Arizona Cardinals Rookies Shine in Professional Debut
By Scott Allen
Aug 9, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Logan Thomas (6) throws a pass in the fourth quarter against the Houston Texans during a preseason game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Going into this evening’s game, I wasn’t too sure what we would see when it came to the Arizona Cardinals rookies against the Houston Texans. There were some I was excited to see and those guys didn’t disappoint. The new guys came up big in the 32-0 rout of the Texans.
Logan Thomas – He played the entire second half. He went 11-12 for 113 yards and one touchdown. He only had one official incompletion. He took a couple of sacks but overall looked better than I expected him to look. His quarterback rating ended at 133.7. Not much to complain about there. Still very raw and you take those numbers with the understanding that Thomas was not playing against a first team defense. I still liked what I saw though.
Zach Bauman – In the race for the fourth running back spot, you’d have to give Bauman the early edge. He ran seven times for a total of 29 yards, including a long of 13 yards.
John Brown – How can you not be impressed with this young man? I truly believe he will end up being the steal of this draft class. He had five catches for 87 yards. The kid has speed and great hands. He was targeted 10 times. He took his practice performances everyone has been raving about and turned it into a game performance. Great start for him.
Walt Powell – He had three receptions for 74 yards that included a 45 yard catch and run down the sideline. He appears he will make it very tough on the coaches to cut him when it comes to that time to decide on the best five or six receivers. Honestly there are 7-8 guys you could make an argument for at wide receiver.
Chandler Catanzaro – The kicker from Clemson was impressive tonight. So many Cards fans seem pretty eager to get rid of Jay Feely, who I might add was a solid 30-36 on field goals last season and perfect on extra points. Catanzaro made all three of his field goals this evening from 32, 28, and 25 yards. He also made all three of his extra points, which by the way, thanks to the NFL preseason experiment of trying longer extra point tries, to the equivalent of 32-yard field goals. He and Feely will alternate kicking duties in the preseason. So Catanzaro will get his next game action in two weeks against the Cincinnati Bengals.