Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
2011 Cardinals: The Search For Identity, Planning & Player Development
Identity and Planning
It was largely expected this past year that with QB Kurt Warner gone, with the addition of LG Alan Faneca, with the switch of RT Levi Brown to LT and with the highly anticipated emergence of RB Beanie Wells that the Cardinals were going to make a far more committed effort to run the football.
What happened instead is beyond mind-boggling.
While Ken Whisenhunt will try to placate the fans and the media by saying that the Cardinals didn't run the ball more because they were constantly behind, the truth of the matter is, Whisenhunt is enamored with the passing offense that allowed the Cardinals to average close to 28 points per game the past two and half seasons.
This is actually fine...but under one condition:
You plan for it.
If you are going to be the pass oriented team as you've been since Whiz became the HC...you don't do any of all of the following:
1. You don't sign Faneca, because your incumbent LG, Reggie Wells, is a better pass protector.
2. You don't sign the most inaccurate UFA QB.
3. You don't cut the one QB who knows your system after the last week of pre-season. And when you do cut him---you don't go with two untested rookies as backups.
4. You find a better pass protecting LT than Levi Brown. And while you are at it...you'd better be pretty sure that the newcomer at RT, Brandon Keith, is capable of holding his own.
5. And as disgruntled as Anquan Boldin was...who knows? If you bring in Donovan McNabb instead, maybe Boldin ackowledges the organization's commitment to winning and looks forward to playing with McNabb. Hey, if you are going to pass to set up the run and if you are going to put stock in having one of the toughest WRs to ever don the Cardinal red...do you really want to let this guy go? You pay him and keep the formula intact.
The irony is that the Cardinals---when they did---they actually ran the ball reasonably well this year. Running the ball was what played to the strength of the personnel. What went wrong as much as anything else is that Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells fumbled in key situations. There was no better example than at Seattle---the game that started the Cardinals' 7 game losing streak---Tim Hightower breaks off a huge 50 yard run only to fumble at the conclusion of it.
This is where the coaches needed to show their commitment to running the ball by continuing to put the ball in Hightower's and Wells' hands, despite the fumbling issues. The statement had to be: "We are going to get this thing right."
Things got so bad in terms of a lack of commitment to the running game that in most short-yardage situations, despite the inaccuracy of the QB play, Whisenhunt elected to pass the ball time and time again---and on almost every 4th and 1 or even 4th and inches---he elected to punt the ball.
What happened instead was that Whisenhunt reverted to a dink and dunk version of his offense that was doomed to fail because Derek Anderson is about the worst dink and dunk QB in the NFL. Max Hall fit the bill for that style of offense because he is more accurate, yet his physical limitations made it extremely difficult for him to pull it off. Plus, with two shaky tackles given little to no help, the way Hall was getting tossed around like a rag doll, there was no way he was going to endure physically.
If you are going to dink and dunk...you need a QB suited for it (one who can make quick reads and throws)...you need RBs who can snatch flare passes and turn them upfield for chunk yards...and you need RAC WRs (Boldin) who can turn five yard passes into 15-20 yard gains. It would also behoove you to have a pass catching TE who can threaten the middle and the seams. See the Patriots for all of the above.
This off-season, the Cardinals have to decide what their true identity is on offense and cater their personnel decisions to it.
It is my contention that if the Cardinals are going to keep Brown and Keith at the tackles---they have to become a running team. These guys are not going to be consistent enough to allow the team success in a passing game that features 35-40 plus passes a game.
If Whisenhunt want to keep a pass first and often offense---he needs to find a more agile and effective pass protector at LT. It looks to me that RT Jeremy Bridges is a smoother and more reliable pass protector than Brandon Keith---although Keith was making strides before he got injured. Still, Whiz needs to have at least one lockdown offensive tackle---and if need be, he can offer the other one help by chipping the DE. ****Sure hope chipping is in the plans for next year.
If Whiz does commit to the running game, he has to bring in another RB in the event that Hightower's and Wells' fumble-itis continue.
As importantly, he need to acquire a reliable FB and a blocking TE. Reagan Maui'a has shown improvement and is physcially the part, but his technique is very inconsistent. As for the current TEs, they not only lack technique, they lack strength...especially lower body strength.
On the other side of the ball, the Cardinals also lack identity as the result of poor planning.
Are they a bona fide 3-4 defense?
The answer is no...for one glaring reason: the starting NT.
The 3-4 defense begins and ends with the NT. If you don't have a good one, you defeat the whole purpose of the defense, which is to occupy blockers so that the 4 LBs can take free paths to the ball.
Kent Somers reported yesterday that Bryan Robinson has been the starting NT for three years.
The hope had been that Whiz's second draft pick in Arizona, NT Alan Branch, would be the answer. We know the story there. Gabe Watson had been showing promise in Whiz's first year, but then blew out his kneecap and has not been a starter ever since. This year he found himself inactive most of the time.
Obviously, the Cardinals finally started to realize the importance of the NT position when they drafted Dan Williams at #26 in the first round last year. While Williams battled weight and stamina issues early on, he has shown impressive flashes...yet, inexplicably has been unable to unseat Robinson as the starter.
As discouraging as it's been to watch Dan Williams stand on the sidelines in the first quarter while other teams are running the ball up and down the field on the defense...it's been equally discouraging to watch how the team has mishandled 2nd round pick ILB Daryl Washington.
It's a simple as this: Washington is ideally suited to play WILB...and has already shown all the attributes a WILB needs, the range, the speed, the burst getting to the QB on blitzes...
Yet, Daryl Washington is not playing at WILB.
He's been playing SILB...and even though he lacks the physcial weight to play the position properly, he has been making his presence felt. There's no question that, even though Washington was playing out of position, the defense suffered when he was replaced by Gerald Hayes.
But the point is...Washington---who in many respects is the great hope for the future of this defense---has been playing out of position.
If anything, Paris Lenon should be the interim SILB until the team finds the right fit at SILB. Lenon has been a solid player...but he does not bring the sheer burst and athleticism to the WILB position that Washington does, and it's not even close.
Then there's the OLB situation, which has been grossly mishandled. First of all, to expect Clark Haggans and Joey Porter to hold up at their age with as many of the snaps and situations they have played, is just poor planning. Haggans has never been a consistent pass rushing threat---and Porter who always has been has been asked to do too much in the defense (which has included dropping off into coverage on key third and long situations, when he is clearly the best edge rusher on the team)---but, because of over-use he has lacked the legs to provide the big sacks and pressures when the team needs them most.
Porter would likely have thrived in Bertrand Berry's old role as the situational pass rusher---but---Porter's role remained too diversified.
Part of the problem is that the Cardinals rely to heavily on the draft to solve their immediate problems. Two years ago, following the Super Bowl, where the Cardinals' lack of an edge pass rush aided and abetted the Steelers' game winning drive---the Cardinals responded by drafting 2 OLBs in hopes that one or two of them could provide immediate help. Neither 2009 2nd round pick Cody Brown nor 2009 6th Round pick Will Davis showed themselves to be legitimate pass rushing threats....same as the 6th round pick the year before in Chris Harrington. Brown was cut this pre-season and Davis remains---and he has been decent versus the run, but has not shown much still as a pass rusher.
The hope is that 2010 4th round pick O'Brien Schofield---who registered his first NFL sack versus the Cowboys---can establish himself as one of the young edge threats the Cardinals need.
Then there's the issue of what the team needs to do with SS Adrian Wilson---whose strength is in playing in the box, but who has become a significant liability in pass coverage. Teams have been exploiting Wilson in coverage far too easily and consistently for the Cardinals to continue to ignore the problem. The key to having Wilson in the defense is tweaking his role to fit his strengths, without compromising the rest of the defense---thus far, however, the coaches have not been able to determine exactly what Wilson's role is---at the cost of the defense.
Recently the Cardinals have been playing more of 4-3 hybrid type defense---which has helped the coaches enable Wilson to freelance more---but the combinations the coaches have used in the 4 man front have been, at times, questionable at best---as in Alan Branch playing LDE, where teams have run at will to his outside because he lacks the agility and quickness to play contain.
Developing Young Talent
If the Cardinals learned anything about having patience and maintaining their belief in a player, they should have learned it this year with their decision to stick with WR Andre Roberts. Had they pulled the plug on Roberts after his shaky pre-season and first few games, they would have no idea yet as to how good this kid really is.
Last year---despite the defense's coverage woes---it took until the playoff game versus New Orleans for the coaches to realize that hey this kid Greg Toler can cover people.
Whiz taps into the young talent on offense more readily and quickly than his defensive coaches---who seem hell-bent on playing the veterans no matter what, almost as if they are afraid of what the veterans would do.
Either the Cardinals have to stop relying on their drafts for immediate help or the defensive coaches have to start playing and instilling confidence in these kids faster...but the combination of both scenarios has stunted the growth of the defense and the personnel.
With the last game coming up tomorrow, if the Cardinals are planning ahead they should come out of that game knowing the following:
1. Can QB John Skelton have a big numbers game? Open up the offense and chuck the ball left and right. That's what the Rams did with Sam Bradford last week to beat the 49ers.
If Skelton delivers...it makes it more clear that he should be in the mix to start next year, and that committing to a pass oriented offense makes sense.
2. What does Rex Hadnot look like at guard or center? Get him in there.
3. WR Stephen Williams---time to see how his skills fit in this offense.
4. NT Dan Williams---how he would respond to his first start.
5. WILB Daryl Washington---play him at his natural position---move Lenon over, or let's see what we've got in Reggie Walker.
6. WOLB O'Brien Schofield...start him and send him play after play.
7. CB A.J. Jefferson...get him in there. This kid has outstanding talent---get him a good taste of action this week. Plus, have him return a kickoff or two...he was 2nd in the NCAA in kickoff returns two years ago.
Identity and Planning
It was largely expected this past year that with QB Kurt Warner gone, with the addition of LG Alan Faneca, with the switch of RT Levi Brown to LT and with the highly anticipated emergence of RB Beanie Wells that the Cardinals were going to make a far more committed effort to run the football.
What happened instead is beyond mind-boggling.
While Ken Whisenhunt will try to placate the fans and the media by saying that the Cardinals didn't run the ball more because they were constantly behind, the truth of the matter is, Whisenhunt is enamored with the passing offense that allowed the Cardinals to average close to 28 points per game the past two and half seasons.
This is actually fine...but under one condition:
You plan for it.
If you are going to be the pass oriented team as you've been since Whiz became the HC...you don't do any of all of the following:
1. You don't sign Faneca, because your incumbent LG, Reggie Wells, is a better pass protector.
2. You don't sign the most inaccurate UFA QB.
3. You don't cut the one QB who knows your system after the last week of pre-season. And when you do cut him---you don't go with two untested rookies as backups.
4. You find a better pass protecting LT than Levi Brown. And while you are at it...you'd better be pretty sure that the newcomer at RT, Brandon Keith, is capable of holding his own.
5. And as disgruntled as Anquan Boldin was...who knows? If you bring in Donovan McNabb instead, maybe Boldin ackowledges the organization's commitment to winning and looks forward to playing with McNabb. Hey, if you are going to pass to set up the run and if you are going to put stock in having one of the toughest WRs to ever don the Cardinal red...do you really want to let this guy go? You pay him and keep the formula intact.
The irony is that the Cardinals---when they did---they actually ran the ball reasonably well this year. Running the ball was what played to the strength of the personnel. What went wrong as much as anything else is that Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells fumbled in key situations. There was no better example than at Seattle---the game that started the Cardinals' 7 game losing streak---Tim Hightower breaks off a huge 50 yard run only to fumble at the conclusion of it.
This is where the coaches needed to show their commitment to running the ball by continuing to put the ball in Hightower's and Wells' hands, despite the fumbling issues. The statement had to be: "We are going to get this thing right."
Things got so bad in terms of a lack of commitment to the running game that in most short-yardage situations, despite the inaccuracy of the QB play, Whisenhunt elected to pass the ball time and time again---and on almost every 4th and 1 or even 4th and inches---he elected to punt the ball.
What happened instead was that Whisenhunt reverted to a dink and dunk version of his offense that was doomed to fail because Derek Anderson is about the worst dink and dunk QB in the NFL. Max Hall fit the bill for that style of offense because he is more accurate, yet his physical limitations made it extremely difficult for him to pull it off. Plus, with two shaky tackles given little to no help, the way Hall was getting tossed around like a rag doll, there was no way he was going to endure physically.
If you are going to dink and dunk...you need a QB suited for it (one who can make quick reads and throws)...you need RBs who can snatch flare passes and turn them upfield for chunk yards...and you need RAC WRs (Boldin) who can turn five yard passes into 15-20 yard gains. It would also behoove you to have a pass catching TE who can threaten the middle and the seams. See the Patriots for all of the above.
This off-season, the Cardinals have to decide what their true identity is on offense and cater their personnel decisions to it.
It is my contention that if the Cardinals are going to keep Brown and Keith at the tackles---they have to become a running team. These guys are not going to be consistent enough to allow the team success in a passing game that features 35-40 plus passes a game.
If Whisenhunt want to keep a pass first and often offense---he needs to find a more agile and effective pass protector at LT. It looks to me that RT Jeremy Bridges is a smoother and more reliable pass protector than Brandon Keith---although Keith was making strides before he got injured. Still, Whiz needs to have at least one lockdown offensive tackle---and if need be, he can offer the other one help by chipping the DE. ****Sure hope chipping is in the plans for next year.
If Whiz does commit to the running game, he has to bring in another RB in the event that Hightower's and Wells' fumble-itis continue.
As importantly, he need to acquire a reliable FB and a blocking TE. Reagan Maui'a has shown improvement and is physcially the part, but his technique is very inconsistent. As for the current TEs, they not only lack technique, they lack strength...especially lower body strength.
On the other side of the ball, the Cardinals also lack identity as the result of poor planning.
Are they a bona fide 3-4 defense?
The answer is no...for one glaring reason: the starting NT.
The 3-4 defense begins and ends with the NT. If you don't have a good one, you defeat the whole purpose of the defense, which is to occupy blockers so that the 4 LBs can take free paths to the ball.
Kent Somers reported yesterday that Bryan Robinson has been the starting NT for three years.
The hope had been that Whiz's second draft pick in Arizona, NT Alan Branch, would be the answer. We know the story there. Gabe Watson had been showing promise in Whiz's first year, but then blew out his kneecap and has not been a starter ever since. This year he found himself inactive most of the time.
Obviously, the Cardinals finally started to realize the importance of the NT position when they drafted Dan Williams at #26 in the first round last year. While Williams battled weight and stamina issues early on, he has shown impressive flashes...yet, inexplicably has been unable to unseat Robinson as the starter.
As discouraging as it's been to watch Dan Williams stand on the sidelines in the first quarter while other teams are running the ball up and down the field on the defense...it's been equally discouraging to watch how the team has mishandled 2nd round pick ILB Daryl Washington.
It's a simple as this: Washington is ideally suited to play WILB...and has already shown all the attributes a WILB needs, the range, the speed, the burst getting to the QB on blitzes...
Yet, Daryl Washington is not playing at WILB.
He's been playing SILB...and even though he lacks the physcial weight to play the position properly, he has been making his presence felt. There's no question that, even though Washington was playing out of position, the defense suffered when he was replaced by Gerald Hayes.
But the point is...Washington---who in many respects is the great hope for the future of this defense---has been playing out of position.
If anything, Paris Lenon should be the interim SILB until the team finds the right fit at SILB. Lenon has been a solid player...but he does not bring the sheer burst and athleticism to the WILB position that Washington does, and it's not even close.
Then there's the OLB situation, which has been grossly mishandled. First of all, to expect Clark Haggans and Joey Porter to hold up at their age with as many of the snaps and situations they have played, is just poor planning. Haggans has never been a consistent pass rushing threat---and Porter who always has been has been asked to do too much in the defense (which has included dropping off into coverage on key third and long situations, when he is clearly the best edge rusher on the team)---but, because of over-use he has lacked the legs to provide the big sacks and pressures when the team needs them most.
Porter would likely have thrived in Bertrand Berry's old role as the situational pass rusher---but---Porter's role remained too diversified.
Part of the problem is that the Cardinals rely to heavily on the draft to solve their immediate problems. Two years ago, following the Super Bowl, where the Cardinals' lack of an edge pass rush aided and abetted the Steelers' game winning drive---the Cardinals responded by drafting 2 OLBs in hopes that one or two of them could provide immediate help. Neither 2009 2nd round pick Cody Brown nor 2009 6th Round pick Will Davis showed themselves to be legitimate pass rushing threats....same as the 6th round pick the year before in Chris Harrington. Brown was cut this pre-season and Davis remains---and he has been decent versus the run, but has not shown much still as a pass rusher.
The hope is that 2010 4th round pick O'Brien Schofield---who registered his first NFL sack versus the Cowboys---can establish himself as one of the young edge threats the Cardinals need.
Then there's the issue of what the team needs to do with SS Adrian Wilson---whose strength is in playing in the box, but who has become a significant liability in pass coverage. Teams have been exploiting Wilson in coverage far too easily and consistently for the Cardinals to continue to ignore the problem. The key to having Wilson in the defense is tweaking his role to fit his strengths, without compromising the rest of the defense---thus far, however, the coaches have not been able to determine exactly what Wilson's role is---at the cost of the defense.
Recently the Cardinals have been playing more of 4-3 hybrid type defense---which has helped the coaches enable Wilson to freelance more---but the combinations the coaches have used in the 4 man front have been, at times, questionable at best---as in Alan Branch playing LDE, where teams have run at will to his outside because he lacks the agility and quickness to play contain.
Developing Young Talent
If the Cardinals learned anything about having patience and maintaining their belief in a player, they should have learned it this year with their decision to stick with WR Andre Roberts. Had they pulled the plug on Roberts after his shaky pre-season and first few games, they would have no idea yet as to how good this kid really is.
Last year---despite the defense's coverage woes---it took until the playoff game versus New Orleans for the coaches to realize that hey this kid Greg Toler can cover people.
Whiz taps into the young talent on offense more readily and quickly than his defensive coaches---who seem hell-bent on playing the veterans no matter what, almost as if they are afraid of what the veterans would do.
Either the Cardinals have to stop relying on their drafts for immediate help or the defensive coaches have to start playing and instilling confidence in these kids faster...but the combination of both scenarios has stunted the growth of the defense and the personnel.
With the last game coming up tomorrow, if the Cardinals are planning ahead they should come out of that game knowing the following:
1. Can QB John Skelton have a big numbers game? Open up the offense and chuck the ball left and right. That's what the Rams did with Sam Bradford last week to beat the 49ers.
If Skelton delivers...it makes it more clear that he should be in the mix to start next year, and that committing to a pass oriented offense makes sense.
2. What does Rex Hadnot look like at guard or center? Get him in there.
3. WR Stephen Williams---time to see how his skills fit in this offense.
4. NT Dan Williams---how he would respond to his first start.
5. WILB Daryl Washington---play him at his natural position---move Lenon over, or let's see what we've got in Reggie Walker.
6. WOLB O'Brien Schofield...start him and send him play after play.
7. CB A.J. Jefferson...get him in there. This kid has outstanding talent---get him a good taste of action this week. Plus, have him return a kickoff or two...he was 2nd in the NCAA in kickoff returns two years ago.
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