What should we expect from Leonard Pope this season?

CtCardinals78

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I was disappointed last year because I thought he was not utilized often enough. I hope he improves his blocking and gets a lot more catches this year. I think if he could get 40-50 catches this year that would be awesome. If he starts catching a lot that will really open things up for Boldin and Q. I think he's a very important part of our offense and I hope he does well this year. If he can be successful I think the Cards will hang a lot of points on the board.
 

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I expect a lot more from simply because of coaching.
His position coach last year was one of Denny's boys, Hargrave, this year he has a real coach and Whiz used to be a TE.
Big improvement.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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as sad as this is . . . i expect little to nothing from our draft picks.
 

Shogun

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To start half the season...?
 

azmike74

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Domination! :koolaid:

Realistically, I think he can be a good TE, better receiver than blocker, but I worry about having enough balls thrown in the air for him considering Whiz wants to run so much and we have two stud receivers. Maybe someone else can chime in and let us know what to expect out of a TE in our new offensive system. I do like Pope, I think he can be good, but I don't know if he can do it here.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Domination! :koolaid:

Realistically, I think he can be a good TE, better receiver than blocker, but I worry about having enough balls thrown in the air for him considering Whiz wants to run so much and we have two stud receivers. Maybe someone else can chime in and let us know what to expect out of a TE in our new offensive system. I do like Pope, I think he can be good, but I don't know if he can do it here.

the te wasn't utilized a great deal in pitt lately and they drafted miller in the first round. they did make extensive use of the te in the red zone though. so that 40 - 50 catches for pope is a pipe dream. but he may end up with 5 or 6 tds on 25 catches.
 

redheat

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I thought he looked solid at minicamp. Made some really nice catches in traffic. Much tougher and confident.
 

conraddobler

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I expect him to surprise the league really.

A. We have no one else.

B. He's tall

That's all I got.
 

Cbus cardsfan

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well, you would think he's goign to be open all day because every defense will be covering Boldin and Fitz. The question for Leinart is do you throw to a double covered Q or Fitz rather than a single covered Pope ? I have a feeling Matt wiil go with the proven WR's no matter what the coverage and hope/expect them to make a play. I see about 25-30 catches for Pope and about 4 TD's which wouldn't be bad production from your 5th or 6th option in the offense.
 

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^ Having Bryant Johnson doesn't hurt either.

Not because he's good, but because their 3rd corner is covering him, and he could easily blow right past them. The only question is whether he catches the ball or not.

Pope should be fine. He might be a little bit too tall to make it as a blocking TE, but he's still a great athlete with great size who can make just about any catch.
 

Duckjake

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as sad as this is . . . i expect little to nothing from our draft picks.

Me too. But because the Cards now have enough veteran NFL quality talent that the rookies don't have to make significant contributions right away.

Well, except on the offensive line. :bang:
 

Redsz

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30 Catches 402 yds 6tds thats my prediction outta left feild.

I would hope so. Heath Miller had about 30 catches in 05 and 06 so that would be good production in this scheme.
 
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CtCardinals78

CtCardinals78

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Domination! :koolaid:

Realistically, I think he can be a good TE, better receiver than blocker, but I worry about having enough balls thrown in the air for him considering Whiz wants to run so much and we have two stud receivers. Maybe someone else can chime in and let us know what to expect out of a TE in our new offensive system. I do like Pope, I think he can be good, but I don't know if he can do it here.
OT AZMike that is the coolest avatar I have seen yet!!!!!
 

artp

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I was disappointed last year because I thought he was not utilized often enough. I hope he improves his blocking and gets a lot more catches this year. I think if he could get 40-50 catches this year that would be awesome. If he starts catching a lot that will really open things up for Boldin and Q. I think he's a very important part of our offense and I hope he does well this year. If he can be successful I think the Cards will hang a lot of points on the board.

We all hope all these same things. Pope will play some, catch a few passes, and generally be a positive. His role will be diminished under HC Whiz. I don't thin there are going to be a lot of passes thrown his way.
 

Duckjake

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We all hope all these same things. Pope will play some, catch a few passes, and generally be a positive. His role will be diminished under HC Whiz. I don't thin there are going to be a lot of passes thrown his way.

I don't know about that. Didn't Heath Miller have 30+ catches a year for the Steelers the past two seasons? That wouldn't indicate that Whisenhunt's offense reduces the role of the TE below what the Cardinals have over the past few years.

Of course you have to consider that the Cardinals have hardly realized they had a TE for most of their time in Arizona.
 

mjb21aztd

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I just hope Pope can be a better te for us then he was with us last year i'm a huge bulldog fan and it was fun to watch him play in college I think he will probally get 4 to 6 tds for us this year :)
 

JeffGollin

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He will have to learn to block in Whiz's scheme to get meaningful minutes.
Spot-on.

During last year's pre-draft workouts, you could see that (a) Pope was a tall natural pass catcher with soft hands but, because of his height, had difficulty getting low enough to gain the leverage it takes to win many blocking battles.

This was no secret to Cardinal coaches last year. What we don't know is (a) how much DG's staff and Leonard worked on blocking fundamentals or (b) whether the coaching techniques they used were the most effective ones. What did seem evident was that Leonard hadn't yet developed his blocking skills enough to be considered a fixture at the position.

Enter WIz & Co. We won't know until later in preseason, but what I'm hoping is that they will place enough priority on Pope's blocking and employ the necessary coaching techniques to turn him into a proficient blocker.

If and when that happens, his pass-catching production figures to take care of itself.

And, of course, a significant part of this will depend on Pope's willingness and ability to accept and respond effectively to coaching.
 

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