As the Cardinals released their cuts and came to an initial 53-man roster Saturday, many things come to mind:

-- The receivers expected to make a big impression never did. Both Brice Butler and Greg Little were cut, and right now, the Cards only have three receivers with experience, along with rookies Christian Kirk and Trent Sherfield. And let's face it, Chad Williams doesn't have experience either. Will be interested to see if they pick one up. Ultimately, Butler and Little weren't consistent enough to be kept. J.J. Nelson has had drops, but he has the one thing no one else had -- lots of speed.

-- David Johnson is gonna make a lot of catches, I'm guessing.

-- There's a whole lot of defensive backs. Eleven total. But Brandon Williams I think will be one of those guys who has to keep fighting for a spot. Meanwhile, there were three undrafted rookies kept back there, in safeties Zeke Turner and A.J. Howard and cornerback Deatrick Nichols. Didn't see those numbers coming, although individually I'm not shocked.

-- Five undrafted rookies. That can be seen as a good thing, or a not so good thing. Time will tell.

-- Turner, as we saw in the preseason finale, will likely eventually be groomed to be a Bucannon-like linebacker. So through that prism, maybe it's only 10 defensive backs.

-- Speaking of linebacker, the Tillman-esque Dennis Gardeck is on the team. That’s a great story.

-- All of those undrafted guys are candidates to be cut and brought back to the practice squad if/when the Cardinals claim someone on waivers or sign another veteran.

-- Great news that Markus Golden and Jermaine Gresham were brought off the PUP list.

-- The Cards kept 10 offensive linemen, which is a ton when you usually only have seven active on game days. I think they like the potential of Korey Cunningham. And with three backup tackles, you wonder if they try to develop someone this season to compete with Andre Smith at right tackle.

-- With the release of Elijhaa Penny, the Cards only have four backs – fullback Derrick Coleman, and running backs David Johnson, Chase Edmonds and T.J. Logan. Wonder if they look for another one, especially with only three tailbacks.

-- It goes without saying but I suppose it bears repeating (I'm going overtime on the cliches), this roster is very unlikely to be the roster when the team practices Monday, or Wednesday. Someone on the team now won't be.