Harry
ASFN Consultant and Senior Writer
Well I have to admit that, though I was skeptical, Murray held up his end. He said the Cards should go beat Miami and then they should expect the front office to trade for help. The Cards have the money and enough teams are now reassessing their playoff chances that it will create opportunities. The question in part is if Ossenfort tries to build it will they come.
There seems to be an assumption on the board that Ossenfort can just pick the players he likes and add them to the team. Like you could just get them up at the supermarket. He is trying to fix what historically might be the most incompetent team in the history of the NFL. Many available players will be loaner, future free agents. Can we assume competent future free agents would want come to AZ? Have the Cards demonstrated enough competence to convince other teams’ players the AZ future is bright? The only way to know is to try.
Some say to keep them, then just pay them more than other teams. Except if they get hurt like Williams then they won’t win games for the Cards. The Cards would be short of money to buy a replacement. More and more teams are willing to guarantee money to the top free agents, which makes the gamble even riskier. That’s not the Cards’ typical style. To make major progress the Cards will need to convince multiple players to stay if they come. To do that the Cards may first need to get the team in better shape. Maybe Ossenfort thinks if he can first brighten the teams’ future through the draft, then he can attract a better level of free agent instead of settling for mediocre guys he can get now.
Then there’s style of play. Potential free agents want to go where the system maximizes their ability to succeed. Sadly at this point it’s not clear how the Cards want to attack on either side of the ball. Some guys are better in a 4-3 defense, others are better suited to a 3-4. Do they want to play in a zone or man style of secondary? Do they use press corners? On offense do they want to run first? Will the team use a zone blocking scheme for the O- line? Will the D-line use a one gap or 2 gap D-line system of responsibility? I’m not sure a free agent could be certain he was signing up for which system looking at today’s Cards. If they don’t like the system, will they still play hard?
How good are the Cards’ scouts? Is Ossenfort sure of them yet? You need to get guys on the way up. Do they have an injury that’s hard to detect in a physical? Even good teams have been fooled before. Every team gambles as they pick loaner potential free agents, but how confident are the Cards on making those choices?
Then there’s the question of how greatly the Cards are willing to diminish their upcoming drafts? The game plan seems to be to build through the draft. Is Ossenfort willing to shift direction? Finally, it’s unlikely they swap players. The Cards only real position of depth is safety and it seems unlikely they’d match up as even top safeties are of limited value.
For my money I’d make a move just because the players earned the right to expect help. Even if it’s not a game changer, it’s an important gesture.
There seems to be an assumption on the board that Ossenfort can just pick the players he likes and add them to the team. Like you could just get them up at the supermarket. He is trying to fix what historically might be the most incompetent team in the history of the NFL. Many available players will be loaner, future free agents. Can we assume competent future free agents would want come to AZ? Have the Cards demonstrated enough competence to convince other teams’ players the AZ future is bright? The only way to know is to try.
Some say to keep them, then just pay them more than other teams. Except if they get hurt like Williams then they won’t win games for the Cards. The Cards would be short of money to buy a replacement. More and more teams are willing to guarantee money to the top free agents, which makes the gamble even riskier. That’s not the Cards’ typical style. To make major progress the Cards will need to convince multiple players to stay if they come. To do that the Cards may first need to get the team in better shape. Maybe Ossenfort thinks if he can first brighten the teams’ future through the draft, then he can attract a better level of free agent instead of settling for mediocre guys he can get now.
Then there’s style of play. Potential free agents want to go where the system maximizes their ability to succeed. Sadly at this point it’s not clear how the Cards want to attack on either side of the ball. Some guys are better in a 4-3 defense, others are better suited to a 3-4. Do they want to play in a zone or man style of secondary? Do they use press corners? On offense do they want to run first? Will the team use a zone blocking scheme for the O- line? Will the D-line use a one gap or 2 gap D-line system of responsibility? I’m not sure a free agent could be certain he was signing up for which system looking at today’s Cards. If they don’t like the system, will they still play hard?
How good are the Cards’ scouts? Is Ossenfort sure of them yet? You need to get guys on the way up. Do they have an injury that’s hard to detect in a physical? Even good teams have been fooled before. Every team gambles as they pick loaner potential free agents, but how confident are the Cards on making those choices?
Then there’s the question of how greatly the Cards are willing to diminish their upcoming drafts? The game plan seems to be to build through the draft. Is Ossenfort willing to shift direction? Finally, it’s unlikely they swap players. The Cards only real position of depth is safety and it seems unlikely they’d match up as even top safeties are of limited value.
For my money I’d make a move just because the players earned the right to expect help. Even if it’s not a game changer, it’s an important gesture.
