ASUCHRIS
ONE HEART BEAT!!!
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2002
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Hadn't seen any threads about this, so figured I'd add my thoughts. Feel free to add what you saw as well, the more input the better.
It's hard to beat sitting outside in Flagstaff in the middle of summer. While the red and white game was in the dome, the rest of the practices were outdoors and the weather was perfect. Nice crowd for the red/white scrimmage, it's hilarious compared to the training camps even 5 years ago. The bandwagon is full.
Offense -
QB's
It's tough to gauge too much from QB's throwing to wide open receivers and players going through the motions, so the scrimmage was more telling.
Leinart - looked fairly good on Thursday and Friday, but was awful at the scrimmage. Is quite adept at the check downs and shorter routes, but showed no accuracy on any of the longer passes. Today at the scrimmage was a comedy of errors. Between underthrowing Breaston when he had his man beat by 5+ yards to throwing multiple bad picks, he showed very little to get positive about. Again, when throwing to Fitz and on the under routes, he was mostly effective. Of course my sample size is small, but I was pretty discouraged after the scrimmage, he looks at best as a caretaker of the offense which is not what I was hoping for.
Anderson - Nothing too spectacular the first two days, but the clear winner of the scrimmage. Anderson was by far the most poised and accurate of the qb's, and it will be very interesting to see the qb battle in the preseason. Anderson was the only qb on the roster to move the ball on offense, and can throw a much harder ball than Leinart. While there are certainly many reasons to doubt Anderson, he looks like a more than acceptable backup who can push Leinart for the starting job.
Skelton - lots of talent, incredibly raw. He'll need plenty of time to develop, looked pretty good in the practices, and promptly threw a bad INT in his first action.
Hall - looks funny standing next to 3 6'5 plus qb's, but has a lot of moxie. Even if he doesn't make the team, I can see him ending up on the practice squad. As would be expected, he does look nominally better than Skelton at this stage.
RB's
Beanie and TH both look strong, and I anticipate big years from both of them. Beanie has that extra gear that we've never seen in a Cards RB. TH is extremely solid, and stood up AW pass blocking. The wildcard will be LSH, who seems much more of a "Arrington" type back, and quite adept in that role. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a fair amount of catches out of the backfield.
FB
Do we have one? Byrd (who was playing a fb/hb role) made some nice catches and sometimes looks like a guy who can play.
WR
Fitz is an absolute beast and head and shoulders in terms of talent above anyone on the team. His battles with DRC are the highlight of camp, and Larry lets DRC know when he beats him. I expect Fitz to have a huge year.
Stevie B, solid as usual. It's amazing that a receiver as raw and undisciplined as Breaston has turned into such a fundamentally strong wr. Makes all the catches and rarely makes a mistake. If he stays healthy, I expect him to have a big year.
Early was very good in the first couple practices, but again didn't practice much as the weekend went on, not a good sign for a guy who hasn't been able to stay healthy. Has all the talent in the world, but it doesn't do much good on the sidelines.
Andre Roberts made some nice catches, but frankly doesn't look nearly like a 3rd round pick. Dropped lots of passes during the practice days, and even dropped a couple in the scrimmage. Not a good start for Roberts.
Gant played pretty well, but the surprise of camp was the play of Stephen Williams. Williams was very solid during practice, but was dominant in the scrimmage, the best player on the field. He's a big target at 6'5 and made some tough grabs today. Could be the out of left field player to make the roster.
All in all, WR is one of the deepest and strongest positions on the team.
TE
Nothing of note. Saw Spach mixing it up, but nothing memorable from practices and scrimmage.
OL
One of the biggest concerns on the team. It was tough to see anything of note in the first couple days of practice, but the OL may have been the biggest concern coming out of the scrimmage. The DL completely tore them up, and it looks like a complete mismash of a unit. I'll be very interested to see who will be the starting OL once the season starts. Frankly, both Wells and Faneca look like they could lose their starting spots. I'm really hoping it's more a matter of our DL being dominant, which segues nicely into...
Defense
DL
Without a doubt, the strongest and deepest unit on the team. Calais is an absolute monster and should have a huge year. Same for Dockett, who is definitely not shy about getting in someone's face or explaining things. Both Iwebema and Will Davis look hungry, and Alan Branch is noticeably slim and moving better. In terms of the interior of the line, Dan Williams is short, but very quick and showed some signs in the scrimmage. Gabe Watson looks the best he has in years, and I think he'll make some plays this year.
OLB
All in all, not as bad as I feared. We'll see what happens when the actual games start, but we should be good at OLB, a bit more questionable at ILB. Both Porter and Haggans look like they're ready for the season to start and Cody Brown showed some flashes.
Other than that, Stevie Baggs looked very quick around the edge, but is the most pigeon toed person I've ever seen. Seriously, watching him at practice, it's unbelievable that he can even walk/run like that.
ILB'ers looked ok but the lack of depth at the position is extreme. Paris Lenon looked more serviceable than I imagined but again, we'll see once the games start for real. Darryl Washington is an impressive figure, and moves very well. He looks very tall and thin for ILB, but has the talent, speed and change of moment skills to look like a young Dansby. He'll definitely need time, but I imagine he'll be starting by at least the middle of the season.
CB's
DRC is a complete space cadet, but is the most physically talented player on the team. Even if he isn't 100%, he is unbeatable when completely focused. It's funny watching him after drills flipping the ball around or staring off into space, probably visions of cartoons running through his head. Made Matt look foolish in the scrimmage picking him off, and Larry is the only one who can deal with him.
Toler was a mixed bag, didn't do much the first couple days of practice, then comes out and plays great in the scrimmage, with an INT and solid coverage the entire time.
Tru McBride wasn't healthy the whole time I was there, and didn't do much of note when he was.
Money Mike was getting torched right and left, and the though of him getting any PT of significance is terrifying.
After hearing what a dog Justin Miller is in coverage, he did pretty well in 1 on 1 battles. Probably won't make the team anyway, although he was running in the nickel/dime packages.
Jorrick Calvin looks like a wasted pick, he was getting beaten like a rented mule and was picked on every time he was on the field. PS player at best.
S
A Dub is just a specimen, he hardly looks real out there. Looks like an ILB, which he was playing in the scrimmage in passing situations. I would imagine we'll see plenty of that next year. Layed out Breaston in the scrimmage, even as he was pulling up.
Kerry Rhodes was much more impressive that I anticipated. Also much bigger than I thought. I think he'll have a very good year.
Matt Ware was solid as usual, and one of the more under the radar signings of the offseason. Rashad Johnson looked much more comfortable, and should be able to contribute.
All in all, I'm not sure what to think about this group. There are plenty of things to get excited about, but some giant question marks. Hopefully the preseason games will give us a better idea of what we're looking at.
Would love to hear what others are thinking about the practices/scrimmage, if you have a couple days to get out of town, it's a great trip. Go to Salsa Brava, their carnitas are wonderful, and margaritas are strong. Brandy's is also great, as is Beaver Street Brewery.
It's hard to beat sitting outside in Flagstaff in the middle of summer. While the red and white game was in the dome, the rest of the practices were outdoors and the weather was perfect. Nice crowd for the red/white scrimmage, it's hilarious compared to the training camps even 5 years ago. The bandwagon is full.
Offense -
QB's
It's tough to gauge too much from QB's throwing to wide open receivers and players going through the motions, so the scrimmage was more telling.
Leinart - looked fairly good on Thursday and Friday, but was awful at the scrimmage. Is quite adept at the check downs and shorter routes, but showed no accuracy on any of the longer passes. Today at the scrimmage was a comedy of errors. Between underthrowing Breaston when he had his man beat by 5+ yards to throwing multiple bad picks, he showed very little to get positive about. Again, when throwing to Fitz and on the under routes, he was mostly effective. Of course my sample size is small, but I was pretty discouraged after the scrimmage, he looks at best as a caretaker of the offense which is not what I was hoping for.
Anderson - Nothing too spectacular the first two days, but the clear winner of the scrimmage. Anderson was by far the most poised and accurate of the qb's, and it will be very interesting to see the qb battle in the preseason. Anderson was the only qb on the roster to move the ball on offense, and can throw a much harder ball than Leinart. While there are certainly many reasons to doubt Anderson, he looks like a more than acceptable backup who can push Leinart for the starting job.
Skelton - lots of talent, incredibly raw. He'll need plenty of time to develop, looked pretty good in the practices, and promptly threw a bad INT in his first action.
Hall - looks funny standing next to 3 6'5 plus qb's, but has a lot of moxie. Even if he doesn't make the team, I can see him ending up on the practice squad. As would be expected, he does look nominally better than Skelton at this stage.
RB's
Beanie and TH both look strong, and I anticipate big years from both of them. Beanie has that extra gear that we've never seen in a Cards RB. TH is extremely solid, and stood up AW pass blocking. The wildcard will be LSH, who seems much more of a "Arrington" type back, and quite adept in that role. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a fair amount of catches out of the backfield.
FB
Do we have one? Byrd (who was playing a fb/hb role) made some nice catches and sometimes looks like a guy who can play.
WR
Fitz is an absolute beast and head and shoulders in terms of talent above anyone on the team. His battles with DRC are the highlight of camp, and Larry lets DRC know when he beats him. I expect Fitz to have a huge year.
Stevie B, solid as usual. It's amazing that a receiver as raw and undisciplined as Breaston has turned into such a fundamentally strong wr. Makes all the catches and rarely makes a mistake. If he stays healthy, I expect him to have a big year.
Early was very good in the first couple practices, but again didn't practice much as the weekend went on, not a good sign for a guy who hasn't been able to stay healthy. Has all the talent in the world, but it doesn't do much good on the sidelines.
Andre Roberts made some nice catches, but frankly doesn't look nearly like a 3rd round pick. Dropped lots of passes during the practice days, and even dropped a couple in the scrimmage. Not a good start for Roberts.
Gant played pretty well, but the surprise of camp was the play of Stephen Williams. Williams was very solid during practice, but was dominant in the scrimmage, the best player on the field. He's a big target at 6'5 and made some tough grabs today. Could be the out of left field player to make the roster.
All in all, WR is one of the deepest and strongest positions on the team.
TE
Nothing of note. Saw Spach mixing it up, but nothing memorable from practices and scrimmage.
OL
One of the biggest concerns on the team. It was tough to see anything of note in the first couple days of practice, but the OL may have been the biggest concern coming out of the scrimmage. The DL completely tore them up, and it looks like a complete mismash of a unit. I'll be very interested to see who will be the starting OL once the season starts. Frankly, both Wells and Faneca look like they could lose their starting spots. I'm really hoping it's more a matter of our DL being dominant, which segues nicely into...
Defense
DL
Without a doubt, the strongest and deepest unit on the team. Calais is an absolute monster and should have a huge year. Same for Dockett, who is definitely not shy about getting in someone's face or explaining things. Both Iwebema and Will Davis look hungry, and Alan Branch is noticeably slim and moving better. In terms of the interior of the line, Dan Williams is short, but very quick and showed some signs in the scrimmage. Gabe Watson looks the best he has in years, and I think he'll make some plays this year.
OLB
All in all, not as bad as I feared. We'll see what happens when the actual games start, but we should be good at OLB, a bit more questionable at ILB. Both Porter and Haggans look like they're ready for the season to start and Cody Brown showed some flashes.
Other than that, Stevie Baggs looked very quick around the edge, but is the most pigeon toed person I've ever seen. Seriously, watching him at practice, it's unbelievable that he can even walk/run like that.
ILB'ers looked ok but the lack of depth at the position is extreme. Paris Lenon looked more serviceable than I imagined but again, we'll see once the games start for real. Darryl Washington is an impressive figure, and moves very well. He looks very tall and thin for ILB, but has the talent, speed and change of moment skills to look like a young Dansby. He'll definitely need time, but I imagine he'll be starting by at least the middle of the season.
CB's
DRC is a complete space cadet, but is the most physically talented player on the team. Even if he isn't 100%, he is unbeatable when completely focused. It's funny watching him after drills flipping the ball around or staring off into space, probably visions of cartoons running through his head. Made Matt look foolish in the scrimmage picking him off, and Larry is the only one who can deal with him.
Toler was a mixed bag, didn't do much the first couple days of practice, then comes out and plays great in the scrimmage, with an INT and solid coverage the entire time.
Tru McBride wasn't healthy the whole time I was there, and didn't do much of note when he was.
Money Mike was getting torched right and left, and the though of him getting any PT of significance is terrifying.
After hearing what a dog Justin Miller is in coverage, he did pretty well in 1 on 1 battles. Probably won't make the team anyway, although he was running in the nickel/dime packages.
Jorrick Calvin looks like a wasted pick, he was getting beaten like a rented mule and was picked on every time he was on the field. PS player at best.
S
A Dub is just a specimen, he hardly looks real out there. Looks like an ILB, which he was playing in the scrimmage in passing situations. I would imagine we'll see plenty of that next year. Layed out Breaston in the scrimmage, even as he was pulling up.
Kerry Rhodes was much more impressive that I anticipated. Also much bigger than I thought. I think he'll have a very good year.
Matt Ware was solid as usual, and one of the more under the radar signings of the offseason. Rashad Johnson looked much more comfortable, and should be able to contribute.
All in all, I'm not sure what to think about this group. There are plenty of things to get excited about, but some giant question marks. Hopefully the preseason games will give us a better idea of what we're looking at.
Would love to hear what others are thinking about the practices/scrimmage, if you have a couple days to get out of town, it's a great trip. Go to Salsa Brava, their carnitas are wonderful, and margaritas are strong. Brandy's is also great, as is Beaver Street Brewery.
things can quickly change.
