Arizona Cardinals Weekly Flock: Neil Rackers a Top Ten Kicker Edition

by Hawkwind on Jun 12, 2009 7:14 AM MDT in Weekly Flocks Comment 24 comments

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Kicker Rankings - We posted the offensive, defensive and coaching staff rankings so it's only fair to also list the kicker rankings. Neil Rackers doesn't get much love from us Cardinals' fans but he had a great year in 2008 and earned the number 7 spot in their Sporting News' rankings.
Grimm parlays achievements as player into successful coaching career - A great article on Russ Grimm talks about his coaching style and how his near Hall of Fame career as a player has made him a great coach.
Ultimate Building Blocks: NFC West - Sando looks to design a team to win Super Bowls using only players from the NFC West and the Cardinals have the most in the top ten with Larry Fitzgerald and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the top four and Adrian Wilson and Darnell Dockett back to back at eight and nine.
If only Warner can stay healthy -The assumption is that an injury-prone Warner has had a hard time staying on the field. The reality is that Warner hasn't missed a game to injury since the 2005 season.
Top 99 players for '09 - Fox Sports lists the top 99 players heading into the 2009 season and the Cardinals are tied with the Steelers, Patriots and Titans for the league lead with six players on the list.
Contract drama not going away - I think we all are weary of the Anquan Boldin contract situation, but it's a story that's not going to go away soon.
Whisenhunt happy with OTAs - Whisenhunt happy with Cards' OTAs, There were a few no-shows, but coach Ken Whisenhunt termed OTAs a ''productive month.''
'06 first-round QBs are 0-for-3 so far - Tennessee, Arizona and Denver thought they had solidified the position for the long run when using Top 11 picks on Vince Young, Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler. Instead, the future remains as cloudy as before all three clubs signed the trio to contracts with a combined $51 million in guaranteed money......None of the three has won a playoff game. And it's fair to wonder if any of them ever will.

I know there's been quite a bit of discussion about the value or importance of attending OTA's and although I'll reserve my judgement for now, here's an article from a former player. It's well worth the read if you're interested.

Is There A Value To OTAs? -I fully understand that OTA (Organized Team Activities) practices in the NFL are considered a "voluntary" activity, but we all know better — there’s no such thing as a voluntary drill, weight session or meeting when it comes to the NFL. You’re expected to be there, and you’re expected to participate with your teammates.

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0-3 so far but should be at least 1-3 in the next few years.

I still believe Leinart can be a good QB. I don’t think he will be Kurt Warner good because they are different in their abilities but I think he can be a guy that has the skills that a Ben Roethlesberger(or however you spell his name), I don’t think he will have the skill of making tacklers miss tackling him to extend the play but throwing the ball wise I think he has the same skills, at least from what I have seen of him at his best they are alike.

by Pyromnc on Jun 12, 2009 7:34 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Ben R vs. Matty L

That’s a tough comparison b/c of Ben’s massive size and ability to stay alive in the pocket, which I think is about the only thing that makes him special. I’d also say that Ben’s arm is probably stronger (he’s got a good deep ball) but hopefully Matt can be more accurate (Ben’s passes sail high too often). I do think that Matt can flourish in a similar system as Ben though, where the offense isn’t relying on them to throw 35 or 40 times a game.

If I had to come up with my own Matty-comparison, I’d say a slightly better version of Jake Delhomme (the good Delhomme from two or three years ago). By that I mean that I don’t know that he’s ever going to have a ‘wow’ factor to him but he’s going to do alot of things well and do much more to help him team win ball games rather than hinder them.

by Bezekira on Jun 12, 2009 8:25 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yea, must be the early morning because not sure where I came up with that comparison. Got my coffee now so it should be all good.

Delhomme is definitely a much better comparison. Leinart has been working real hard this past off season to become a much better QB and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he is one of the better QBs in this league.

by Pyromnc on Jun 12, 2009 8:36 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Speaking of Big Ben

Why the hell is this guy listed #3 on this top 99 players in the league! I mean he has rings but common 3rd best player on that list, I can think of 5 QB’s I’d rather have on my team than Ben, besides Tom Brady and Peyton Manning because they’re listed ahead of him on this list (Drew Brees, Mcnabb, Phillip Rivers, Kurt Warner, Matt Ryan) I can probably name more. Ben does enough to get the job done but common #3!! Just BS in my opinion, anyway how bout dem cards!!!

by azcardswinez on Jun 12, 2009 11:07 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I would take any of those QB’s you mentioned over Big Ben Worthlessburger. He’s obviously above average and his escapability is incredible sometimes, but putting him #3 above even his Steelers teammates on the defensive side of the ball is like telling me the Steelers offense is what got them all the way to the Super Bowl.

by Fitz Jizzle on Jun 12, 2009 3:35 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Racker's top ten at his position????? somewhere boogatt is rolling over in his undead grave

by Bezekira on Jun 12, 2009 8:26 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Not too surprising after last season

but what got me was that the statement saying that he didn’t have a strong leg. Also, they failed to mention his onside kicking ability, which could arguably be the best in the league.

by AJ BirdWatcher on Jun 12, 2009 10:32 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1......best onside kicker in the league, by a mile

not to mention he’s got to be the best tackling kicker as well.

by Bezekira on Jun 12, 2009 10:37 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rackers tackling ability factored in??

Maybe they considered he leads special teams in tackling some games into account. Rackers has to be the best tackling kicker in the league I would think. LOL.

by Drullin'OverDaCards on Jun 12, 2009 12:16 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think he enjoys it...

He seems to try his best to get in the mix and light some people up. I just hope it doesn’t back fire any time soon.

by badmatty53 on Jun 12, 2009 12:19 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I would like to see his numbers successful attempts/attempts

they’re probably incredible, and way out of line with common knowledge and probability statistics. It doesnt matter now but I’m still irked by when Ralph Brown whiffed on that onside kick catch versus the Giants when we were down by 8 in the 4th quarter.

by Fitz Jizzle on Jun 12, 2009 3:40 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

haha

I think he may be coming around a bit after last season.

by badmatty53 on Jun 12, 2009 12:18 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Last year was a great year for Rackers...

I just wish he’d have made that crazy free kick for 3 that Whiz pulled out of the rule book when they were playing the Giants. That would have been one of those crazy NFL film highlights if he’d have made it.

by CardsFan08 on Jun 12, 2009 3:32 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

He would have gone up on the list

by badmatty53 on Jun 12, 2009 3:38 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

What a crock of crap!

Went through the Fox Sports top 99 players and Adrian Wilson is 95th, 6th best safety in the league. In my books he would be number 3 behind Reed and Palomalu. Kurt Warner is ranked 64th with QBs like Palmer(25) and Romo(28) ahead of him. Don’t get me wrong those QBs are good but better than Warner? I would say age took part in it if they were considering past 09 but this list is top 99 of 09. We may be tied for most on the list but we definitely got the shaft on the rankings.

by Pyromnc on Jun 12, 2009 9:03 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

how many playoff games have Palmer and Romo won?

how many superbowls have they been to?

by CardsDefense on Jun 12, 2009 10:25 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

two way street I think

I agree that age was definitely a factor in the list but they also sorta pick and chose when to factor in age. Case in point, the 5th best safety on the list is Brian Dawkins. Would anyone, even the biggest Eagle or Bronco homers, try to argue that Dawkins is a better player right now than A-dub is? That’s just crazy talk. If they’re talking about a body of work, then I give them all but on a ‘go-forward’ basis, I can’t see any scenerio in which Dawkins outplays Wilson over the next couple of seasons.

On the QB front, I’ve never understood the love that the national media has for Carson Palmer. He’s had great receivers and been in the same system his entire career and he’s produced how many winning seasons? ONE!?! He’s got a career QB rating under 90 and he’s thrown 67 picks in 65 games. But for whatever reason most “experts” still think he’s a top five QB. I wish they take the ‘prove it to me’ route with him, like they do everyone else.

by Bezekira on Jun 12, 2009 10:36 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1 on the inconsistant application of age as a factor

Age was my first thought on Warner’s placement vs. Ben R. and others as well. But look at Champ Bailey 32nd over all?? He’s still good, but if age is a factor what’s he doing at 32nd and the #2 CB on the list?

by Drullin'OverDaCards on Jun 12, 2009 12:27 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Apparently the writer would take Dawkins over A-dub....

1. Which player would I rather have on my team?
2. Which player would make the most impact on my team?
3. Which player will be the best in 2009, specifically?

Those are the criteria used for ranking these players.

by Pyromnc on Jun 12, 2009 12:45 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

wow, so if you ask yourself that third question

are there really 11 QB’s that you’d rather have starting for your team in 2009? I sure couldn’t name near that many if we’re talking about “2009 specifically”

by Bezekira on Jun 12, 2009 1:16 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Definitely some bad criteria to go by with how he set up his ranknig system.

It would probably be better to rank the players by positions rather than bunch them up all into one based on that criteria.

by Pyromnc on Jun 12, 2009 1:29 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

very true

but I bet he got a ton of traffic from the story (one reason it’s formatted with that goofy 20 players at a time crap) and that’s really all he was looking for. He’ll go his boss and say, look how many people read my story and he’ll get a nice big pat on the back.

by Bezekira on Jun 12, 2009 1:49 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs