Harry
ASFN Consultant and Senior Writer
I know Steve Keim is up for sainthood, but I've got a concern. I'm confident Keim's personnel strategy can keep the Cards in playoff contention as long as they have a decent, experienced QB. Here's the rub. Filling in the gaps with short-term aging players has served the Cards well. That said, as the season wears on it looks like these players may be wearing down.
The playoffs seem to reflect this to an even greater degree. These players seem more prone to injury and appear to recover more slowly. All teams use these players to fill a hole here and there, but at times they seem to provide much of the Cardinal defense. Three other issues arise. First players seem to play best when they have a sense of how the players on their unit will respond any given situation. While most attention is focused on coordination with the play of the offensive line, all units benefit from it. These older players are constantly rotating. Secondly if they play great they're hard to keep. Finally if the Cards offer a multi-year contract the players age makes them more likely than normal to break down in year 2, like Abraham.
I'm certainly not trying to disparage what Keim has done, but I think a change in strategy is reasonable. The Cards need to do a better job with the draft. Securing only 2 or 3 productive players is not elite performance.
Major free agents have typically been restricted to offensive linemen. The Cards must find a way to get more boom for their bucks and impact other units.
Keim has easily been the best GM the Cards have had in a long time. He's probably the best since Chicago. Still to take it to the next level he's got to be even better.
The playoffs seem to reflect this to an even greater degree. These players seem more prone to injury and appear to recover more slowly. All teams use these players to fill a hole here and there, but at times they seem to provide much of the Cardinal defense. Three other issues arise. First players seem to play best when they have a sense of how the players on their unit will respond any given situation. While most attention is focused on coordination with the play of the offensive line, all units benefit from it. These older players are constantly rotating. Secondly if they play great they're hard to keep. Finally if the Cards offer a multi-year contract the players age makes them more likely than normal to break down in year 2, like Abraham.
I'm certainly not trying to disparage what Keim has done, but I think a change in strategy is reasonable. The Cards need to do a better job with the draft. Securing only 2 or 3 productive players is not elite performance.
Major free agents have typically been restricted to offensive linemen. The Cards must find a way to get more boom for their bucks and impact other units.
Keim has easily been the best GM the Cards have had in a long time. He's probably the best since Chicago. Still to take it to the next level he's got to be even better.
... I'm sure the scouting department has never thought of that advice. The draft is not a video game, and even the best GMs consider 40-50% hits to be a pretty good draft.
