Grading the Cardinals coaching staff

Cbus cardsfan

Back to Back ASFN FFL Champion
Joined
May 14, 2002
Posts
21,148
Reaction score
6,584
Going into year 3, I thought and look at the Cards coaching staff and give a grade to the main coaches calling the shots. I'll go from position to coordinators to HC.
Start with the defense:
DL: Brentson Buckner- Grade A. The DL usually plays at a pretty good level and with high intensity. There's not a lot of highly invested draft capital in the DL and alot of unfamiliar names yet, Buckner has them performing on a consistent basis.

LB: Bill Davis- Grade D. Davis has been on a downward spiral for the last decade of his coaching career and there's a reason for it. It scares me that he's in charge of the Cards last 2 #1 draft picks. I hope he doesn't ruin their careers. His grade would be a F if not for the performance of Reddick last year but that may be more the work of OLB coach Charlie Bullen.

DB: Marcus Robertson- Grade B-. The secondary, overall, has been decent. Given the injuries and the development of Baker,(and even Murphy) I think he's done a pretty respectable job.

Defensive Coordinator: Vance Joseph- Grade B. People like to beat up VJ, in fact DC seems to be the whipping boy coach position on this board for years, all the way back to Bettcher and even Bowles at first, but Joseph's been pretty good and has the defense on an upward trajectory. The main thing is they're pretty good in the red zone and don't give up a boat load of points.

Special teams coach: Jeff Rodgers- Grade C. It wasn't a high bar to clear but Rodgers is an improvement over Amos. Still, they just don't seem to perform in the clutch and when it matters most

Now to the offense.

OL/run game coordinator: Sean Kugler- Grade C+. The OL has improved but it's not a strength. They are terrible when it comes to short yardage. He has gotten decent mileage out of Edmonds and Drake but nobody fears the Cards run game and that's with a defense never having to load the box.

Wide Receivers: David Raih- Grade F. Look at all the draft capital the Cards have invested in the WR position, from Kirk to Isabella, Butler, Johnson, and nothing to show for it. We'll see with Moore. Guys like Fitz, Hopkins and Green aren't a product of coaching/development of Jefferson. Jerry Sullivan is lumped in with Jefferson also. They've done a terrible job. Raih has been replaced by Jefferson.


Running Backs: James Saxon- Grade B. Like I mentioned earlier, the Cards have gotten decent mileage out Drake and Edmonds. We'll see if he can get anything out of Conner. Saxon hasn't been given a ton to work with but has yielded good results.

Head Coach/OC/QB- Kliff Kingsbury- Grade D-. I'm lumping QB coach, OC, and HC all into 1 because it's a Kingsbury's job and his offense/QB. There's not much to be said that hasn't already been said. When discussing the worst HC's in the league, Kingsbury's name is near/at the top. His offense leaves nothing to be desired, his time management is terrible, and the Cards are one of the most penalized teams in the NFL. I'm really hard-pressed to find one redeeming quality he brings to the table as a HC in the NFL.
 
Last edited:

Garthshort

ASFN Addict
Joined
Aug 11, 2002
Posts
9,001
Reaction score
4,860
Location
Scarsdale, NY
Cbus, you lost me at Davis with a D grade. Consider that our LB's are the best position group on our Defense, I come to the conclusion that you are not a Davis fan, and thus your grades are flawed. I will go back later, and see if anything else stands out.
 

juza76

ASFN Icon
Joined
Sep 5, 2009
Posts
13,672
Reaction score
9,384
Location
milan-italy
Kruger A, has done very well last season with a weak interior line
Kliff Kingsbury C- seems like he doesn't learn from his mistakes, boring dink dunk, burning timouts, questionable calls
Joseph D depressing see a unit lacking discipline, missing assignments, poor tackling and allowing a high % of third down conversions

Special teams coach B, despite not having good returners the coverage unit has been always solid
 
Last edited:

football karma

Happy in the pretense of knowledge
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Posts
14,739
Reaction score
12,872
tough on Jefferson, given he hasnt been with the team for a regular season game yet

Special teams has been pretty good. Agree on the low bar, but between punt blocks and successful fake punts, STs have turned better than average. No returns for TDs, but then again, havent surrendered one either.
 

QuebecCard

ASFN Addict
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Posts
5,026
Reaction score
7,100
Location
North of the 49th.
Do you ever blame Keim when it comes to anything? It’s like a 24/7 Kliff slander-fest from you.
--------------------------

If one has an issue with the talent assembled by Keim going into this season this isn't the thread for that debate.

If one thinks that this assemblage should win 10 games, then it comes down to coaching.
 

tnmike

Hall of Famer
Joined
Oct 22, 2006
Posts
1,397
Reaction score
1,535
Location
Nashville, TN
Oh wait, I just see that Jefferson got an F. Isn't this his FIRST year as WR coach. Thought that David Rath (?) had that job.
Yeah that pretty much renders this assessment as nonsense and BS, all derived from internet yahoo information
 

BullheadCardFan

Go for it
Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2005
Posts
60,073
Reaction score
22,623
Location
Bullhead City, AZ
Defensive Coordinator: Vance Joseph- Grade B. People like to beat up VJ, in fact DC seems to be the whipping boy coach position on this board for years, all the way back to Bettcher and even Bowles at first, but Joseph's been pretty good and has the defense on an upward trajectory. The main thing is they're pretty good in the red zone and don't give up a boat load of points.

Head Coach/OC/QB- Kliff Kingsbury- Grade D-. I'm lumping QB coach, OC, and HC all into 1 because it's a Kingsbury's job and his offense/QB. There's not much to be said that hasn't already been said. When discussing the worst HC's in the league, Kingsbury's name is near/at the top. His offense leaves nothing to be desired, his time management is terrible, and the Cards are one of the most penalized teams in the NFL. I'm really hard-pressed to find one redeeming quality he brings to the table as a HC in the NFL.
VJ's D gives up too many 1st downs on 3rd down plays after stopping them on 1st and 2nd

How many times are players out of position?

Over and Over

WR's and TE's wide open?

There is no way he deserves a B

I agree with the grade for KK
 
OP
OP
Cbus cardsfan

Cbus cardsfan

Back to Back ASFN FFL Champion
Joined
May 14, 2002
Posts
21,148
Reaction score
6,584
my bad on Jefferson. It was David Raih. I had a brain fart looking at the coaching staff bios.
 

Krangodnzr

Captain of Team Murray
Joined
Jul 21, 2002
Posts
34,275
Reaction score
30,219
Location
Orange County, CA
I'd disagree on Rodgers. The Cardinals coverage units on special teams have been some of the best in the NFL since he came. Not his fault that the Cardinals don't have good return men.
 

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
534,776
Posts
5,246,165
Members
6,273
Latest member
sarahmoose
Top