Bickley's blog

[Russ Smith]

I don't think Blogs are copyrighted so here goes?

http://www.azcentral.com/blogs/index.php?blog=290&blogtype=Sports

Hey Cards: Hire a General Manager
10/23/2006 04:17:30
Once upon a time, the Cardinals sorely needed Dennis Green.

They needed a proven winner. They needed a firm hand. They needed to a head coach that could shake up the room. They needed someone who could identify good, young talent.

They got all of that.

But they also needed someone to check Green’s arrogance, to balance Green’s unconventional thinking. That person has not been present, and the lack of another strong football voice in the mix has been the biggest flaw in the plan.

It is why the Cardinals are 1-6 and sinking like a broken dinghy.

For instance, they needed someone to stop Green from releasing Pete Kendall.

They needed someone to stop Green from hiring old friends and rookie offensive coordinators.

They needed someone to say, "No, Everett Lindsay can not be the offensive line coach."

They needed someone to say, "No, you’re not benching Josh McCown on Saturday night before the Panthers game."

They needed someone to say, "Sorry, coach, but Nick Leckey is better than Alex Stepanovich, even if you personally drafted the latter."

They needed someone to look at the offensive line and say, "Put Leonard Davis at guard."

They needed someone to say, "No, you can not fire Keith Rowen after the best half of football this team has played all season."

They needed someone to explain to the Bidwills that drafting Matt Leinart and signing Edgerrin James is great, but not if you can’t protect them with a competent offensive line.

In other words, they needed a real general manager.

And if the Cardinals are really serious about winning, they will make a list of potential candidates immediately.

I guess he doesn't realize Green drafted leckey and step the same year, but some of his points are pretty accurate.

 

[football karma]

Bickley is dead on

Picking personnel is such an inexact science that you need two decent points of view

Having the guy who picks personnel also be the coach has its shortfalls -- he has the power for the self fulfilling prophesy (at least in the short-term): I drafted him, and look, he is a starter (see Alex Stepanovich as an example)

One of the shortfalls here is that Denny has quite a bit of the "I am smarter than everyone else" syndrome -- he likes to go against conventional wisdom and sometimes it works (Bert Berry) but often is doesnt (Oliver Ross and Milford Brown)

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

But the key is finding balance. If Rod Graves had a stronger personality or any sort of success in his background to use as credibility when dealing with Green then this partnership might have worked. Hell, part of me doesn't blame Green at all for not listening to Graves. The guy has been such a complete failure at every stop that listening to any of his advice would likely be career suicide.

For the rest of the year, the GM issue is going to take a backseat to the coaching search. But finding and selling a new GM is just as crucial.

 

[LVCARDFREAK]

I am so tired of the whole PK thing. He wasnt gonna play here. He didnt want to be in AZ fater McGinnis was let go. DG has made some serious mistakes, but PK is not one of them.

 

[Russ Smith]

I am so tired of the whole PK thing. He wasnt gonna play here. He didnt want to be in AZ fater McGinnis was let go. DG has made some serious mistakes, but PK is not one of them.

I said I'd never comment on that again but I lied. Letting PK go becaues he didn't want to move back to guard(which is what Wylie said he wanted) is somewhat understandable. Doing it on the eve of camp knowing the only 2 C's you have on your roster are rookies is iffy. Doing it knowing the rookie who's going to start can't make linecalls, OR shotgun snap, is assinine. That one move more than anything else that year handicapped us the entire year because we had the worst starting C in the NFL, by a mile. We had an inexperienced QB in his first year as starter, also being responsible for linecalls at the start of the year. We had a QB who's only success in college, at a lower level, came in an offense that ran exclusively out of the shotgun, and we stuck him under C virtually EVERY play because our C couldn't shotgun snap.

All that because DG decided to make an example of PK by cutting him so late in the game, he couldn't get anybody else. He won't change positions and you don't like that fine, but make the move earlier on, find an adequate veteran replacement in FA or via trade, and then cut the guy and get your point across. But don't do it at the last minute and screw the whole season up because you never have an adequate C.

Same with the starting King at the last second crap, we've all by now heard that King didn't know about it until the day before the game, that's complete insanity, give Josh all the reps all week, and then bench him the day before? Matt keeps saying how he got no work at all as the backup and it was so hard to be ready for games, now he gets all the reps, in what parallel universe did it ever make sense to make that switch the day before the game? I was fine with trying King, Josh was playing horribly, but he completely sabotaged King by giving him no reps.

Those are the kind of nonsensical moves that have to stop, we're not good enough to overcome that stuff. Bickley clearly didn't know that Green drafted LEckey too but the point is still somewhat valid, in some way I suspect Green kept starting Step for 2 reasons, one he drafted Step higher, starting leckey is an admission he was wrong about Step. Two, he cut his starting C and gave the job to Step, benching Step is an admission he was probably dumb to cut his starting C without finding a viable replacement first.

 

[Lex]

Dickley refuses to let the Pete Kendall/Anthony Clement/LJ Shelton thing die.

Are you kidding me?

We sucked just as bad, IF NOT WORSE, when those guys played for us.

They still suck.

Especially half a season Kendall.

 

[arthurracoon]

we need a GM

 

[Cheesebeef]

Dickley refuses to let the Pete Kendall/Anthony Clement/LJ Shelton thing die.

Are you kidding me?

We sucked just as bad, IF NOT WORSE, when those guys played for us.

They still suck.

Especially half a season Kendall.

Lex, our O-line is worse today than it was back then, as hard as it is to believe, it's the truth. just look at the numbers and the pathetic RBs who were running behind it versus the numbers with this horrid O-line and what was a HOFer just a year ago.

regardless of Bickley being right or wrong, this O-line is worst, unbelievably.

 

[football karma]

I dont mind Denny tearing down the line he got from Mac / Tobin -- it stunk (and Bickley doesnt seem to recall that)--

its that Denny built a more expensive, far worse performing version

 

[Big Deal]

They needed someone to say, "Sorry, coach, but Nick Leckey is better than Alex Stepanovich, even if you personally drafted the latter."

It amazes me that Bickley can keep his print job. He does ZERO research, he just spouts off crap that idiot callers tell him. No credibility and I can't believe that the az rep hasn't told him to take a hike yet.

 

[ajcardfan]

I dont mind Denny tearing down the line he got from Mac / Tobin -- it stunk (and Bickley doesnt seem to recall that)--

its that Denny built a more expensive, far worse performing version

Yeah, it's asinine to be pining away for the 2003 line. Last in rushing, last in points scored, Blake and McCown both got hit a lot for fumbles just like Warner did early this year. That line had to be imploded.

But, we sure aren't any better in 2006, and that's been Denny's downfall. All along, I said the oline would be the key to him succeeding or failing.

 

[Ryanwb]

That Kendall - Shelton line was the line responsible for our last 100 yard game. The line is worse today than it was then

 

[Zeno]

They needed someone to say, "Sorry, coach, but Nick Leckey is better than Alex Stepanovich, even if you personally drafted the latter."

He drafted both in the same draft. Bickley has at least 1 wrong item in everything he writes.

 

[LVCARDFREAK]

I said I'd never comment on that again but I lied. Letting PK go becaues he didn't want to move back to guard(which is what Wylie said he wanted) is somewhat understandable. Doing it on the eve of camp knowing the only 2 C's you have on your roster are rookies is iffy. Doing it knowing the rookie who's going to start can't make linecalls, OR shotgun snap, is assinine. That one move more than anything else that year handicapped us the entire year because we had the worst starting C in the NFL, by a mile. We had an inexperienced QB in his first year as starter, also being responsible for linecalls at the start of the year. We had a QB who's only success in college, at a lower level, came in an offense that ran exclusively out of the shotgun, and we stuck him under C virtually EVERY play because our C couldn't shotgun snap.

All that because DG decided to make an example of PK by cutting him so late in the game, he couldn't get anybody else. He won't change positions and you don't like that fine, but make the move earlier on, find an adequate veteran replacement in FA or via trade, and then cut the guy and get your point across. But don't do it at the last minute and screw the whole season up because you never have an adequate C.

.

Iam not defending Green. His decisions re: this line have been awful. If you want to bag on letting Shelton go, ok, I can see that. The difference here is PK was not gonna play for this team. I mean if DG keeps him do you honestly think he would still be the starting C/G that year?

PK was Mac's boy through and through. Went with him to pressers, played of Mac's "good ole boy" persona etc. PK wanted nothin to do with Green and his new staff.

I dont know when the decision was made to release PK. Was the timing bad? Yes! But Step was fairly highly though of coming out of OSU. Maybe Green really did believe he could do the job. Who knows.

Either way, I just dont buy that releasing PK was a bad move. The worse move was believing that Step could be an adequate Center in the NFL. That is what should be harped upon, imo.

 

[ajcardfan]

That Kendall - Shelton line was the line responsible for our last 100 yard game. The line is worse today than it was then

No, Emmitt cracked 100 a couple of times in 2004 and Kendall was gone and Shelton wasn't starting.


But, the Kendall-Shelton line was still, hands down, the worst in the NFL at the time. It had to go, it sucked.

 

[ajcardfan]

Either way, I just dont buy that releasing PK was a bad move. The worse move was believing that Step could be an adequate Center in the NFL. That is what should be harped upon, imo.

Exactly how I feel about it too. The much bigger mistake was thinking Step could play.

 

[Ryanwb]

I don't think the Cardinals have ever had a good line since being in Arizona. You'd think they'd have fixed it by now

 

[Cheesebeef]

I don't think the Cardinals have ever had a good line since being in Arizona. You'd think they'd have fixed it by now

1988/9 and 1993 - hell, in 1989, Earl Ferrel almost ran for 1000 yards and he was a fullback!

The 1993 Offense was actually something worth watching. Beurline had time to throw, between Garrison Hearst and Ronald Moore, we had some semblance of a running game and with Ricky Proehl, Randall Hill and Gary Clark (when healthy), we actually had a very good complement of WRs.

 

[Derm]

Ricky Proehl, damn he was pretty fast for a white kid (no slur meant - he was fast)

 

[Cheesebeef]

I forgot that we lost to the Lions TWICE in 1993. How the hell did that even happen? I know the Lions own us for some reason, but they aren't even in our division - how the hell did we play them TWICE in one season?

 

[Ryanwb]

I forgot that we lost to the Lions TWICE in 1993. How the hell did that even happen? I know the Lions own us for some reason, but they aren't even in our division - how the hell did we play them TWICE in one season?

I believe one of those losses was the infamous 4 down stand on the 1 yardline by the Lions. That was embarassing

 

[ajcardfan]

1988/9 and 1993 - hell, in 1989, Earl Ferrel almost ran for 1000 yards and he was a fullback!

The 1993 Offense was actually something worth watching. Beurline had time to throw, between Garrison Hearst and Ronald Moore, we had some semblance of a running game and with Ricky Proehl, Randall Hill and Gary Clark (when healthy), we actually had a very good complement of WRs.

That was the last time the offensive line was as LEAST average or above average. Then, Buddy came in and got rid of everybody except Sharpe. It's been a train wreck ever since. Although the line approached average the last half of 1998. It was still the worst part of the team though.

Thirteen straight seasons of every coach saying "We got to make the line better, we have to run better," and no one has done. You'd think by almost dumb luck something good would've happened.

 

[Ryanwb]

Lomas Brown was probably the last competent tackle this team had

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Lex, our O-line is worse today than it was back then, as hard as it is to believe, it's the truth. just look at the numbers and the pathetic RBs who were running behind it versus the numbers with this horrid O-line and what was a HOFer just a year ago.

His point remains in that Green was right in dismantling that horrible and extremely overpaid line. Everyone locally and nationally was calling for something to be done with it as TJ and Plummer were somehow succeeding elsewhere with better protection while the running game and pass protection continued to struggle.

But you are right, that line was certainly better. Although less pathetic might be a better description.

 

[Cheesebeef]

His point remains in that Green was right in dismantling that horrible and extremely overpaid line. Everyone locally and nationally was calling for something to be done with it as TJ and Plummer were somehow succeeding elsewhere with better protection while the running game and pass protection continued to struggle.

But you are right, that line was certainly better. Although less pathetic might be a better description.

I agree with the first part of your statement. I was just taking issue with the notion that this O-line was better. I've seriosuly never seen an O-line THIS bad in my life - hell, even in Buddy's first year, Mark Higgs had a 100 yard game once (I think).