Catfish
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Jonathan Cooper. Coolest thing about Cooper is that while I was a guy pounding on the desk for Warmack, its not like this kid is not to be celebrated. The #1 coolest thing about Cooper is that he is football smart.
As for the question,
Nate Potter, he is the key, IMO. Sooner or later Levi Brown is coming back, and Bruce Arians and his coaching staff are preaching "best 5 players on the field".
From what has been deducted through debate, research, personnel acquisitions, etc., etc. The Cardinals are looking for more athletic (not always lighter players but they usually are) offensive linemen.
Not only that but I have heard Bruce Arians talk about Nate Potter twice as a possibility to put at guard, and so far Arians has pretty much foreshadowed every move he has made.
So what am I getting at ?
Simple:
2013:
LT: Brown
LG: Cooper
OC: Sendlien
RG: Potter
RT: Massie
2014:
LT: Brown ?
LG: Watford
OC: Cooper
RG: Potter
RT: Massie
That is A LOT of speculation right there. A lot of IF's and BUT's to justify those too offensive lines, but I would not be surprised if those two offensive lines are not scribbled down in a notepad somewhere in the Cardinal facility.
As for center, if Jonathan Cooper is 1/2 as smart as they say he is, and his athleticism is what is seems to be, then he has the assets to have HOF potential as a center. So, why not put him there ? Especially if it insures that the 5 best players are out on the field.
Can I go on ? Of course I can. Not only would that line instill a lot of confidence in our offensive line is would clear out cap room, and open up slots for other players, when talking about depth. MAYBE Senio Kelemete sticks with this club, but he is NOT a Arians draft pick so he may not make it past this offseason.
Thus if in 2014, Kelemete is gone, Colledge is gone, and Sendlein is gone that leaves a void at depth. 3 spots to, wait for it................., invest in the future of the offensive line. Imagine that! Instead of signing Rich Orhnberger, or Rex Hadnot, or Milford Brown, or Chris Liwienski, or Brandon Gorin, or Oliver Ross, or Al Johnson, or Chukky Okobi, or D'Anthony Batiste, or my personal favorite Ben Claxton.
Yeeelch!
But the beauty of getting those depth guys is that you can go with one vet, and two drafted players.
Like for example if you asked me to find depth this year I would say if you give me 3 roster spots I would have done the following:
1. Draft Earl Watford. - Yeah, that was a good move in any draft at any time.
2. Draft Garret Gilkey - plays OG or OT
3. Sign Kevin Boothe to a 1 to 3 yr deal - plays OT, OG or OC.
Done. Now not to say our organization has not tried to do this, but your depth needs to be a heck of a lot better when your starters are so poor, thus you have to sacrifice something to make up for other short comings.
The better our starting offensive line the better your depth, the brighter the future.
The worse the offensive line is, the more you have to concentrate on just "getting through" the year to try solving it again for next season.
LOL. What a long winded posts about practically nothing.
I guess in conclusion there are a lot of moving pieces and possibilities on the current line, and with Cooper having the ability to play any of the interior lines it opens up multiple possibilities to put the best 5 guys out there.
Muffin, these are some very provokative, and very intruiging thoughts about the O-lines for 2013/2014. I have read somewhere, (I believe on the official Cardinal's site), that there is reason to believe that Cooper is being given consideration for being the Center that the organization builds their future offensive line around. He is extremely athletic, extremely quick, and very intelligent. It would be logical to build an entire offensive line around such a player who anchors it at Center for years to come. The old adage that you build from the center-out remains sound advice today.
We have already seen a shift in thought to the type of players the organization has selected for its offensive linemen. It's not so much that they have gone to lighter players, but that the athletic types that they prefer now, are usually lighter and quicker than the massive road grader types that we have seen in the past here. They seem to be better suited as pass protectors, which is very important in today's pass happy league.
I am by no means an authority on offensive linemen, but I do believe that the quicker, more athletic types, (who possess intelligence), will prove to be better investments in the long run, both for pass protection and in the run game. I just seems to me that players who are smart, athletic, and quick, can learn to use technique and intelligence along with their quickness, to overcome defenders who rely strictly on size and strength in order to hold their point of attack. I say this because Denver was very successful utilizing this type of O-linemen, (in both the run and passing games), during Mike Shannahan's tenure there. I really believe that this will hold true, (whether or not we are a employ a zone blocking scheme). It just seems to me that having quick, athletic, smart players with reasonable strength, can utilize these traits to become mobile, and that having several of them who can pull and get to the next level with consistency, yet still mirror and slide in pass protection, is the way to go. I also believe that both Keim and Arians believe this too. Keim has already begun to draft this type of O-lineman. Potter, Massie, Kelemete, (selected last year), and Cooper, and Watford, (selected this year), all fit this pattern.
I do not for a moment think that they fear the loss of Snyder, (should Sendlein be injured again). I believe that they will simply move Cooper to center in that event, and that Potter or Watford would fill his LG position at that time, and the team would live with any growing pains that would emerge, since this is a re-tooling year anyway. This, just might even be a blessing in disguise, as these players would gain valuable experience 'this' year, when the expectations of winning are not great anyway. I believe that the move of Cooper to center is quite viable, (and that it might even be prominent in the future plans for this franchise). Good stuff Muffin, and yes, these posts are long winded, but as both you and Mitch have pointed out, why miss out on all the fun of such discussions, especially at this time of year. Go Cards !!!!!
