A Cardinals' Roadmap From the Cellar to Contender

[Duckjake]

Other questions:

When Lutui earns back his starting spot at RG the Cards will have 4 of the same 5 guys who started last season. Will a year of playing together while adding Colledge who is said to be an upgrade over Faneca make a huge positive difference?

Andre Roberts and Early Doucet at WR are huge question marks. Lots of potential and we all know what that means.

But reports are they're making our secondary look foolish in Camp.

Then of course our new question mark which is discussed in other threads is who plays Strong Safety and will they be any good at it?

 

[crisper57]

Other questions:

When Lutui earns back his starting spot at RG the Cards will have 4 of the same 5 guys who started last season. Will a year of playing together while adding Colledge who is said to be an upgrade over Faneca make a huge positive difference?

Andre Roberts and Early Doucet at WR are huge question marks. Lots of potential and we all know what that means.

But reports are they're making our secondary look foolish in Camp.

Then of course our new question mark which is discussed in other threads is who plays Strong Safety and will they be any good at it?

I hope it isn't our secondary that is making our secondary look foolish or we are in trouble.

As much as I like Sendelin, he is small. Defenders can get a push up the middle. As long as he is the Center, I think defenses will have a short path to the QB.

 

[kerouac9]

I hope it isn't our secondary that is making our secondary look foolish or we are in trouble.

As much as I like Sendelin, he is small. Defenders can get a push up the middle. As long as he is the Center, I think defenses will have a short path to the QB.

That may have been true earlier in his career (he went to the Combine at 285), but it's not true today. The Cards' website lists him at 308.

Nick Mangold is listed at 6'4", 307. Packers Center Scott Wells is listed at 300 lbs playing at 6'2".

Sendlein--if he can hold the weight into the season--is four pounds heavier than Maurkice Pouncey of the Steelers.

The problem with the pass rush wasn't from the center position, it was from Levi and Faneca on the outside.

 

[Duckjake]

That may have been true earlier in his career (he went to the Combine at 285), but it's not true today. The Cards' website lists him at 308.

Nick Mangold is listed at 6'4", 307. Packers Center Scott Wells is listed at 300 lbs playing at 6'2".

Sendlein--if he can hold the weight into the season--is four pounds heavier than Maurkice Pouncey of the Steelers.

The problem with the pass rush wasn't from the center position, it was from Levi and Faneca on the outside.

How do you think Colledge is going to do next to Levi? BTW I just noticed that Daryn is listed at the exact weight as Sendlein but an inch taller.

 

[kerouac9]

How do you think Colledge is going to do next to Levi? BTW I just noticed that Daryn is listed at the exact weight as Sendlein but an inch taller.

I think I said it in the thread where we signed him: I expect Daryn Colledge to be Reggie Wells. Same goods (mobility, intelligence, technique), same bads (will get mauled by the bull rush and have a problem helping with nose tackles).

A few weeks ago on the Football Today podcast, Ross Tucker was saying that the most difficult line position is... right guard. The left tackle gets help from a TE or RB, the left guard gets help from the center (because they'll fan that way to protect the blind side), and the RT will get help from a pulling LG or C. The RG is the OL position that's regularly on an island.

I think that Colledge is an upgrade over Faneca's decomposing corpse (but he's great in the locker room!), but he shouldn't be one of the three best offensive linemen if the team is going to be good.

 

[Krangodnzr]

I guess I'm just tempering my expectations. As much as it sounds that I'm being a debbie downer, I do see a few scenarios where we are competitive.

The problem with those scenarios is that they contain to many IFs, so I'm ready for one of those years that the team is better, but the standings don't necessarily reflect the improvement.

I think we are better at most positions, or at least will be just as good as last year. But our division is likely a little better this year. On paper the Rams and Seahawks have improved, and I'm not sold that the Niners are going to be crap either (or at a minimum they will be competitive against us).

 

[kerouac9]

I guess I'm just tempering my expectations. As much as it sounds that I'm being a debbie downer, I do see a few scenarios where we are competitive.

The problem with those scenarios is that they contain to many IFs, so I'm ready for one of those years that the team is better, but the standings don't necessarily reflect the improvement.

I think we are better at most positions, or at least will be just as good as last year. But our division is likely a little better this year. On paper the Rams and Seahawks have improved, and I'm not sold that the Niners are going to be crap either (or at a minimum they will be competitive against us).

I guess that to me there are two ways to explicate the Kolb trade:

1) The coaching staff has no faith in their or their scouting staff's ability to locate quarterback talent in the draft, and so they outsourced it to an organization in Philly that's had some success in doing so.

or

2) Kolb isn't a scintillating quarterback prospect, but he's prepared to lead an offense to success by some measure right now.

The latter is obviously the more likely scenario from the team's perspective. So, if that's the case, then the possibility is for a 2008 Green Bay Packers-type run. The 2008 Green Bay Packers went 5-11 and erred drafting A.J. Hawk that year, but also managed to find a QB who could put up Top 10 Fantasy-type production, even though they didn't manage to finish games (they lost 5 games by three points or less and another 2 by four points). They set themselves up in a position to get a wild card the next two seasons, one in which they won the Super Bowl, of course.

I could live with a handful of heartbreaking losses because we've exiled many of the players we'd taught how to win. But 7 of those 11 losses were heartbreakers. I'll still go ape next offseason if that happens (I won't be able to help myself), but the foundation for success will be there as long as we're able to extend Fitz and another player or two (Calais Campbell and Deuce).

 

[Duckjake]

I guess I'm just tempering my expectations. As much as it sounds that I'm being a debbie downer, I do see a few scenarios where we are competitive.

The problem with those scenarios is that they contain to many IFs, so I'm ready for one of those years that the team is better, but the standings don't necessarily reflect the improvement.

I think we are better at most positions, or at least will be just as good as last year. But our division is likely a little better this year. On paper the Rams and Seahawks have improved, and I'm not sold that the Niners are going to be crap either (or at a minimum they will be competitive against us).

The big question is going to be attitude. Is having Kolb at QB going to right a ship that was sunk 41-10,41-7,38-7,36-18,31-13, 27-6 and in a late season tribute to Denny Green lost to the worst team in the NFL.

That's a huge hole they fell into. I hope the ladder they built this offseason is tall enough.

 

[kerouac9]

The big question is going to be attitude. Is having Kolb at QB going to right a ship that was sunk 41-10,41-7,38-7,36-18,31-13, 27-6 and in a late season tribute to Denny Green lost to the worst team in the NFL.

That's a huge hole they fell into. I hope the ladder they built this offseason is tall enough.

Yup. First two games are going to be key. If this defense can't hold up against an offense featuring the #1 overall pick in the draft (they did so last year) and a team starting a guy who couldn't get PT in the 4th preseason game last year (I seriously wanted to see John Beck last year and he couldn't get on the field), then this train is going to fall apart very, VERY quickly.

I don't care if Washington is on the road. You have to beat those guys. Do they have any good players left on defense after Orakpo?

 

[crisper57]

That may have been true earlier in his career (he went to the Combine at 285), but it's not true today. The Cards' website lists him at 308.

Nick Mangold is listed at 6'4", 307. Packers Center Scott Wells is listed at 300 lbs playing at 6'2".

Sendlein--if he can hold the weight into the season--is four pounds heavier than Maurkice Pouncey of the Steelers.

The problem with the pass rush wasn't from the center position, it was from Levi and Faneca on the outside.

Wow. I did not realize he had put on that much weight. I thought he was still hovering just below 300. Hope that helps him hold his ground.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yup. First two games are going to be key. If this defense can't hold up against an offense featuring the #1 overall pick in the draft (they did so last year) and a team starting a guy who couldn't get PT in the 4th preseason game last year (I seriously wanted to see John Beck last year and he couldn't get on the field), then this train is going to fall apart very, VERY quickly.

I don't care if Washington is on the road. You have to beat those guys. Do they have any good players left on defense after Orakpo?

yup. if this team has any shot at making the season interesting, they need to give themselves a 2-0 cushion to get through the growing pains that are gonna come in the next six weeks after that.

 

[Mulli]

Yup. First two games are going to be key. If this defense can't hold up against an offense featuring the #1 overall pick in the draft (they did so last year) and a team starting a guy who couldn't get PT in the 4th preseason game last year (I seriously wanted to see John Beck last year and he couldn't get on the field), then this train is going to fall apart very, VERY quickly.

I don't care if Washington is on the road. You have to beat those guys. Do they have any good players left on defense after Orakpo?

This. 100% this. If the Redskins score more than 21 points offensively, I am totally out.

 

[Krangodnzr]

I see eye-to-eye with you here Kerouac.

As crazy as this sounds to most fans, this season shouldn't necessarily be judged on the Win-Loss column. If Kolb is a good QB and we can extend Fitz, while remaining competitive in the vast majority of our games, I'll be happy.

IMO we still have some fundamental flaws on this team that will likely doom us this season. LT, OLB, backup DL, and too many young offensive weapons that need more seasoning. Hell we probably need a better 2nd corner too. But if we fix 2 of those problems next year, we should be a pretty strong team for years to come, not a team set up to win for 2 years.

 

[Buckybird]

This. 100% this. If the Redskins score more than 21 points offensively, I am totally out.

The offense poor Skins will probably be the team that lights us up as usual as a home underdog. Still say this D isn't that good & they've proved me right for years.