Cincinnati Bengals 1st-round pick Dre Kirkpatrick took the field for the first time on Monday afternoon. He had been recovering from a left knee injury suffered during June minicamps.
The Bengals are fairly deep at cornerback, so there’s no need for them to rush Kirkpatrick into action. As a result, he will sit out Thursday’s preseason game against the Packers but is expected to appear in the final preseason game on Friday, August 31.
Cleveland Browns 4th-round pick Travis Benjamin has reportedly been getting some first-team reps in three-receivers sets.
Benjamin is vastly undersized (5’10”, 175 pounds) but may be the faster receiver on the Browns roster. So while he probably won’t be taking many balls away from Greg Little or Mohamed Massaquoi, he could be used as a deep threat (and as a decoy). The Browns were lacking any sort of downfield passing attack in 2011, so the addition of Benjamin could add a new dimension to the offense.
The Miami Dolphins have their man.
After a relatively brief competition with Matt Moore and David Garrard, Ryan Tannehill was officially named the Dolphins starting quarterback by head coach Joe Philbin on Monday. After Tannehill started the ‘Phins second preseason game and played relatively well, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Tannehill knows offensive coordinator Mike Sherman’s offense better than anyone and is clearly the quarterback of the future in Miami.
I was critical of the Dolphins selection of Tannehill, but I can’t argue with this decision. He’s clearly comfortable with Sherman’s offense and even if he doesn’t give them the best chance to win right now (which he actually might) they’re playing for the future.
New York Giants 3rd-round pick Jayron Hosley returned an interception for a touchdown on Saturday night, but left the game in a walking boot. On Sunday, Tom Coughlin revealed that Hosley suffered a toe injury but did not speculate on how long he would be out.
It sounds as though Hosley won’t miss significant time, but this has to be frustrating for the Giants. Just last year their 1st-round cornerback, Prince Amukamara’s debut was delayed due to a broken foot suffered in the offseason.
The St. Louis Rams surprised many by taking Brian Quick in the early 2nd round. While Quick has the raw physical tools, most assumed the Rams would target a player with more NFL-ready skills.
While former Rams great Torry Holt didn’t offer an opinion on the selection of Quick, he did analyze Quick’s early performance in Rams camp:
“He has to play to his size. That’s the biggest thing I saw … he’s not really playing to his size. Once he understands what type of strength that he has, and it’s OK to use that strength, I think we’ll start to see more production out of him.”
Holt’s assessment is consistent with what many scouts saw from Quick at Appalachian State. The skills are certainly there, but he needs time to develop. As a result, it’s probably not realistic to expect much from Quick in the 2012 season.