher given the depth at the position, but he's nothing special. He's had one decent game in Seattle IIRC.
Keim misfires so far as the GM: gambling on Swope despite concussions, Levi if you are so inclined to think that it isn't addition by subtraction or better, failure to address pass rush.
Scho is a bit of a head-scratcher given the depth at the position, but he's nothing special. He's had one decent game in Seattle IIRC.
Keim misfires so far as the GM: gambling on Swope despite concussions, Levi if you are so inclined to think that it isn't addition by subtraction or better, failure to address pass rush.
He only really had one opportunity for one "decent" game. He started week one and then the starter has since returned. Putting him to the bench IIRC.
kerouac9
Klowned by Keim
Link supporting that Arians has control over the Final 53? It's unusual for a rookie Coach to have final say over the GM.
It's not unusual for any coach to have say over who he wants to play. Link supporting that it's not that way for rookie coaches?
You may have a scenario where RW is being not played because the coach doesn't like him and not cut/traded because the GM does but really that's pretty rare if it is the case. So yeah, if BA wants to bench/cut Fitz then the GM is going to have to sign off on that call, but when we are talking about final 53, it isn't often that the high-cap hit guys are getting cut three weeks into preseason (Matt Leinart being an exception...and let's not pretend that wasn't a Whis call).
Cbus cardsfan
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I can't wait to see "what's behind door #2" come next March.
I hope Jadaveon Clowney doesn't drop to 5th and the Cards select Taylor Lewan instead. They would never go with need over BPA.
I hope Jadaveon Clowney doesn't drop to 5th and the Cards select Taylor Lewan instead. They would never go with need over BPA
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WisconsinCard
Herfin BIg Time
If B-So can just be consistant BA can game plan around his weaknesses. The roller coaster ride that was Levi Brown nobody could. I expect to se B-So get a lot of help tomorrrow.
This is kind of how I feel. Helping Levi didn't help, and he had a knack to make a stupid mistake at the dumbest possible time....just get into FG range? False start, 1st and 15. Big play on third down? Holding, #75. 1st down...big whiff and sack. He was consistently inconsistent.
I would love a consistently mediocre or even below average guy. Because you can gameplan that.
Cue how impressive Levi was, and how these issues were only sometimes. cue blah blah blah. You really nailed it...you can be consistently good, consistently average, or consistently bad and that can be dealt with. But you can't be consistently inconsistent.
Oh, I don't have great hopes for BSo-So, but I do hope he's mildly consistent at whatever he does.
So now the Cardinals have two experienced Right Tackles and no experience at LT because Potter is playing Guard. They went out and signed a FA to replace a T that wasn't that bad but didn't bring in anyone to replace a T who was.
Sowell, Potter, Sendlein, Fanaika, Winston. Who would have ever predicted that offensive line?
You gotta love Cardinal football.
Sowell, Potter, Sendlein, Fanaika, Winston. Who would have ever predicted that offensive line?
You gotta love Cardinal football.
They rolled Potter back to LT as backup and had Watford on first team reps this week in case Colledge can't play.
kerouac9
Klowned by Keim
It's not who gets to play, it's over the players who make the 53 man roster. You said that Arians "has control of the roster," and that it would be weird if Arians would've been forced to keep Ryan Williams if he didn't want him. So back that up. Because it's SOP in the NFL for a general manager to have control over the 53 man roster.
It is also SOP, as you say, for a head coach to decide who's up and who's sitting on Sunday. And in that case a guy who consistently got negative comments from the Head Coach in training camp, and was personally given the green light by the GM, remains inactive for likely the fifth straight week.
Meanwhile, Arians won't say that Levi Brown would've been benched had he not been traded, and Keim is saying that there "had been discussions since Week 1" about getting rid of Levi. Now Levi's gone without being sent to the bench. Do you really think that it's coincidence that Levi's traded in the very week that (allegedly) he might have ridden pine? Give me a break.
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