2010 Cardinals' Roster Thoughts: The Offense

[Crazy Canuck]

Even if we draft an OT in the first round, I really doubt that he'll start as a rookie.

That's one thing that's so frustrating about the Dansby situation; this team has done such a good job at not forcing unprepared rookies into the starting lineup the past two or three years, and they've generally excelled.

The last rookie to be forced into the starting lineup? Levi Brown.

Injury led to Levi being "forced" into starting lineup.

 

[kerouac9]

Injury led to Levi being "forced" into starting lineup.

An injury to a player that no one here believed was starting material and hasn't appeared in the NFL since. I'm not sure that anyone expected Levi Brown to not be in the starting lineup opening day.

 

[HoodieBets]

Im not sold on matty and I feel with him starting we could see a 6-10 season, a good QB who can move the ball is what this team needs. The personnel does not suggest we can be a power rushing team. This team ran the ball better this year but what happens when matty is starting and teams stack up in the box? Warner made this team elite and without him this team goes back to mediocre as much as that pains me to even think about.

 

[Evil Ash]

Im not sold on matty and I feel with him starting we could see a 6-10 season, a good QB who can move the ball is what this team needs. The personnel does not suggest we can be a power rushing team. This team ran the ball better this year but what happens when matty is starting and teams stack up in the box?Warner made this team elite and without him this team goes back to mediocre as much as that pains me to even think about.

He'll pass the ball. You don't have run a spread offense in order to pass the ball believe it or not.

We have no idea if we have the personnel to have a run first offense because we generally gave up on so early. Warner doesn't like handing the ball off. He has said as much on many occassions. Plus he was slow to hand the ball off anyways.

Warner was very good for a spread, pass first offense. The last time he tried to run a run-first offense was in NY and they improved once he left. He just doesn't fit into that system

 

[HoodieBets]

He'll pass the ball. You don't have run a spread offense in order to pass the ball believe it or not.

We have no idea if we have the personnel to have a run first offense because we generally gave up on so early. Warner doesn't like handing the ball off. He has said as much on many occassions. Plus he was slow to hand the ball off anyways.

Warner was very good for a spread, pass first offense. The last time he tried to run a run-first offense was in NY and they improved once he left. He just doesn't fit into that system

So you think whiz will give leinart who isnt known for his good decision making the ability to audible at the line? When you have tools like boldin, fitzgerald, breaston and doucet they all have to be utilized and running smash mouth football isn't the answer.

We do not have the defense of the jets to play grind it out football, this team is at its best in shoot outs and exploiting mismatches with our WR's. Like some other people on this board im not fine with maybe throwing a year away just to see if the matt experiment will work out.

The NFL has turned into a pass first league, unless you have an outstanding defense that will give you short fields. Look at the playoffs with the cardinals, saints, colts, packers, patriots, eagles....all pass first teams, all set up the run by using the pass. To be successful in this league you have to be able to move the chains through the air and im not confident that matty can do that.

 

[Evil Ash]

So you think whiz will give leinart who isnt known for his good decision making the ability to audible at the line? When you have tools like boldin, fitzgerald, breaston and doucet they all have to be utilized and running smash mouth football isn't the answer.

We do not have the defense of the jets to play grind it out football, this team is at its best in shoot outs and exploiting mismatches with our WR's. Like some other people on this board im not fine with maybe throwing a year away just to see if the matt experiment will work out.

The NFL has turned into a pass first league, unless you have an outstanding defense that will give you short fields. Look at the playoffs with the cardinals, saints, colts, packers, patriots, eagles....all pass first teams, all set up the run by using the pass. To be successful in this league you have to be able to move the chains through the air and im not confident that matty can do that.

Yes, Whis trusts him enough to call audibles. He has said he has made all the right reads and the right decision but the execution was lacking when he came off the bench.

Q is likely going buh-bye -my guess is to the Ravens.

We can still run 3 WR sets we just don't have to do it 90% of the time like Warner wanted. Just because we are a run first team doesn't mean we are a run only team. We'd just use the run to set up the pass instead of the other way around. There'd still be a balance to the offense, Whiz would just just choose plays in a bit of a different order

Just because there were more spread, pass-first teams in the playoffs this year doesn't mean it will always be that way. Teams that execute win. This year it just so happens that the teams that executed this year happened to be pass first teams

 

[CaptTurbo]

Tavarus Jackson? Seriously? He could barely win with the same team Favre went 12-4 with or whatever.

Id rather have Beanie Wells at QB than Tavarus Jackson!

 

[HoodieBets]

Yes, Whis trusts him enough to call audibles. He has said he has made all the right reads and the right decision but the execution was lacking when he came off the bench.

Q is likely going buh-bye -my guess is to the Ravens.

We can still run 3 WR sets we just don't have to do it 90% of the time like Warner wanted. Just because we are a run first team doesn't mean we are a run only team. We'd just use the run to set up the pass instead of the other way around. There'd still be a balance to the offense, Whiz would just just choose plays in a bit of a different order

Just because there were more spread, pass-first teams in the playoffs this year doesn't mean it will always be that way. Teams that execute win. This year it just so happens that the teams that executed this year happened to be pass first teams

As much as we all dont want it to happen Q is here to stay, and what you say is a contradiction, how can we be so confident in a guy to change the play call when he cant execute?

And it is not just this year take a look at this years and last years superbowls,08' cardinals and steelers both were pass happy teams, steelers 23rd in the NFL in rushing the cardinals 32nd, this year colts 32nd in the NFL in rushing so three out of the last four super bowl participants are in the bottom third in the NFL with two of them being the WORST rushing team in the league. The league has changed.

 

[HoodieBets]

Tavarus Jackson? Seriously? He could barely win with the same team Favre went 12-4 with or whatever.

Id rather have Beanie Wells at QB than Tavarus Jackson!

I think its time we put rolle at QB he has a stronger arm than leinart lol

 

[Evil Ash]

As much as we all dont want it to happen Q is here to stay, and what you say is a contradiction, how can we be so confident in a guy to change the play call when he cant execute?

He didn't execute off of the bench. He did fine when he started. He came off the bench likely too excited and tried to do too much too soon.
Bad mechanics are fixable and the prep is completely different for a starter as compared to someone coming off of the bench

Some fans that have given up on the guy, not the coaching staff. You don't keep playing a guy you have no faith in.

And it is not just this year take a look at this years and last years superbowls,08' cardinals and steelers both were pass happy teams, steelers 23rd in the NFL in rushing the cardinals 32nd, this year colts 32nd in the NFL in rushing so three out of the last four super bowl participants are in the bottom third in the NFL with two of them being the WORST rushing team in the league. The league has changed.

Again teams that execute win. It doesn't matter what their style of play is.

We're still going to pass, it just won't be as often as this season and last season. This year we were more selective when we ran the ball and not as much passing. Next year it may just be the other way around. The ratio of run to pass will likely change but it may not change that much.

I think people here just want to repeat everything here the last few seasons no matter what. We just can't do that. QBs like Warner are incredibly hard to find and expecting to find a QB that fits this system just like he did is basically asking the impossible.

 

[kerouac9]

So you think whiz will give leinart who isnt known for his good decision making the ability to audible at the line? When you have tools like boldin, fitzgerald, breaston and doucet they all have to be utilized and running smash mouth football isn't the answer.

We do not have the defense of the jets to play grind it out football, this team is at its best in shoot outs and exploiting mismatches with our WR's. Like some other people on this board im not fine with maybe throwing a year away just to see if the matt experiment will work out.

The NFL has turned into a pass first league, unless you have an outstanding defense that will give you short fields. Look at the playoffs with the cardinals, saints, colts, packers, patriots, eagles....all pass first teams, all set up the run by using the pass. To be successful in this league you have to be able to move the chains through the air and im not confident that matty can do that.

The Saints were one of the best passing teams in the history of the NFL last season. It ended them in 3rd place in their division. When they had a running game with Pierre Thomas, they ended up heading to the Super Bowl.

The Patriots won three Super Bowls with a power rushing offense. Since they switched to the spread they lost a Super Bowl, missed the playoffs, and then went down at home in the playoffs.

Those other offenses featured quarterbacks who are not who Matt Leinart is... yet. Peyton Manning for years of his development was bolstered by a running game featuring Marshall Faulk and later Edgerrin James. How quickly people forget that in Donnie McNabb's infancy he was helped along through the rushing skills of Duce Staley and later Brian Westbrook. In 2009, Aaron Rogers certainly wasn't hurt by having the 14-th ranked rushing offense in the NFL.

You can even run a passing offense from run sets, but if Warner's gone I don't think that we're going to see Boldin next year in a Cardinals uniform. I don't think that this defense is that far away if more responsibility is placed on them. With the Rams and Seahawks rebuilding and the 49ers still in transition, even with a power-rushing game (especially with more of a power-rushing line behind Herman Johnson and Brandon Keith).

I guess the real question is that, if Warner leaves, do you REALLY think that there's another quarterback out there who the Cards are going to be able to build a different offense around? Do you really think that a third-round rookie or Brian St. Pierre is going to run the Warner offense better than Matt could run an offense built around his abilities?

One thing that people haven't noted is that the offense runs more smoothly when Matt is under center. You don't have timeouts called because the playclock is running out, or quarterbacks not being able to call the play on-time, etc., etc. That happens all the time with Kurt, and it hasn't happened at all when Matt comes in the game.

 

[joeshmo]

Concerning the pass first league comment. Thats a pretty easy comment to make considering that 85% of the NFL passed more then it ran the ball. So to put hings into context the NFL's average pass to run ratio is 54.75% pass to 45.25% run. 8 of the playoff teams were below that average the other 8 were above that average.

Of the super bowl teams Colts have the highest pass to run ratio and the Saints have one of the lowest. People kleep saying the saints are pass happy when in reality they are one of the more balanced teams in the NFL. They ran the ball more then 100 more times then the Colts did. The Saints are a balanced attack, they are not a passing attack.

Considering that I see no reason why we cant do the same as the Saints. Moving from a ratio of 62% pass to 54% pass. To put it into perspective that means running the ball 3 more times a game and passing it 5 fewer times a game.

 

[HoodieBets]

The Saints were one of the best passing teams in the history of the NFL last season. It ended them in 3rd place in their division. When they had a running game with Pierre Thomas, they ended up heading to the Super Bowl.

The Patriots won three Super Bowls with a power rushing offense. Since they switched to the spread they lost a Super Bowl, missed the playoffs, and then went down at home in the playoffs.

Those other offenses featured quarterbacks who are not who Matt Leinart is... yet. Peyton Manning for years of his development was bolstered by a running game featuring Marshall Faulk and later Edgerrin James. How quickly people forget that in Donnie McNabb's infancy he was helped along through the rushing skills of Duce Staley and later Brian Westbrook. In 2009, Aaron Rogers certainly wasn't hurt by having the 14-th ranked rushing offense in the NFL.

You can even run a passing offense from run sets, but if Warner's gone I don't think that we're going to see Boldin next year in a Cardinals uniform. I don't think that this defense is that far away if more responsibility is placed on them. With the Rams and Seahawks rebuilding and the 49ers still in transition, even with a power-rushing game (especially with more of a power-rushing line behind Herman Johnson and Brandon Keith).

I guess the real question is that, if Warner leaves, do you REALLY think that there's another quarterback out there who the Cards are going to be able to build a different offense around? Do you really think that a third-round rookie or Brian St. Pierre is going to run the Warner offense better than Matt could run an offense built around his abilities?

One thing that people haven't noted is that the offense runs more smoothly when Matt is under center. You don't have timeouts called because the playclock is running out, or quarterbacks not being able to call the play on-time, etc., etc. That happens all the time with Kurt, and it hasn't happened at all when Matt comes in the game.

The Patriots were the most prolific passing attack in history when they went 16-0 in route to the SB. In that year they only ran the ball because they blew out their opponent every game.

The saints absolutely use the pass to set up the run, they are balanced but people are more scared of the threat of Brees then they are peiere thomas and bush running the ball which in turn means the defense never puts 8 in the box. Who in their right mind would be scared of leinarts arm or accuracy?

I think people still think hes a young kid he will be going into his 5th pro year, should we not know by now whether he has the goods or not? Not once in his four years have we seen accuracy or being able to get into the endzone, whether that be in 06' first 5 games in 07' or the 8 games he was in this year.

K9 i dont care how smoothly the offense runs if its still not effective, and to answer another one of your questions yes I think there are QB's who will be available that can effectively run the offense such as Mcnabb and Kyle Orton who will be a RFA but was only a 4th round pick.

 

[kerouac9]

The Patriots were the most prolific passing attack in history when they went 16-0 in route to the SB. In that year they only ran the ball because they blew out their opponent every game.

The saints absolutely use the pass to set up the run, they are balanced but people are more scared of the threat of Brees then they are peiere thomas and bush running the ball which in turn means the defense never puts 8 in the box. Who in their right mind would be scared of leinarts arm or accuracy?

I think people still think hes a young kid he will be going into his 5th pro year, should we not know by now whether he has the goods or not? Not once in his four years have we seen accuracy or being able to get into the endzone, whether that be in 06' first 5 games in 07' or the 8 games he was in this year.

K9 i dont care how smoothly the offense runs if its still not effective, and to answer another one of your questions yes I think there are QB's who will be available that can effectively run the offense such as Mcnabb and Kyle Orton who will be a RFA but was only a 4th round pick.

If you remember, the Patriots didn't stop passing in the 2007 season. That was one reason that so many observers hated that team. Despite that, they still ranked 13th in the NFL in rushing, 11th in YPC, and 9th in the NFL in rushing attempts per game.

According to FootballOutsiders.com, in 2006 when Matt last had prolonged playing time, he was a better quarterback than Kurt Warner was. Things being equal, Matt was just about a league-average quarterback (-1.2% DVOA, -2.5& VOA).

In 2007, without any kind of a running game and when the team had to pass essentially every down, Matt was terrible. But Matt was never going to be a quarterback that you want to throw the ball 35 times a game.

If you expect Matt Leinart to come in and play like Kurt Warner in the offense that you've seen for the last two years, then yes, you're going to be disappointed. Here's a news flash: Matt Leinart is not going to be 2008 Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, or Kurt Warner.

Again, if you have some strategy to get those guys, I'd love to hear it. But unless you consider Daunte Culpepper, maybe Jason Campbell (although I think he'll get a new deal in Washington), Joey Harrington, and any of the other dregs of the NFL free agent quarterback market an upgrade, then I think you're stuck with Matt.

McNabb and Orton are not available. What makes you think that Orton would be any better on this team than Matt Leinart would be? Orton was fine last season, but his offensive line was head and shoulders above what Leinart may be playing behind next year. Also, despite that offensive line, Orton is the ultimate dink-and-dunk passer. He only averaged 7 YPA last year despite having a great deep target in Marshall.

 

[CardLogic]

Orton? What are the Broncos going to do; forgo having a QB altogether and keep 9 RB's on the roster?

 

[Mulli]

Orton was horrible in the final couple/few weeks. Getting dominated by the Chefs?

Come on, people.

 

[HoodieBets]

If you remember, the Patriots didn't stop passing in the 2007 season. That was one reason that so many observers hated that team. Despite that, they still ranked 13th in the NFL in rushing, 11th in YPC, and 9th in the NFL in rushing attempts per game.

According to FootballOutsiders.com, in 2006 when Matt last had prolonged playing time, he was a better quarterback than Kurt Warner was. Things being equal, Matt was just about a league-average quarterback (-1.2% DVOA, -2.5& VOA).

In 2007, without any kind of a running game and when the team had to pass essentially every down, Matt was terrible. But Matt was never going to be a quarterback that you want to throw the ball 35 times a game.

If you expect Matt Leinart to come in and play like Kurt Warner in the offense that you've seen for the last two years, then yes, you're going to be disappointed. Here's a news flash: Matt Leinart is not going to be 2008 Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, or Kurt Warner.

Again, if you have some strategy to get those guys, I'd love to hear it. But unless you consider Daunte Culpepper, maybe Jason Campbell (although I think he'll get a new deal in Washington), Joey Harrington, and any of the other dregs of the NFL free agent quarterback market an upgrade, then I think you're stuck with Matt.

McNabb and Orton are not available. What makes you think that Orton would be any better on this team than Matt Leinart would be? Orton was fine last season, but his offensive line was head and shoulders above what Leinart may be playing behind next year. Also, despite that offensive line, Orton is the ultimate dink-and-dunk passer. He only averaged 7 YPA last year despite having a great deep target in Marshall.

I dont expect him to be half of any of those guys which is why I feel the way this team is set up he will not succeed. Orton is accurate and makes good decisions and would be ideal for all the underneath routes we run especially with the receiving backs we have.

You need a stud defense or a stud QB to be a success in this league. 9 of the top 12 teams in the NFL in passing were in the playoffs, 8 of the top 12 teams in the NFL in total yards allowed were in the playoffs, while only 5 of the top 12 teams in the NFL in rushing yards made the playoffs. 9 of the top 12 QB's according to completion percentage were in the playoffs. Now you tell me if you think leinart will be in the top 12 next year in completion percentage which would mean about 64% or in the top 12 in passing. I can already tell you right now the defense wont be in the top 12, so what does that mean for the cardinals playoff chances for next year?

 

[Duckjake]

Concerning the pass first league comment. Thats a pretty easy comment to make considering that 85% of the NFL passed more then it ran the ball. So to put hings into context the NFL's average pass to run ratio is 54.75% pass to 45.25% run. 8 of the playoff teams were below that average the other 8 were above that average.

Of the super bowl teams Colts have the highest pass to run ratio and the Saints have one of the lowest. People kleep saying the saints are pass happy when in reality they are one of the more balanced teams in the NFL. They ran the ball more then 100 more times then the Colts did. The Saints are a balanced attack, they are not a passing attack.

Considering that I see no reason why we cant do the same as the Saints. Moving from a ratio of 62% pass to 54% pass. To put it into perspective that means running the ball 3 more times a game and passing it 5 fewer times a game.

Again you just throw stats out there instead of watching the games.

When you are ahead 35-10 at halftime you are going to run the ball multiple times in the 3rd and 4th quarters. For example in the Saints win over the Giants they ran the ball 11 times over their last 12 plays because they were so far ahead.

 

[kerouac9]

I dont expect him to be half of any of those guys which is why I feel the way this team is set up he will not succeed. Orton is accurate and makes good decisions and would be ideal for all the underneath routes we run especially with the receiving backs we have.

You need a stud defense or a stud QB to be a success in this league. 9 of the top 12 teams in the NFL in passing were in the playoffs, 8 of the top 12 teams in the NFL in total yards allowed were in the playoffs, while only 5 of the top 12 teams in the NFL in rushing yards made the playoffs. 9 of the top 12 QB's according to completion percentage were in the playoffs. Now you tell me if you think leinart will be in the top 12 next year in completion percentage which would mean about 64% or in the top 12 in passing. I can already tell you right now the defense wont be in the top 12, so what does that mean for the cardinals playoff chances for next year?

Well, we're not going to get a "stud QB" in the draft or through free agency.

Want to know how you build the next Drew Brees? Do what coaches did with the old Drew Brees: Have him hand off to a stud RB like LaDanian Tomlinson on first and second down and then pass out of play action on third-and-5 for two or three years. Want to build the next Phillip Rivers? Do the same thing. The next Peyton Manning? Have him hand off to Marshall Faulk and Edgerrin James. The next Tono Romo? Have him hand off to Marion Barber on first and second down for two years. The next Ben Roethlisberger? Have him hand off to guys like Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker. The next Tom Brady? Have him hand off to Antowain Smith and Kevin Faulk 300 times his first three years as a starter and Corey Dillon 345 in his fourth.

You need reps to succeed in the NFL. Matt just hasn't gotten the reps in this system. Even Kurt had tons of reps in the Arena League and NFL Europe before exploding in the NFL "out of nowhere."

If you don't think that Matt Leinart is going to be worth anything in the NFL, then you might as well just advocate that the Cards trade him to San Francisco for Alex Smith. Smith is a guy that you can run the Kurt Warner offense with. He's had the reps in a spread offense and the 49ers couldn't run Raye's system with Smith, but could with Warner. But it's way, way too early to say that we know that Matt can't play in this league.

Matt Leinart's had fewer pass attempts in his career (595) than Tom Brady had 2002, his first full season as a starter (601). It's just too early to throw the 10th overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft on the scrap heap before he's had a chance to play.

 

[kerouac9]

Again you just throw stats out there instead of watching the games.

When you are ahead 35-10 at halftime you are going to run the ball multiple times in the 3rd and 4th quarters. For example in the Saints win over the Giants they ran the ball 11 times over their last 12 plays because they were so far ahead.

Okay, but against the Buffalo Bills the Saints came out and had 5 passes and 5 rushes on their opening drive. Second drive, 3 rushes, 5 passes, ending in a punt (including a rush on 1st and 20 after a holding penalty that went for 17 yards). Third drive: 4 passes, 3 rushes.

Saints end up winning the game 27-7, but run the ball 33 times (not counting Brees scrambles) and pass the ball 29 times (not counting Brees sacks).

 

[Duckjake]

Okay, but against the Buffalo Bills the Saints came out and had 5 passes and 5 rushes on their opening drive. Second drive, 3 rushes, 5 passes, ending in a punt (including a rush on 1st and 20 after a holding penalty that went for 17 yards). Third drive: 4 passes, 3 rushes.

Saints end up winning the game 27-7, but run the ball 33 times (not counting Brees scrambles) and pass the ball 29 times (not counting Brees sacks).

But that doesn't change the fact that just using stats doesn't prove anything.

You have to look at the circumstances that produced those stats. Something most people don't do.

Besides the Bills are about as bad an example as you can use. They gave up 974 yards rushing in just 4 games against Miami and the Jets for Christ's sake.

 

[HoodieBets]

Well, we're not going to get a "stud QB" in the draft or through free agency.

Want to know how you build the next Drew Brees? Do what coaches did with the old Drew Brees: Have him hand off to a stud RB like LaDanian Tomlinson on first and second down and then pass out of play action on third-and-5 for two or three years. Want to build the next Phillip Rivers? Do the same thing. The next Peyton Manning? Have him hand off to Marshall Faulk and Edgerrin James. The next Tono Romo? Have him hand off to Marion Barber on first and second down for two years. The next Ben Roethlisberger? Have him hand off to guys like Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker. The next Tom Brady? Have him hand off to Antowain Smith and Kevin Faulk 300 times his first three years as a starter and Corey Dillon 345 in his fourth.

You need reps to succeed in the NFL. Matt just hasn't gotten the reps in this system. Even Kurt had tons of reps in the Arena League and NFL Europe before exploding in the NFL "out of nowhere."

If you don't think that Matt Leinart is going to be worth anything in the NFL, then you might as well just advocate that the Cards trade him to San Francisco for Alex Smith. Smith is a guy that you can run the Kurt Warner offense with. He's had the reps in a spread offense and the 49ers couldn't run Raye's system with Smith, but could with Warner. But it's way, way too early to say that we know that Matt can't play in this league.

Matt Leinart's had fewer pass attempts in his career (595) than Tom Brady had 2002, his first full season as a starter (601). It's just too early to throw the 10th overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft on the scrap heap before he's had a chance to play.

Are you willing to say this year is a transition year then? In essence this year will be used to see if Matt can play in the NFL, Im just not comfortable with that approach.

 

[joeshmo]

Again you just throw stats out there instead of watching the games.

When you are ahead 35-10 at halftime you are going to run the ball multiple times in the 3rd and 4th quarters. For example in the Saints win over the Giants they ran the ball 11 times over their last 12 plays because they were so far ahead.

How is this for circumstances.

1st half - Pass 56% Run 44%
2nd half - Pass 52% Run 48%

There is such a huge difference between their 1st half and their 2nd half's. They ran the ball a whole 4 more times (passed 4 less) in the 2nd half per game then the 1st half. Multiple more times, hardly.

I dont need to watch a game to know that is such a huge difference and I concede to your point.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

I still like the idea of having a rare talent on the team in a true fullback who can open holes without closing their eyes like Krieder and catch the ball very well as they should have learned in college once again unlike Krieder.

I'd like to see the team have one stud like Evans from the saints and a decent backup to help in running plays so Dockett and Watson don't have to get in the backfield.Fullback is just another unused weapon on the Cardinals like the tightend has been for years.

Agreed. And I think we can find a true FB in Krieder or from another place. Not exactly a huge demand for the position.

Mitch, what are your thoughts on Tyler Thigpen? This kid has tools. Very much a dual threat at QB.

I'd bring this guy in whether Warner retires or not. He is a gamer.

People don't seem to understand that once Matt Leinart is the starting QB, the "system" isn't going to be anything like what the Cards are running now. It's going to be power-rushing with a deep play-action passing game. Similar to what the Miami Dolphins run. It's impossible to gauge Matt Leinart on the Kurt Warner offense, because it's not a system that Matt can run and I'm pretty sure it's not the offense that Whis wants to run.

Agreed 100%. Leinart made a living off the play action pass in college. The defense was constantly worrying about LeDale White and Reggie Bush.

Concerning the pass first league comment. Thats a pretty easy comment to make considering that 85% of the NFL passed more then it ran the ball. So to put hings into context the NFL's average pass to run ratio is 54.75% pass to 45.25% run. 8 of the playoff teams were below that average the other 8 were above that average.

Of the super bowl teams Colts have the highest pass to run ratio and the Saints have one of the lowest. People kleep saying the saints are pass happy when in reality they are one of the more balanced teams in the NFL. They ran the ball more then 100 more times then the Colts did. The Saints are a balanced attack, they are not a passing attack.

Agreed. And dare I say it the NFL is cyclical. Too many small/quick players. Shonn Greene has shown you can get away with run, run, run again in the NFL. You just have to be patient, and you MUST have a great defense.

Obviously our defense needs work, but Beanie Wells is going to be something special. He is coming into the league at the perfect time. He is only 22 and will still put on weight that he can carry without slowing down.

Are you willing to say this year is a transition year then? In essence this year will be used to see if Matt can play in the NFL, Im just not comfortable with that approach.

You must always adapt in the NFL. If you don't it will catch up with you. That is why the Patriots where one and done, and why the Colts are going to the Superbowl.

Seriously, If I were a Colts fan I would have a coronary each preseason when I looked at the CB situation. That team just adapts (and leans on Freeney and Mathis).


My only point to add, and I KNOW I am the only one that believes this, Anquan Boldin will be a Cardinal next year. I have yet to hear a trade that is even remotely sane.

 

[kerouac9]

Are you willing to say this year is a transition year then? In essence this year will be used to see if Matt can play in the NFL, Im just not comfortable with that approach.

If Kurt Warner retires, it is a transition year. There's no getting around it. Plugging your fingers in your ears and repeating that Kyle Orton and Donnie McNabb are available don't make it so.

The good news is that the Cards have been preparing for this transition for at least two seasons. You can tell because they drafted Brandon Keith and Herman Johnson.

There just aren't QBs out there that you can plug in and say, "Yes, I am comfortable saying that he's going to replace 95% of the production of the Hall of Fame quarterback who just retired.

What is your backup plan if Warner retires then? Short of making a trade for Orton or McNabb, which isn't going to happen?