2013 Offseason Update, Week 9

Nnamdi Asomugha struggled in Philadelphia after establishing himself
as an elite corner in Oakland. He hopes to return to his old form
across the Bay. Photo credit to CBS.

The later part of Week 9 did not bring much newsworthy updates, but the first three days brought plenty.

Secondary Moves

The Washington Redskins released DeAngelo Hall a few weeks ago, but last Monday they brought him back on a one-year contract.

The Oakland Raiders landed Tracy Porter, the former Super Bowl hero from the Saints who spent last season in Denver. Porter dealt with some health problems stemming from a seizure he experienced during the preseason, then suffered a concussion late in the season, so he wasn’t able to settle into Denver’s defensive scheme. The Raiders defense is looking pretty bad right now so this is a really nice addition for them.

Former Raider and Eagle, Nnamdi Asomugha, was signed by the 49ers on Tuesday. The secondary was probably the weakest part of San Francisco’s team, other than their kicker, in 2012. Though Asomugha never lived up to his expectations in Philly, less will be expected of him in San Francisco and hopefully he can have a little more success there.

Quarterbacks

The Redskins decided to get some depth at quarterback by resigning Rex Grossman and picking up former Dolphin Pat White, both on one-year contracts. They now have three healthy quarterbacks to work with while RGIII continues to recover.

The 49ers picked up former Longhorn Colt McCoy in a trade with the Browns. I’m a big fan of McCoy and San Francisco is a good place for him. They have a couple of really good halfbacks so if Kaepernick were to go down forcing McCoy into the starter role, he’ll have help. He never had that in Cleveland.

The Cardinals made a really nice move by grabbing Carson Palmer. Arizona will still be hard-pressed to contend with San Francisco and Seattle, but this move instantly made them a better team.

Kickers

Tampa Bay picked up Nate Kaeding on Tuesday. He is the second most accurate kicker in NFL history but hasn’t gotten to kick much since a season-ending injury on the opening kickoff of the 2011 season.

Detroit Loins kicker Jason Hanson retired last week and the team made a quick move to secure David Akers, who had a rough 2012 season. Akers owns the NFL single-season record for converted field goals, with 44 in 2011.

If I’m missing anything important, or if you just want to hear my thoughts on any other offseason news from the past week, feel free to contact me via my Twitter account, @cpuffnfl.

First Impressions

Since it is only the preseason, I am not going to bother making predictions or giving in-depth recaps of any of the games (though weekly predictions is something I am adding this season).

However, I do want to give some of my first impressions on some potentially key quarterbacks in the NFL based on their performances in the first week of the season.

Neither Tom Brady nor Peyton Manning played in their teams’ preseason openers. Manning’s appearance without a jersey on the Colts’ sideline was to be expected, and he likely will not play at all this preseason as he continues to let his neck recover from corrective surgery). Brady’s absence from the playing field was very surprising, even to him, who did not even know until the team had arrived at the stadium that he and a small handful of other starters would not play against the Jaguars.

I got to watch the first few drives of the Browns/Packers game. Aaron Rodgers looked good, like he picked up nearly where he left off in the Super Bowl, with that lost step being attributed to it being preseason and having a shortened camp. Colt McCoy’s performance is what really impressed me. He might some very crisp passes into tight spots and everything was on the money. He left the game having gone 9/10 for 135 yards and a touchdown pass. Most notably, he threw no picks (he finished last season with 6 touchdowns to 9 interceptions).

Despite what many experts seemed to be saying, I thought Tim Tebow’s performance was pretty respectable against the Cowboys. He was not necessarily one of the standouts, but the contrast between my view and the views of most analysts on ESPN and NFL Network make me feel that his performance is worth mentioning. He was 6/7 for 91 yards. He did not look exceptionally comfortable, but he sure looked better than the projected Broncos starter, Kyle Orton, who was just 2/6 for 37 yards.

Staying on that game, Tony Romo, as usual, looked decent but did not impress, which I expected. However, Jon Kitna did not particularly impress me either, something I had not expected. Stephen McGee looked fine, and led the ‘Boys to a win, but he was playing against backups, so I would not dream of saying he should be the starter in Dallas. I will, however, say that I think Dallas has a tough decision ahead of them on who the starter would be. They will need to give both Romo and Kinta more than five passes in their game against the Chargers on Sunday.

It certainly looked like Kevin Kolb and Larry Fitzgerald were on the same page against the Raiders, but he did not look particularly sharp throwing the ball elsewhere. It will take some time to adjust to his new team, so nobody should be too concerned. If anything, it is a positive that Kolb has already apparently developed a bit of a rapport with the Cardinals’ best receiver.

Rex Grossman really stood out to me. The Redskins need a good quarterback if they want to have any shot at competing this year. I am still not convinced that he is the one, but he definitely made big strides toward be considered such in my mind. Granted he played the entire first half, and only the first drive against the Steelers starting defense, but on that drive he took the ‘Skins from their own 1-yard line to the Steelers’ 10-yard line, resulting in a missed 27-yard field goal attempt. Soon after he led an 82-yard drive for a touchdown, though against a second-string defense. Tim Hightower was the main attraction for Washington on the first drive, but Grossman made some nice passes. He made great passes later on, too, ones that I have no doubt would have been great against a first-string defense and a small handful that could have been big mistakes against a better defense. All in all, it was not a perfect outing, but a huge improvement from the final few games of the 2010 season.

Of course, I cannot close this out without mentioning the #1 overall draft pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, Cam Newton. He got plenty of playing time and went 8/19 for 134 yards. I cannot really speak too much on this subject, as I have not had the opportunity to see more than a couple of his good plays from their game against the Giants. However, those numbers do not particularly impress me. Though there is more to football than stats, and if you make the plays in key spots and do not in other times, you can still come away with a win. But, by and large, players who make plays have better stats than those posted by Cam Newton. He is a rookie, so he has to be given time to adjust, but he better not think that he is locked in as their starter in Carolina. Clausen wants a shot, and Anderson has been a starter before, granted in a terrible Browns offense, but he knows how good it feels to start and you better believe he will fight for that right again.

I will be back next week with a short recap of players who stood out to me in week 2 of the preseason.