My Cardinals' Starting Lineups Week 1, 2017

Mitch

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Here's what I would do --

Offense:

QB Palmer
RB Johnson
TE Gresham
HB Fitzgerald
WR Nelson
LT Humphries
LG Iupati
C Boehm*
RG Wetzel*
RT Veldheer
WR John Brown

* I believe that Wetzel is the 4th best OL on the roster. Boehm is better suited to play center. I like A.Q. Shipley, but feel that Boehm has more natural talent (but I am fine with either one starting). I like Dorian Johnson and feel he could start by mid-season, but don't want to rush him.

Base 34 Defense:

LOLB Golden
LDE Mauro
NT Peters
RDE Jones*
ROLB Reddick*
LILB Dansby
RILB Bucannon
LCB Peterson
SS Bethea
FS Baker*
RCB Mathieu*

* I would take the guess work out of the RCB position in the Base 34 by playing the Honey Badger there. No one on the roster is better cover CB than the Badger (other that Pat P) and teams are less likely to focus all their attention to throwing at the RCB. Sliding Jones down to CC's RDE role in the Base 34 puts Jones in a more naturally disruptive position, and it allows the coaches to be faster and more athletic on the edge with Reddick.

Nickel Defense:

LDE Golden
LDT Jarvis Jones*
RDT Nkemdiche
RDE Chandler Jones
NLB Dansby
NLB Reddick*
CB Peterson
CB Mathieu
CB Williams*
CB Baker
FS Bouka*

* Put Jarvis Jones in Okafor's role as an inside and outside (on X stunts with Golden) rusher. Move Reddick inside to blitz the A and B gaps, cover RBs or be the QB spy. Create the best one on one matches for Peterson, Mathieu, Williams and Baker. And then I would take Elie Bouka and his 4.3 speed, good length and athletic ability and have him play over the top.

* I have Brandon Williams right now over Bethel, but I think that Jamal Rolle, Rudy Ford or Sojourn Shelton might win that perimeter CB job. But I think Williams will be much improved this year and should be ready to start at RCB at some point in the season.

STs:

P Wile
LS Brewer
PK Dawson
PR Bouka
KR Logan

2nd Team Offense:

QB Gabbert
RB K. Williams
TE Momah
HB Jaron Brown
WR C. Williams
LT Wetzel
LG D. Johnson
C Shipley
RG Toner
RT Holden
WR Hogan

2nd team Base 34 Defense:

LOLB J. Jones
LDE Gunter
NT X. Williams
RDE Nkemdiche
ROLB T. Johnson
LILB Wright
RILB Reddick
LCB B. Williams
SS Drico Johnson
FS Bouka
RCB Ford

NDE Bevins
NLB G. Martin
NCBs Branch, Shelton, Bethel















 

juza76

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mitch
did bouka ever play a snap in the nfl?
its a long shot if he make the roster, putting him on the starting line up is almost a pipe dream
 

RugbyMuffin

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QB - Palmer
RB - D.Johnson
XR - John Brown
YR - Jaron Brown
SR - Larry Fitzgerald
TE - Jermaine Gresham
LT - Humphries
LG - Iupati
OC - Shipley
RG - Boehm
RT - Veldheer

DE - Nkemdiche/Gunter
NT - Peters/Williams
DE - Mauro/Rucker
OLB - Marcus Golden
ILB - Haason Reddick
ILB - Deone Bucanon
OLB - Chandler Jones
CB - Patrick Peterson
CB - Justin Bethel
FS - Tyrann Mathieu
SS- Antione Bethea

*** The Cardinals defense is so abnormal that a base defense of starters is kind of silly. There are so many hybrids, and tweeners that who knows who is going where. That is part of their strength though. They are tough defense but to be honest, this is a defense that relies on finesse and confusion.
 

Garthshort

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Mitch, I have no idea about who our CB2 will be, but doubt that it will be the HB. My guess is that HB starts at FS and not the rookie, Budda Baker. Gun to my head I'll go Bethel at CB2, assuming he's healthy. Mitch, you've given us plenty of food for thought.
 

Goldfield

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mitch
did bouka ever play a snap in the nfl?
its a long shot if he make the roster, putting him on the starting line up is almost a pipe dream
It wouldnt be a Mitch post without an underdog cracking the lineup. I do have a feeling we're going to see either HB or Baker playing corner at times
 

DVontel

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mitch
did bouka ever play a snap in the nfl?
its a long shot if he make the roster, putting him on the starting line up is almost a pipe dream
This, & where is Harlan Miller?

I wish Sojourn was at least 5'10. He's a good solid corner & would easily win the job over Bethel & Brandon Williams.
 
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Mitch

Mitch

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mitch
did bouka ever play a snap in the nfl?
its a long shot if he make the roster, putting him on the starting line up is almost a pipe dream

I put him as a nickel FS. That's not a starter, per se. Love the kid's speed and athletic ability.
 
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Mitch

Mitch

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Mitch, I have no idea about who our CB2 will be, but doubt that it will be the HB. My guess is that HB starts at FS and not the rookie, Budda Baker. Gun to my head I'll go Bethel at CB2, assuming he's healthy. Mitch, you've given us plenty of food for thought.

Honey Badger struggled at FS last year and has said himself that it doesn't suit his strengths. The coaches plan to move him up to SS this year...but I keep asking myself...what CB on the roster (other than Peterson) would give QBs pause about throwing in the direction of and without question that CB is the Honey Badger. In the nickel he shifts inside to slot CB. I think in the long run this combination (RCB and NCB) will keep him healthier and more productive than him playing SS and NCB. Plus, it finally gets the bull's eye off the RCB's back.
 
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Mitch

Mitch

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It wouldnt be a Mitch post without an underdog cracking the lineup. I do have a feeling we're going to see either HB or Baker playing corner at times

Haha, BEERZ, true...but some young players this year are going to have to step up. It may not be Elie Bouka, but it wouldn't surprise me if he does.
 
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Mitch

Mitch

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This is the thing...the RCB is still wide open. I like Rudy Ford. He could be that guy. But so could Brandon Williams, Justin Bethel, Sojourn Shelton (4 year starter in the Big Ten) or Jamal Rolle...or even Elie Bouka.

My thread is about who to start Week 1...and if there is no clear upgrade at RCB we cannot keep letting teams exploit that position. Honey Badger would be an answer. He plays with such good leverage and anticipation...plus he is an expert at baiting QBs.
 

MrYeahBut

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This is the thing...the RCB is still wide open. I like Rudy Ford. He could be that guy. But so could Brandon Williams, Justin Bethel, Sojourn Shelton (4 year starter in the Big Ten) or Jamal Rolle...or even Elie Bouka.

My thread is about who to start Week 1...and if there is no clear upgrade at RCB we cannot keep letting teams exploit that position. Honey Badger would be an answer. He plays with such good leverage and anticipation...plus he is an expert at baiting QBs.


I dunno, Mitch. We both saw enough of Williams and Bethel to make us wonder if either has improved sufficiently to actually play the position.
 

Cardiac

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Good stuff Mitch, you are a grinder. Let's say one of the youngins seizes the RCB position, where do you play HB then? My guess would be SS and then in the nickel he goes to SCB. I am fascinated to see how Bettcher utilizes all his hybrids!!! Budda, HB, Ford & Reddick could be lined up all over the place which will hide and camouflage schemes. Chandler can also move around and recall Los playing safety several years ago in a game.

Speaking of Los Rugby, why don't you have him listed?


I think it's way too early to write off Williams and while Bethel has had a ton of time in the league he hasn't received a lot of practice at CB (according to BA). My hope and belief is that SK has bought enough lottery tickets at the CB position at this point that one of them will pay off.
 

RugbyMuffin

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Speaking of Los Rugby, why don't you have him listed?

Because I do not think Dansby will be "starting", he will play but if I am writing out a base defense he is not the starter in pencil.

The Cardinals defense is so diverse and non-position oriented that there is not a true base defense, and starters are relative, IMHO.

You could say the "starters" are:

Cory Peters
Robert Nkemdiche
Josh Mauro
Rodney Gunter
Frostee Rucker
Chandler Jones
Marcus Golden
Jarvis Jones
Haason Reddick
Karlos Dansby
Deone Bucanon
Patrick Peterson
*Justin Bethel*
Tyrann Mathieu
Budda Baker
Antione Bethea

That is 16 guys for 11 positions.
 

Cardiac

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Because I do not think Dansby will be "starting", he will play but if I am writing out a base defense he is not the starter in pencil.

The Cardinals defense is so diverse and non-position oriented that there is not a true base defense, and starters are relative, IMHO.

You could say the "starters" are:

Cory Peters
Robert Nkemdiche
Josh Mauro
Rodney Gunter
Frostee Rucker
Chandler Jones
Marcus Golden
Jarvis Jones
Haason Reddick
Karlos Dansby
Deone Bucanon
Patrick Peterson
*Justin Bethel*
Tyrann Mathieu
Budda Baker
Antione Bethea

That is 16 guys for 11 positions.

It will be fun to see how this all plays out but I do disagree and think Los starts and plays in at least 80% of the snaps. Reddick may take some playing time from him as the season unfolds but especially early in the year I see Los as a major key cog in the machine.
 
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