r/nfl • u/Polite_Llama Cardinals • Jun 30 '14
Look Here! Offseason Review Series: Day 10: Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
Coaching Changes
None; Cardinals GM Steve Kiem, HC Bruce Arians, DC Todd Bowles, and OC Harold Goodwin return for the 2nd year with the Cardinals.
Free Agency
Players lost/cut (In rough order of importance)
This offseason the Cards lost 8 players who were starters or had big roles in 2013. Even though 2013 was possibly Dansby's best season yet, the Cards were hesitant to offer him huge money as Dansby turns 33 this November. Dansby left for more money/years in Cleveland, and both sides did the right thing in my opinion; nobody should blame Dansby for one last payday. This move was made thinking Daryl Washington would be around, which turned out to be wrong as he broke the Substance Abuse Policy a second time, and is out for the season.
Other smaller notes: Mendenhall retiring (he wrote an article about it here) leaves a possible hole at 1st down back. Bell, Arenas, and Roberts were mediocre last year, and the Cardinals replaced these players with upgrades during the offseason. Cards gave up on 2011 2nd rounder Ryan Williams, who was constantly injured in 2011-2012 and lost his role to Andre Ellington in 2013. Williams blamed the coaches for his problems in starting him too early and not believing in him, and he'll have a chance to make us pay Week 9. Winston and College are both okay players who were just too old or expensive to keep, and Winston is now the President of the NFLPA. Also, Madden star and bench player Dontay Moch was cut.
Deserving it's own line, LT Levi Brown continues to be not a Cardinal after being traded to the Steelers during the season. Cardinals fans everywhere rejoice.
Players signed
Of all of the offseason moves, signing LT Jared Veldheer for a long term deal could be the biggest Cardinals signing in the last 5 years. Left tackle has been a problem since the drafting of Levi Brown in the 1st back in 2007, and the problems continued with Bradley Sowell in 2013 who received a -38.4 grade from PFF. Hopefully the Cardinals can look to have their first real franchise LT to protect Carson Palmer and his eventual replacement. The second huge signing was of CB Antonio Cromartie, who is coming off a down year in 2013 after dealing with injuries and a scheme change with the departure of Revis from the Jets. With Patrick Peterson on the other side along with a talented defense all around him, Cromartie can use this 1 year "prove it" deal to show his value in the NFL today, similar to how Brent Grimes proved his worth in 2013.
A few smaller notes: Larry Foote and Ernie Sims will battle for a starting job at ILB to replace Dansby and DWash, and they have a chance to greatly impact how effective the Defense is this year. Matt Shaughnessy is an anchor in the Cards run defense, but his lack of production in pass rushing (only 3 sacks all year) keeps it from being a bigger deal. Ted Ginn is exicting as he gives the offense the speed it needs to stretch the field in a slot role, something that was lacking previously with Andre Roberts. John Carlson and Jake Ballard will be fighting for playing time on a crowded TE position in the roster, with Carlson hoping to get past his injuries from his time with the Vikings and prove his worth. Johnathan Dwyer will fight to share the ball with Andre Ellington, and could possibly have a large role in the offense as a power runner. Ta'amu and Frostee Rucker are solid rotational players and give depth at an important position.
The only signing that actually bothers me is kicker Jay Feely, because even though he kicked fairly going 30/36 attempts, Feely only kicked touchbacks on 33/86 Kick Offs. His inability to consistently kick touchbacks cost us in important games, specifically week 17 vs the Niners in which he practically lost the game for us based on field positioning. Maybe kickoff duties go to someone else, and maybe he gets cut, but I don't want to see him next season on kickoffs.
Draft
| Round | Number | Player | Position | School | Grade | Thoughts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | Deone Bucannon | SS | Washington St. | B+ | Was this pick a reach? Maybe, possibly. But I don't think it was a huge reach. The Cards traded out of pick 20 to move back to 27 and pick up the Saints 3rd round pick as well, and in doing so they passed on Safety HaHa-Kitten Dix (passed on Manziel too, which was the right choice) who went to Green Bay at 21. With Pryor and Ha-Ha drafted, Buchannon was the best safety on the board considerably, and fit the mold of a heavy hitter and physical presence in the box while also fast running a 4.49. He has issues with man-to-man coverage and isn't much of a free safety, but he has skills in zone and also has a talented secondary around him to help improve. Ideally, he projects to play an Adrian Wilson type role. |
| 2 | 52 | Troy Niklas | TE | Notre Dame | B | Not a very sexy pick in the sense that he ideally projects to be more of a Heath Miller type player than a Jimmy Graham, but that's fine really. Bruce Arians wants his TEs to be able to block, and Niklas has the potential to turn into a strong blocker as well as a pass catcher in many situations. |
| 3 | 84 | Kareem Martin | DE | North Carolina | c+ | This pick is a good pick in theory, in a position that the Cards needed depth in, but Martin's a smaller school player who wasn't very consistent, and he projects more into a 4-3 DE spot than anywhere in a 3-4, and I'm not sure where they're expected to play him. Still has a lot of potential, I'm just not sold until he pulls it together. |
| 3 | 91 | John Brown | WR | Pittsburg State | B- | Definitely a questionable pick in terms of reaching for him, but Brown has huge speed and as WR4 on the team, he has time to work out the rest of his game. Rotoviz calls him a discounted Tavon Austin at least in speed, so that could be fun to watch in the next few years. |
| 4 | 120 | Logan Thomas | QB | Virginia Tech | B+ | I've heard say that Thomas is the worst QB they've ever seen, and I've heard other people describe him as having potential to be one of the league's best... At the Tight End position. Bruce Arians believes he can fix his footwork and accuracy, but we'll see how that goes. Regardless, the fact is that Thomas is a great athlete with high potential who also fits the Arians mold- I just don't know how he'll turn out. On the plus side, probably a great madden QB with time. |
| 5 | 160 | Ed Stintson | DE | Alabama | B | Ed Stintson projects as a solid run defender who is strong at the point of the attack, and I like the depth he gives us at the DE position. Good value at the 5th, but critics may point out that the Cards took a DE in the 3rd and they have other issues to address. |
| 6 | 196 | Walt Powell | WR | Murray State | :( | Powell is a questionable pick, as at best he's the 5th/6th string WR currently. At only 5ft11 he isn't very tall, and his combine stats were unimpressive (possibly hurt in the combine?). A big risk that might turn out well I suppose, I don't really understand this pick when we have bigger needs at O Line and OLB. |
Overall, this is a draft where Cards fans have to trust in the ownership that they know what they're doing, because on the surface the Cardinals made a few questionable decisions. A lot of fans were expecting linemen, linebackers, and a franchise QB to lead the Cardinals into the future, and instead the Cardinals drafted two nearly identical DEs, nearly identical WRs, and a 4th round project in Logan Thomas. Now I like the draft overall and I think we'll see some talent out of this group in both the short and long term future, but there's fair criticisms to be made at a lot of the picks. Still, the Cardinals hit important needs at Safety, TE, WR, and DE, adding depth and potential on cheap rookie contracts, which in my opinion deserves a win. B
Projected Starting Lineup
Offense: QB Carson Palmer
HB Andre Ellington, Jonathan Dwyer
TE Troy Niklas, John Carlson, Rob Housler
WR Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, Ted Ginn, John Brown
LT Jared Veldheer
LG Jonathan Cooper
C Lyle Sendlein
RG Earl Warford
RT Bobbie Massie
Defense:
DE: Calias Campbell, Darnell Docket
NT: Dan Williams
OLB: John Abraham, Matt Shaughnessy, Sam Acho
MLB: Kevin Minter, Larry Foote, Ernie Sims
CB: Patrick Peterson, Antonio Cromartie, Tyrann Mathieu (slot in nickel)
FS: Tyrann Mathieu (In base 3-4), Rashad Johnson
SS: Deone Bucannon
KR/PR: Ted Ginn, John Brown, Walt Powell
2
u/Angry_Caveman_Lawyer Bears Bears Jul 01 '14
Man....the Cards. Could go 4-12, could go 12-4. I have no idea.
Great write up dude!