Arizona Cardinals Potential Draft Pick: Eric Wood
by Andrew602 on Apr 12, 2009 6:00 AM MDT
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PrintEric Wood C Louisville
6'4 & 310 lbs.
As a side note, Happy Easter from us here at ROTB.
Combine Results: 
- 40-Yard Dash: 5.19
- Bench Press: 30
- Vertical Jump: 30.5
- Broad Jump: 8'3
- 20-Yard Shuttle: 4.51
- 3-Cone Drill: 7.56
Positives: Wood is a big 6'4 center with a solid frame that can bulk up if needed. He has large hands that are capable of fighting off defenders. He has good upper body strength and can push defenders back at ease. He's a smart player who studies game tape for hours and can take in coaching and apply it on the field. Wood is an "old school" player that plays with a high motor and aggresion. He gets off of the snap quickly, and shows solid balance. While run-blocking, Wood excels at the one-on-one battle. His initial pop on defenders allows him to lock on and drive them back. While pass-blocking, Wood does a good job mirroring defenders and acting as a wall. He's solid against quicker defenders and doesn't quit until the play is over. Wood could also make the move to guard as he is a great swing man and excels at the screen pass.
Negatives: Wood isn't the quickest center entering the draft and needs to work on sliding over to oncoming defenders. He's not quite quick enough to get to second level defenders either. He needs to play with a lower center of gravity, and needs to bend his knees so he can square up on defenders. He sometimes stands too tall at times, and will struggle with the larger nose guards in the league. He lacks lateral quickness and his hips can appear to be too stiff at times.
Overall: Wood would be a solid addition in the second round if he somehow slipped to the Cardinals pick. He's a dependable player who will keep his legs driving and plays with a mean streak. He's a straight line center that does a good job matching what the defender brings. If he can improve on his quickness and lower body strength, he can be an anchor for any teams offensive line.
Projected Round: 2nd round
Why he should be a Cardinal: Wood should be a Cardinal because he would be a young, aggressive pick-up to the middle of the offensive line. He would still have time to develop into a starting center behind Sendlein, and if needed, he could make the transition to guard if the Cardinals needed him to.
How he would fit into the offense: Wood would be mainly used on special teams. If he were to start for any reason, he could man the middle of the line and provide good pass and run support. He excels and screen pass blocking, which the Cardinals will use from time to time.
Similar NFL Players: Nick Mangold
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Centers
I still wonder why Grimm and Whisenhunt like Sendlein and say he will be a great center. He isn’t bad but they could use someone better. I am beginning to doubt the OC prospects until the later rounds. I would like to see them take one of the top 5 centers in the draft. Is it the smoke screen to throw people off before the draft?
Not sure about the smoke screen.
Whiz has been very good at saying Sendlein is his man and I can’t tell if it is a smoke screen. For now though I am going to take him at his word that they are very happy with the position and assume they look at other areas to address. This doesn’t mean they won’t draft someone to backup Sendlein as we don’t really have a capable backup at the position at the moment.
What do you base you assessment on Sendlein from?
Have you studied film on him? Have you broke down his steps with a full comprehension of what his job was and formulated a solid opinion of his play from that?
I am by no means against bringing in more depth at Center to push Lyle to get better as a starter, but the guy has been nothing short of solid week in and week out. He works hard, and gets it done. He has the best pursuit angles to LB’s out of our entire line and has very quick, good feet. He’s got a great frame to work with as well and will soon be a Pro-bowl caliber Center.
Oh and I base this by watching the games very closely at the offensive line position and I do know a little bit of what I speak. Fans should be more worried about our pass blocking at Left Tackle (Warner’s blindside) and inconsistencies at RG than our Center, IMHO.
Who would win in a fight, Whisenhunt or a Hurricane?
Hold on, hold on, what if the Hurricanes name was Whisenhunt?
Daaaaaaaaaa Cards, Da Cards Da Cards Da Cards Da Cards!!!
People assesment of Sendlein
is based a lot on how he would step on Warner’s foot. I have read a lot of comments on other sites about this issue and their main beef with him is that he steps on Warner’s foot. I don’t mean to repeat myself but that is the biggest reason that people don’t like him. I see this happen all the time in the NFL but it did seem to happen a little more often with Sendlein. I think he is fine as a starter, and I think the only thing we really need with the position is some depth but other than Sendlein was good. Maybe not the greatest C in the league but good enough to start on most teams.
Do you have a link to something you read on this?
I believe you I just want to find out where they were hearing this or seeing it because this is news to me.
Who would win in a fight, Whisenhunt or a Hurricane?
Hold on, hold on, what if the Hurricanes name was Whisenhunt?
Daaaaaaaaaa Cards, Da Cards Da Cards Da Cards Da Cards!!!
Will try to find.
I have seen a little bit of complaining about this on this blog but not a whole lot.
I have also seen a lot of it on the blogs from azcentral’s blogs. I will try to find the blog that I saw the most complaints of this on it for you. I usually see this whenever there is Alex Mack mentioned as people really want him to be drafted with the 31st pick. This has died down quite a bit but when it was really a heated topic of drafting Mack is when I heard the most of this.
seems like a good candidate to play some guard as well
He’s got good size for a center and could still add some bulk to be a good sized guard too
Depth
The Whiz will always bring in quality depth to compete for every position. Center was probably the only spot on the roster that didn’t have a real battel for the starting job. So The Whiz and Grimm will bring someone in to push Lyle to become the guy they want him to be or to replace him eventually because the new guy is better. Either way, good news for the Card rushing game.
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