Cuts Announced

[ajcardfan]

I didn't think there would be enough room to keep Larry Croom.


Congrats on making the team. You earned it!

Keeping four RBs was the big surprise to me. Especially since three of them will not play on special teams. The rest are not surprising. I've been saying for a couple of weeks now that Jackson's back was probably in pretty bad shape.

 

[ajcardfan]

I agree. Denny seems to have a weird love for Ross K. I dont know what it is, I know the guy is a hard worker but its plain to see he isnt that good.

FWIW, he did have a very good game Thursday. But, so did most of our line.

 

[Scott MS]

For the record....Gilmore appears to have made the dolphins roster...I would rather have Kasper over Gilmore - but they are different types of receivers..

I think you're right. The Dolphins did cut wide receivers Antonio Freeman, Ronald Bellamy, Carl Morris, and J.R. Tolver, though. It makes me a little sick to see guys like Sullivan and Marmie bring in their old favorites and then let these guys make the team. The NFL should be about talent.

 

[joeshmo]

he can't make the practice squad right?

You are correct, he cannot.

 

[Urubu Rei]

Injuries are the reason for some guys making the team.

Lindsay was kept because of Shelton's back problems, there are other to back up the OTs.

Stone because he can play some safety and corner. Remember Starks in always hurt!

But I think neither one is safe. as some 3 or 4 other guys.

 

[AzCards21]

AZCards:

Makes sense. With Jerry Azumah out (for the season?), they could use a veteran kick returner. It wouldn't be the first time that Kasper got hired primarily as a return specialist. I think the Bears' only other options at KR were rookies Nathan Vasher and Bernard Berrian, assuming that both made the roster.

WC

I haven't been hearing much in the way of rave reviews for their receiving corps either. Kasper did show several timely catches this season so maybe you're right. A kick returner and spot receiver would be a good pick up for them. I don't follow the Bears that closely other than listening to my cousin complain about how bad they're going to be this season. My take is based purely on hearsay.

 

[Clif]

can we now finally put the "Denny hates LJ and is going to cut him" crap to bed?

We finally see that the guy has a back problem, that we all hope will get better, and hope he can return to full strength. It appears that DG did not have it in for him.

Kasper was not an NFL caliber receiver.. you have to be able to get open.

Rhinehart....was no one special...easily replaceable.

We see that the coach is not as crazy as most thought. He was willing to give bryant and Pace more chances even though they did not play much.

 

[azsouthendzone]

Kasper didn't get open, plain and simple. He also dropped some balls in traffic and he couldn't hang on when he got hit. Newhouse did. I don't care who he was playing against. There were a couple of plays against Denver where he got tattooed by the DB and he hung on. Great move. I feel much better having Poole and Newhouse than Kasper. I also like Croom. He has quickness and sees the hole well. Michael Stone earned his spot in camp. Maybe it took him 3 years to figure it out, but he made some plays in preseason. Overall, I think that Green made great choices and I'm ready for next Sunday, when we kick the Ram's as$.

Great avitar clif!

 

[lrk27]

can we now finally put the "Denny hates LJ and is going to cut him" crap to bed?

We finally see that the guy has a back problem, that we all hope will get better, and hope he can return to full strength. It appears that DG did not have it in for him.

LJ was benched long before he had a back injury. He was fine to start camp, and for the first three weeks of camp. And he never sniffed the field in that time. The football decision to demote LJ had nothing to do with his current back injury.

 

[CardinalChris]

Only way Kasper stayed was if Scobey was cut.

 

[40yearfan]

Kasper didn't get open, plain and simple. He also dropped some balls in traffic and he couldn't hang on when he got hit. Newhouse did. I don't care who he was playing against. There were a couple of plays against Denver where he got tattooed by the DB and he hung on. Great move. I feel much better having Poole and Newhouse than Kasper. I also like Croom. He has quickness and sees the hole well. Michael Stone earned his spot in camp. Maybe it took him 3 years to figure it out, but he made some plays in preseason. Overall, I think that Green made great choices and I'm ready for next Sunday, when we kick the Ram's as$.

Great avitar clif!

AZSE, I'm gonna have to disagree with you when you say Kasper dropped balls in traffic and couldn't hang on to the ball when he got hit. He had better hands than either Poole or Newhouse and grabbed anything near him. If anyone kept statistics, I'd be willing to bet that he dropped less balls than either Poole or Newhouse. I just hope if he gets on with another team, it isn't one of the teams in our league.

 

[CaptTurbo]

been saying all alomg that Kasper would be lucky if he made the team. doesnt surprise me at all!

no real big shockers here IMO!

It appears skkorp was wrong.

Of course shane but his awful habit of catching balls sucks, youve believed that all along. You must hate solid wr's or something.

 

[Zeno]

I just hope if he gets on with another team, it isn't one of the teams in our league.

People just won't let it alone, like Kevin Kasper being on our opponents team will cause our Defensive Coordinator to stay up late game planning to try to stop or at the very least contain him. He is a #5 WR at best, he's caught what 20+ passes in his 3 year career?

I personally like Nate Poole better because I think he is more clutch and ran much better routes but had he been cut I wouldn't be worried about him turning up on another team anymore than Kevin Kasper.

He's gone...deal with it. Very likely we will upgrade next season and Poole and Newhouse will be gone as well.

 

[JeffGollin]

What surprised me most were the number of vets who were cut while youngsters of similar ability (who could have been stockpiled on the practice squad) were kept on the roster. Specific cuts -Newhouse instead of Kasper and Croom instead of Anderson; Scobey instead of Rue.

I suspect the decision to cut Rue (who figured to be our only remaining lead-blocker since Abedjebayo is considered more of a pass catching option) may have been predicated on our pick up of Hambrick whom - at least in terms of his size - could fill in at FB. Or, perhaps, Denny may decide to play one of our guards at FB in short yardage situations.

The loss of Dexter Jackson would have been more devestating had we not picked up Ohalete and had Quentin Harris not come along as well as he has.

All in all, I'm not at all unhappy with the talent on this roster, except that we're not real deep. And our starters do not have a particularly good reputation for durability. (For example. if Starks or Macklin were to go down for any period of time, we'd be in serious trouble because neither Hill nor Tate come close to Starks and Macklin skill-wise. (Well, maybe Tate has the potential, but he's not there yet).

 

[40yearfan]

Some of us like to root for the underdog and seeing as how we are Americans, we are allowed to do that. He doesn't have to be a super hero or the best football player, just someone who catches your fancy and looks like someone you can relate to, so don't patronize me. I will continue to follow his career (is he has one) and root for him. I think the competition was very close and the reason Poole won out was because he was Josh's favorite target while Kevin was King's favorite target. I still think Kasper is a better receiver than Poole and since that is myopinion, I will continue to believe so.

 

[Clif]

LJ was benched long before he had a back injury. He was fine to start camp, and for the first three weeks of camp. And he never sniffed the field in that time. The football decision to demote LJ had nothing to do with his current back injury.

can you really say that though? I mean the guy is a great person, but he came in overweight which does affect your back.

I never wanted the guy cut nor benched, but I was not surprised to hear he had a back injury.

I hope for the best for him and hopes it gets all corrected and he can contribute.

The only problem I had was when people could not believe he was benched. i thought there had to be so more to the story than he just being overweight.

 

[AZCARDINALS4EVA]

Why Kasper?

Ok i understand we have a lot of great recievers, but why kasper? He was great everyhwhere on special teams, and replacing our trio of recievers due to injuries he has made some nice catches and plays this pre season? Why not someone like newhouse be cut instead?

 

[lrk27]

can you really say that though? I mean the guy is a great person, but he came in overweight which does affect your back.

I never wanted the guy cut nor benched, but I was not surprised to hear he had a back injury.

I hope for the best for him and hopes it gets all corrected and he can contribute.

The only problem I had was when people could not believe he was benched. i thought there had to be so more to the story than he just being overweight.

There was more to the story than just being overweight, but it was not bulging discs in his back. He worked out full speed from mini camp to the week of the SD game. You can't do that with bulging discs. His demotion had NOTHING to do with a back injury.

 

[joeshmo]

He worked out full speed from mini camp to the week of the SD game. You can't do that with bulging discs.

He may have worked out fine in Mini Camps but according to Skorp he has had the back problems since the beginning of training camp. IMO he had them before that but like Skorp said in his thread he kept his mouth shut for as long as possible.

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=36705

LJ has been battling the entire camp and preseason with back spasms caused by two bulging discs in his lower back. He didn't know what was causing the pain and practiced anyway, desperately trying to make the team.

So which report is wrong.

 

[Wild Card]

Ok i understand we have a lot of great recievers, but why kasper? He was great everyhwhere on special teams, and replacing our trio of recievers due to injuries he has made some nice catches and plays this pre season? Why not someone like newhouse be cut instead?

Just a guess, but maybe Dennis Green and his offensive coaches thought that Reggie Newhouse has more upside than Kevin Kasper. They may have felt that, comparing Kasper's play this summer to what they'd seen on film, that he wasn't going to get any better. If you're in the talent development business, and you're trying to decide between two players with roughly equal performance, you'll go with the one that seems to still be progressing.

That might also explain Jeff G.'s observation, a few posts back, about "the number of vets who were cut while youngsters of similar ability... were kept on the roster." If Green sees himself and his staff as teachers, maybe they're just going with the more-promising students.

WC

 

[Zeno]

That might also explaing Jeff G.'s observation, a few posts back, about "the number of vets who were cut while youngsters of similar ability... were kept on the roster." If Green sees himself and his staff as teachers, maybe they're just going with the more-promising students.

WC

And maybe...just maybe, Green is coming to the conclusion we aren't as good as he originally thought when he took over and is looking towards NEXT season and guys he believes can be developed/coached to be contributors then.

My prediction is this 2004 will be our last losing season for a long while.

 

[Angryguy]

I agree that Kasper was better all around player than Poole. What got Kasper cut was his attitude problem. I think he rubbed Green the wrong way.

 

[Clif]

I agree that Kasper was better all around player than Poole. What got Kasper cut was his attitude problem. I think he rubbed Green the wrong way.

if that was the case, I think he would have gotten cut earlier.

 

[Evil Ash]

He was great everyhwhere on special teams

Actually, no he wasn't. He was an average returner at best and did very little in terms of coverage from what I saw.

Why not someone like newhouse be cut instead?

Kevin Kasper had reached his ceiling. What you see is what you get ... a WR that has good hands and runs good routes but is undersized and played slow (yes I know about the 4.4 40 time but he never played at that speed, he often looked slow).

When picking a 6th WR on the team, I imagine that you prefer someone that has potential but can contribute now rather than a player that won't get any better than what he is.

Now don't get me wrong, i don't dislike Kasper. In fact, I wish him well and expect him to be picked up fairly quickly (maybe by the Fins or Bears).

He just wasn't a good fit for this team and Dennis Green's plans. This release might actually be a good thing for him in the long run.

 

[Chrissy M]

http://azcardinals.com/press/pressdetails.php?sid=2175


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