Well we're halfway through organized team activities and the good news is that there hasn't been much unexpected news. No injuries to report and no unexpected holdouts. A couple potential camp battles are surfacing but overall just a solid six practices so far. Here's a quick look at what others are talking about right now:
- All 18 of the Cardinals rookies took a trip to Canton to get a taste of the NFL's rich history as they were given a tour of the Hall of Fame by a Cardinal HOF player, Larry Wilson.
- An unexpected candidate has emerged in the battle for the third and fourth WR spot as Jamaica Rector opened some eyes in this weeks' practices. Rector has never caught a pass in the NFL but he is familiar with offensive coordinator Todd Haley, from their days in Dallas. Rector was a bit of a long shot to even make the team coming into the off season but he does have something unique among the current group of receivers, game-changing speed.
- The Cardinals appear to have set the date for the start of training camp at July 25th, according to Darren Urban of azcardinals.com. That would mean that players would report on the 23rd and have their conditioning tests on the 24th. That gives the front office just under two months to start getting the seven drafted rookies signed to contracts.
- There's an interesting article on Dirk Johnson, the Cardinals new punter and his path to and through the NFL from azcentral.com. Johnson's not a great punter by any means but he's serviceable and if he can post numbers close to what he did in a limited capacity last year in Chicago, he'll be a good signing.
- The Bidwell's aren't content with hosting one Super Bowl and don't seem to be deterred by missing out on the 2012 game. Plans are already in the works to make a proposal for the 2013 game.