Louisville Cardinals
The headliner from this program, and with good cause, will be
quarterback Dave Ragone. A tall, slim, passer, Ragone has all the mental
intangibles the NFL wants in a young signal caller coming out of college. He is
smart, accurate and a true team leader. Scouting him in person last year on a
Thursday night game when the Cardinals wrapped up the league championship
against East Carolina we were taken back by Ragone’s great sense of timing,
wherewithal and general feel for where his receivers are at all times. His
fundamentals are sound, accuracy much better than average and decision-making
tops. While Ragone displays the ability to zip the shorter passes he does not
have the big arm but that could change as his skinny frame fills out. To our
minds he’s a lot like last April’s first pick David Carr in that he more
than makes up for average physical skills with a great mental capacity (working
with a pair of new receivers this season can prove that statement correct) and
hence will be an early pick in ’03. One of Ragone’s favorite targets is Rhonnie
Ghent, a pass catching tight end that plays the game with a good degree of
speed. Many love Ghent and have him highly rated, even on top of the tight end
charts; we are a little cool to that idea. While he is a good athlete that runs
nice routes and adjusts well to the errant throw, Ghent is prone to lapses in
concentration resulting in the occasional drop of an easy toss and has only
minimal impact as a blocker. His build also dictates that he will never grow
into a dominant blocker and that sort of prospect (adequate pass catcher with
minimal blocking skills) is not highly sought out come draft day.
While the offense will win a lot of awards the defense is
what can carry this team to the next level. The talk and focus is on lineman Dewayne
White; a relentless defensive end that displays great pass rush ability,
making a lot of plays in the opponents backfield but at the same time doing an
adequate job stopping the run or stringing the action out laterally. White goes
100mph all game long and is a real asset for the Cards but to our minds he just
does not project entirely well to the next level. Barely 6-2/280 he’s short
for end, not big enough for tackle nor fast enough to play off the line as a
three-four linebacker. His best position may be as an under-tackle in a
four-three alignment or even playing the "three technique" in a
similar scheme. Bottom line is White, only a junior, may be a collegian with
eye-popping numbers that slides on draft day whenever he declares himself
eligible. One player that really benefited from staying four years in college is
free safety Anthony Floyd; a terrific pass defending centerfielder with
great awareness and top notch cover skills. Floyd works well with his corners
and is always making positive plays when the ball is in the air. One aspect of
his game that he improved is run support; he was much more aggressive as a
junior than prior years defending the ball carrier. A few solid forty times
prior to next April coupled with a good showing at the Senior Bowl and Floyd
could be headed for a top forty choice. Strong safety Curry Burns is not
as adept in pass coverage but a hard-hitting run defender that really throws his
body around the field and looks to get involved in the action. A later round
choice, his aggressive play leads us to believe he will be a special teams
demon. Chad Lee has some possibilities as a strong side linebacker while
sophomore corner Ronnie Gallishaw looks like a top-notch prospect for the
future.
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