Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
NT: Imagine how good the Cardinals' could be if they get a disruptive, tough NT to emerge? This would assure more one-on-one blocks on DEs Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell, which teams would be loathe to do. Mel Kiper has the Cardinals taking NT Dan Williams (6-3, 323, Tennessee) with the #26 pick, and it's hard to argue with that selection, except for the thought that the Cardinals may have a higher priority on their hands in filling the LB positions. Williams would be made to order for this defense, there's no question about it.
However, what if the Cardinals do not add a starting caliber NT in this upcoming draft? First of all, while he provided the team with good leadership, the venerable Bryan Robinson is not productive enough or talented enough at this point in his career to remain the starter. Gabe Watson played well in spots, but still seems hampered by his weight and knee concerns. Ideally Watson remains to #2 NT, so he can rotate in when needed and stay fresh.
What might be the best solution in this scenario is asking Alan Branch to continue to trim down some more in order to keep improving his quickness and thus be an excellent option to start in between Dockett and Campbell. Branch did play well as a backup DE, but as one of the team's best players he should start and should want to start anywhere he's needed and asked to. Branch, with his strength would command a double team, and could issue a pounding on the opposing centers. If he becomes a little quicker, he could shoot the A gap and make plays in the backfield and he could scrape down the line to clean up running plays.
The other intruiging option in house is Keilen Dykes, who spent the year on the IR. Dykes was hurt form the get-go last year and will need a big off-season to be ready to make his mark this year.
DE: The tandem of Dockett and Campbell is on the verge of becoming elite. Dockett was the team's best defensive player this past year and is playing like he is on a mission. Campbell is supremely athletic and once he improves his technique as a tackler, he could garner some Pro Bowl consideration in yet his third year. This year he needs to work on getting his long arms up into the passing lanes more regularly and thus use his 6'8" frame to his and the team's advantage.
Kenny Iwebema, despite his surgery, came back quickly and strong to provide the team with an athletic backup DE. This year, after another summer with John Lott, Iwebema may be one of the real surprises of the new campaign. He's quick and slippery on the inside and closes hard on the ball when he gets his chances to.
It will be very interesting to see Jeremy Clark (6-3, 309, Alabama) and Ryan Kees (6-6, 275, St. Cloud St.) in action next pre-season. They were the late season PS pickups from the Giants. And, let's not forget about Jason Banks (6-5, 296, Grambling St.), who was promoted to the roster the last week of the season before getting injured and placed on the IR.
Whiz seemed to hint at the notion that the Cardinals may "look into" reworking Darnell Dockett's contract this year. Dockett is so valuable to this defense that getting him locked up for more years at a salary that would satisfy him and team would be wise, despite how this would look to Anquan Boldin, who obviously has wanted the same for two years now. Some think that Dockett's contract wishes, money-wise, may be hard to satisfy, and that may be so, but at least the Cardinals could make an effort.
ILB: The team needs to get faster and more productive at these two spots. Gerald Hayes, due to injuries, has regressed, and is no longer a stalwart in the middle. In recent years, there have been reasons to question Hayes' read and react instincts, and seems to need run blitz calls to help him play in forward gear. Due to this and his health issues, the team could use an upgrade at SILB.
At WILB, Karlos Dansby's play has been inconsistent due to injuries and late reactions on running plays. We've debated whether the position of ILB suits Dansby and his skill set. I maintain that he'd be much better playing on the edge, and it's too bad the coaches never gave him some reps there to see what they might be missing if he were to move on. Well, now he is going to move on, and he will be signed as an OLB somewhere else next year. The one area of Dansby's ILB responsibiltiies he was very good at was in his pass coverage, and thus the Cardinals may surely miss this aspect of his game the most. Yet, because of his coverage prowess he was rarely used this year as a blitzer in pass situations. When he was blitzed it was more on run blitzes in order to get him and Gerald Hayes to play aggressively in the box.
Reggie Walker played very well in pre-season and was a surprise addition to the 53 man roster. He was particularly impressive in short yardage situation where he charged the hole, met the ball carriers with pop, stood them up and secured the hard tackle. It would have been nice to get a better look at him during the season, but we saw the coaches turn to Ali Highsmith and Monty Beisel instead. Highsmith showed range, but whiffed more than he connected on tackles. He really needs to improve this aspect of his game if he is going to stick. Beisel, probably due to his back issues, is not the player he was a couple of years ago. Darren Urban thinks the team will try to re-sign Beisel, which wouldn't hurt to have him in the mix again, provided he comes back stronger and more physcially and mantaly ready to make and finish off plays. But, what the Cardinals really need is to get more athetic, aggressive and faster at these positions...and this shoud be the team's #1 priority on defense this off-season.
OLB: One of the best surprises of this season was the resurgence of Clark Haggans at SOLB. In many ways he was team's most consistent and disciplined player on defense. Not only did he clean up many plays on running downs, he provided good pressure from his edge, and for the first time in recent defensive history did a great job of keeping contain to his side, as evidenced by the astute pressure he put on a scrambling Aaron Rodgers that forced Rodgers' interception on the first series of the playoff game. No Cardinal was around the ball making plays more than Haggans. It was very wise of the team to sign him to a three year extension. Hopefully, the Cardinals will add a solid backup at the position so that the team can keep Haggans fresh by giving him a breather here and there.
On the other side, Chike Okeafor's play was disappointing. A couple of years ago the coaches were raving about how the switch to the 3-4 was perfect for Okeafor, and yet, due to injuries and lackluster play, his tenure at WOLB never panned out the way it was supposed to. Okeafor is a real workout warrior, and may be motivated to get his game back, but he is getting older, and quite frankly the team needs to get younger, stronger and faster at the position.
The good news is that the Cardinals have two promising young prospects at the position in Will Davis and Cody Brown. It's surprising that Will Davis wasn't given more of a regular situational role this year. The times he played, he showed very good aggressiveness and an ability to shut plays down to his side, as well as an ability to rush from the edge. Brown, unfortunately suffered a significant wrist injury in training camp and had to spend the year on the IR. Up until the injury his play at WOLB was not particularly eye popping, but, after all, he was a rookie going through his first training camp. With a full year under John Lott's guidance and supervision, look for Brown to return significantly stronger and faster than he was a year ago. if that is the case, he and Will Davis may form a nice tandem on the weak side. But, the Cardinals will need to add another pass rusher or two to the mix if they are going to create a more prolific pass rush and competition for the starting and situational roles.
CB: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie's extraordinary athletic talents earned him a Pro Bowl invitation in just his second year. His season on the whole, however, was not Pro Bowl-esque. He would flash greatness on one play and then get easily fooled on another. In addition, there were times he would come up on an out pass and pop the receiver out of bounds with some degree of tenacity, but far too many others when he would shy away from contact. This is where John Lott can work his magic. As soon as DRC begins to relish the physcial aspects of his trade, the sooner he will emerge as a bona fide All-Pro. There are few players who ever played this game who can run and leap at his size in such electrifying fashion. And if Larry Fitzgerald could work with DRC on his hands, he could possibly set the Cardinal record for interceptions.DRC had 6 this year and had his hands on more than a handful of others.
On the other side, Bryant McFadden was generally ineffective in all aspects of the position. What was surprising was his lack of true athleticism, which begs the question as to whether he really is as slow as he played, or was he hampered by injuries? Exacerbating his situation was the poor technique he showed in coverage, as he almost never saw the ball or even made a play on a ball. And for all the times teams wanted to stay away from DRC's side of the field, McFadden had myriads of chances. Yet, time and time again, he did not show even a modicum of ball awareness. Moreover, he was not the stout run supporter that he was billed to be. He was often too slow to react, the way he was in pass coverage, and by the time he got in position to make tackles he lunged and barely got a piece of the ball carrier. He was easily beaten deep on far too many occasions and was fortunate not to get toasted more than he did. Unless, McFadden turns his game completely around nect year, he will find himself watching the game from the sidelines. In fact, it would not be totally surprising if the Cardinals release him the way they did last year with Rod Hood. However, BMF was an emotional leader at times on the sidelines..and perhaps there is more to his subpar play than we know.
Enter Greg Toler, the team's 4th round draft pick. Toler is a big, fast and athletic corner who is brimming with talent, and after the Saints game, may now be brimming with new-born confidence. Had Bill Davis been more amneable to integrating his young talent into his defense, chances are that Toler might have been already starting opposite of DRC. This would now seem inevitable. Toler has the tools and the skills, now he needs to experience.
Many were quick to dismiss the prospects of Michael Adams after his penalty collection versus the Packers while being assigned to play Donald Driver in the nickel. Had Adams been coached to play Driver with his feet and not with his hands, it might have been a different story. Adams has the nifty feet that would allow him to shadow slot receivers and get proper anges on the routes...but, like Toler, he lacks the experience. What's most impressive about Adams are three important things: (1) even at his diminutive size, he is one of the biggest hitters on the team, and is the best tackler of any of the CBs...he excels in run support, as we saw in the Viking game when he took out Adrian Peterson on a key short yardage stop; (2) he plays with tremendous heart...there's a sense about this kid that he wants to do everything in his power to make the right play at the right time; (3) he is truly outstanding on STs.
Ralph Brown has an uncanny way of being Johnny-On-The-Spot in some key situations. But, when you look at how slow he is, and how often his man races right past him and he has to go into the chase mode without any semblance of recovery speed, you get a little skeptical of his ability to hold up at this level. Playing him at FS in the two playoff games was an egregious coaching error, IMO, for Brown was not only unfamiliar with that role, he was taken out of the one role he's decent at, and, let's face it his range as a FS is just a little wider than a phone booth. He did improve his tackling after taking the pre-season off from all tackling, but he still was not a dependable performer.
It will be interesting to see what the Cardinals have in PS player Rashad Barksdale (6-0, 208, Albany St.).
S: Adrian Wilson was voted into the Pro Bowl and at times played like a Pro Bowler, but like DRC, did not have a very consistently good season. Wilson should be much better in man-to-man coverage than he is, but he only seems to thrive in the short to intermediate zones where he can make breaks on the ball and deliver bone crunching hits. What was so surprising this year is how little Bill Davis used him as a blitzer. Part of the problem was that by playing Wilson out of the box as much as Davis did, when Wilson did switch up into the box teams pretty much knew what was coming. The challenge for Bill Davis will be finding a way to cater the defense to Wilson's strengths, something that Clancy Pendergast did much more effectively. Wilson thrives in the box. Period. Put him deep and in space and he's more of a liability than an asset. Either way, Wilson has to return next year on a mission to prove he can defend TEs and RBs one-on-one.
Antrel Rolle was Rolle-ing along at FS this year until he got injured. His progress at the position was a pleasant surprise. He took good angles in coverage and far more often than not delivered nice clean tackles in space. What impressed me the most was his speed...one, the speed in which he would arrive for tackles, and two his speed when chasing down speedy WRs. He showed an extra gear that I wasn't sure he even had.
The Cardinals will try to rework his deal and I think Rolle will be reasonable in coming to an agreement. He's a good fit in this defense and in this organization.
Without question the team missed nickel FS Matt Ware down the stretch. Like Rolle, his safety play has improved significantly. Thus, the team will make a strong effort to re-sign him.
I think you are all going to be pleasantly surprised by the play of S Rashad Johnson next year. I imagine that Bill Davis was loathe to play him as a rookie during the playoffs, which is why he tried to have Ralph Brown act as Matt Ware. But, I really liked the way Johnson played in his one start, the last regular season game versus the Packers. I thought he looked alot like Antrel Rolle...disciplined in his coverage angles and swift in arriving to make and finish off open field tackles.
I was not as enamored with late season acquisition Hamzah Abdullah, at least not as a nickel FS. Abdullah has excellent size, but he's too slow to play FS. At SS in the Packer game (regular season) he played fairly well, recording 10 tackles. He brings a physical aspect to his game...and in the Saints game he made a great break at Devery Henderson on the hitch pass to him and made decent contact, but Henderson bounced off and took the ball upfield for 9 yards. Perhaps with a training camp under his belt, Abdullah can make some noise as a backup SS. He seemed pretty decent on STs.
Here's a plan to consider:
1. Sign LB Thomas Howard (RFA-Oakland) to take Dansby's spot. Howard is one of the fastest LBers in the NFL...he's outstanding in coverage and can tackle sideline to sideline. He's not great at taking on blocks, but the Cardinals' 3-4 is predicated on the interior being able to free up the WILB. Also he brings excellent speed on blitzes. To get him the Cardinals would have to give up their 2nd round pick.
2. Pick up a 2nd rounder for Anquan Boldin.
3. Draft the following:
Round 1: Brandon Graham, OLB, 6-2, 270, Michigan. The Cardinals' version of LaMarr Woodley is a fierce pass rusher and stout at the point of attack.
Round 2: Kyle Wilson, CB, 5-10, 190, Boise St. Gifted athlete who also is an outstanding punt returner. Could play in a variety of different roles on both sides of the ball.
Round 3: Tony Pike, QB, 6-6, 223, Cincinnati. Tall and accurate passer who performs well in the clutch.
Round 4: Sean Lee, ILB, 6-2, 234, Penn. St. Won't wow anyone at the combine, and scouts question his coverage ability, but he's just what you want in a two down SILB because he has superb instincts and is an excellent tackler.
Round 5: David Nelson, WR, 6-5, 215, Florida. The new Urban, only much more polished, sure-handed and competitive.
Round 6: Jammie Kirlew, OLB/DE, 6-3, 265, Indiana. Under-rated pass rusher.
Round 7: Marcellus Bowman, S, 6-2, 218, Boston College. Big hitter, splendid athlete.
However, what if the Cardinals do not add a starting caliber NT in this upcoming draft? First of all, while he provided the team with good leadership, the venerable Bryan Robinson is not productive enough or talented enough at this point in his career to remain the starter. Gabe Watson played well in spots, but still seems hampered by his weight and knee concerns. Ideally Watson remains to #2 NT, so he can rotate in when needed and stay fresh.
What might be the best solution in this scenario is asking Alan Branch to continue to trim down some more in order to keep improving his quickness and thus be an excellent option to start in between Dockett and Campbell. Branch did play well as a backup DE, but as one of the team's best players he should start and should want to start anywhere he's needed and asked to. Branch, with his strength would command a double team, and could issue a pounding on the opposing centers. If he becomes a little quicker, he could shoot the A gap and make plays in the backfield and he could scrape down the line to clean up running plays.
The other intruiging option in house is Keilen Dykes, who spent the year on the IR. Dykes was hurt form the get-go last year and will need a big off-season to be ready to make his mark this year.
DE: The tandem of Dockett and Campbell is on the verge of becoming elite. Dockett was the team's best defensive player this past year and is playing like he is on a mission. Campbell is supremely athletic and once he improves his technique as a tackler, he could garner some Pro Bowl consideration in yet his third year. This year he needs to work on getting his long arms up into the passing lanes more regularly and thus use his 6'8" frame to his and the team's advantage.
Kenny Iwebema, despite his surgery, came back quickly and strong to provide the team with an athletic backup DE. This year, after another summer with John Lott, Iwebema may be one of the real surprises of the new campaign. He's quick and slippery on the inside and closes hard on the ball when he gets his chances to.
It will be very interesting to see Jeremy Clark (6-3, 309, Alabama) and Ryan Kees (6-6, 275, St. Cloud St.) in action next pre-season. They were the late season PS pickups from the Giants. And, let's not forget about Jason Banks (6-5, 296, Grambling St.), who was promoted to the roster the last week of the season before getting injured and placed on the IR.
Whiz seemed to hint at the notion that the Cardinals may "look into" reworking Darnell Dockett's contract this year. Dockett is so valuable to this defense that getting him locked up for more years at a salary that would satisfy him and team would be wise, despite how this would look to Anquan Boldin, who obviously has wanted the same for two years now. Some think that Dockett's contract wishes, money-wise, may be hard to satisfy, and that may be so, but at least the Cardinals could make an effort.
ILB: The team needs to get faster and more productive at these two spots. Gerald Hayes, due to injuries, has regressed, and is no longer a stalwart in the middle. In recent years, there have been reasons to question Hayes' read and react instincts, and seems to need run blitz calls to help him play in forward gear. Due to this and his health issues, the team could use an upgrade at SILB.
At WILB, Karlos Dansby's play has been inconsistent due to injuries and late reactions on running plays. We've debated whether the position of ILB suits Dansby and his skill set. I maintain that he'd be much better playing on the edge, and it's too bad the coaches never gave him some reps there to see what they might be missing if he were to move on. Well, now he is going to move on, and he will be signed as an OLB somewhere else next year. The one area of Dansby's ILB responsibiltiies he was very good at was in his pass coverage, and thus the Cardinals may surely miss this aspect of his game the most. Yet, because of his coverage prowess he was rarely used this year as a blitzer in pass situations. When he was blitzed it was more on run blitzes in order to get him and Gerald Hayes to play aggressively in the box.
Reggie Walker played very well in pre-season and was a surprise addition to the 53 man roster. He was particularly impressive in short yardage situation where he charged the hole, met the ball carriers with pop, stood them up and secured the hard tackle. It would have been nice to get a better look at him during the season, but we saw the coaches turn to Ali Highsmith and Monty Beisel instead. Highsmith showed range, but whiffed more than he connected on tackles. He really needs to improve this aspect of his game if he is going to stick. Beisel, probably due to his back issues, is not the player he was a couple of years ago. Darren Urban thinks the team will try to re-sign Beisel, which wouldn't hurt to have him in the mix again, provided he comes back stronger and more physcially and mantaly ready to make and finish off plays. But, what the Cardinals really need is to get more athetic, aggressive and faster at these positions...and this shoud be the team's #1 priority on defense this off-season.
OLB: One of the best surprises of this season was the resurgence of Clark Haggans at SOLB. In many ways he was team's most consistent and disciplined player on defense. Not only did he clean up many plays on running downs, he provided good pressure from his edge, and for the first time in recent defensive history did a great job of keeping contain to his side, as evidenced by the astute pressure he put on a scrambling Aaron Rodgers that forced Rodgers' interception on the first series of the playoff game. No Cardinal was around the ball making plays more than Haggans. It was very wise of the team to sign him to a three year extension. Hopefully, the Cardinals will add a solid backup at the position so that the team can keep Haggans fresh by giving him a breather here and there.
On the other side, Chike Okeafor's play was disappointing. A couple of years ago the coaches were raving about how the switch to the 3-4 was perfect for Okeafor, and yet, due to injuries and lackluster play, his tenure at WOLB never panned out the way it was supposed to. Okeafor is a real workout warrior, and may be motivated to get his game back, but he is getting older, and quite frankly the team needs to get younger, stronger and faster at the position.
The good news is that the Cardinals have two promising young prospects at the position in Will Davis and Cody Brown. It's surprising that Will Davis wasn't given more of a regular situational role this year. The times he played, he showed very good aggressiveness and an ability to shut plays down to his side, as well as an ability to rush from the edge. Brown, unfortunately suffered a significant wrist injury in training camp and had to spend the year on the IR. Up until the injury his play at WOLB was not particularly eye popping, but, after all, he was a rookie going through his first training camp. With a full year under John Lott's guidance and supervision, look for Brown to return significantly stronger and faster than he was a year ago. if that is the case, he and Will Davis may form a nice tandem on the weak side. But, the Cardinals will need to add another pass rusher or two to the mix if they are going to create a more prolific pass rush and competition for the starting and situational roles.
CB: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie's extraordinary athletic talents earned him a Pro Bowl invitation in just his second year. His season on the whole, however, was not Pro Bowl-esque. He would flash greatness on one play and then get easily fooled on another. In addition, there were times he would come up on an out pass and pop the receiver out of bounds with some degree of tenacity, but far too many others when he would shy away from contact. This is where John Lott can work his magic. As soon as DRC begins to relish the physcial aspects of his trade, the sooner he will emerge as a bona fide All-Pro. There are few players who ever played this game who can run and leap at his size in such electrifying fashion. And if Larry Fitzgerald could work with DRC on his hands, he could possibly set the Cardinal record for interceptions.DRC had 6 this year and had his hands on more than a handful of others.
On the other side, Bryant McFadden was generally ineffective in all aspects of the position. What was surprising was his lack of true athleticism, which begs the question as to whether he really is as slow as he played, or was he hampered by injuries? Exacerbating his situation was the poor technique he showed in coverage, as he almost never saw the ball or even made a play on a ball. And for all the times teams wanted to stay away from DRC's side of the field, McFadden had myriads of chances. Yet, time and time again, he did not show even a modicum of ball awareness. Moreover, he was not the stout run supporter that he was billed to be. He was often too slow to react, the way he was in pass coverage, and by the time he got in position to make tackles he lunged and barely got a piece of the ball carrier. He was easily beaten deep on far too many occasions and was fortunate not to get toasted more than he did. Unless, McFadden turns his game completely around nect year, he will find himself watching the game from the sidelines. In fact, it would not be totally surprising if the Cardinals release him the way they did last year with Rod Hood. However, BMF was an emotional leader at times on the sidelines..and perhaps there is more to his subpar play than we know.
Enter Greg Toler, the team's 4th round draft pick. Toler is a big, fast and athletic corner who is brimming with talent, and after the Saints game, may now be brimming with new-born confidence. Had Bill Davis been more amneable to integrating his young talent into his defense, chances are that Toler might have been already starting opposite of DRC. This would now seem inevitable. Toler has the tools and the skills, now he needs to experience.
Many were quick to dismiss the prospects of Michael Adams after his penalty collection versus the Packers while being assigned to play Donald Driver in the nickel. Had Adams been coached to play Driver with his feet and not with his hands, it might have been a different story. Adams has the nifty feet that would allow him to shadow slot receivers and get proper anges on the routes...but, like Toler, he lacks the experience. What's most impressive about Adams are three important things: (1) even at his diminutive size, he is one of the biggest hitters on the team, and is the best tackler of any of the CBs...he excels in run support, as we saw in the Viking game when he took out Adrian Peterson on a key short yardage stop; (2) he plays with tremendous heart...there's a sense about this kid that he wants to do everything in his power to make the right play at the right time; (3) he is truly outstanding on STs.
Ralph Brown has an uncanny way of being Johnny-On-The-Spot in some key situations. But, when you look at how slow he is, and how often his man races right past him and he has to go into the chase mode without any semblance of recovery speed, you get a little skeptical of his ability to hold up at this level. Playing him at FS in the two playoff games was an egregious coaching error, IMO, for Brown was not only unfamiliar with that role, he was taken out of the one role he's decent at, and, let's face it his range as a FS is just a little wider than a phone booth. He did improve his tackling after taking the pre-season off from all tackling, but he still was not a dependable performer.
It will be interesting to see what the Cardinals have in PS player Rashad Barksdale (6-0, 208, Albany St.).
S: Adrian Wilson was voted into the Pro Bowl and at times played like a Pro Bowler, but like DRC, did not have a very consistently good season. Wilson should be much better in man-to-man coverage than he is, but he only seems to thrive in the short to intermediate zones where he can make breaks on the ball and deliver bone crunching hits. What was so surprising this year is how little Bill Davis used him as a blitzer. Part of the problem was that by playing Wilson out of the box as much as Davis did, when Wilson did switch up into the box teams pretty much knew what was coming. The challenge for Bill Davis will be finding a way to cater the defense to Wilson's strengths, something that Clancy Pendergast did much more effectively. Wilson thrives in the box. Period. Put him deep and in space and he's more of a liability than an asset. Either way, Wilson has to return next year on a mission to prove he can defend TEs and RBs one-on-one.
Antrel Rolle was Rolle-ing along at FS this year until he got injured. His progress at the position was a pleasant surprise. He took good angles in coverage and far more often than not delivered nice clean tackles in space. What impressed me the most was his speed...one, the speed in which he would arrive for tackles, and two his speed when chasing down speedy WRs. He showed an extra gear that I wasn't sure he even had.
The Cardinals will try to rework his deal and I think Rolle will be reasonable in coming to an agreement. He's a good fit in this defense and in this organization.
Without question the team missed nickel FS Matt Ware down the stretch. Like Rolle, his safety play has improved significantly. Thus, the team will make a strong effort to re-sign him.
I think you are all going to be pleasantly surprised by the play of S Rashad Johnson next year. I imagine that Bill Davis was loathe to play him as a rookie during the playoffs, which is why he tried to have Ralph Brown act as Matt Ware. But, I really liked the way Johnson played in his one start, the last regular season game versus the Packers. I thought he looked alot like Antrel Rolle...disciplined in his coverage angles and swift in arriving to make and finish off open field tackles.
I was not as enamored with late season acquisition Hamzah Abdullah, at least not as a nickel FS. Abdullah has excellent size, but he's too slow to play FS. At SS in the Packer game (regular season) he played fairly well, recording 10 tackles. He brings a physical aspect to his game...and in the Saints game he made a great break at Devery Henderson on the hitch pass to him and made decent contact, but Henderson bounced off and took the ball upfield for 9 yards. Perhaps with a training camp under his belt, Abdullah can make some noise as a backup SS. He seemed pretty decent on STs.
Here's a plan to consider:
1. Sign LB Thomas Howard (RFA-Oakland) to take Dansby's spot. Howard is one of the fastest LBers in the NFL...he's outstanding in coverage and can tackle sideline to sideline. He's not great at taking on blocks, but the Cardinals' 3-4 is predicated on the interior being able to free up the WILB. Also he brings excellent speed on blitzes. To get him the Cardinals would have to give up their 2nd round pick.
2. Pick up a 2nd rounder for Anquan Boldin.
3. Draft the following:
Round 1: Brandon Graham, OLB, 6-2, 270, Michigan. The Cardinals' version of LaMarr Woodley is a fierce pass rusher and stout at the point of attack.
Round 2: Kyle Wilson, CB, 5-10, 190, Boise St. Gifted athlete who also is an outstanding punt returner. Could play in a variety of different roles on both sides of the ball.
Round 3: Tony Pike, QB, 6-6, 223, Cincinnati. Tall and accurate passer who performs well in the clutch.
Round 4: Sean Lee, ILB, 6-2, 234, Penn. St. Won't wow anyone at the combine, and scouts question his coverage ability, but he's just what you want in a two down SILB because he has superb instincts and is an excellent tackler.
Round 5: David Nelson, WR, 6-5, 215, Florida. The new Urban, only much more polished, sure-handed and competitive.
Round 6: Jammie Kirlew, OLB/DE, 6-3, 265, Indiana. Under-rated pass rusher.
Round 7: Marcellus Bowman, S, 6-2, 218, Boston College. Big hitter, splendid athlete.
