The Arizona Cardinals don’t get much help from their TEs
The Cardinals are a downfield passing game and that’s the reason the TEs don’t get the ball much. 25-year old Ben Patrick will likely get a lot of P.T. in 2010. He played in 9 games (7 starts) for the Cardinals last season and he caught 12 passes for 146 yards (12.2 avg) with 2 TD grabs. Patrick has now played in 27 games (13 starts) in his NBA career and he has caught 30 passes for 323 yards (10.8 avg) with 4 TD grabs. He has the best upside as a receiver of the Cardinals’ TEs.
32-year old Anthony Becht is a big guy at 6’5″, 272 pounds and he is solid run blocking. He’s also a nice, big target when the Cardinals get near the Red Zone. Becht played in 16 games (10 starts) for the Cardinals last season and he caught 7 passes for 61 yards (8.7 avg) with 1 TD grab. He has now played in 158 games (129 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 185 passes for 1,511 yards (8.2 avg) with 21 TD grabs.
27-year old Stephen Spach comes to training camp #3 on the depth chart for the Cards. Spach played in 7 games (5 starts) for the Cardinals last season and he caught 4 passes for 38 yards (9.5 avg). He has now played in 34 games (12 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 13 passes for 95 yards (7.3 avg).
26-year old Dominique Byrd is in camp trying to revive his NFL career. He last played in 2007 with the Rams. Byrd has played in 14 games (0 starts) in two years in the NFL and he has caught 6 passes for 83 yards (13.8 avg) with 1 TD grab. Byrd is a sleeper at TE for the Cardinals as he has a lot of talent as a receiver.
PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CARDINALS FBs in 2010: C-
It seems like it’s been forever since the Cardinals had a truly GREAT tight end. Who was the last one? Jackie Smith? He retired in the mid 1970′s. Well, there was Jay Novacek… but they only found out he was good after he had gone on to Dallas.