Ram Tough: Owen Pappoe and Elijah Jones

       Jeremy Chen/Arizona Cardinals

By Walter Mitchell

Astounding info.

If you go back to the Cardinals' 2 games versus the Rams last year, wherein the Cardinals' defense surrendered a combined:

* 925 yards

* 82 points

*With Matthew Stafford's average QB passer RTGs of 124.2

Week 14

Rams 45 Cardinals 17

Owen Pappoe 71.6 overall, 80.5 tackling, 72.1 coverage

Will Johnson 33.3 overall, 27.7 tackling, 38.1 coverage

Denzel Burke 40.1 overall, 58.0 tackling, 37.6 coverage

Week 18

Rams 37 Cardinals 20

Owen Pappoe 83.2 overall, 71.4 tackling, 76.1 coverage

Elijah Jones 82.4 overall, 76.7 tackling, 83.0 coverage QB-RTG: 59.0

Will Johnson 43.7 overall, 23.1 tackling, 40.0 coverage QB-RTG 118.8

Denzel Burke 43.0 overall, 55.8 tackling, 35.2 coverage QB-RTG 147.9

One would think that Nick Rallis would have been very proud to see at least two of his players stand tall versus the Rams, especially when so many of the others had quit.

Nick Rallis waited until Week 14 to play Owen Pappoe, who led all ILBs in pass coverage the two previous years.

Overall season grades:

Owen Pappoe: 64.1
Akeem Davis-Gaither: 49.9

Nick Rallis waited until Week 18 to play Elijah Jones, who in this game stood up to Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua (2 pass breakups) in ways no other of Rallis' Cardinals' CB has come even remotely close to.

Overall season grades:

Elijah Jones: 82.4
Will Johnson: 60.8
Denzel Burke: 55.6

One would think Nick Rallis would want to build on this success.

Instead, both Owen Pappoe and Elijah Jones have now been cut.

Dissenters are claiming that neither Pappoe nor Jones is an NFL caliber player.

These numbers repudiate those claims.

If Pappoe and Jones are not NFL caliber players, then what are Will Johnson and Denzel Burke?

More on The Red rain Podcast this morning.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Drew Petzing Deserves More Praise Than Derision                                       image courtesy of @azcardinals.com By Walter Mitchell On X yesterday, there was this chance for Cardinals' fans to grade Jonathan Gannon, Drew Petzing and Nick Rallis thanks to @BirdmanofAZ. Bird Droppings @BirdmanofAZ Bye week report card.......coaching staff Jonathan Gannon ________ Drew Petzing ________ Nick Rallis ________ Here are the average results thus far of the fans' grades: Jonathan Gannon: D Drew Petzing: F Nick Rallis: C Why is it that Drew Petzing has drawn such abject scorn from Cardinals' fans? Going back to last year, the PHNX Cardinals media site has been waging a daily campaign to see Drew Petzing get fired, that is if he can't coach up a weekly magical connection between Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. This season, in light of Kyler Murray's inconsistencies and Marvin Harriso...
Read more

Paris Johnson Jr. with PHNX Cardinals Wired Up and Fired Up

Image
 By Walter Mitchell Talk about a player who is fired up about his teammates, new coaches and the Arizona community, Paris Johnson Jr., in his interview with Bo Brack and Johnny Venerable on the PHNX Cardinals Podcast, lit the match to a blowtorch of jalapeno-hot takes about the 2026 Arizona Cardinals. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQLYNPP8POM&t=4704s The first order of business was to promote PJJ's charity "Putts for a Purpose" which took place last weekend, with the purpose being to raise enough money to build houses for military veterans and students who require financial aid. Paris is working in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity and hand in hand with Kurt Warner who has generously offered to furnish the first house upon its completion.   When it came to talk about his boys, Paris Johnson Jr. was ecstatic about having the chance to elaborate in fine detail about the considerable talent the Cardinals have been building on offense. He's psyched t...
Read more
Image
 A Two-Dimensional Plan for the Arizona Cardinals CB Unit It was very tough to hear about Starling Thomas V's season-ending ACL injury on Day 3 of the Arizona Cardinals' training camp. Star's Cinderella ascension from tearing an ACL and losing his dear mom to cancer while at UAB to going undrafted in 2023 and after being claimed off waivers by the Cardinals becoming a 1st and 2nd year starter in the NFL is nothing short of compelling.  My message to Star:  https://x.com/WBJMItch/status/1949544884274090422 It was also difficult to hear that 2nd year CB Jaden Davis has been placed on the IR due to a knee injury. Jonathan Gannon said that Jaden has a chance to return to the field at some point this season. Davis had been making solid strides as a nickel CB and during OTAs he came through with a nifty TD-preventing interception while making a textbook break on the ball. Now that three of the Cardinals CBs on the 2024 depth chart are on the IR, let's take a look at the top c...
Read more