You all know by now that #15 is my dude, but surprising isn’t a word I would use to describe him. Anyone who saw him run back the punt last year had to be thinking, “Give this kid the ball!”

I think Laboy was the perfect pick to highlight here CG. Just to put it in perspective, my American BullDog/Pitbull Mix is wearing a makeshift 55 Cards jersey and helmet for Halloween.

Its hard to give Robinson props without listing Branch as a dissappointment. I expected him to step up this year and provide a solid NT rotation throughout 4 quarters.

I think it may be little surprise that LaBoy is my favorite aquisition this year. I can’t say I would have predicted that in the offseason.

For a former TE as our head coach griping last year about the TE play, I have to say the whole TE group has been a disappointment this season as it’s worse than last year. Granted, injuries have fouled up any clear-cut perspective of performance; with the WR ability the Cards have on the outside the TE game on the inside should be better than what it is. Patrick shows flashes and Pope shows flushes and Tuman may as well be on IR. The most consistent TE on the roster is Alex Shor…hard to mess up Practice Squad duty!

Biggest Surprise for me, Dirk Johnson. Ayep, the punter. Nothing flashy, just get’s the job done. From what we saw during the preseason, I figured he would have been replaced by now. Instead, I find myself defending the guy on this blog.

I’m going to start with the bad. My biggest disappointment this year so far has been… Wait for it… Wait for it…
Leinart! I said it. I have been on Warner starting since his performance last year but Leinart should be at a level to play and start by now. He is not living up to his draft pick status and I am having serious doubts he ever will. I think he’s lost his winning edge and fire in his belly. He got his fat check and banged his Hollywood tail (you know who you are Miss Hilton) and has become complacent. So that is my biggest disappointment especially considering how high I was on him during the draft. Considering we let another guy by the name of Jay Cutler slip through our fingers, (I don’t know if I ever could have gotten over his dooofy Gomer Pyle look) I don’t think anyone can ever make a solid enough argument again for me to get on board with this guy; Barring winning some serious games and a playoff berth.
Everyone else mentioned above is pretty right on with their good and bad. Breaston was no surprise to me because I have been on him since last year. My biggest good surprise has definitely been Laboy. He’s a bad dude! Matt, if you got a LaBoy jersey for Max, I will get an AW for Louis dog;-) He’s a pretty BadAss poodle!

Sendlein is my boy. You guys remember me being on him since before training camp even started. I saw it last year when Johnson went down and he has been a solid guy (good feet). Lutui has been a major disappointment. He hasn’t been horrible, but I had much higher expectations for him that he definitely hasn’t live up to.

Been able to really sit down and break down a game film yet because I’m usually hosting for all my buddies on Sunday. I do know just from what I have seen, he’s got great feet and is a solid player. I don’t think he’s a marquee player yet, but a solid starter. When I was at camp, I did notice he was not nearly as big as the other lineman. That’s not a bad thing because he can be more mobile than some big oaf and centers can be undersized and still successful. I think if we give him one more solid off-season to bulk up he’s going to be the real deal.

That’s right. I said it. If you guys don’t remember, we along with many other teams were in the Antwan Odom sweepstakes. We feel short as he decided to go with the Bengals (great choice, cough, cough, he, he, cough). When we couldn’t get him, we decided to pursue another Titan by the name of Travis Laboy. Now I know stats don’t always paint a complete picture, but come on. I think we got the better player. I was initially high on Laboy because I was looking for a quick fix for Calvin Pace. Laboy has however far exceeded my expectations. Can we keep him? Huh, Dad, can we?
On the other side, its like I said earlier this week. I was expecting so much more from Rolle. Having played both corner and free safety in high school, I understand his problems though. He is not fluid in his hips and will easily get beat in space. Although he has good closing speed, he can’t turn and go on double moves. Once he commits, he will either be right with the receiver or beat pretty badly. His best style is the bump because he is very physical. But centerfield is out of his element. His best postion for us would probably be backup strong safety until he gets his technique down. And yes I’m speaking from experience. My scholarships didn’t start pouring in until I corrected my technique. I was a fundamentally sound tackler, a ferocious hitter, great in the bump but a liability in space. He can get better.