kerouac9
Klowned by Keim
I did my post-Wild Card round Heroes and Goats Saturday Night. I wanted to take a moment and do some H&G for the entire season, since we are all doing a little bit of new year's review. Heroes are recognized for their exceptional contributions through 16 games; goats the same.
1. Jared Veldheer, OT. I think the arguments about whether Veldheer is the best free agent signing in NFL history are premature. There is no arguing though that Veldheer was a significant factor in the remarkable turnaround in Arizona's pass protection in 2014. The Cards' offensive line was 6th in the NFL in Adjusted Sack Rate at just 4.6%.
2. Deone Bucannon, DB. It's difficult to remember the last time the Arizona Cardinals depended so much on a rookie 1st round pick. Bucannon played more than 65% of the Cardinals defensive snaps, almost all of them from an inside linebacker position at which he had almost no experience. Bucannon made some mistakes and wasn't perfect, but he more that did the job.
3. Chandler Catanzaro, K. There were a number of fans on this board who were skeptical about whether Catanzaro would be able to stand up to real-world kicking situations once the pressure was on. Those fans seem pretty foolish today. Catanzaro was effective on field goals and gave the Cards a leg on kickoffs that we hadn't seen since Guilliam Grammatica was approaching the tee.
4. Alex Okafor, OLB. Kept out of the linebacker rotation until Week 5 due to injury, Okafor was a revelation almost as soon as he entered the lineup. Okafor did what was needed of him in Todd Bowles's pressure scheme: defeat single-blocking on a consistent basis.
5. John Brown, WR. John Brown played almost 60% of the Cards' offensive snaps and delivered what they were hoping to get from The Dude--a big-play speed option. This contribution is even more remarkable considering the small-school origins of the diminutive speedster.
1. Daryl Washington, ILB. If Daryl Washington were more of a leader on the field, this loss would've been even greater. But Washington's decision to selfishly indulge himself cost the team one of the top four or five best players for the entire season and crippled the team's ability to generate a pass rush.
2. John Abraham, OLB. Take a step back from the week-to-week on Abraham, and you'll see a guy who drove drunk at midday, the held the team captive for almost all of training camp, came back in time to guarantee his 2014 salary, and promptly left again for the remainder of the season.
3. Jonathan Dwyer, RB. Dwyer made a dumb choice in his personal life that hurt his team and his ability to provide for his family in at least the near future. For the Cards, Dwyer's choice removed certainty over contributors behind Andre Ellington in the running game, and they struggled to find a consistent solution for the entire season.
4. Michael Floyd, WR. Michael Floyd squandered and opportunity to clearly supplant Larry Fitzgerald as the go-to receiver in the Arizona Cardinals offense. Floyd recovered at the end of the season enough to lead the team in touchdowns and yards, but was 3rd in receptions and behind Fitzgerald in 1st downs.
5. Jonathan Cooper, OG. Cooper came into 2014 coming off a difficult injury. Instead of seizing the opportunity handed to him by the departure of Daryn Colledge, he underperformed and was benched in training camp for Ted Larsen. Cooper wasn't able to earn his way into the starting job until Paul Fanaika suffered an injury late in the year. Cooper failed to make the most of this opportunity handed to him, and he ended the season with a wrist injury that progressively got worse in reporting as the last three weeks of the season wore on.
It was hard to limit this list to just 5. I feel bad that Bruce Arians didn't make the top 5, nor Todd Bowles, but it feels, in retrospect, that these guys more continued to function at an amazingly high level rather than stepped up their game or made new contributions. It was also hard to leave off Kevin Minter, but I feel like despite the debate in the preseason, his level of non-contribution was more or less expected.
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1. Jared Veldheer, OT. I think the arguments about whether Veldheer is the best free agent signing in NFL history are premature. There is no arguing though that Veldheer was a significant factor in the remarkable turnaround in Arizona's pass protection in 2014. The Cards' offensive line was 6th in the NFL in Adjusted Sack Rate at just 4.6%.
2. Deone Bucannon, DB. It's difficult to remember the last time the Arizona Cardinals depended so much on a rookie 1st round pick. Bucannon played more than 65% of the Cardinals defensive snaps, almost all of them from an inside linebacker position at which he had almost no experience. Bucannon made some mistakes and wasn't perfect, but he more that did the job.
3. Chandler Catanzaro, K. There were a number of fans on this board who were skeptical about whether Catanzaro would be able to stand up to real-world kicking situations once the pressure was on. Those fans seem pretty foolish today. Catanzaro was effective on field goals and gave the Cards a leg on kickoffs that we hadn't seen since Guilliam Grammatica was approaching the tee.
4. Alex Okafor, OLB. Kept out of the linebacker rotation until Week 5 due to injury, Okafor was a revelation almost as soon as he entered the lineup. Okafor did what was needed of him in Todd Bowles's pressure scheme: defeat single-blocking on a consistent basis.
5. John Brown, WR. John Brown played almost 60% of the Cards' offensive snaps and delivered what they were hoping to get from The Dude--a big-play speed option. This contribution is even more remarkable considering the small-school origins of the diminutive speedster.
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1. Daryl Washington, ILB. If Daryl Washington were more of a leader on the field, this loss would've been even greater. But Washington's decision to selfishly indulge himself cost the team one of the top four or five best players for the entire season and crippled the team's ability to generate a pass rush.
2. John Abraham, OLB. Take a step back from the week-to-week on Abraham, and you'll see a guy who drove drunk at midday, the held the team captive for almost all of training camp, came back in time to guarantee his 2014 salary, and promptly left again for the remainder of the season.
3. Jonathan Dwyer, RB. Dwyer made a dumb choice in his personal life that hurt his team and his ability to provide for his family in at least the near future. For the Cards, Dwyer's choice removed certainty over contributors behind Andre Ellington in the running game, and they struggled to find a consistent solution for the entire season.
4. Michael Floyd, WR. Michael Floyd squandered and opportunity to clearly supplant Larry Fitzgerald as the go-to receiver in the Arizona Cardinals offense. Floyd recovered at the end of the season enough to lead the team in touchdowns and yards, but was 3rd in receptions and behind Fitzgerald in 1st downs.
5. Jonathan Cooper, OG. Cooper came into 2014 coming off a difficult injury. Instead of seizing the opportunity handed to him by the departure of Daryn Colledge, he underperformed and was benched in training camp for Ted Larsen. Cooper wasn't able to earn his way into the starting job until Paul Fanaika suffered an injury late in the year. Cooper failed to make the most of this opportunity handed to him, and he ended the season with a wrist injury that progressively got worse in reporting as the last three weeks of the season wore on.
It was hard to limit this list to just 5. I feel bad that Bruce Arians didn't make the top 5, nor Todd Bowles, but it feels, in retrospect, that these guys more continued to function at an amazingly high level rather than stepped up their game or made new contributions. It was also hard to leave off Kevin Minter, but I feel like despite the debate in the preseason, his level of non-contribution was more or less expected.
