Not me, certainly.
If I am being honest those first four picks look like I was the one in the war room making the calls. Any of you that maybe pay any attention to my posts will recognize that I was pushing for each of the first three months or at least weeks ago.
It was obvious that if we went with a different position at pick 3 we were not likely to get an OT...slim chance a guy fell to 34,...I was thinking maybe Big Max... but his innate talent was just too obvious...and he was picked by a team with a long history of developing powerhouse linemen in Pittsburgh... Im happy for Max...in honesty that was probably the best place he could go for his career.
I have a sneaky feeling the Rams caused that to happen when they picked Ty Simpson...leaving the Stillers without a rookie QB to pick in the first round...so they went with raw talent that will help their squad for the next 15 years.
Jeremiya Love....I made it clear I see greatness in the kid as I comped him to Marcus Allen...the greatest Running back to ever play the game.(you can argue that point. But at the time he retired Marcus was in the top 5 of every single RB stat...the only back to "ever" accomplish that feat...so you would be wrong)...whether he will actually achieve greatness remains to be seen. However, he did have the audacity to actually state the hall of fame as a goal....ballsy, and now he has to live up to the pressure he placed on himself.
Guard is a shrewd pick and Bisontis is a shrewd guard... had we traded back to around 9 I mentioned Ioane as a choice... our interior o line has been our biggest weakness for a couple years. Tackle is a sexier pick but any coach worth his salt can mask a weak tackle...easy enough to scheme in help when he needs it..just add another linemen outside of him, line Tip up on the right, chip with McBride,...or use Love's fantastic blocking to chip or double the rusher on that side.
we will have to watch for delayed rushers if we use the back to help over there too much as a DC will notice,...and bring another guy after the RB has engaged. But Bisontis was an easy choice as he had the possibility in going in the first round just like Ioane did. we should be very excited by this pick...it will make the Seattle games much more boring, as we wont need to freak out over their IDL blasting into our backfield at will...it will seem quite pedestrian.
Carson Beck...lots of you hate on this kid. Dude is a jackass according to all the media. Thats fine...I aint planning on inviting him to any barbecues. Aaron Rodgers is a jackass too,...and teams are still trying to hire him even though he basically retired four years ago.
The simple fact is Beck is the most experience QB in the draft and has the best resume...had he not hurt his elbow the kid would have been a top 5 pick in 2024.
we got him in the third after even more experience... the hate on him is more recency bias than being based on his skillset.. honest concerns about his arm. But he showed last year he can still make all the throws and historically guys with elbow surgery take a season or two to get their zip back... his biggest issue is panic when things go haywire... but experience helps with that...as does confidence with his system and team mates...and the tape shows he panicked less with Miami than he did the year before at Georgia..so improvement is evident.....still doesnt change the fact that he passed for more yards in a college season than Kyler did in a pro season....dude makes the play.
The small school DT was a score. I hadnt really watched the guy before we picked him. But he fits the Cardinals mold of a lineman that can move all along the D Line and be effective. with what we have already seen from Nolen, and the third year development from Robinson,...we should have a front 3 that keeps the opponents line moving backwards,...or leaves them behind as we slip into the backfield.
Then we added Reggie Virgil...a big lanky WR with excellent hands and game speed..dude gets YAC...he is a skinny little dude that runs like Anquan Boldin when he gets the ball..if you watch his tape its surprising how strong he plays for such a thin dude. His addition gives us a very big WR room,...I mean, dudes are huge!! Our transition is complete. A few years back we only had like two dudes over six foot...now we dont have any under 6'2...we can run three wide and never get under 6'3... this helps any QB.. the way Virgil tracks, attacks, and high points he could quickly become a young quarterbacks favorite target.. which would be a feat considering Trey McBride will be on the field.
The biggest job our staff has this season is to get a QB under center that can match the level of play we got from a healthy Kyler....and honestly that shouldnt be too hard..we have some serious weapons on offense...if Marv finds his inner dawg in the off season we may even be "Elite" on offense... if they do that our defense will have less pressure on it...while also being able to bring more pressure themselves... Rallis has no reason to be scared..if the defense takes a gamble and fails our offense should be able to make up the points pretty quickly.
we are worried about long term QB... maybe rightfully so.
If its my squad...I want Carson Beck to win the start right out of the gate. Then its all on him to keep his job...
play well, make the playoffs...and he is the Cardinals QB...
Play badly, and we have the draft capital to draft his replacement.
For the fans its just about figuring out what you want. If you want to win, make the playoffs, maybe get out of the NFL basement for a few years...then you look at the strengths of the guys we drafted and see the possibilities...
they cant keep us from getting a better young QB if they suck.
but if they dont suck...maybe we dont need a better young QB.
Parity works in our favor in this situation.
of course, Cardinals parody may work against us... I guess its possible our defense totally suxx... but the offense is so good it doesnt matter? we constantly give up 30 points a game...but the offense powers us into the WC game scoring 35?
That would be a conundrum.
worst case scenario for us at this point is getting stuck in the purgatory of going one and done in the playoffs every year like Pittsburgh has been doing...fine for a couple years...but really bad in the long run.
If I am being honest those first four picks look like I was the one in the war room making the calls. Any of you that maybe pay any attention to my posts will recognize that I was pushing for each of the first three months or at least weeks ago.
It was obvious that if we went with a different position at pick 3 we were not likely to get an OT...slim chance a guy fell to 34,...I was thinking maybe Big Max... but his innate talent was just too obvious...and he was picked by a team with a long history of developing powerhouse linemen in Pittsburgh... Im happy for Max...in honesty that was probably the best place he could go for his career.
I have a sneaky feeling the Rams caused that to happen when they picked Ty Simpson...leaving the Stillers without a rookie QB to pick in the first round...so they went with raw talent that will help their squad for the next 15 years.
Jeremiya Love....I made it clear I see greatness in the kid as I comped him to Marcus Allen...the greatest Running back to ever play the game.(you can argue that point. But at the time he retired Marcus was in the top 5 of every single RB stat...the only back to "ever" accomplish that feat...so you would be wrong)...whether he will actually achieve greatness remains to be seen. However, he did have the audacity to actually state the hall of fame as a goal....ballsy, and now he has to live up to the pressure he placed on himself.
Guard is a shrewd pick and Bisontis is a shrewd guard... had we traded back to around 9 I mentioned Ioane as a choice... our interior o line has been our biggest weakness for a couple years. Tackle is a sexier pick but any coach worth his salt can mask a weak tackle...easy enough to scheme in help when he needs it..just add another linemen outside of him, line Tip up on the right, chip with McBride,...or use Love's fantastic blocking to chip or double the rusher on that side.
we will have to watch for delayed rushers if we use the back to help over there too much as a DC will notice,...and bring another guy after the RB has engaged. But Bisontis was an easy choice as he had the possibility in going in the first round just like Ioane did. we should be very excited by this pick...it will make the Seattle games much more boring, as we wont need to freak out over their IDL blasting into our backfield at will...it will seem quite pedestrian.
Carson Beck...lots of you hate on this kid. Dude is a jackass according to all the media. Thats fine...I aint planning on inviting him to any barbecues. Aaron Rodgers is a jackass too,...and teams are still trying to hire him even though he basically retired four years ago.
The simple fact is Beck is the most experience QB in the draft and has the best resume...had he not hurt his elbow the kid would have been a top 5 pick in 2024.
we got him in the third after even more experience... the hate on him is more recency bias than being based on his skillset.. honest concerns about his arm. But he showed last year he can still make all the throws and historically guys with elbow surgery take a season or two to get their zip back... his biggest issue is panic when things go haywire... but experience helps with that...as does confidence with his system and team mates...and the tape shows he panicked less with Miami than he did the year before at Georgia..so improvement is evident.....still doesnt change the fact that he passed for more yards in a college season than Kyler did in a pro season....dude makes the play.
The small school DT was a score. I hadnt really watched the guy before we picked him. But he fits the Cardinals mold of a lineman that can move all along the D Line and be effective. with what we have already seen from Nolen, and the third year development from Robinson,...we should have a front 3 that keeps the opponents line moving backwards,...or leaves them behind as we slip into the backfield.
Then we added Reggie Virgil...a big lanky WR with excellent hands and game speed..dude gets YAC...he is a skinny little dude that runs like Anquan Boldin when he gets the ball..if you watch his tape its surprising how strong he plays for such a thin dude. His addition gives us a very big WR room,...I mean, dudes are huge!! Our transition is complete. A few years back we only had like two dudes over six foot...now we dont have any under 6'2...we can run three wide and never get under 6'3... this helps any QB.. the way Virgil tracks, attacks, and high points he could quickly become a young quarterbacks favorite target.. which would be a feat considering Trey McBride will be on the field.
The biggest job our staff has this season is to get a QB under center that can match the level of play we got from a healthy Kyler....and honestly that shouldnt be too hard..we have some serious weapons on offense...if Marv finds his inner dawg in the off season we may even be "Elite" on offense... if they do that our defense will have less pressure on it...while also being able to bring more pressure themselves... Rallis has no reason to be scared..if the defense takes a gamble and fails our offense should be able to make up the points pretty quickly.
we are worried about long term QB... maybe rightfully so.
If its my squad...I want Carson Beck to win the start right out of the gate. Then its all on him to keep his job...
play well, make the playoffs...and he is the Cardinals QB...
Play badly, and we have the draft capital to draft his replacement.
For the fans its just about figuring out what you want. If you want to win, make the playoffs, maybe get out of the NFL basement for a few years...then you look at the strengths of the guys we drafted and see the possibilities...
they cant keep us from getting a better young QB if they suck.
but if they dont suck...maybe we dont need a better young QB.
Parity works in our favor in this situation.
of course, Cardinals parody may work against us... I guess its possible our defense totally suxx... but the offense is so good it doesnt matter? we constantly give up 30 points a game...but the offense powers us into the WC game scoring 35?
That would be a conundrum.
worst case scenario for us at this point is getting stuck in the purgatory of going one and done in the playoffs every year like Pittsburgh has been doing...fine for a couple years...but really bad in the long run.
