Evil Ash
Henchman Supreme
http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/teams/report/ARI/7026234
Cardinals report: Strategy and personnel Jan. 22, 2004
--QB Josh McCown showed some potential in the closing three games, all starts, perhaps enough to convince the team to use the third pick overall on another position. He made plays not only with his arm, including the game-winning TD pass against Minnesota on the final play of the season, but also with his feet. He averaged more than 6 yards a carry.
But Green likes veteran Jeff Blake, perhaps harkening back to the late-career success that Randall Cunningham had in Minnesota when Green brought him out of retirement. Blake started the first 13 games in 2003 for the Cardinals.
--Starting RB Marcel Shipp has proven himself for two seasons as a reliable high-average-per-carry banger but he lacks breakaway speed. Green likes the idea of resurrecting NFL career rushing leader Emmitt Smith, who is coming off the worst season of his career in his Cardinals debut, and who now might be more motivated to come back for the second and final season on his contract.
The team needs a third back after Damien Anderson was injured seriously when ejected from a vehicle during a rollover accident two weeks ago. His future is unknown.
--CB is a real concern with supposed shut-down chieftain Duane Starks having spent most of the past two seasons injured. . . .
The two players who started most of the season -- David Barrett (unrestricted) and Renaldo Hill (restricted) -- become free agents of varying degrees. Neither stood out. There are many appealing corners in free agency and the draft this year. . . .
--The pass rush has been the league's worst for three years. Run defense has been more miss than hit. The down line needs work at the tackle spots.
COACHING CAROUSEL
Dennis Green signed for four years with a Cardinals' option for a fifth. He will average about $2.5 million a year in pay.
Former Coach Dave McGinnis and his entire staff, including offensive coordinator Jerry Sullivan and veteran defensive coordinator Larry Marmie, were released on Dec. 29.
McGinnis was well-liked by players, perhaps because he was not tough enough on a team that dropped 13 straight road games by an average of nearly 24 points over two seasons. A firmer hand is expected from Green. Owner Bill Bidwill cited the "noncompetitive nature" of the losses in making the change.
Green is the team's sixth head coach since it moved to Arizona in 1988. During that span there has been only one winning record (9-7, 1998).
--Alex Wood is the new offensive coordinator. His resume includes working with Cincinnati WRs Chad Johnson and Peter Warrick this past season, and with developing a young Minnesota QB Daunte Culpepper while on the Vikings staff.
--Clancy Pendergast is the new defensive coordinator. He has coached with the Browns, Cowboys and former Oilers. He grew up in the Phoenix suburb Tolleson near the site of the Cardinals' new stadium.
--Bob Wylie is the new offensive line coach. He has coached four other NFL teams, most recently Chicago, during his 13 years in the NFL.
--Pat Flaherty is the new tight ends coach. He coached the Bears the past three seasons and Washington a year before that.
--Robert Ford is the new wide receivers coach. He has coached at Miami and Dallas, where he tutored former Cardinals TE Jay Novacek and coached three Super Bowl championship teams.
--Kirby Wilson is the new running backs coach. He was with Tampa Bay the past two seasons that included a Super Bowl title, and during his career has coached Iowa State's Troy Davis, the only player in NCAA history to reach the 2,000-yard rushing mark in consecutive seasons, New England's Curtis Martin (1997) and Washington's Stephen Davis (2000).
--Deek Pollard is the new defensive line coach. He is a 39-year coaching veteran who has been out of the NFL since 1996.
--Frank Bush is the new linebackers coach. He was on the staff at Denver when the Broncos won back-to-back Super Bowl titles.
--Richard Solomon is the new defensive backs coach. He was with Green for 10 years on the Vikings staff.
--Kevin O'Dea is the new special teams coach. He has coached in the league for a decade, including the past two seasons in Detroit where their kickoff and punt returners ranked among the league's best.
--Steve Wetzel is the new strength and conditioning coach. He is a former record-holder in the bench press in the American Drug-Free Power Lifting Association and was on Green's staff in Minnesota for a decade.
--Bill Khayat is the new offensive quality control coach. This is his first NFL assignment. He has been running backs coach at Tennessee State the past four years and is the son of former NFL player and coach Eddie Khayat.
--Robert Courtright is the new defensive quality control coach. This is his first NFL assignment. He was defensive coordinator at Western Illinois the past three years.
UNIT-BY-UNIT ANALYSIS
QUARTERBACKS
Starter -- Josh McCown. Backups -- Jeff Blake, Preston Parsons.
Green likes the veteran Blake, who started the first 13 games and who has cannon to throw the deep ball.
RUNNING BACKS
Starters -- RB Marcel Shipp, FB James Hodgins. Backups -- RB Emmitt Smith, RB Damien Anderson, RB Josh Scobey, FB Josh Rue.
It will be interesting to see how effective the aging Smith will be with a new staff that wants to run the ball, headed by Green, who loves the NFL career rushing leader Smith. Depth is an issue and the team likely will add a back.
TIGHT ENDS
Starter -- Freddie Jones. Backups -- Steve Bush, Mike Banks, Lorenzo Diamond.
Jones could be much more to this team than he has been if others around him step up.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Starters -- Anquan Boldin, Bryant Johnson. Backups -- Bryan Gilmore, Jason McAddley, Nate Poole, Kevin Kasper.
Boldin is shaping up as one of the steals of the 2003 draft. Fellow rookie Johnson, a first-rounder, got off to a much slower start.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Starters -- LT L.J. Shelton, LG Cameron Spikes, C Pete Kendall, RG Leonard Davis, RT Anthony Clement. Backups -- T Reggie Wells, T Raleigh Roundtree, G Chris Dishman, G Frank Garcia, C Jason Starkey, C Steve Grace.
This unit has the greatest potential and was the greatest underachiever on the team in 2003.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Starters -- LE Dennis Johnson, LT Marcus Bell, RT Russell Davis, RE Calvin Pace. Backups -- E Kyle Vanden Bosch, E Kenny King, E-T Wendell Bryant, E Fred Wakefield, T Barron Tanner, T Derrick Ransom.
This unit needs to appear on A Makeover Story. It has been last in the NFL in sacks for three seasons and never has been a consistent force against the run, although it had its moments largely because of creative exotic schemes dreamed up by the former defensive coaching staff.
LINEBACKERS
Starters -- OLB Raynoch Thompson, MLB Ron McKinnon, OLB Levar Fisher. Backups -- OLB LeVar Woods, OLB Gerald Hayes, MLB James Darling, MLB Michael Young.
There is speed and talent outside, where Fisher is an athletic playmaker but where Thompson missed the final month on league suspension for an alcohol problem. The middle might be a position at which the new staff takes a hard look.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Starters -- CB Duane Starks, CB David Barrett, SS Adrian Wilson, FS Dexter Jackson. Backups -- CB Renaldo Hill, S Justin Lucas, CB Coby Rhinehart, CB Emmanuel McDaniel, CB Jason Goss, S Quentin Harris, CB-S Michael Stone.
This group doesn't want to hang around the chow hall in the morning or it could be mistaken for toast. With Starks' injury history and Barrett and Hill becoming free agents of varying degrees, the team should go shopping in what appears to be a strong free agent and draft market at corner.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Starters -- K Neil Rackers, P Scott Player, LS Nathan Hodell, KR Josh Scobey, PR Anquan Boldin. Backups -- K Bill Gramatica, LS Steve Bush, PR Bryant Johnson, KR Kevin Kasper, KR Damien Anderson.
Bill Gramatica, who went on IR with a back injury, faces a strong challenge to come back to his job from Rackers. Player remains one of the best in the game. Overall, the return units are in good hands.
Copyright (C) 2003 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
Cardinals report: Strategy and personnel Jan. 22, 2004
--QB Josh McCown showed some potential in the closing three games, all starts, perhaps enough to convince the team to use the third pick overall on another position. He made plays not only with his arm, including the game-winning TD pass against Minnesota on the final play of the season, but also with his feet. He averaged more than 6 yards a carry.
But Green likes veteran Jeff Blake, perhaps harkening back to the late-career success that Randall Cunningham had in Minnesota when Green brought him out of retirement. Blake started the first 13 games in 2003 for the Cardinals.
--Starting RB Marcel Shipp has proven himself for two seasons as a reliable high-average-per-carry banger but he lacks breakaway speed. Green likes the idea of resurrecting NFL career rushing leader Emmitt Smith, who is coming off the worst season of his career in his Cardinals debut, and who now might be more motivated to come back for the second and final season on his contract.
The team needs a third back after Damien Anderson was injured seriously when ejected from a vehicle during a rollover accident two weeks ago. His future is unknown.
--CB is a real concern with supposed shut-down chieftain Duane Starks having spent most of the past two seasons injured. . . .
The two players who started most of the season -- David Barrett (unrestricted) and Renaldo Hill (restricted) -- become free agents of varying degrees. Neither stood out. There are many appealing corners in free agency and the draft this year. . . .
--The pass rush has been the league's worst for three years. Run defense has been more miss than hit. The down line needs work at the tackle spots.
COACHING CAROUSEL
Dennis Green signed for four years with a Cardinals' option for a fifth. He will average about $2.5 million a year in pay.
Former Coach Dave McGinnis and his entire staff, including offensive coordinator Jerry Sullivan and veteran defensive coordinator Larry Marmie, were released on Dec. 29.
McGinnis was well-liked by players, perhaps because he was not tough enough on a team that dropped 13 straight road games by an average of nearly 24 points over two seasons. A firmer hand is expected from Green. Owner Bill Bidwill cited the "noncompetitive nature" of the losses in making the change.
Green is the team's sixth head coach since it moved to Arizona in 1988. During that span there has been only one winning record (9-7, 1998).
--Alex Wood is the new offensive coordinator. His resume includes working with Cincinnati WRs Chad Johnson and Peter Warrick this past season, and with developing a young Minnesota QB Daunte Culpepper while on the Vikings staff.
--Clancy Pendergast is the new defensive coordinator. He has coached with the Browns, Cowboys and former Oilers. He grew up in the Phoenix suburb Tolleson near the site of the Cardinals' new stadium.
--Bob Wylie is the new offensive line coach. He has coached four other NFL teams, most recently Chicago, during his 13 years in the NFL.
--Pat Flaherty is the new tight ends coach. He coached the Bears the past three seasons and Washington a year before that.
--Robert Ford is the new wide receivers coach. He has coached at Miami and Dallas, where he tutored former Cardinals TE Jay Novacek and coached three Super Bowl championship teams.
--Kirby Wilson is the new running backs coach. He was with Tampa Bay the past two seasons that included a Super Bowl title, and during his career has coached Iowa State's Troy Davis, the only player in NCAA history to reach the 2,000-yard rushing mark in consecutive seasons, New England's Curtis Martin (1997) and Washington's Stephen Davis (2000).
--Deek Pollard is the new defensive line coach. He is a 39-year coaching veteran who has been out of the NFL since 1996.
--Frank Bush is the new linebackers coach. He was on the staff at Denver when the Broncos won back-to-back Super Bowl titles.
--Richard Solomon is the new defensive backs coach. He was with Green for 10 years on the Vikings staff.
--Kevin O'Dea is the new special teams coach. He has coached in the league for a decade, including the past two seasons in Detroit where their kickoff and punt returners ranked among the league's best.
--Steve Wetzel is the new strength and conditioning coach. He is a former record-holder in the bench press in the American Drug-Free Power Lifting Association and was on Green's staff in Minnesota for a decade.
--Bill Khayat is the new offensive quality control coach. This is his first NFL assignment. He has been running backs coach at Tennessee State the past four years and is the son of former NFL player and coach Eddie Khayat.
--Robert Courtright is the new defensive quality control coach. This is his first NFL assignment. He was defensive coordinator at Western Illinois the past three years.
UNIT-BY-UNIT ANALYSIS
QUARTERBACKS
Starter -- Josh McCown. Backups -- Jeff Blake, Preston Parsons.
Green likes the veteran Blake, who started the first 13 games and who has cannon to throw the deep ball.
RUNNING BACKS
Starters -- RB Marcel Shipp, FB James Hodgins. Backups -- RB Emmitt Smith, RB Damien Anderson, RB Josh Scobey, FB Josh Rue.
It will be interesting to see how effective the aging Smith will be with a new staff that wants to run the ball, headed by Green, who loves the NFL career rushing leader Smith. Depth is an issue and the team likely will add a back.
TIGHT ENDS
Starter -- Freddie Jones. Backups -- Steve Bush, Mike Banks, Lorenzo Diamond.
Jones could be much more to this team than he has been if others around him step up.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Starters -- Anquan Boldin, Bryant Johnson. Backups -- Bryan Gilmore, Jason McAddley, Nate Poole, Kevin Kasper.
Boldin is shaping up as one of the steals of the 2003 draft. Fellow rookie Johnson, a first-rounder, got off to a much slower start.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Starters -- LT L.J. Shelton, LG Cameron Spikes, C Pete Kendall, RG Leonard Davis, RT Anthony Clement. Backups -- T Reggie Wells, T Raleigh Roundtree, G Chris Dishman, G Frank Garcia, C Jason Starkey, C Steve Grace.
This unit has the greatest potential and was the greatest underachiever on the team in 2003.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Starters -- LE Dennis Johnson, LT Marcus Bell, RT Russell Davis, RE Calvin Pace. Backups -- E Kyle Vanden Bosch, E Kenny King, E-T Wendell Bryant, E Fred Wakefield, T Barron Tanner, T Derrick Ransom.
This unit needs to appear on A Makeover Story. It has been last in the NFL in sacks for three seasons and never has been a consistent force against the run, although it had its moments largely because of creative exotic schemes dreamed up by the former defensive coaching staff.
LINEBACKERS
Starters -- OLB Raynoch Thompson, MLB Ron McKinnon, OLB Levar Fisher. Backups -- OLB LeVar Woods, OLB Gerald Hayes, MLB James Darling, MLB Michael Young.
There is speed and talent outside, where Fisher is an athletic playmaker but where Thompson missed the final month on league suspension for an alcohol problem. The middle might be a position at which the new staff takes a hard look.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Starters -- CB Duane Starks, CB David Barrett, SS Adrian Wilson, FS Dexter Jackson. Backups -- CB Renaldo Hill, S Justin Lucas, CB Coby Rhinehart, CB Emmanuel McDaniel, CB Jason Goss, S Quentin Harris, CB-S Michael Stone.
This group doesn't want to hang around the chow hall in the morning or it could be mistaken for toast. With Starks' injury history and Barrett and Hill becoming free agents of varying degrees, the team should go shopping in what appears to be a strong free agent and draft market at corner.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Starters -- K Neil Rackers, P Scott Player, LS Nathan Hodell, KR Josh Scobey, PR Anquan Boldin. Backups -- K Bill Gramatica, LS Steve Bush, PR Bryant Johnson, KR Kevin Kasper, KR Damien Anderson.
Bill Gramatica, who went on IR with a back injury, faces a strong challenge to come back to his job from Rackers. Player remains one of the best in the game. Overall, the return units are in good hands.
Copyright (C) 2003 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
