Two more visits

[Alan]

Per Schefter: Arizona is bringing in free agent DT Nick Eason and free agent OL Wade Smith for a visit tonight and tomorrow.

Who and who?

 

[PoolBoy]

looks like 2 depth pickups id assume. anyone know any more?

 

[82CardsGrad]

:championship:


in honor of the Mulli...

 

[PoolBoy]

Rex Hadnot is coming in also according to Urbans blog http://blog.azcardinals.com/2010/03/08/here-come-the-visits/

 

[Chopper0080]

Nick Eason is a prototypical Steeler 3-4 DE. He is a space eater that keeps tackles and guards off of linebackers. Solid depth behind Dockett or Campbell, and when he is in our linebackers will have less trash to deal with.

I am guessing, but I think Wade Smith was a Dolphin and then a Buc. Total backup tackle.

 

[binkar]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/fa

Full Name: Nicholas Eason
Born: May 29, 1980
Lyons, GA
Height: 6-3
Weight: 305 lbs.
Age: 29
Pos: DE
Experience: 8 years
College: Clemson
Drafted: Year:2003 Round:4 Pick:17, Broncos
INSIDER ANALYSIS
Grade 60
Expert's Take Eason has been primarily a backup during his seven-year career but was able to secure five starts for the Pittsburgh defense in 2009. Eason is a defensive end in the 3-4, but could also project inside in a 4-3. He is able to play low and his improving hand usage has allowed him to keep blockers off his frame. He is a solid run defender who can occupy space and allow his linebackers behind him more freedom to roam. He is limited as a pass rusher and hasn't progressed in this phase of his game. Eason missed half the season with injury but for the most part had been durable for the much part during his career.


Full Name: Wade Leon Smith
Born: April 26, 1981
Dallas, TX
Height: 6-4
Weight: 296 lbs.
Age: 28
Pos: C
Experience: 8 years
College: Memphis
Drafted: Year:2003 Round:3 Pick:14, Dolphins
INSIDER ANALYSIS
Grade 64
Expert's Take Smith is a perennial backup guard who has shown the ability to step in and give a team the occasional start when called upon to do so. He is pretty athletic in a small area and can move his feet to adjust and react to movement but has limited lateral range in pass pro. He lacks great haunch power and can be overpowered by bigger interior linemen with a good bull rush. He is more of a finesse blocker than a powerful drive blocker and knows how to leverage blocks and protect a lane.

Full Name: Jonathan Rex Hadnot
Born: January 28, 1982
Lufkin, TX
Height: 6-2
Weight: 320 lbs.
Age: 28
Pos: C
Experience: 7 years
College: Houston
Drafted: Year:2004 Round:6 Pick:9, Dolphins
INSIDER ANALYSIS
Grade 73
Expert's Take Hadnot was the Browns' starting right guard in 2008 and has demonstrated the ability to play any of the three interior offensive line positions. He missed much of the early part of 2009 (injury) before lining back up for the Browns midway through the season. He is a powerful, wide-bodied blocker, but isn't particularly quick or agile. Once beaten, he is slow to recover and his overall agility is just average, but he does show the ability to engulf his opponent at times. He is a swing interior lineman who should be a steady performer in 2010.

Grading System:
90-100: Elite Player
Player demonstrates rare abilities and can create mismatches that have an obvious impact on the game. ... Premier NFL player who has all the skills to consistently play at a championship level. ... Rates as one of the top players at his position in the league.
80-89: Outstanding Player
Player has abilities to create mismatches versus most opponents in the NFL. ... A feature player who has an impact on the outcome of the game. ... Cannot be shut down by a single player and plays on a consistent level week in and week out.
70-79: Good Starter
Solid starter who is close to being an outstanding player. ... Has few weaknesses and usually will win his individual matchup but does not dominate in every game, especially when matched up against the top players in the league.
60-69: Average Starter
A valuable roster player but not a dominant player against the better players he faces on a weekly basis. ... Gives great effort and teams are glad to have him, but he may or may not go to the next level.
50-59: Good Backup
This is a player who is really on the bubble and only starts because of a deficiency at the position. ... He lacks complete overall skills, and although he will battle, he will hinder his team's ability to play at a championship level if he is forced to be in the starting lineup consistently over a 16-game season. Teams don't mind having him on the roster but are always looking to upgrade.
40-49: Below Average Backup/Core Special Teamers
Strictly a backup player who is not capable of starting. If forced to, he is only a short-term fix. ... He might make the roster because of special-teams contributions or experience. ... He is the type of player teams consistently look to replace with an upgrade. ... He always will be a borderline roster player.
30: Developmental Player
Players with this grade have very little film to evaluate. Such players might flash potential in the preseason but don't have any regular-season performances to judge. they usually have very little experience but have to be tracked due to developmental potential.
20: Rookie (Post Draft)
No professional tape to evaluate. These players will have an evaluation based on their college tape, but we will not put a new grade on them until after their rookie seasons. They will carry the 20 grade throughout their first NFL season.
10: Evaluation in Process
Need more information

 

[binkar]

Hope that helps...

 

[kerouac9]

Hope that helps...

It does. Thank you so much. ESPN.com has gone overboard with their pay wall.

 

[Mitch]

Clearly the Cardinals are looking for the backup C...and would be delighted if he can also play G. This may mean they are thinking they may not draft a center this year.

As for Eason...this is a curious choice because the depth at 3-4 DE seems very deep...that is, unless, they are going to motivate Alan Branch to play NT.

If the Cardinals sign Rex Hadnot and re-sign Jeremy Bridges, they would have two versatile backups and would have their game day eight offensive linemen in place:

LT Brown/Bridges
LG Wells/Bridges
C Sendlein/Hadnot
RG Lutui/Hadnot
RT Keith/Johnson

The ninth o-lineman would likely be a rookie they would inactivate, unless they draft one of the higher rated tackles or a G like Mike Johnson from Alabama with one of the first 5 picks (Rounds 1-4).

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Clearly the Cardinals are looking for the backup C...and would be delighted if he can also play G. This may mean they are thinking they may not draft a center this year.

As for Eason...this is a curious choice because the depth at 3-4 DE seems very deep...that is, unless, they are going to motivate Alan Branch to play NT.

If the Cardinals sign Rex Hadnot and re-sign Jeremy Bridges, they would have two versatile backups and would have their game day eight offensive linemen in place:

LT Brown/Bridges
LG Wells/Bridges
C Sendlein/Hadnot
RG Lutui/Hadnot
RT Keith/Johnson

The ninth o-lineman would likely be a rookie they would inactivate, unless they draft one of the higher rated tackles or a G like Mike Johnson from Alabama with one of the first 5 picks (Rounds 1-4).

OR:

LT Brown/Keith
LG Wells/Hadnot
C Sendlein/Hadnot
RG Lutui/Hadnot
RT Keith/Johnson

Draft a tackle, add a late round or UDFA guard.

 

[TheHopToad]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/fa

Hope that helps...

Indeed. I went to the site and read some of the scouting reports and rankings for other players and there is some good stuff in there, notably this:

Safetys:
RK..PLAYER...............POS TEAM GRADE
1....Ed Reed...................S...BAL........93
......Troy Polamalu.........S...PIT.........93
3....Adrian Wilson.........S...ARI.........90
4....Bob Sanders............S...IND........87
5....Kerry Rhodes...........S...NYJ........80

24..Antrel Rolle..............S...ARI........69

 

[BullheadCardFan]

24..Antrel Rolle..............S...ARI........69

Highest paid Safety in the league.

 

[Hypothesis]

I was actually going to start a thread when I got home tonight, lobbying for Eason. He is a prototypical 2 gap 3-4 DE. He has been stout in a reserve roll for the Steelers and would be a welcomed addition here in my mind. Our depth at DE for our base defense is not all that good. With the exception of Branch, that is all we got. Iwebema at 265 lbs is not stout enough to hold up. Again, this would be an excellent pick up in my eyes.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

OR:

LT Brown/Keith
LG Wells/Hadnot
C Sendlein/Hadnot
RG Lutui/Hadnot
RT Keith/Johnson

Draft a tackle, add a late round or UDFA guard.

Sounds like Hadnot would have a legitimate chance to start, may the best man win. Based on our new favorite reference site, he's far better than our current starters, including Mr. Wells, who was apparently more awful than we thought...

http://www.profootballfocus.com/by_position.php?tab=by_position&season=2009&pos=G&stype=r&runpasteamid=-1&numsnaps=25&numgames=1

 

[Dayman]

9-0 lamented about the lack of depth on defense after the Saints game. Eason would obviously address that issue. I also wonder if signing Eason would signal the end of Alan Branch on the team. Branch showed some signs of life last year, but I'm not sure his performance justifies a two million dollar salary next year.

 

[lauraw]

Branch is a cling-on...

 

[NashDishesDimes]

Clearly the Cardinals are looking for the backup C...and would be delighted if he can also play G. This may mean they are thinking they may not draft a center this year.

As for Eason...this is a curious choice because the depth at 3-4 DE seems very deep...that is, unless, they are going to motivate Alan Branch to play NT.

If the Cardinals sign Rex Hadnot and re-sign Jeremy Bridges, they would have two versatile backups and would have their game day eight offensive linemen in place:

LT Brown/Bridges
LG Wells/Bridges
C Sendlein/Hadnot
RG Lutui/Hadnot
RT Keith/Johnson

The ninth o-lineman would likely be a rookie they would inactivate, unless they draft one of the higher rated tackles or a G like Mike Johnson from Alabama with one of the first 5 picks (Rounds 1-4).

Levi Brown is moving to Left Tackle this year assuming Gandy is gone? it was nice to have him on the strong side because hes a beast of a run blocker

 

[SoCal Cardfan]

Indeed. I went to the site and read some of the scouting reports and rankings for other players and there is some good stuff in there, notably this:

Safetys:
RK..PLAYER...............POS TEAM GRADE
1....Ed Reed...................S...BAL........93
......Troy Polamalu.........S...PIT.........93
3....Adrian Wilson.........S...ARI.........90
4....Bob Sanders............S...IND........87
5....Kerry Rhodes...........S...NYJ........80

24..Antrel Rolle..............S...ARI........69

EL OH EL

 

[Catfish]

I was actually going to start a thread when I got home tonight, lobbying for Eason. He is a prototypical 2 gap 3-4 DE. He has been stout in a reserve roll for the Steelers and would be a welcomed addition here in my mind. Our depth at DE for our base defense is not all that good. With the exception of Branch, that is all we got. Iwebema at 265 lbs is not stout enough to hold up. Again, this would be an excellent pick up in my eyes.

It would appear that Eason also has the ability to spot-sub at nose, which is also good news.

 

[Mulli]

Indeed. I went to the site and read some of the scouting reports and rankings for other players and there is some good stuff in there, notably this:

Safetys:
RK..PLAYER...............POS TEAM GRADE
1....Ed Reed...................S...BAL........93
......Troy Polamalu.........S...PIT.........93
3....Adrian Wilson.........S...ARI.........90
4....Bob Sanders............S...IND........87
5....Kerry Rhodes...........S...NYJ........80

24..Antrel Rolle..............S...ARI........69

 

[Evil Ash]

9-0 lamented about the lack of depth on defense after the Saints game. Eason would obviously address that issue. I also wonder if signing Eason would signal the end of Alan Branch on the team. Branch showed some signs of life last year, but I'm not sure his performance justifies a two million dollar salary next year.

My guess is that it would more likely be the end of Iwebema.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

My guess is that it would more likely be the end of Iwebema.

???

More likely, they drop Dykes or decide not to re-sign Robinson...

 

[dreamcastrocks]

My guess is that it would more likely be the end of Iwebema.

Iwebema stays.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

I was actually going to start a thread when I got home tonight, lobbying for Eason. He is a prototypical 2 gap 3-4 DE. He has been stout in a reserve roll for the Steelers and would be a welcomed addition here in my mind. Our depth at DE for our base defense is not all that good. With the exception of Branch, that is all we got. Iwebema at 265 lbs is not stout enough to hold up. Again, this would be an excellent pick up in my eyes.

Iwebema - 265 - SOURCE?

 

[Evil Ash]

???

More likely, they drop Dykes or decide not to re-sign Robinson...

Those are other good options. I just don't see them giving up on Branch after the year he had.