Arizona Cardinals bring in pair of tight ends, a receiver for workouts

Per Aaron Wilson, @RavensInsider on Twitter, the Arizona Cardinals have brought in three offensive players for work outs: tight ends Ryan Otten and Brett Brackett and wide receiver Ray Radway.

Cardinals tried out tight ends Brett Brackett, Ryan Otten and receiver Raymond Radway

— Aaron Wilson (@RavensInsider) September 11, 2013

Otten was an intriguing prospect in the 2013 draft out of San Jose State, where he was a sort of security blanket for quarterback David Fales, who clearly misses him based on his performance so far this season.

He’s a lean and lanky 6’6" weighing in at only 241 pounds, and really is a wide receiver that masquerades as a tight end because of his less than stellar speed and quickness. He knows how to use his body to shield defenders, and understands how to find soft spots in coverage and "post up". Otten showed good hands, but his lack of bulk hurts him as a run blocker, even if he is willing to stick his nose into scrums, and he was overwhelmed at times in the Senior Bowl by better athletes.

As for Brackett, he measures in at 6’6" 248 pounds, like Otten, is more of an oversized, slow wide receiver that lines up at tight end. He is a better inline blocker than Otten, but still has struggled to stick with an NFL team because of his lack of ideal size/speed for the position, and he’s failed to make any NFL rosters since 2011.

Radway was a fractured leg away from making the Cowboys roster in 2011, but since that time has failed to make an impact again. He’s an intriguing size/speed wide receiver at 6’3" running in the low 4.4’s, but hands have been an issue in the past.

The mantra of Steven Keim and the Cardinals has been to find players that they feel can improve the roster, but it also makes one wonder if Rob Housler is struggling in recovery, or if the coaching staff was unhappy with the other tight ends. As for Radway, he is an intriguing deep threat option, and wonder what this means for Jaron Brown.