GRADES: Cardinals Finish Preseason vs Raiders

Regular Season Readiness: 6/10

It is a sad fact that with Clayton Tune under center the Cardinals offense was never going to look incredible or particularly game ready. In his third year with the team Tune simply has not taken a noticeable step forward and the offensive side o f the ball looks anemic when he is quarterbacking the squad.

That being said, the running game was significantly better than last week in Denver and much of that credit needs to go to an offensive line unit of second and third stringers that put up a much better performance.

The rushing highlight was clearly Bam Knight's 67 yard house call in the third quarter, but beyond that we saw some good play from Michael Carter who seems to find a way to make a play more often than not when he has the ball in his hands. Even Tune was more impressive as a runner than as a passer last night adding 47 yards of his own on the ground.

Xavier Weaver had a nice highlight sliding catch but the only passing score of the night went to Simi Fehoko who capped off a very nice preseason run.

Standout Player - WR Simi Fehoko

This is a player that coaches and teammates love. High energy, responsible, diligent.

Fehoko is the only receiver to catch a touchdown pass in the past two preseason games with one against Denver last week and a nice one last night against the Raiders.

Willing to do it all, he pops on special teams as well meaning he brings double value to the squad as a guy who can do both. He will be near the bottom of the depth chart and if he does stroll out on the field with any regularity on offensive downs during the season, something has gone horribly wrong. Still, he brings value to the team and has showcased his abilities better than most in his preseason snaps.

Defense

Regular Season Readiness: 7/10

Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis called plays again in the first half of this game, and it showed in the level of play from his defense. Even against the Raiders' first stringers on the first drive of the game, the Cardinals' defensive depth did not look totally lost.

The stars of the show were the defensive line which is the position group the Cardinals will probably have the most trouble cutting down to only six or seven players. There is talent in that room and some of the guys who will be left out in cuts will be playing on Sundays, just with another team.

In the secondary, Denzel Burke got picked on by Geno Smith on the opening drive and gave up the sole touchdown of the game to Dont'e Thornton. Second year cornerback Elijah Jones got a lot of reps in the second half and managed two impressive pass breakups as he fights for a roster spot.

The Raiders gave a lot of running backs some snaps and to the credit of the Cardinals front seven, they managed to restrict any of them from completely having their way. The closest came from a respectable 9 carry, 4.7 yards per carry performance from Zamir White but considering he is a back with starting experience in the NFL it was still not a bad day for the Cardinals on the ground.

Standout Player - EDGE Xavier Thomas

Very tempting to give this award to Jordan Burch who has played great football throughout the preseason, but Thomas is a guy who needed to prove something last night and he certainly did.

After a slew of offseason additions to the front seven it was looking more and more like Thomas was a name that would get forgotten in the mix, but he turned on at the right time to give himself a legitimate shot at making the 53-man roster.

Thomas lived in the backfield, managing two sacks, two tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, and a fumble recovery on the night.

Of anyone who touched the field on Satur day night, Thomas might have done the most to help his stock.

Special Teams

Regular Season Readiness: 8/10

After a terrible outing in Week One of the preseason, the special teams unit has returned to form the past two weeks.

Ryland has looked solid. Gillikin can punt with the best of them. The returners look more disciplined.

Standout Player - P Blake Gillikin

Seven punts for over 300 yards, including a 55 yarder. He also managed to get three of his seven punts inside the 20. The Cardinals have hopefully found a young, longterm solution at punter.