I’m sure we all were holding out some hope for Carman, entering the offseason, but the writing seemed to be on the wall after the first preseason game. Kirkland had previously been working as a G, and was largely thought to be fighting for a practice squad spot or possibly one of the last roster spots. But, out of desperation probably, they put him on the outside, and he actually looked quite good in pass pro. Quickly jumped Carman on the depth chart, and I think he has outperformed Ford as well. They’ll surly be looking to the waiver wire, but the fact that his performances have been enough to even open up a debate about him being the OT4 really speaks volumes.
Rookie C Matt Lee again looked good. Steal of a 7th round pick. I think it’s pretty certain that he has earned the backup C job behind Ted Karras.
Burton continued to look exciting in that preseason finale. I know there has been a lot of talk about off the field stuff, and we’ll see what, if anything, comes of all that talk. But just based on his performance on the field, he is someone to be excited about. The offense struggled for most of the preseason, but Woodside seemed to look his way a lot when he wanted to stretch the field. He had that deep TD, but was also close on some others too.
On the defensive side, I like what I have seen from LB Shaka Heyward. He has looked athletic, performing well in coverage, and upped his game as a run defender in the last game too. The decision between him and Njongmeta for the last spot will be interesting.
At DE, Cedric. Johnson and Justin Blazek both had good games. Johnson especially stood out, which was good, especially considering that we will be without Cam Sample this season and need the depth. Blazek might have earned a spot on the practice squad.
On the negative side, Trey Hill and Cody Ford didn’t seem all that impressive. Hill was especially bad. Ford looked serviceable at times, but did give up a sack when he was in against the Indy starters. Believe it was the rookie Latu who beat him, if my memory is correct. But in any event, he probably isn’t someone I’d feel comfortable with as the OT4. I’m cautiously optimistic with how Kirkland has looked, but adding more depth via the waiver wire will be important.