azdad1978
Championship!!!!
By Scott Bordow, Tribune Columnist
A small platform is set up outside the locker room at the Cardinals’ training facility. Each Wednesday the team's starting quarterback steps onto the platform for a Q&A with reporters. Welcome back, Josh McCown. What's it been, a couple weeks? “Three weeks,” McCown said.
So it has.
Three weeks, three losses and this response from Dennis Green Wednesday, when asked if his not-so-new starter could still prove he's the quarterback of the future:
“I'm focused on all the players,” Green said.
Filmmaker Michael Moore was more enthusiastic about George W. Bush.
No matter what happens the rest of the season, it's clear Green has lost faith in McCown, who will play Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers only because rookie John Navarre is injured.
It's also apparent the Cardinals will go quarterback shopping in the offseason, spending either millions of dollars or a high draft pick on a position that should be set for the next 10 years.
Unless, of course, Green falls in love again with Navarre or Shaun King.
An NFL team's success — or lack thereof — often is based on the quarterback decisions it makes.
The Indianapolis Colts drafted Peyton Manning in 1998. The San Diego Chargers were left with Ryan Leaf.
The Cleveland Browns took Tim Couch with the first pick in the 1999 draft. The Philadelphia Eagles picked Donovan McNabb second.
The Cardinals have had two opportunities the last 21 months to fix a position that's been broken ever since Neil Lomax suffered a career-ending hip injury in 1988, Jake Plummer’s remarkable ’98 season notwithstanding.
Instead, they made poor decisions that are not only dogging them this year but will haunt them for years to come.
Arizona could have selected Byron Leftwich with the sixth pick in the 2003 draft, but it traded down for two first-round selections, which turned out be backup defensive end Calvin Pace and Bryant Johnson, currently the team's No. 3 receiver.
This year, of course, quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers were available, but Green took wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald with the No. 3 pick.
Fitzgerald has had a nice rookie season (43 catches, 590 yards, four touchdowns), but he's done little to fulfill Green's assertion that he was the best player in the draft.
Clearly, Roethlisberger's success in Pittsburgh is tied to the talent around him. The Steelers have a solid running game, three productive wideouts and a dominant defense. It's just as clear, however, that Roethlisberger will be a star, a Pro Bowl quarterback for years to come.
While you're banging your head against the wall, consider this what-might-have-been: Arizona drafts Terrell Suggs with the sixth pick in ’03 and gets Anquan Boldin in the second round. This year, it takes Roethlisberger.
Think a team with Roethlisberger throwing to Boldin, and Suggs and Bertrand Berry chasing quarterbacks might be worth keeping an eye on?
But enough about the past. What about next year?
Well, there isn't a can't-miss quarterback in the draft, and it's unlikely Green or the organization will have the patience to develop a young player. The Cardinals are moving into their new home in 2006; they want to sell a playoff team, not another 5-11 squad.
Drew Brees?
Won't happen. The Chargers, with $21 million in salary-cap space, will slap the franchise tag on him, meaning any team that signs Brees will have to give up two first-round picks. Arizona isn't that interested. San Diego will likely keep Brees and Rivers for another season. The gluttons.
That leaves veterans like Aaron Brooks, who has fallen out of favor in New Orleans, or Brad Johnson, who's no longer the starter in Tampa Bay. Both players likely will be cut by their respective teams, but, really, who cares?
Might as well bring Plummer back if the Denver Broncos allow him to become a free agent.
I can't believe I just wrote that.
But, then, I can't believe the Cardinals are still looking for a starting quarterback.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=32849
A small platform is set up outside the locker room at the Cardinals’ training facility. Each Wednesday the team's starting quarterback steps onto the platform for a Q&A with reporters. Welcome back, Josh McCown. What's it been, a couple weeks? “Three weeks,” McCown said.
So it has.
Three weeks, three losses and this response from Dennis Green Wednesday, when asked if his not-so-new starter could still prove he's the quarterback of the future:
“I'm focused on all the players,” Green said.
Filmmaker Michael Moore was more enthusiastic about George W. Bush.
No matter what happens the rest of the season, it's clear Green has lost faith in McCown, who will play Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers only because rookie John Navarre is injured.
It's also apparent the Cardinals will go quarterback shopping in the offseason, spending either millions of dollars or a high draft pick on a position that should be set for the next 10 years.
Unless, of course, Green falls in love again with Navarre or Shaun King.
An NFL team's success — or lack thereof — often is based on the quarterback decisions it makes.
The Indianapolis Colts drafted Peyton Manning in 1998. The San Diego Chargers were left with Ryan Leaf.
The Cleveland Browns took Tim Couch with the first pick in the 1999 draft. The Philadelphia Eagles picked Donovan McNabb second.
The Cardinals have had two opportunities the last 21 months to fix a position that's been broken ever since Neil Lomax suffered a career-ending hip injury in 1988, Jake Plummer’s remarkable ’98 season notwithstanding.
Instead, they made poor decisions that are not only dogging them this year but will haunt them for years to come.
Arizona could have selected Byron Leftwich with the sixth pick in the 2003 draft, but it traded down for two first-round selections, which turned out be backup defensive end Calvin Pace and Bryant Johnson, currently the team's No. 3 receiver.
This year, of course, quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers were available, but Green took wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald with the No. 3 pick.
Fitzgerald has had a nice rookie season (43 catches, 590 yards, four touchdowns), but he's done little to fulfill Green's assertion that he was the best player in the draft.
Clearly, Roethlisberger's success in Pittsburgh is tied to the talent around him. The Steelers have a solid running game, three productive wideouts and a dominant defense. It's just as clear, however, that Roethlisberger will be a star, a Pro Bowl quarterback for years to come.
While you're banging your head against the wall, consider this what-might-have-been: Arizona drafts Terrell Suggs with the sixth pick in ’03 and gets Anquan Boldin in the second round. This year, it takes Roethlisberger.
Think a team with Roethlisberger throwing to Boldin, and Suggs and Bertrand Berry chasing quarterbacks might be worth keeping an eye on?
But enough about the past. What about next year?
Well, there isn't a can't-miss quarterback in the draft, and it's unlikely Green or the organization will have the patience to develop a young player. The Cardinals are moving into their new home in 2006; they want to sell a playoff team, not another 5-11 squad.
Drew Brees?
Won't happen. The Chargers, with $21 million in salary-cap space, will slap the franchise tag on him, meaning any team that signs Brees will have to give up two first-round picks. Arizona isn't that interested. San Diego will likely keep Brees and Rivers for another season. The gluttons.
That leaves veterans like Aaron Brooks, who has fallen out of favor in New Orleans, or Brad Johnson, who's no longer the starter in Tampa Bay. Both players likely will be cut by their respective teams, but, really, who cares?
Might as well bring Plummer back if the Denver Broncos allow him to become a free agent.
I can't believe I just wrote that.
But, then, I can't believe the Cardinals are still looking for a starting quarterback.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=32849
