Federal
Footballguy
I'm not advocating Marcel Shipp be considered a legitimate fantasy option at any point. And I am not saying Edge (or Edge owners) have any thing to worry about. But I just spent 5 days in Flagstaff for Cardinals camp, and the one thing I wanted to share was how well Shipp was taking to Ken Whisenhunt's new "Steelers West" offense, as well as Russ Grimm's simplified blocking schemes.
In the RB warm up sessions/drills Edgerrin James was obviously the best athlete of the group. It's kinda weird how if you have never seen guys like James, Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, or Adrian Wilson play a down of football, it would take about 10 minutes of watching any of them in drills to realize these are the best players on the team. I was watching James float through an agility drill with much more ease and precision than the others when a casual fan asked me who #32 was. She commented on how much James stood out, he really did. Not that this needs to be said, but I am just trying to emphasize that Edge is the best RB on the field, not just athlete, but RB.
But when they lined up against a live or semi-live defense, Shipp was the one who impressed. During the semi-live sessions Shipp was bursting out five yards downfield with the ball before I could figure out what play they were running. These drills were tough to evaluate Edge because his running style left him trapped in the backfield surrounded by defenders who were not subjected to full contact. JJ Arrington looked awful.
In the two "live" or full contact sessions I attended, Shipp was the most productive. He just seemed like he had been running in this scheme for years while the others still needed time to catch up and learn how it is supposed to work. James was still impressive at times (especially when not smothered by a defender while receiving the snap), while JJ Arrington looked awful yet again.
Kent Somers blog for the Arizona Republic does the best job covering camp.
In his write up of a recent Live session:
"...The offense bounced back a little late in practice on the goal-line session.
After running back Edgerrin James was stuffed for a 2-yard loss on first down, Leinart passed to tight end Troy Bienemann for the score.
It took two plays for the second-team offense to score, with Marcel Shipp carrying it in.
"We did get a couple touchdowns," Johnson said. "We'd like to get one running there. You don't want to go for minus-2 and then have to throw for 7 yards."
Sommer's comments on a goal line back:
"Coaches haven't settled on which running back they will use in goal-line situations. Shipp scored in the two sessions the team had this week, but he was running against the second-team defense. James hasn't gained many yards, but he hasn't had much blocking, either.
"I feel bad for Edge," Whisenhunt said. "I know Edge is good; he just didn't have a chance to get started."
In a good evaluation of the first week of cards camp Somers validated my thoughts in his last bullet point:
"*Edgerrin James is the featured back, no question. But Marcel Shipp is going to be play a huge role as a backup. Whisenhunt loves him, and his straight ahead style is a nice contrast to that of James'."
I guess what I am trying to convey is that as a Cardinals fan, I think I underestimated the role Shipp could play this year. I knew he was a goaline threat, 17 carries and 4 TD's in '06, and i saw him in a couple of strange formations (one with Shipp and Arrington in the same backfield) but I think his role could be significantly larger. Yes, it is just the first week of camp, Shipp didn't have the same exposure to the 1st string Defense as James did, and there is no evidence that Coach W is concerned about James, but I think Shipp might get the chance to do something in this offense. I'm not sure what form his contribution may take, but in addition to short yardage situations I could see Shipp coming in as a legitimate change of pace back, maybe increasing his carries from 17 carries to the 70-80 range with many more goaline opportunities. Again, I'm not racing to the waiver wires to pick up Shipp, but he does look like an under the radar guy that could really impact the Cards 2007 offense.
In the RB warm up sessions/drills Edgerrin James was obviously the best athlete of the group. It's kinda weird how if you have never seen guys like James, Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, or Adrian Wilson play a down of football, it would take about 10 minutes of watching any of them in drills to realize these are the best players on the team. I was watching James float through an agility drill with much more ease and precision than the others when a casual fan asked me who #32 was. She commented on how much James stood out, he really did. Not that this needs to be said, but I am just trying to emphasize that Edge is the best RB on the field, not just athlete, but RB.
But when they lined up against a live or semi-live defense, Shipp was the one who impressed. During the semi-live sessions Shipp was bursting out five yards downfield with the ball before I could figure out what play they were running. These drills were tough to evaluate Edge because his running style left him trapped in the backfield surrounded by defenders who were not subjected to full contact. JJ Arrington looked awful.
In the two "live" or full contact sessions I attended, Shipp was the most productive. He just seemed like he had been running in this scheme for years while the others still needed time to catch up and learn how it is supposed to work. James was still impressive at times (especially when not smothered by a defender while receiving the snap), while JJ Arrington looked awful yet again.
Kent Somers blog for the Arizona Republic does the best job covering camp.
In his write up of a recent Live session:
"...The offense bounced back a little late in practice on the goal-line session.
After running back Edgerrin James was stuffed for a 2-yard loss on first down, Leinart passed to tight end Troy Bienemann for the score.
It took two plays for the second-team offense to score, with Marcel Shipp carrying it in.
"We did get a couple touchdowns," Johnson said. "We'd like to get one running there. You don't want to go for minus-2 and then have to throw for 7 yards."
Sommer's comments on a goal line back:
"Coaches haven't settled on which running back they will use in goal-line situations. Shipp scored in the two sessions the team had this week, but he was running against the second-team defense. James hasn't gained many yards, but he hasn't had much blocking, either.
"I feel bad for Edge," Whisenhunt said. "I know Edge is good; he just didn't have a chance to get started."
In a good evaluation of the first week of cards camp Somers validated my thoughts in his last bullet point:
"*Edgerrin James is the featured back, no question. But Marcel Shipp is going to be play a huge role as a backup. Whisenhunt loves him, and his straight ahead style is a nice contrast to that of James'."
I guess what I am trying to convey is that as a Cardinals fan, I think I underestimated the role Shipp could play this year. I knew he was a goaline threat, 17 carries and 4 TD's in '06, and i saw him in a couple of strange formations (one with Shipp and Arrington in the same backfield) but I think his role could be significantly larger. Yes, it is just the first week of camp, Shipp didn't have the same exposure to the 1st string Defense as James did, and there is no evidence that Coach W is concerned about James, but I think Shipp might get the chance to do something in this offense. I'm not sure what form his contribution may take, but in addition to short yardage situations I could see Shipp coming in as a legitimate change of pace back, maybe increasing his carries from 17 carries to the 70-80 range with many more goaline opportunities. Again, I'm not racing to the waiver wires to pick up Shipp, but he does look like an under the radar guy that could really impact the Cards 2007 offense.
J
***** (5 stars) for you!
