Are We One Draft (2014) Away............

[Garthshort]

.............from being an elite team? I'm going on the assumption that three things happen:
1. CP is more KW than KK.
2. DW's problems are fixed.
3. This year's draft class turns out, the way we hope it will.

We would then go into next year's draft with the following needs:
1. LT.
2. Pass rusher.
3. S.
4. TE.
5. DL depth, depending on the play of DD.
6. QB (developmental).

So, imo, we are only a year away from being a very good/elite team.

 

[Redheart]

Three-years, minumum, to find out if we can compete in this division.

In our division, we are clearly the bottom feeder; every other team is getting stronger, quicker.

So, to answer your question, no.

 

[Goldfield]

With a solid QB you never know. I think we will be much improved this year.

 

[juza76]

I think we need one solid center and a great tackle.defense seems pretty good,just some concern about safety position

Okafor is 4th rounder just cause players are drafted more for 40 time cone drill vertical leap or long jump then production
Jarvis jones one of the best pass rushers ever in college dropped in the bottom of 1st round
Damontre moore and okafor just behind jones in terms of production went with 81 pick and 103
Just stupid evaluation

 

[JCSunsfan]

We already had a good defense. I am not sure that will continue under the new regime.

Our qb situation was horrible. Add a competent, not great qb and everything looks different. Same situation with running backs. If these new running backs can come in an produce, everything looks better.

There could be a very big change this year. The offense is going to be much better. Oddly enough, the big concern for me will be the defense.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Let me see about 8 to 10 weeks of this team play, and then I will agree/disagree with this statement.

The roster turnover on this team is significant. How the pieces will come together ? I have no idea.

How the new coaching staff will work, and how effective their scheme will be ? I have no idea.


Jasper Brinkley, Kevin Minter, Tryann Matheui, Lorenzo Alexander, Rashard Mendenhall, Stepfan Taylor, Andre Ellington, Ryan Williams, Rob Housler, Bobby Massie, Levi Brown, Daryl Washington, and Alex Okafor all have some big time question marks next to their names when it comes to the 2013 season.

The majority of these players have to pan out for a statement like, "We are one draft away" to be valid, IMO.

Not saying it is crazy to say so, not in the least, just stating my opinion on the matter.

 

[Chopper0080]

With a solid QB you never know. I think we will be much improved this year.

Agree. It all comes down to QB play. If Palmer can help Fitz regain his place among the elite WRs in the NFL while making Floyd, Roberts and Housler productive, all bets are off. His ability to do so will be determined by the offensive line IMO. Also, consider both Russell Wilson and Collin Kaepernick are both in their 2nd year as starters which means they still have a ways to go in terms of proving themselves over a long period of time.

As for the OP, all lot of things would have to oan out for us to be a legit top team in the NFL after the 2014 draft. We would have to hit on the majority of our draft picks and get top production from pretty much every offseason addition. I can't say that it is likely, but it could happen.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Let me see about 8 to 10 weeks of this team play, and then I will agree/disagree with this statement.

The roster turnover on this team is significant. How the pieces will come together ? I have no idea.

How the new coaching staff will work, and how effective their scheme will be ? I have no idea.


Jasper Brinkley, Kevin Minter, Tryann Matheui, Lorenzo Alexander, Rashard Mendenhall, Stepfan Taylor, Andre Ellington, Ryan Williams, Rob Housler, Bobby Massie, Levi Brown, Daryl Washington, and Alex Okafor all have some big time question marks next to their names when it comes to the 2013 season.

The majority of these players have to pan out for a statement like, "We are one draft away" to be valid, IMO.

Not saying it is crazy to say so, not in the least, just stating my opinion on the matter.

I agree with everything you've said here except that I think we'll have a pretty good idea where we are and what we're missing by the end of the first half of the third preseason games. Everyone says that preseason games mean nothing (and as far as wins and losses go, they're right) but that stretch where our first team meets their first team is usually pretty revealing.

Steve

 

[BW52]

If some of these FA additions play poorly I suspect they will be sent packing.IMHO this roster is far from the finished product.This preseason will see several veterans leaving if they don`t fit what BA wants.

 

[cardpa]

I think the production of this year's draft crop will tell us a lot about SK and his ability to evaluate talent. One of the nice things about having SK as the GM is since he is a local boy (Central Pa) we get more articles now about the Cardinals so coverage here is better by default. They just ran an article Sunday about how good the draft was this year according to the talking head experts.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Let me see about 8 to 10 weeks of this team play, and then I will agree/disagree with this statement.

The roster turnover on this team is significant. How the pieces will come together ? I have no idea.

How the new coaching staff will work, and how effective their scheme will be ? I have no idea.


Jasper Brinkley, Kevin Minter, Tryann Matheui, Lorenzo Alexander, Rashard Mendenhall, Stepfan Taylor, Andre Ellington, Ryan Williams, Rob Housler, Bobby Massie, Levi Brown, Daryl Washington, and Alex Okafor all have some big time question marks next to their names when it comes to the 2013 season.

The majority of these players have to pan out for a statement like, "We are one draft away" to be valid, IMO.

Not saying it is crazy to say so, not in the least, just stating my opinion on the matter.

Its just so much change. Adding new players, and then all the injuries from last year. Who knows what the loss of Wilson will be in the locker room.

If I had to guess. The offense will be better and the defense will be worse. Net about the same.

I'm just not sold on this defensive coordinator. He does not seem to have a real philosophy and his track record in Philly does not instill confidence.

 

[Dan H]

Just having decent-to-average offensive play will help the defense stay about the same or maybe a little better.

How many games did we lose last year that would have been wins if the offense had been able to score 2-3 times a game? 3, 4?

I fully expect us to be at least 8-8. Our offense was so historically bad last year the last twelve weeks that we have nowhere to go but up.

So to answer the OP, yes. We have a solid year this year, another solid draft, and we are playoff contenders next season.

 

[Garthshort]

Guys, thanks for your opinions. I guess I'll come away with the thought that the glass is more than half full.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Guys, thanks for your opinions. I guess I'll come away with the thought that the glass is more than half full.

I would agree with that.

Cause for every time we talk about how players may not live up to their potential, we must remember their are those who reach that potential and beyond.

 

[kerouac9]

.............from being an elite team? I'm going on the assumption that three things happen:
1. CP is more KW than KK.
2. DW's problems are fixed.
3. This year's draft class turns out, the way we hope it will.

There are two other underlying assumptions that at least need to be mentioned.

4. Bruce Arians is an above-average head coach or better, and the rest of his offensive staff is just as good.
5. Todd Bowles is a league-average defensive coordinator.

If all five of those assumptions are true, then we could be an 8-8 team, even going 2-4 in the division.

The second thought that at least merits some discussion is what is the way "we hope" our draft class turns out?

Jonathan Cooper plays Pro Bowl-caliber within two years.
Kevin Minter takes and keeps a starting ILB position and plays average football within two years.
Tryann Mathieu becomes a Darren Sproles-type role, only on defense.
Alex Okafor is capable of earning a starting job over O'Brien Schofield and Lorenzo Alexander within 2 seasons, and can average in the ballpark of 6 sacks per season as a starer.

I think that if you can get three starting players plus a very good sub-package player, that would be an impressive draft class.

We would then go into next year's draft with the following needs:
1. LT.
2. Pass rusher.
3. S.
4. TE.
5. DL depth, depending on the play of DD.
6. QB (developmental).

So, imo, we are only a year away from being a very good/elite team.

Those are a lot of needs to take care of in one draft. If your top-line assumptions correct, we probably won't need to draft an LT (Palmer isn't going to play good football if Levi Brown can't be at least average--FO just did a column for ESPN Insider arguing that the Chiefs made a mistake drafting Fisher because you don't need a great LT to win in the NFL, just one who's good enough). We'll be in range for a pass rusher in the first, and maybe either a starting-caliber TE or Safety in the second. Everything else is going to be provisional, and it's rare for a team to have to great drafts in a row.

This team is not going to be an "elite" team until it has at least two of an Elite QB, pass rusher, or cornerback.

 

[PDXChris]

This team is not going to be an "elite" team until it has at least two of an Elite QB, pass rusher, or cornerback.

And by seasons end we will know if we do infact have one of those.

 

[kerouac9]

And by seasons end we will know if we do infact have one of those.

I actually think we DO have one of those already, but you need two to be an elite team. I don't think that Palmer has it in him to be Elite, and I don't think we have the horses to have an elite rush linebacker right now.

I wonder if we might decline DWash's option bonus because it's a contract of the old regime. The average cap hit of that deal is never over $8M, so maybe that's all right.

This staff has to wonder, though: If Washington got himself into this kind of trouble after getting $5M last year, can you really give him $10M next year?

 

[overseascardfan]

IND parlayed a great draft into a 10 win season but in a division with both SF & SEA not to mention a quickly improving STL team it will be harder for ARZ to pull an IND in the next couple of years.

Unless SEA & SF start losing key guys to injury / FA then we have a chance. ARZ will have to win a lot of OOC games to have a shot at the playoffs plus at least splitting games with SEA & SF. A really tall order.

 

[Duckjake]

I actually think we DO have one of those already, but you need two to be an elite team. I don't think that Palmer has it in him to be Elite, and I don't think we have the horses to have an elite rush linebacker right now.

I wonder if we might decline DWash's option bonus because it's a contract of the old regime. The average cap hit of that deal is never over $8M, so maybe that's all right.

This staff has to wonder, though: If Washington got himself into this kind of trouble after getting $5M last year, can you really give him $10M next year?

I don't know about being an elite team but all you need is talent to get into the playoffs and then get hot to go to a Super Bowl. 5 of the last 6 seasons a 9-7 or 10-6 team has made the SB and won 4 of them. Including the last 3 in a row. Of course the Cardinals are the only one not to win.

I think the Cards have the talent to do that right now.

 

[kerouac9]

I don't know about being an elite team but all you need is talent to get into the playoffs and then get hot to go to a Super Bowl. 5 of the last 6 seasons a 9-7 or 10-6 team has made the SB and won 4 of them. Including the last 3 in a row. Of course the Cardinals are the only one not to win.

I think the Cards have the talent to do that right now.

Hm... Maybe. I think it's too early to say that when we're going to turn over about half the starters on both offense and defense. The only clear upgrade is from Kolindlton to Palmer, and we WERE 5-11 last year.

I think that 10-6, 9-7 is our absolute ceiling until we get another elite player at a value position.

 

[Duckjake]

Hm... Maybe. I think it's too early to say that when we're going to turn over about half the starters on both offense and defense. The only clear upgrade is from Kolindlton to Palmer, and we WERE 5-11 last year.

I think that 10-6, 9-7 is our absolute ceiling until we get another elite player at a value position.

We WERE 5-11 last year because our QBs were among, if not the worst in the NFL.

Carson Palmer is not "sack a second" Kolb, Double Dunce, or Rag Arm Ryan.
That alone makes the Cards competitive.

Of course being the Cardinals they'll start off 5-2 and Palmer will get hurt and they'll lose the last 9 games of the season and finish 5-11. Because that is what they do.

 

[kerouac9]

We WERE 5-11 last year because our QBs were among, if not the worst in the NFL.

Carson Palmer is not "sack a second" Kolb, Double Dunce, or Rag Arm Ryan.
That alone makes the Cards competitive.

Of course being the Cardinals they'll start off 5-2 and Palmer will get hurt and they'll lose the last 9 games of the season and finish 5-11. Because that is what they do.

That's true, but the 2013 Arizona Cardinals aren't going to be the 2012 Cardinals with Palmer replacing Kolb/Skelton/Lindley. They're going to be a shadow of the 2012 Cards grafted on to a bunch of guys that their old teams didn't really want, plus a draft class.

Maybe Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles are much, much better game-day coaches than I expect them to be. That's 100% possible. But if they are who I think they are, this team is going to be overmatched in division games, and that's going to make it difficult to get better than 9-7.

 

[WildBB]

That's true, but the 2013 Arizona Cardinals aren't going to be the 2012 Cardinals with Palmer replacing Kolb/Skelton/Lindley. They're going to be a shadow of the 2012 Cards grafted on to a bunch of guys that their old teams didn't really want, plus a draft class.

Maybe Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles are much, much better game-day coaches than I expect them to be. That's 100% possible. But if they are who I think they are, this team is going to be overmatched in division games, and that's going to make it difficult to get better than 9-7.

I believe we got good value in FA. Most of those players we signed, like our own Greg Toler, we'd have preferred to keep. They can play and even start in this league with good results.

As always the better teams rely heavily on the QB. Dallas for all it's talent (pro-bowl rusher, DL, TE, CB) lives and dies with how Romo performs. He is obviously above average and not elite.

I sincerely believe we need to draft and develop that future QB next yr. no matter how Palmer does this yr. Priority #1.

 

[Duckjake]

That's true, but the 2013 Arizona Cardinals aren't going to be the 2012 Cardinals with Palmer replacing Kolb/Skelton/Lindley. They're going to be a shadow of the 2012 Cards grafted on to a bunch of guys that their old teams didn't really want, plus a draft class.

Maybe Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles are much, much better game-day coaches than I expect them to be. That's 100% possible. But if they are who I think they are, this team is going to be overmatched in division games, and that's going to make it difficult to get better than 9-7.

I actually think they're going to be the exact opposite of the 2011-2012 teams. A good offense and weak defense. Losing Washington even if its only for 4 games really hurts and the safety position is really weak. As for a pass rush I'm thinking the Cards are looking to Campbell and Dockett to provide that rather than Okafor and Acho and whoever are the OLBs. We're going to have to outscore teams to win and hopefully we have the weapons to do it.

Speaking of OLBs I was surprised they took Okafor. Now we have like 4 SOLBs and no WOLB. But hey, it's all about stopping the run in the NFL these days isn't it?

 

[WildBB]

I actually think they're going to be the exact opposite of the 2011-2012 teams. A good offense and weak defense. Losing Washington even if its only for 4 games really hurts and the safety position is really weak. As for a pass rush I'm thinking the Cards are looking to Campbell and Dockett to provide that rather than Okafor and Acho and whoever are the OLBs. We're going to have to outscore teams to win and hopefully we have the weapons to do it.

Speaking of OLBs I was surprised they took Okafor. Now we have like 4 SOLBs and no WOLB. But hey, it's all about stopping the run in the NFL these days isn't it?

Bowles D isn't as reliant on DWash creating havoc as Horton's was.

I believe the D will be fine with Minter in there. He's an excellent wrap up tackler. Hopefully Brinkley will be able to keep him somewhat clean to be able to do just that.

Like Washington he has the capability to be a very good down the line ILB.