The Cardinals made a big splash in Saturday's draft by selecting behemoth offensive tackle Levi Brown. Here, Jeff Gollin from The Big Red Sheet Cardinals blog breaks down the draft for the Bleacher Report.In part two of his analysis, Gollin dissects Levi Brown's skills and shortcomings, in addition to evaluating the Cardinals' four other picks in the 2007 NFL draft.
LEVI BROWN, OT, PENN STATE
Buzz out of Cardinal Country was that offensive line coach Russ Grimm (who worked Levi out individually during his Pro Day) liked him better than Joe Thomas (whom many observers rated higher).
Buzz out of Cardinal Country was that offensive line coach Russ Grimm (who worked Levi out individually during his Pro Day) liked him better than Joe Thomas (whom many observers rated higher).
I'd prefer to rate one tackle 1a and the other 1b. Thomas was considered the better pass blocker and the "safer" prospect. Brown was considered the more physical run blocker with more athleticism and a greater upside, but with a slightly less consistent motor.
For many years, the Cardinals have had problems running the football (until the arrival of Edgerrin James, the last Arizona RB to run for more than 1,000 yards in a season was Adrian Murrell). While the Cardinal rushing attack approached respectability in the latter half of last season, there is room for considerable improvement. Add to this the departure of Leonard Davis to the Cowboys and it became growingly evident that Levi Brown fit the job description to a tee.
ALAN BRANCH, DT, MICHIGAN
You can't watch his highlight reel without getting excited. Alan takes up considerable space; I've seen him completely dominate the line of scrimmage. He can defeat the double team and frequently occupies two blockers. (One reason LB David Harris performed so well for the Wolverines was that Branch was keeping blockers from getting to the second level.)
Branch's draft stock was hurt by the fact that his production fell off at the end of in his final college season—he would disappear on occasion or wear down in games, and was recovering from stress fractures in both legs. Originally a Top 10 (and even possibly a Top 5) value on many draft boards, it was inevitable that he'd slip a little on Saturday—but I don't think anyone felt he'd fall all the way to the second round.
Was Branch's "underachiever" rap deserved?
Not if you pay attention to SIRIUS Radio's Pat Kirwin (who spent roughly 15 minutes railing at 25-year-old kids who never coached a game— basing their opinions more on hearsay than on miles of game tape). Kirwin pointed out that nose tackles are particularly susceptible to defensive schemes and responsibilities (i.e. stay at home; protect against backside cutbacks) which causes them to "disappear" on highlight tapes unless you know what to look for.
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about 1 year ago
Jeff- Will Brown play on the right side of the line since Leinart is a lefty? I believe he played LT throughout his PSU career, did he not?
about 1 year ago
Coach Whisenhunt has indicated that, during the OTA's and training camp, he will move his linemen around to various positions (some of them unfamiliar) in order to determine what each player's capabilities are at each line position and their degree of versatility.
Add to this an earlier comment by offensive line coach, Russ Grimm that "he plans to put the best 5 linemen on the field" and the short answer must become: "We don't know yet."
For this reason, I wouldn't get too caught up in which side Levi lines up on in minicamps because it will change.
One thing that seems to be sorting itself out is that Gandy, Ross and Brown are being slated to play either of the two tackle positions and former RT Wells is headed for guard. Since Wells did at least an acceptable job protecting Leinart's blind side during the second half of the season, it wouldn't surprise me if our starting OT's turned out to be Wells on the left side and Levi on the right.
One other thing to consider - although the right side is Leinart's blind side, our opposition's best pass rusher will, more often than not, be coming from the other side and blocked by our LT anyway.
about 1 year ago
I meant Reggie at RT and Levi at LT. Sorry.
about 1 year ago
Seems to me like all the teams in the NFC west are contenders now, including the Cardinals.
That being said: predictions anyone?
Mine are as follows:
1) SF (10-6)
2) St. Louis (9-7)
3) Arizona (8-8)
3) Seattle (8-8)
NOTE: I am a Niners fan and therefore biased!
about 1 year ago
Branch was a guy that I thought the Saints might target at 27 given their lack of interior depth. Interesting to see if he will have a chip on his shoulder to try and shed his underachiever label in training camp.
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