State of the Team: Arizona Cardinals

[kerouac9]

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/state-team/2013/state-team-arizona-cardinals

Bruce Arians has a sizeable rebuilding project ahead of him, and this time there’s no Andrew Luck to center everything around. Arians runs a fairly aggressive downfield passing game that features a heavy dose of pre-snap motion and condensed formations. The trade for tested veteran Carson Palmer will allow Arians to at least use most of his playbook, but a lack of talent in several key areas will still hinder this offense.

Enjoy.

 

[Catfish]

This view seems pretty dismal. I believe that we will fall somewhere between the prognosticators who say that we will threaten San Fran and Seattle, and the ones like this who have us ranked with the likes of Oakland and Buffalo. There is almost certainly help coming with the draft.

 

[BW52]

I notice the writer mentioned the Cards 10 FA signings I good player( Powers CB)8 Adequate ( Palmer Q,Mendenhall RB,Shaughnessy DE,Rucker DE,Alexander LB,Brinkley LB,Cason CB and Bell S ) and 1 Just a guy (Stanton QB).Could it be that this Coaching staff knows what their doing.

 

[JeffGollin]

The problem is that any analysis must, in and of itself be the outgrowth of a backwards snapshot in time, whereas the reality is that, since the end of the season, the landscape has been ever-changing:

New GM, new coaching staff, new starting and backup QB's, new safeties, new LB's, new RB, 3 OL's with one year more experience, new safeties, new #2 CB's and a draft yet to be held. Plus changes (both pro and con) to the other 3 teams in our division.

That's a lot of change, and a lot of unexpected things can happen.

 

[Red Dawn]

Good article from one of the better football sites. I am putting my Cardinal colored glasses on and chugging koolaid. I think coaching will make a huge difference this year. That alone gives me hope, anything is better than last year's gut-check.

 

[kerouac9]

This view seems pretty dismal. I believe that we will fall somewhere between the prognosticators who say that we will threaten San Fran and Seattle, and the ones like this who have us ranked with the likes of Oakland and Buffalo. There is almost certainly help coming with the draft.

I think you're projecting because I provided the link. This team was 5-11 for a reason.

EVERYONE is getting help in the draft. A rising tide lifts all boats, but lifts them all equally.

 

[Red Dawn]

.
EVERYONE is getting help in the draft. A rising tide lifts all boats, but lifts them all equally.

If the boat has a hole in it, it will not be lifted equally. If it is foundering due to the captain and crew's bad decisions, a new captain and crew might be able get control of the situation, right the ship and catch up to a fleet that has sailed.

 

[Dr. Jones]

Few 3-4 schemes have any chance at succeeding with an outside pass-rush duo as banal as Acho and Schofield. Both have flashed but not shined.

love it.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

The problem is that any analysis must, in and of itself be the outgrowth of a backwards snapshot in time, whereas the reality is that, since the end of the season, the landscape has been ever-changing:

New GM, new coaching staff, new starting and backup QB's, new safeties, new LB's, new RB, 3 OL's with one year more experience, new safeties, new #2 CB's and a draft yet to be held. Plus changes (both pro and con) to the other 3 teams in our division.

That's a lot of change, and a lot of unexpected things can happen.

Even though you just set the record for the amount of commas in a post/sentence, I agree with your view.

 

[Darkside]

Depressing read, thanks.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

 

[Jim Otis]

Let's pause for a moment , and look back 1 yr. at the circumstances our Head Coach found himself in . BA had to step up to the plate and assume the HC duties for a 12 game stretch . This was with a team that was so bad in 2011 they had the first pick in the draft , combined with a lot of their vetran players left . Under the Coaching of BA they went 9---3 with a rook QB that led the league in Int's .
Is my confidence through the roof for 2013 , you better beleive it is !!!!

 

[Darkside]

Agreed, but you offer a starving man a cracker and he's gonna think it's as good as steak.


Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

 

[NashDishesDimes]

A bit of a tacky article but it was a good read, thanks. The only part i disagree with is Acho as "just a guy". I consider him adequate. Hes smart and doesnt make too many mistakes.

 

[JeffGollin]

EVERYONE is getting help in the draft. A rising tide lifts all boats, but lifts them all equally.

No, no, no & no.

The rising tide lifts all boats differently because some teams draft better (& differently) than others.

 

[Hollywood]

I think you're projecting because I provided the link. This team was 5-11 for a reason.

EVERYONE is getting help in the draft. A rising tide lifts all boats, but lifts them all equally.

Do you really want to stand by this statement?

 

[kerouac9]

No, no, no & no.

The rising tide lifts all boats differently because some teams draft better (& differently) than others.

Do you really want to stand by this statement?

Look: Every team is going to have a draft in two weeks. 31 teams are going to have first-round picks, and another 30 or so are going to have 2nd round picks.

Everyone is going to walk away from the draft saying "Man, we got exactly what we wanted and needed. We're exactly where we expected to be."

To ASSUME that the Cards are going to be much better off, or even better off at all, than the rest of the NFL following the draft is an assumption without evidence.

How much help was on the way from the 2012 draft? One where Steve Keim was still the super-scout?

 

[Hollywood]

Look: Every team is going to have a draft in two weeks. 31 teams are going to have first-round picks, and another 30 or so are going to have 2nd round picks.

Everyone is going to walk away from the draft saying "Man, we got exactly what we wanted and needed. We're exactly where we expected to be."

To ASSUME that the Cards are going to be much better off, or even better off at all, than the rest of the NFL following the draft is an assumption without evidence.

How much help was on the way from the 2012 draft? One where Steve Keim was still the super-scout?

Teams can spin their draft any way they want but to say that the draft helps every team the same is just crazy. Just look at seattle and tell me if their boat was lifted the same as miami's

 

[TJ]

Meanwhile, Oakland is still waiting to be undocked.

 

[Jim Otis]

It seems that in every draft , some will choose wisely , some will make mistakes , and some will just get lucky .

 

[Jetstream Green]

If this team had Palmer last season, we would have won at least 4 more games...even with Whis' playcalling in my opinion. I'm pumped for this season

 

[kerouac9]

Teams can spin their draft any way they want but to say that the draft helps every team the same is just crazy. Just look at seattle and tell me if their boat was lifted the same as miami's

And that's fine. But to say that we can expect our boat to be lifted substantially higher when we got little from our draft class last year.

 

[LVCARDFREAK]

This is part of the reason Id be OK taking a Tavon Austin or a QB at #7. This team is not going to be very good this year. With the depth of O-Lineman in the draft the Cards can still pull a "shocker' at #7 and build towards the future selecting the "belly" of the team later on.

I know Keim and Arians wont say it, but be realistic, this is going to be a bad football team.

 

[oaken1]

it appears that many are overlooking the basic fact that some boats are more sound than others.....in fact, there are many that are just rotten and full of holes.......said boats would not be raised equally by a rising tide, but perhaps even flounder by the intake of weight and sink......

 

[kerouac9]

This is part of the reason Id be OK taking a Tavon Austin or a QB at #7. This team is not going to be very good this year. With the depth of O-Lineman in the draft the Cards can still pull a "shocker' at #7 and build towards the future selecting the "belly" of the team later on.

I know Keim and Arians wont say it, but be realistic, this is going to be a bad football team.

I disagree with this. The problem with Colledge and Snyder isn't that they suck, it's that they're not elite. The problem with the offensive line isn't that they have no players, it's that they have no players who you know are going to be able to win one-on-one battles. That's the problem.

I disagree that this draft is going to yield immediate offensive line starters in the 2nd or 3rd round. Is D.J. Fluker going to be an immediate starter at left tackle? Is he even going to be an upgrade over Massie immediately or in the long term at right tackle? I don't believe so.

I don't think this is going to be a "bad football team" if Carson Palmer can stay healthy. If Palmer plays in 14 games or more, this is going to be an average football team. There are too many veteran players on both sides of the football to be bad. If you have a solid QB, it's really hard to be a bad football team.

With Palmer upright and even with the offensive line starters and depth we have right now, and anticipating two steps back on defense, it's difficult for me to believe this team would lose more than 10 games.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Well according to this site:

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/state-team/2013/state-team-indianapolis-colts

Lists Toler as "just a guy". Who by the way the Colts paid almost $5M a year to.

Toler never could fully keep a starting job in Arizona; why will he keep one here?

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/state-team/2013/state-team-pittsburgh-steelers

William Gay is listed as "just a guy" and isn't even worthy of being mentioned in the notes.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/state-team/2013/state-team-new-england-patriots

Adrian Wilson is listed as adequate:

Don’t be surprised if this season it becomes more of an attacking, man-free/roving defense, thanks to the addition of Wilson. The ex-Cardinals safety is a fierce hitter and instinctive in-the-box hunter. He’s also a horrible read-and-react cover guy, which is why "man free" is a coverage that makes a lot of sense

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/state-team/2013/state-team-buffalo-bills

Kevin Kolb is listed as "Just a Guy"

Thanks to injuries, Kolb remains somewhat mysterious for a 28-year-old who has been in the league six years. He’s shown glimmers of promise at times, but if he were anything special, he wouldn’t have toggled between starter and backup throughout his career. He doesn’t quite play with the anticipation needed to offset his "just okay" arm strength

Beanie Wells isn't even on a team due to his failing knees.



Then they rank the Cardinals Defensive additions:

Good: Jerraud Powers

Adequate: Matt Shaughnessy, Frostee Rucker, Jasper Brinkley, Lorenzo Alexander, Antoine Cason, Yeremiah Bell

Just a Guy: Rashad Johnson


They rank the Cardinals Offensive additions:

Adequate: Carson Palmer, Reshard Mendenhall


So if you add up all of the moves, I see this as the Cardinals have made some smart moves and are headed in the right direction.