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The Arizona Cardinals might have lost on Saturday night, but that doesn't do much in the grand scheme of things because it is the preseason.
What does matter with players battling for the final roster. Let's see whose stock went up and whose stock went down with their play in Minnesota.
Stock rising:
WR Jaron Brown: It's hard to believe that it could go up, but receiver Brown's stock is rising. With two catches for 86 yards, he all but locked up a roster spot, and he has had a fantastic camp. His 51-yard screen pass play and leaping catch for 35 yards were two of the best highlights of the game.
RB Jonathan Dwyer: Suddenly coming in as the second running back was something new. His running looked good. He had a pretty good first step and appears to have perhaps passed up Stepfan Taylor.
TE Darren Fells: Fells is more or less a lock for the roster, but that touchdown catch was WOW! Being covered by CHad Greenway, Fells used his old basketball skills to score, jumping up and ripping the ball down like it was a rebound. He would have had a second touchdown if Ryan Lindley had not badly overthrown him late in the game.
Stock falling:
K Jay Feely: He was not given a chance to kick any field goals, but the one challenge he had -- to kick the ball deeper on kickoffs -- was not so great. Two of his kicks went about five yards deep in the end zone, but without the hang time that Catanzaro had on his. The coverage unit was not able to stop the returner before the 20-yard line. There was an offsides penalty on Arizona that was probably due in part to the longer approach Feely took. He also had a couple short ones.
QB Ryan Lindley: This was his shot to maybe make a case for the roster. It didn't go well. His final numbers were 8/15 for 64 yards. He overthrew guys, he made odd reads and just didn't make plays. It also seemed apparent that Bruce Arians wasn't really going to give him a huge shot. Arizona ran the ball 12 times in their 19-play scoring drive.
T Bradley Sowell: The 2013 starting left tackle did not help himself at all. Already on the third team. He had a chance to play up with the second team when Max Starks went down with an ankle injury. He had at least two presnap penalties and did not block all that well.
WR Brittan Golden: The receiver did end up with a 20-yard run on a reverse and led the team with four receptions, but he made mistakes on special teams, which is where he will have to make an impact to be able to stick on the roster. On a kickoff return he got cute and just crossed the goalline before he was able to kneel for a touchback and was tackled after only a 10-yard return.
Were there other players you feel that improved their chances or worsened their chances for the team?
