D Morris Cut and Re-Acquired; Wolfpackers in the Desert

Former NC State offensive lineman, Derek Morris, has already signed free agent contracts with two different NFL clubs since going undrafted in the NFL draft last month. Morris was awarded to the Arizona Cardinals off of waivers after being cut by the Kansas City Chiefs. Morris signed with Ohio State out of high school before transferring to NC State in the middle of NCAA smoke that seems to constantly surround Ohio State’s program.

Despite Morris’ problems with the mental aspect of the game, some contend that his 6-foot-5, 332-pound frame would have been a welcome component of this year’s NC State offensive line. As a quote from the aforelinked article says:

“While most scouting reports questioned why he didn’t stick around for another year of college maturation, Morris is massive. “

Former Wolfpackers LaMont Reid and Adrian Wilson are both current members of the Arizona Cardinals. Just this week Wilson was featured in this great story at CBS Sportsline as a “steller safety”. (See, not everybody at CBS is as bad as Gregg Doyel – Link#1 ; Link#2)

In 2005, he had more sacks (eight) in a season than any other defensive back in history, or at least since the league made the sack an official statistic in 1982.

Adrian Wilson knows he’ll get his due when the Cardinals start winning. He is a dominant force on a top-10 defense, a player who has the speed to play in coverage and the ability to attack the quarterback and lay out a runner with a big hit. At 6-3, 230, he has linebacker size and corner speed.

So why is it that outside of the Phoenix area, one would be hard pressed to find many football fans who know the name of Arizona Cardinals strong safety Adrian Wilson?…

…Wilson is the best player in the league that most don’t know about.

Mention the safety position in the NFL and Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Brian Dawkins and Roy Williams are often mentioned as the game’s best. Believe this: Adrian Wilson is right at the top with all of them — and he’s better than Williams, who benefits from a big hit or two and by the fact he plays on a team with a star on the side of its helmet.

Wilson’s eight sacks tied him for 24th in the league last year with defensive ends Terrell Suggs of the Ravens, linebacker DeMarcus Ware of the Cowboys and defensive end Greg Ellis of the Cowboys. The mark also led the Cardinals. He had more sacks than noted specialists such as the Jevon Kearse of the Eagles and Mike Rucker of the Panthers, who each had 7½ in 2005.

(See how easy it is to talk about Arizona and not reference Herb Sendek?)

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11 Responses to D Morris Cut and Re-Acquired; Wolfpackers in the Desert

  1. BoKnowsNCS71 05/25/2006 at 10:16 AM #

    I wish him well. But I remember him more for killing our better offensive plays at critical times in crtical games with dumb 15-yard penalties and for being injured other times.

    He probably made up for those in other games but he did this in a lot of key games that I watched.

  2. Lock 05/25/2006 at 11:30 AM #

    (Apparently it’s not very easy.)

  3. GAWolf 05/25/2006 at 12:41 PM #

    Is anyone shocked by this?

  4. Mr O 05/25/2006 at 1:28 PM #

    I wish him well. It would have been great to have him back one more year. I would feel a lot better if both Tulloch and Morris were coming back. Still, the more pros we have in the NFL the better we look to potential recruits IMO.

    That is awesome L. Reid stuck last year and got playing time.

  5. packattack95 05/25/2006 at 2:53 PM #

    Deleting posts are pretty juvenile, huh? This is a blog, right? The fact is that it is old news, like Chris Robinson sings…”that is yesterday’s news! Yesterdays News!” It is true, right?

    SFN: packattack…you are correct. It is a blog. (Link). Not a message board.

    The goal is to foster valuable insights and comments from our readers. Not quick-hitting, valueless observations like “Yesterday’s News”.

    We’re also not big fans on paying for you to call us juvenile. You should read the link posted.

    Thanks!

  6. Wufpacker 05/26/2006 at 6:09 AM #

    So, apparently you think that those that run SFN are obligated to pay the cost for servers/bandwidth, then spend their own time maintaining the site, BUT THEN they should have no opinion/say so over whether someone’s useless post has any kind of merit or not and whether said post should/should not be removed from the site??? (for which, just as another friendly reminder, THEY PAY OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKETS!!!)

    I am constantly amazed by this line of thinking. In case you were unaware, this (site) is not a democracy. Personally I think thats a good thing and am reminded of the old saying about too many cooks, etc, etc. I thought that Al Gore had invented the internet, but apparently you must have beat him to it, and apparently laid down the laws regarding it, as well.

    Truth be told, its really pretty simple. If you want insightful discussion pertaining to NCSU sports, with blog entries by folks who have been doing this kind of thing for a pretty good while (and who have, over the years, proven that they are pretty damn good at it), and user replies/responses that nearly always add to the value of the discussion, and quite often start completely new lines of discussion, then this is the place you want to be.

    ON THE OTHER HAND, IF YOU…

    …are more interested in “post counts” than the quality of the discussion at hand; are insulted when one of your posts is deleted (even if it was useless, added nothing to the discussion and barely formed complete and coherent sentences); are more concerned with TELLING others what YOU know (even if it is wrong, or at best is loosely based in fact) rather than LEARNING a little bit of what OTHERS know (lots of valuable and reliable sources around here, BTW); or worst of all, are more interested in flaming those who would disagree with you, rather than (now get this…its a novel concept, really) LEARNING FROM THEM and perhaps seeing things from a different point of view (whatchu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?)…

    Well, if any of those things ring true, then take heart, as there are plenty of sites/message board communities out there for you at which you will feel right at home…but this ain’t one of them, I’m afraid. For the most part, folks here would rather learn something.

    By the way, just because something is old news, does not in any way mean that its no longer pertinent…but congratulations on getting your seriously oh-so important point expressed. I know I’ll sleep better tonite now that I know that its old news. Whew!

    And you should re-read ^^ as calling the mods juvenile is not a good way to win friends and influence people. Just trying to help. 🙂

  7. StateFans 05/26/2006 at 8:32 AM #

    ^ Thank you. We should bronze that,

  8. StateFans 05/28/2006 at 9:02 AM #

    Feeling a Draft @ NC State

    And now they’re gone, but Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato, as usual, chooses to look on the bright side.

    “It shows these young men we’re recruiting that we can make you a first-round pick,” he said.

    Moreover, the collective success of Williams, Lawson and McCargo says something about the State program. Williams and McCargo were small-town kids (McCargo’s Virginia county, Charlotte, is the only one in the state without a stoplight) who came in having dominated inferior competition. Williams, who finished his career as a 6-7, 290-pound weight room monster, put on 20 pounds of muscle under the tutelage of Amato and defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap. Lawson, 6-6 and 245 with a scary-fast first step, was moved from linebacker to defensive end as a junior.

  9. bTHEredterror 06/15/2006 at 2:49 PM #

    The Pack’s been placing talented players all over the NFL, and last years draft is proof the NFL notices. I look forward to seeing McCargo succeed and rewarding the Bills for their “risk”.
    As for D Morris, I knew he was suspect when OSU didn’t take him. Partial qualifier? I guarantee they have other guys who were in the same boat. I agree with Boknows, he hurt us as much as he helped us, and a few turnovers resulted when he got beat around the corner for a sack/hurry.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. StateFans Nation » Blog Archive » State Places 3 in Pro Bowl - 12/20/2006

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  2. StateFans Nation » Blog Archive » Your Annual Adrian Wilson Entry - 06/06/2007

    […] It was just over a year ago that we highlighted some Wolfpackers in the NFL with a special focus on Arizona Cardinals safety, Adrian Wilson. (Link) Mention the safety position in the NFL and Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Brian Dawkins and Roy Williams are often mentioned as the game’s best. Believe this: Adrian Wilson is right at the top with all of them — and he’s better than Williams, who benefits from a big hit or two and by the fact he plays on a team with a star on the side of its helmet. Well, this week ESPN.com ran an article of the “The Best Player You’ve Never Heard Of” that featured…guess who? Matt Mosley: Adrian Wilson, S, Arizona Even though he finally went to a Pro Bowl this past season, I still think Cardinals strong safety Adrian Wilson is a player we don’t hear enough about. Over the past few years, the 28-year-old has been a player that opposing offenses always have to account for. I had an NFC East wide receiver tell me last season that he fears Wilson more than any safety in the game. He had eight sacks in 2005 and then followed that up with five sacks, four interceptions and 87 tackles last season. Wilson used to be a player who needed to be close to the line of scrimmage to succeed, but over the last two years, he’s worked hard to improve his ball skills. He’s capable of taking some of the top tight ends in the league completely out of games and he has great timing when it comes to blitzing. You put Wilson on a better team, and he would’ve had at least three Pro Bowl trips by now. And while a lot of players have complained at how poorly the club has been run, Wilson has been an excellent teammate. […]

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