Originally posted by SECTION 11
We're going to have to win with at least one side of the ball that's completely dominating, and we need to decide in about a week which direction that is.
I've been reading this thread and have kind of been hoping that you were being your usual jocund self, but I'm beginning to think that you're being serious. I know you're a total Leftwich homer, Sec 11, but this is getting silly. Look behind the curtain, and you'll see that we're not far away from having a dominant D (to go along with out defense-oriented coach). Four players away, by my count, and the D will be peaking in 2005.
D-Line:
LDE: Kyle Vanden Bosch (2nd round, 2001) - 27 years old
DT: Wendell Bryant (1, 2002) - 25
DT: Ty Warren (2, 2003) - 24*
RDE: Terrell Suggs (1, 2003) - 23
LBs:
ROLB: Levar Fisher (2, 2002) - 26
MLB: Lance Mitchell (1, 2004) - 23*
LOLB: Raynoch (He changes his name back and goes to the Pro Bowl in 2004) Thompson (2, 2000) - 28
CBs:
Duane Starks (1, 1998) - 31
Drayton Florence (3, 2003) - 24*
David Barrett (4, 2000) - 28
S:
FS: Dexter Jackson (4, 1999) - 28
SS: Adrian Wilson (3, 2001) - 26
* - Denotes player who can be selected in other years, but needed to become dominant D.
See, Sec, by my count, we need three players on the Defense, of which we could easily get 2 in Draft 2003, to have a wicked-scary D for 2005. And they're almost all way young. To further illustrate my point, 8 of eleven players are already known commodities, because they've been on the team for at least a year.
Now, let's look at your offense heading into the 2005...
O-Line: I'm assuming that you see the O-line saying basically the same as it is now. Pete Kendall will be 32, Frank Garcia will be 33. This is the greatest known commodity, because we'll have seen all these players for at least two years.
RBs: You have an old guy (who will be 36 and you've somehow hypnotized into sitting at 3 on the depth chart), a guy who suffered a catastrophic knee injury 4 months ago, and a guy with one good year. Sounds like a recipe for 40 points a game.
QB: A #1 draft pick making $10 mil. a year, and may be worth it. The success rate for Top 10 QB prospects is probably lower than any other position in the Top 10 (I don't really have anything to back this up, but I suspect it's somewhere around there. It's a big unknown, but let's split the difference and say he ends up like Tim Couch.
TE: I assume you're spending the 2004 #1 on Winslow. So the D gets neglected again. Freddie Jones will be 31.
WR: The two starters haven't proven anything to anyone up to this point, one being an undrafted free agent rookie and the other a fifth-round selection. The slot player (a second rounder [no help for the D in the first 2 rounds of 2003!]) is just coming into his own, but still can't do much more than run fast in a straight line. Every time Byron drops back, he says a little prayer that the reciever will catch the ball.
Furthermore, you have an entire new coaching staff, because Coach Mac was fired after the 2003 season because the D wasn't able to stop anyone while the O struggled because of so much new personnell, and were blown out by 35 points in all but two games, which were won by field goals against last place teams.
Section 11, I know that you want us to draft Leftwich. Just say that, and don't make it seem like the Cards haven't already made the decision to build a solid D and a decent O. Tell the truth, and advocate that the Cards totally change direction right now and turn themselves into the Rams or the Saints.
I can't remember the last team that won the Super Bowl by outscoring opponents. The Rams might have done it in 1999, but they played good D. The 1998 (?) Vikes tried to do it, but lost to the Falcons in the NFC Champoinship game. The Saints the past two years have been all about O, and look where it got them. The Colts have been all about O, and they can't buy a win in the playoffs.
Don't say that going all-out on O is the best direction for the Cards to go from now on, because that's just not true. Say what is true, that you're tired of watching the games as they are, and are fine with a team that scored 27 points a game, but goes somewhere between 7-9 and 9-7 every year, but can't win in the playoffs.
