Five Things I'm Excited About for 2022

kerouac9

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People seem pretty down about this season, which seems kind of wild because we have something that a lot of people have been begging for — organizational stability at the three most important positions in a franchise:

General Manager Steve Keim. Keim's first- and second-round picks have been pretty trash his entire time here. His marquee free agent signings rarely last more than 12 months. He looks like a thumb with a face. But he's managed to pull this roster down to studs and rebuild it twice now, both with stopgap veteran QBs who outperformed their contracts and draft status and a risky, unique QB prospect. He manages to keep his failson owner in the spotlight without having him meddle (too much) with the actual football operations. He's a B- GM.

Head Coach and Offensive Playcaller Kliff Kingsbury.
It was always unreasonable to believe that Kingsbury was going to land in the NFL and transform offensive football. He wasn't transformative at Texas Tech — he just put a handsome face on an Air Raid offense designed by weirdo Mike Leach. It drives a lot of fans crazy, but Kingsbury put the responsibility for team failures on himself and puts a relentless focus on how he can overcome challenges. He systematically identifies his major weaknesses each offseason and works to bolster them. It is time that he adapts more dynamically to the challenges created by opponents and his own enigmatic quarterback, but he's a B+ head coach.

Starting Quarterback Kyler Murray. A lot of people including me will be Big Mad about Kyler's contract, but in two or three years it's going to seem like (and be) a significant bargain. Kyler is a unique and (maybe) difficult personality to really get behind, but from play to play there's no more electric athlete in the NFL. Kyler is willing to put in work in the offseason and has a passion for winning — even if reasonable people can disagree about how he chooses to direct that energy. He has elite arm talent, elite accuracy, and elite athleticism for the position. He needs to learn how to weather adversity and not panic during situational football moments like the two-minute drill. He's an A- quarterback.

Aside from the promise of having an above-average leadership group for the next three to five seasons, here are five things I'm excited about for 2022:

1. Rondale Moore Year 2. The last three-quarter's of Moore's rookie season were pretty trash. But in his first five games the mighty mite wideout was on pace for over 1000 yards from scrimmage. He had over 100 yards receiving in his second professional appearance.

2. We might really have a tight end now. The Cardinals haven't been settled at Tight End since they've been in Arizona except for a short time when Jim Dray was clearly the league's best player at the position. Real ones remember thinking that Freddie Jones solved the problem. Zach Ertz represents the latest hope — just ignore that he had a negative DVOA and was 32nd in DYAR.

3. Hard-shell defense. There's a chance that J.J. Watt and Zach Allen stay healthy and this defense is one of the best in the NFL. There's a greater chance that this defense remains fairly soft and error-prone in the front-seven and Byron Murphy, Budda Baker, Jalen Thompson, and Marco Wilson create a last line of defense that becomes difficult to come back against once the offense goes up by two scores.

4. Red Raid pouring down. People don't believe that Kliff runs an Air Raid offense, although I think we can all agree that he seems to want to spread the field (no one runs more 4 and 5 WR sets than the Cards) and he wants to play with high tempo to reduce the amount of adjustments opponents can make. It's extremely exciting when Kyler and Kliff are rolling and the offense is moving quickly down the field. I think one reason the passing game hasn't been more dynamic is that we haven't had the personnel to attack down the field the way you'd want. Hollywood Brown has shown to be productive at all three levels in the NFL, and could open up more gaps in coverage if Kliff and Kyler are willing to attack outside areas more aggressively.

5. Young pass rushers. Chandler Jones has held down one of the OLB positions for so long and so consistently it's difficult to remember a time when the Cards were depending on a few young studs to emerge to put pressure on the QB. In 2015 the Cards deployed Rookie second rounder Markus Golden alongside emerging third-year player Alex Okafor.
 

PACardsFan

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People seem pretty down about this season, which seems kind of wild because we have something that a lot of people have been begging for — organizational stability at the three most important positions in a franchise:

General Manager Steve Keim. Keim's first- and second-round picks have been pretty trash his entire time here. His marquee free agent signings rarely last more than 12 months. He looks like a thumb with a face. But he's managed to pull this roster down to studs and rebuild it twice now, both with stopgap veteran QBs who outperformed their contracts and draft status and a risky, unique QB prospect. He manages to keep his failson owner in the spotlight without having him meddle (too much) with the actual football operations. He's a B- GM.

Head Coach and Offensive Playcaller Kliff Kingsbury.
It was always unreasonable to believe that Kingsbury was going to land in the NFL and transform offensive football. He wasn't transformative at Texas Tech — he just put a handsome face on an Air Raid offense designed by weirdo Mike Leach. It drives a lot of fans crazy, but Kingsbury put the responsibility for team failures on himself and puts a relentless focus on how he can overcome challenges. He systematically identifies his major weaknesses each offseason and works to bolster them. It is time that he adapts more dynamically to the challenges created by opponents and his own enigmatic quarterback, but he's a B+ head coach.

Starting Quarterback Kyler Murray.
A lot of people including me will be Big Mad about Kyler's contract, but in two or three years it's going to seem like (and be) a significant bargain. Kyler is a unique and (maybe) difficult personality to really get behind, but from play to play there's no more electric athlete in the NFL. Kyler is willing to put in work in the offseason and has a passion for winning — even if reasonable people can disagree about how he chooses to direct that energy. He has elite arm talent, elite accuracy, and elite athleticism for the position. He needs to learn how to weather adversity and not panic during situational football moments like the two-minute drill. He's an A- quarterback.

Aside from the promise of having an above-average leadership group for the next three to five seasons, here are five things I'm excited about for 2022:

1. Rondale Moore Year 2. The last three-quarter's of Moore's rookie season were pretty trash. But in his first five games the mighty mite wideout was on pace for over 1000 yards from scrimmage. He had over 100 yards receiving in his second professional appearance.

2. We might really have a tight end now. The Cardinals haven't been settled at Tight End since they've been in Arizona except for a short time when Jim Dray was clearly the league's best player at the position. Real ones remember thinking that Freddie Jones solved the problem. Zach Ertz represents the latest hope — just ignore that he had a negative DVOA and was 32nd in DYAR.

3. Hard-shell defense. There's a chance that J.J. Watt and Zach Allen stay healthy and this defense is one of the best in the NFL. There's a greater chance that this defense remains fairly soft and error-prone in the front-seven and Byron Murphy, Budda Baker, Jalen Thompson, and Marco Wilson create a last line of defense that becomes difficult to come back against once the offense goes up by two scores.

4. Red Raid pouring down. People don't believe that Kliff runs an Air Raid offense, although I think we can all agree that he seems to want to spread the field (no one runs more 4 and 5 WR sets than the Cards) and he wants to play with high tempo to reduce the amount of adjustments opponents can make. It's extremely exciting when Kyler and Kliff are rolling and the offense is moving quickly down the field. I think one reason the passing game hasn't been more dynamic is that we haven't had the personnel to attack down the field the way you'd want. Hollywood Brown has shown to be productive at all three levels in the NFL, and could open up more gaps in coverage if Kliff and Kyler are willing to attack outside areas more aggressively.

5. Young pass rushers. Chandler Jones has held down one of the OLB positions for so long and so consistently it's difficult to remember a time when the Cards were depending on a few young studs to emerge to put pressure on the QB. In 2015 the Cards deployed Rookie second rounder Markus Golden alongside emerging third-year player Alex Okafor.
Great post!!
 

dreamcastrocks

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Wait, you excited about our young pass rushers? I'm terrified...
 

unseenaz

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this should be stickied or something. 10/10 post - optimism grounded in reality. I agree with most, but none more than Steve Keim looking like a thumb with a face :lol:
 

Chopper0080

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One thing that I am excited for is another year of watching our secondary develop. Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson make up arguably the best safety combo in the NFL and I do like Murphy and Wilson despite neither being "lock-down" CB. IMO the soft scheme makes the group look worse than they are which isn't helped by a inconsistent pass rush.

I also am mesmerized by the development of Collins and Simmons. Both are such special athletes that I am consistently interested to see what they do on gameday even if it is not all good things.
 

dreamcastrocks

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this should be stickied or something. 10/10 post - optimism grounded in reality. I agree with most, but none more than Steve Keim looking like a thumb with a face :lol:
Except that he called Keim a B- GM. That is generous to say the least.
 

Chopper0080

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Knowing the user i think he doesn't believe on most of his points
I figure that they aren't going to get much run, but both Cam Thomas and Myjai Sanders have more pedigree than we have seen from drafted edge player since Reddick. And in this case, they are currently both still playing on the EDGE. And Jesse Luketa played meaningful snaps on a big time program in Penn St. He may be transitioning to EDGE as well which would be the right move IMO.

Like most of Keim's moves, I like the draft class in and of itself more than I like it as part of a long-term roster plan. What I mean by that is that Trey McBride is an exciting player but him being on a roster with Zach Ertz who just signed a 3 year deal dampens the excitement.

Lots of physical skill and experience in that group.
 

unseenaz

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If I had more faith in Vance, I would actually be pretty excited about Zach Allen, Cam Thomas, Zaven Collins, Myjai Sanders and Jesse Luketa as 3-4 EDGE/DE group. Lots of good athletes in there.
at least if any of them are good we will never have to think "are they just a system player?"
 

Cheesebeef

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3 Things That Pique My Interest:

1. Another year of development from Kyler.

2. Zaven/Simmons combo

3. The offense once Hop comes back. Between Hop, Hollywood, Ertz, Green, last year’s room who I can’t remember his name, that’s A LOT of receiving options… if Kyler isn’t running for his life or dead by Game 7.
 

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you are the boards ultimate contrarian, which i respect

of the Cardinal triumvirate of GM, HC and QB i agree that GM is the weakest link.

Because of his draft failures, he has to spend future picks and cap space to fill gaps. His roster construction frustrates me, as he says the right things, but then doesnt draft for it.

for HC and QB: both were developmental selections, but that isn't an excuse now. Because both of them are pretty polarizing from day 1, i think lots of people (media/ fans / etc.) focus on their weaknesses and ignore their strengths.
 

ASUCHRIS

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Except that he called Keim a B- GM. That is generous to say the least.
I'd argue far too generous. There are some useful pieces, but we're also terrible in the trenches on both sides of the ball, and the long term vision in terms of both contracts and roster construction appear to be a mystery.

Ultimately, the buck stops at Keim, and 7+ years without a playoff win is a total failure. Every other team in our division has been to the Super Bowl twice since we've been there, and every other team in the NFC West is happy to have Keim remain in charge.
 

Harry

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People seem pretty down about this season, which seems kind of wild because we have something that a lot of people have been begging for — organizational stability at the three most important positions in a franchise:

General Manager Steve Keim. Keim's first- and second-round picks have been pretty trash his entire time here. His marquee free agent signings rarely last more than 12 months. He looks like a thumb with a face. But he's managed to pull this roster down to studs and rebuild it twice now, both with stopgap veteran QBs who outperformed their contracts and draft status and a risky, unique QB prospect. He manages to keep his failson owner in the spotlight without having him meddle (too much) with the actual football operations. He's a B- GM.

Head Coach and Offensive Playcaller Kliff Kingsbury.
It was always unreasonable to believe that Kingsbury was going to land in the NFL and transform offensive football. He wasn't transformative at Texas Tech — he just put a handsome face on an Air Raid offense designed by weirdo Mike Leach. It drives a lot of fans crazy, but Kingsbury put the responsibility for team failures on himself and puts a relentless focus on how he can overcome challenges. He systematically identifies his major weaknesses each offseason and works to bolster them. It is time that he adapts more dynamically to the challenges created by opponents and his own enigmatic quarterback, but he's a B+ head coach.

Starting Quarterback Kyler Murray.
A lot of people including me will be Big Mad about Kyler's contract, but in two or three years it's going to seem like (and be) a significant bargain. Kyler is a unique and (maybe) difficult personality to really get behind, but from play to play there's no more electric athlete in the NFL. Kyler is willing to put in work in the offseason and has a passion for winning — even if reasonable people can disagree about how he chooses to direct that energy. He has elite arm talent, elite accuracy, and elite athleticism for the position. He needs to learn how to weather adversity and not panic during situational football moments like the two-minute drill. He's an A- quarterback.

Aside from the promise of having an above-average leadership group for the next three to five seasons, here are five things I'm excited about for 2022:

1. Rondale Moore Year 2. The last three-quarter's of Moore's rookie season were pretty trash. But in his first five games the mighty mite wideout was on pace for over 1000 yards from scrimmage. He had over 100 yards receiving in his second professional appearance.

2. We might really have a tight end now. The Cardinals haven't been settled at Tight End since they've been in Arizona except for a short time when Jim Dray was clearly the league's best player at the position. Real ones remember thinking that Freddie Jones solved the problem. Zach Ertz represents the latest hope — just ignore that he had a negative DVOA and was 32nd in DYAR.

3. Hard-shell defense. There's a chance that J.J. Watt and Zach Allen stay healthy and this defense is one of the best in the NFL. There's a greater chance that this defense remains fairly soft and error-prone in the front-seven and Byron Murphy, Budda Baker, Jalen Thompson, and Marco Wilson create a last line of defense that becomes difficult to come back against once the offense goes up by two scores.

4. Red Raid pouring down. People don't believe that Kliff runs an Air Raid offense, although I think we can all agree that he seems to want to spread the field (no one runs more 4 and 5 WR sets than the Cards) and he wants to play with high tempo to reduce the amount of adjustments opponents can make. It's extremely exciting when Kyler and Kliff are rolling and the offense is moving quickly down the field. I think one reason the passing game hasn't been more dynamic is that we haven't had the personnel to attack down the field the way you'd want. Hollywood Brown has shown to be productive at all three levels in the NFL, and could open up more gaps in coverage if Kliff and Kyler are willing to attack outside areas more aggressively.

5. Young pass rushers. Chandler Jones has held down one of the OLB positions for so long and so consistently it's difficult to remember a time when the Cards were depending on a few young studs to emerge to put pressure on the QB. In 2015 the Cards deployed Rookie second rounder Markus Golden alongside emerging third-year player Alex Okafor.
Wish you had been grading me my freshman year!
My five
1 McBride
2 Moore
3 Simmons
4 RB Group
5 Brown
 

oaken1

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I figure that they aren't going to get much run, but both Cam Thomas and Myjai Sanders have more pedigree than we have seen from drafted edge player since Reddick. And in this case, they are currently both still playing on the EDGE. And Jesse Luketa played meaningful snaps on a big time program in Penn St. He may be transitioning to EDGE as well which would be the right move IMO.

Like most of Keim's moves, I like the draft class in and of itself more than I like it as part of a long-term roster plan. What I mean by that is that Trey McBride is an exciting player but him being on a roster with Zach Ertz who just signed a 3 year deal dampens the excitement.

Lots of physical skill and experience in that group.
Imo mcbride shows a shift in keims philosophy. TE's notoriously take a long time to develop. Imo, mcbride was drafted to be ertz replacement...giving him a couple seasons to grow into the role is a good idea...and if he happens to be a rare guy that shows up early then its a big win.
Round 2 was a bit of a dead zone...might have gotten an edge guy that wasnt a reach...but the IOL at that point were reaches.
Not sure about corners.

For me, the guard or wr i wanted were gone...then we traded the pick...the pass rusher i wanted in 2 was gone before 55 so mcbride was a good pick.... Alec Peirce was gone by 55...or i would have doubled down and picked him there
 

Russ Smith

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Drunk or sarcasm (-:

I actually am excited about Rondale, I know he had a good camp the first year it seems like we sort of never adjusted to defenses adjusting to him last year but I do think he'll be a much bigger factor this year. And I actually am thinking TE is going to be a strength, Zach is always open and catches almost everything, McBride I think can be good, and if Maxx gets back we will have the best group of TE's we've had since we gave Novacek and Awalt to divison rival Dallas)-:

My concerns are pass rush and the OL, for obvious reasons with Hudson's situation
 
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kerouac9

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Imo mcbride shows a shift in keims philosophy. TE's notoriously take a long time to develop. Imo, mcbride was drafted to be ertz replacement...giving him a couple seasons to grow into the role is a good idea...and if he happens to be a rare guy that shows up early then its a big win.
Round 2 was a bit of a dead zone...might have gotten an edge guy that wasnt a reach...but the IOL at that point were reaches.
Not sure about corners.

For me, the guard or wr i wanted were gone...then we traded the pick...the pass rusher i wanted in 2 was gone before 55 so mcbride was a good pick.... Alec Peirce was gone by 55...or i would have doubled down and picked him there
This is hardly a shift in Keim's philosophy. He constantly tries to do this, he just almost always fails and leaves the team in a worse situation.

Worked out okay for Dockett -> Campbell
Campbell -> Nkeimdiche FAIL
Massie/Veldheer -> Humphries Started off bad but has been okay
Mathieu -> Baker Budda's been solid but Honey Badger is special
Kirk -> Moore FAIL
Sendlein -> Cole FAIL
 

Zalixar

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I too drink the kool-aid only to revive each year with a deeper wound than before.

My only wish is for the Cardinals to be there at my funeral so they can let me down one last time.
 
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phillycard

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I know this may be completely under the radar and not high on most fans list of things to watch, but I'm hopeful Victor Dimukeje shows something this year. I was geeked at the potential based on his draft footage, and I realize he didn't flash much last year, but I have high hopes for the guy and will be sure to keep an eye out for him.
 

Cardsfaninlouky

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I know this may be completely under the radar and not high on most fans list of things to watch, but I'm hopeful Victor Dimukeje shows something this year. I was geeked at the potential based on his draft footage, and I realize he didn't flash much last year, but I have high hopes for the guy and will be sure to keep an eye out for him.
We definitely have some edge rushers to pick from this year. The VJ defense is just so complicated though, who plays depends on who picks it up the fastest I guess?
 

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