Cardinals’ Pre-Camp O-Line Analysis

July 19, 2007 by Walter Mitchell

Last year the Cardinals’ much maligned offensive line did not start to show marked improvement until Reggie Wells was switched from left guard to right tackle. At the same time Nick Leckey replaced Alex Stepanovich at center, rookie Deuce Lutui was inserted at right guard and Milford Brown lined up at left guard along side of mammouth left tackle Leonard Davis. The improvement this revamped line generated helped pave the way for the Cardinals’ first 1,000 yard rusher (Edgerrin James) since 1998.

This year, as Ken Whisenhun

t takes the reins as head coach and Russ Grimm assumes the role as assistant head coach and offensive line coach, the plans for the offensive line have changed dramatically. Three of the aforementioned players, Alex Stepanovich, Milford Brown and Leonard Davis are no longer with the Cardinal organization. In their places are first round draft pick Levi Brown (6-5, 323, 23, R, Penn. St.) and free agent signees Al Johnson (6-5, 296, 28, 4th year, Wisconsin) and Mike Gandy (6-4, 310, 28, 7th year, Notre Dame).

The plan is for Levi Brown to eventually start at right tackle, opposite Mike Gandy or Oliver Ross (6-4, 327, 32, 9th year, Iowa St.) at left tackle, while Al Johnson takes over the starting center position flanked by rising star Deuce Lutui (6-4, 338, 24, 2nd year, USC) at right guard and Reggie Wells (6-4, 323, 26, 5th year, Clarion) at left guard.

This plan, which may possibly be the most debatable of all Whisenhunt’s pre-camp plans, hinges a great deal on the answers to several key questions: (1) Is it wise to shift Levi Brown over to right tackle, when he played all four years at Penn. St. at left tackle? (2) Will Levi Brown be the best option to protect Matt Leinart’s blindside? (3) Can Reggie Wells suddenly transform himself into a solid offensive guard after struggling at guard for the length of his four year career? (4) Because Wells did such a good job protecting Leinart’s blindside when he was switched to right tackle last year, doesn’t it make sense to keep him at right tackle and thereby return Levi Brown to his natural position of left tackle? (5) Can center Al Johnson wipe off the rust after having not started in nearly a year and half? (6) Will Johnson prove that he is worthy of his $7M first year salary cap figure? (7) Will center Nick Leckey, who has won the starting center job at mid-season the past two years, win it back again this year? (8) Is Mike Gandy more valuable at guard than tackle, especially after struggling at tackle last year with the Bills? (9) Can Oliver Ross, who has been a major league free agent bust in his tenure with the Cardinals, suddenly rise from the scrapheap now that familiar old coaches Whisenhunt and Grimm are in his facemask once again? (10) Will Deuce Lutui build on his strong performance down the stretch last year and emerge as the Cardinals’ best offensive lineman in just his second year?

Whisenhunt and Grimm favor mauler-type tackles and quick-footed guards, which is why they like the prospects of Brown, Ross and Gandy at tackle and the more quick-footed Wells at guard. While this preference may generate a stronger running attack, assuming Reggie Wells doesn’t continue to struggle significantly at guard, one has to wonder whether the Cardinals will leave themselves all the more vulnerable to QB sacks. In other words, the romance of playing the mauler-type tackle to propel the running attack may quickly diminish when Matt Leinart is getting pummeled in the pocket.

The interesting things is…in Pittsburgh, Whiz/Grimm’s offenses were well known for running the football, but were quite vulnerable in protecting QB Ben Roethlisberger. Will this be more of the same in Arizona?

Then, one has to wonder, what happens if the Cardinals become more of a passing team than what Whiz has prescribed? After all, the Cardinals are seemingly loaded in the passing game department with Matt Leinart at the helm and two Pro Bolwers at WR in Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald…plus a host of other targets including WR Bryant Johnson and 6′8″ TE Leonard Pope. Wouldn’t it make sense to have the offensive line personnel lined up where they can best protect Matt Leinart?

If that is truly the case, then it would seem that the best answer is to switch Reggie Wells back to right tackle…have Levi Brown return to left tackle…and slide Mike Gandy down to left guard to join Al Johnson at center and Deuce Lutui at right guard. There is really no other combination that makes sense…Oliver Ross has proven throughout his career, and particularly over the past two years with the Cardinals, that he is a human turnstyle at tackle…having Levi Brown try to protect Matt Leinart’s blindside as a rookie playing a new position may be far too unrealistic and will likely put Brown under immense pressure. Can the coaches learn right now what the Bills’ coaches realized about Mike Gandy last year, that he’s far better suited to play guard?

In hindsight, did Dennis Green make a major mistake by switching, Leonard Davis, his most powerful inside blocker, to left tackle? You bet he did. Not only was Davis so worried that he would give up a sack that he tried to get off the ball repeatedly before the snap, the players who manned the guard positions for the Cardinals in his stead, could not manage to get any consistent semblance of a push up front to generate a respectable running attack. Both the running and the passing attacks suffered because Davis was lined up at tackle. And how many of Davis’ bonehead penalties were drive killers?

One has to wonder whether Whisenhunt and Grimm are falling into a similar trap, by trying to fit round pegs into square holes.

The most laudable aspect of Whisenhunt’s plan was to try to create competition at all the offensive positions…so it’s quite possible that the mixing and matching will begin within the first week of camp. Other prospects on the offensive line will be looked at closely to see what they bring to the comeptition. The most intriguing of those prospects are: Quasim Mitchell (6-5, 347, 27, 5th year, N.C. A&T)–a free agent with previous starting experience at both tackle and guard who was out of football last year; Brandon Gorin (6-6, 308, 29, 7th year, Purdue)–a player the Cardinals acquired for a 6th round draft pick who started at RT and played well for the Patriots in a Super Bowl, and yet got little to no run with Cardinals in 2006; Nick Leckey (6-3,286, 25, 4th year, Kansas St.)–a smart, fundamentally sound center who was retained at a $1.3M tender after winning the starting job at mid-season the past two years; and Elton Brown (6-5, 340, 25, 3rd year, Virginia)–the Cards’ 2005 4th round draft pick who is surprisingly agile for a man of his enormous size, but had fallen out of favor with the previous coaching staff.

Of the several rookies who have been added, the three who are most likely to turn heads are Brian Johnson (6-4, 307, 23, R, LSU)–a tenacious and rugged gamer at guard, Elliot Vallejo (6-7, 315, 22, R, UC Davis)–a quick-footed and bright right tackle prospect, and Jon Hameister-Reis (6-6, 308, 23, R, Tulsa)–a tall, athletic guard who thrived in a pro-style offense at Tulsa. Other candidates include two stalwarts on NCAA Division 1 Championship caliber teams: C Lyle Sendlein (6-2, 305, 22, R, Texas) and G T.J. Downing (6-4, 305, 23, R, Ohio St.).

Go back and have a good long look at the cover photo of this article…there is Reggie Wells at RT performing a strong and fundamentally solid pass block on the Packers’ superb pass rushing DE Aaron Kampman…basically stopping Kampman in his tracks. They key to the Cardinals’ offensive success in 2007 may hinge on Wells doing more of the same—because if he does—Matt Leinart stays healthy–and the offense will do exactly what they should do: take what the opposing defense gives them.

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