Can't the FO Ever Finish The Job?

[Ed Burmila]

I find it hard to believe they like what we have at OT, but I guess we do. They see Womack and Bridges as an insurance policy but let's be honest - neither of those guys are starting caliber OTs in this league.

I simply can't believe that they plan to go into the season with no backup NT. 290 pound DEs are not NTs. It's a 3-4. The NT is the key to the whole defense.

 

[Buckybird]

They also drafted a guy to take his place in the 1st round, who is a potential edge rushing dynamo.

& we passed on Brooks Reed & Dontay Moch to draft a RB who IMO we didn't need at this moment

Sometimes I believe Wiz believes in his system more than the players that run it. We keep firing D-coordinators but until we draft some edge rushers, our 3-4 is not gonna work IMO & is just a 3-4 in name only!!!

 

[40yearfan]

See K9's post. They didnt ask him to rush the QB. 218 times all season?? How do you know he cant perform in that role?

You dont think he is an upgrade over Joey Porter? I said he is a solid "B" OLB, no one except you mentioned 'First Tier"

If he played in all 16 games, that's an average of almost 14 times per game. Seems like a lot to me for a LB.

 

[Mitch]

& we passed on Brooks Reed & Dontay Moch to draft a RB who IMO we didn't need at this moment

Sometimes I believe Wiz believes in his system more than the players that run it. We keep firing D-coordinators but until we draft some edge rushers, our 3-4 is not gonna work IMO & is just a 3-4 in name only!!!

I will expound on this in a new thread sometime soon, but Whiz has feathered his own offensive nest here in Arizona and has done more to handicap the defense than anything else...in his hires as DC and in his personnel decisions.

You may like Beanie Wells...but after that Super Bowl, to draft an offensive player in the first round said it all about Whiz's priorities.

 

[DoTheDew]

Patience my friends. As has been mentioned there are still 200 FAs out there and lets not forget that there are still countless training camp cuts coming. This isn't the final roster and I'd be willing to wager that there are at least a few guys not on the roster today that will make the roster week 1.

You may like Beanie Wells...but after that Super Bowl, to draft an offensive player in the first round said it all about Whiz's priorities.

Or it said that he was drafting BPA according to nearly every scout in the country. Beanie was never expected to be sitting there at the end of the 1st round.

Whiz has drafted 2 Offensive and 3 defensive players in the 1st round since he arrived. He has drafted a total of 17 defensive players and 17 offensive players since he has been here. You are right about a lot of things but this point is completely lost when you put it up against the facts.

 

[tnmike]

I don't agree with anything you have said. I think the owner, GM, and Coach that are on the ground rather somewhere in Bumcrap Mass. and in the know are much more qualified than you to make those decisions what? 1 week into training camp? Give me a break

 

[perivolaki]

They also drafted a guy to take his place in the 1st round, who is a potential edge rushing dynamo.

Maybe like we drafted OBS last year.

Maybe the Cards liked what they saw in him at the end of last year in the limited time he had and feel he will be better than Lawson.

I know, I know, maybe Lawsons better than Porter. Point taken. But maybe Lawson wants to go to a place he will start and the Cardinals don't need or want him in a role that Porter at this point in his career is comfortable with.

There are so many reasons why they don't want Lawson, Roth,or anyone else at OLB.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

I dont get this arguement. We can agree to disagree on how Good Lawson is, but just b/c you let someone go does not mean he isnt any good.

Do I really have to name all the FA's that were great, left their teams , and were great still? In essence your saying none of the FA's the Cards picked up could be ay good.

Reality is New coach = his own guys. They didnt just let Lawson go, they let several guys walk from their starting defense last year.

And since when is 3million for 1 year a deal any team would get scared over? Id pay that, let Porter walk, and its more than a wash b/c Lawson is a better OLB at this point in his career.

The argument, so to speak, is that no team would let a pass rushing 3-4 linebacker go. They are at a premium.

 

[CardLogic]

Originally Posted by joeshmo
14 sacks in 5 years.

Why do people like this guy so much?

Because we didn't sign him. If we did sign him everyone would be saying "We signed a guy who has 14 sacks in 5 years to solve our pass rushing woes! These guys in the front office are idiots!"

Truth!!!

 

[Mitch]

I don't agree with anything you have said. I think the owner, GM, and Coach that are on the ground rather somewhere in Bumcrap Mass. and in the know are much more qualified than you to make those decisions what? 1 week into training camp? Give me a break

But you're the guy with all the inside info from the coaches in Tennessee? lol What a crock of huey all that was.

I could be on Mars to figure out that the Cardinals have not addressed all their important needs. Anyone could. Much of the reason why we only scored a C+ in the recent free agency/trade grades---and there are legitimate reasons for this, whether you and anyone else want to make excuses or defend the organization's perpetual incompetence.

 

[gohard83]

Manny Lawson had a falling out with the current staff on the 49ers. He didn't feel wanted or appreciated plus he wants a chance to start and gets PAID. I was personally mad when they decide to extend Haralson instead of Lawson. He's a solid football player, but we are happy with Aldon Smith right now. We need a true pass rusher. Lawson was more of a run stopper and coverage LB.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

But you're the guy with all the inside info from the coaches in Tennessee? lol What a crock of huey all that was.

I could be on Mars to figure out that the Cardinals have not addressed all their important needs. Anyone could. Much of the reason why we only scored a C+ in the recent free agency/trade grades---and there are legitimate reasons for this, whether you and anyone else want to make excuses or defend the organization's perpetual incompetence.

Given there are legitimate reasons for the C+ grade, perhaps you can tell me how we managed to get the all important +?

P.S. graded by whom by the way?

 

[Catfish]

This is what drives me crazy about the Cardinals' front office. They still haven't addressed some of the more conspicuous vulnerabilities on their roster. STILL.

Sure---the Cardinals were aggressive in acquiring QB Kevin Kolb and TE Todd Heap---and I believe they did well in signing a cadre of solid B level UFAs. That's all well and good.

However---why can't they just once finish the job?

Points in Case:

1. Offensive Tackle.

Everyone in the NFL knows the Cardinals are weak at the tackles and especially at left tackle. Everyone except the Bidwills, Rod Graves and Ken Whisenhunt. It makes no sense not to have an insurance policy to protect the new franchise QB.

2. Outside Linebacker.

Aside from acquiring a QB, it was clear to the NFL world that the Cardinals need edge rushers (almost every draft pundit had the Cardinals taking a QB or OLB/DE---for a reason). Year after year the Cardinals do not---for whatever the reasons---do all they can to bring one or two legitimate edge threats in. The hope is they will get lucky with 4th round draft picks O'Brien Schofield and Sam Acho. Both are young, inexperienced and unproven. Both have upside. But, both may not even start because the Cardinals are still holding onto two ex-Steelers who are years past their primes.

Note: their lack of good edge rushers is one of the reasons why the Cardinals' offensive tackles struggle. The tackles can't practice against the real thing---so any time they see a very good edge rusher, the Cardinal tackles are unprepared and understandably unconfident. In essence they become overwhelmed.

3. Nose Tackle.

Sorry---but you cannot trust in the decision that the Cardinals' backup DEs are capable of jumping into the NT rotation---just as the Cardinals asked Bryan Robinson to do, only as a token starter. Plus, Dan Williams has stamina issues which makes it all the more key to have a good backup who is actually a NT and not a DE fill-in.

This just in: the Cardinals are a 34 defense. 34 defense all start with the NT. How many years has it been?

4. Running Back.

With the recent trading of Tim Hightower and the release of William Powell, the Cardinals are facing the exact same absence of RB depth/options they faced last year in pre-season---which caused the coaches to play a hobbling Beanie Wells deep into the second halfs. It got so bad last pre-season the Cardinals made a boneheaded trade with the Eagles to bring in RB Charles Scott, just so they could pound him into the line for the 4th pre-season game and then cut him.

There are currently 4 RBs on the roster: Beanie Wells, Ryan Williams, LaRod Stephens-Howling and Alfonso Smith. Imo, Wells, Williams nor LSH should play in the second halfs of pre-season games 1,2 & 4. So what are the coaches going to do? Pound the ball with the slight but speedy Alfonso Smith for entire halfs? There is no reason whatsoever to give LSH more than 3 carries a pre-season game. And this year they had better keep Beanie injury-free and fresh.

The Plan:

The Cardinals talk about a plan. We have seen parts of a plan come to fruition. But if the plan includes---once again---ignoring key areas of need---then the plan is once again unacceptable...and the sign once again of a losing organization.

Mitch-----not only is the job not finished, but the FO is taking ques from the HC once again. Apparently the FO intended to add more, but Whiz pretty much said that he is happy with what we have, and that he will wait and see how things work out with the players we already have on board. It is apparent that they are satisfied with out OT situation, (why is beyond me). With regards to the NT, Whiz flat out said that Eason is a wide body, and we can slide him in the middle if needed. He went on to say that we already had Carter, (a rookie), taking snaps there. Malcolm Floyd of San Diego has expressed interest in coming here, but we apparently have no interest in him, (content with our unproven #2 candidates).

This just doesn't make good sense to me. The sad part about it is, that if we discover during the next 3-4 weeks that we need more help, the talent pool will surely have been depleted significantly while we (wait and see). This is beginning to smell a little like last year again. Trusting Whiz on player selections seems to be a bad choice after the way he continued to start Bryant Robinson at the nose last year, despite having Williams and Watson available. He also tried to make Joey Porter an every down rush LB, when clearly he was not capable of doing that anymore. He sat D.Wash down after he, (lined up in the wrong spot once), a common mistake for rookies throughout the league, but he kept him down for a far longer period of time than was necessary to teach him a lesson. He also tried to use A-Dub for a cover safety, and that was fruitless.

If he is placing his trust in (what he already has), because he is afraid of cutting a player in order to bring in qualified hole fillers, then someone needs to explain to him that there is plenty of camp fodder on this roster to where we needn't be concerned about that.

Just say'in, if I were Graves, I don't think I would trust Whiz's judgement on the needs of the roster, given the poor choices he made last year. No need to allow him to get us into another deficit on personnel when the talent pool is still deep, and we still have money that we NEED to spend.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Mitch-----not only is the job not finished, but the FO is taking ques from the HC once again. Apparently the FO intended to add more, but Whiz pretty much said that he is happy with what we have, and that he will wait and see how things work out with the players we already have on board. It is apparent that they are satisfied with out OT situation, (why is beyond me). With regards to the NT, Whiz flat out said that Eason is a wide body, and we can slide him in the middle if needed. He went on to say that we already had Carter, (a rookie), taking snaps there. Malcolm Floyd of San Diego has expressed interest in coming here, but we apparently have no interest in him, (content with our unproven #2 candidates).

This just doesn't make good sense to me. The sad part about it is, that if we discover during the next 3-4 weeks that we need more help, the talent pool will surely have been depleted significantly while we (wait and see). This is beginning to smell a little like last year again. Trusting Whiz on player selections seems to be a bad choice after the way he continued to start Bryant Robinson at the nose last year, despite having Williams and Watson available. He also tried to make Joey Porter an every down rush LB, when clearly he was not capable of doing that anymore. He sat D.Wash down after he, (lined up in the wrong spot once), a common mistake for rookies throughout the league, but he kept him down for a far longer period of time than was necessary to teach him a lesson. He also tried to use A-Dub for a cover safety, and that was fruitless.

If he is placing his trust in (what he already has), because he is afraid of cutting a player in order to bring in qualified hole fillers, then someone needs to explain to him that there is plenty of camp fodder on this roster to where we needn't be concerned about that.

Just say'in, if I were Graves, I don't think I would trust Whiz's judgement on the needs of the roster, given the poor choices he made last year. No need to allow him to get us into another deficit on personnel when the talent pool is still deep, and we still have money that we NEED to spend.

The Coach outlines his needs, and the GM goes shopping.

If the Coach can't handle that responsibility, you fire him.

 

[tnmike]

But you're the guy with all the inside info from the coaches in Tennessee? lol What a crock of huey all that was.

I could be on Mars to figure out that the Cardinals have not addressed all their important needs. Anyone could. Much of the reason why we only scored a C+ in the recent free agency/trade grades---and there are legitimate reasons for this, whether you and anyone else want to make excuses or defend the organization's perpetual incompetence.

Yeah, I have a friend that is a coach with the Titans. I'm sure that's more than you can say for your sources if you even have any.

 

[tnmike]

But you're the guy with all the inside info from the coaches in Tennessee? lol What a crock of huey all that was.

I could be on Mars to figure out that the Cardinals have not addressed all their important needs. Anyone could. Much of the reason why we only scored a C+ in the recent free agency/trade grades---and there are legitimate reasons for this, whether you and anyone else want to make excuses or defend the organization's perpetual incompetence.

And by the way all I ever said that he told me was the deal with Vince Young's exploits in Tennessee. That's all.

 

[Longcolts]

1 week of signings and the real practices started this afternoon and already the griping starts. Typical

 

[DemsMyBoys]

Mitch, not my area of expertise but I'm kind of hoping more will happen after today. I can see waiting until you see what you've got (and what you need) when everybody is on the practice field.

 

[Longcolts]

Mitch, not my area of expertise but I'm kind of hoping more will happen after today. I can see waiting until you see what you've got (and what you need) when everybody is on the practice field.

I think actually we'll know more after the first preseason game next week.

 

[Catfish]

The Coach outlines his needs, and the GM goes shopping.

If the Coach can't handle that responsibility, you fire him.

You'll get no argument from me on that count------

 

[Shane]

JasonLaCanfora Jason La Canfora
Free agent Matt Roth getting interest from Denver, Seattle and Arizona

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

14 sacks in 56 career stats.

I know people know his name and all, but name regognition does not equal production and this guy has little to no production as a pass rusher. Schofield in maybe 20% of the amount of snaps coming off of knee injury was just as productive as Lawson as a pass rusher last year.

In a league frothing at the mouth for pass rushers in a passing league, all this guy could find was 1 year deal with the Bengals?

Roth continues to be and was the only legit OLB on the market this offseason. And not becuase he is a dominate pass rusher but because he is a jack of all trades OLB who is a decent pass rusher and a decent run stuffer. But why cant he find a job either?

Maybe we could have gone after Derrick Harvey who has proven just as much as Schofield in this league.

I udnerstand wanting to fix the position but at least have some legit options to fix it with.

Sacks dont tell the whole story; I seem to recall Sando showing Lawson had one of the highest rates of QB pressures in the league a couple of months ago...

 

[Rats]

The Cards did a bang up job initially but have fizzled in aquiring depth again. This is nothing new for this front office and Headcoach. They have the money to spend but take a wait and see attitude and it has been to little to late in getting quality depth guys. I do not think we as fans want anything less than them offering the $$$ they have to spend to who ever is quality on the market. Maybe they have and have had to wait. But with camp now underway the time be a wasting to get quality depth and get it in game shape. Come on Graves need to fully load the arsenal.

 

[Cardiac]

I want a legit threat to Levi. Russ and Whiz seem to think he will improve this year and I know he won't struggle as much since we have a legit QB.

K-9 makes a great point about the NT position but I still want one as competition/injury insurance.

OLBer, nothing that excites me available in FA. Maybe Lawson or Roth are better then Porter but they don't know the system. Horton believes both Haggans and Porter have potential to play closer to the level they did in Pittsburgh then last years efforts (Haggans was not a liability anyway). I also don't think we should dismiss O'Brien as a wish and prayer, he was a 1st/2nd rd prospect before the injury so it's not like we didn't address the position at all.

So while I share Mitch's frustration at some level I'm not in the bashing mood yet.

It is rather tough to find quality FA's at two of the most important positions on the team in FA (Pass rusher and LT).

About 5 teams are over the CAP and will have to cut players so there are still some potential options coming are way.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I find it hard to believe they like what we have at OT, but I guess we do. They see Womack and Bridges as an insurance policy but let's be honest - neither of those guys are starting caliber OTs in this league.

Even richer, word is that Keith is sporting a huge knee brace and limping between plays. If it wasn't before, OT is a major concern.