warning!
Post contains opinions and products of personal experience which may be presented as facts. with that in mind, please keep your personal butthurt to yourself.
opinions, opinions, opinions.....
anyway. Good morning Cardinal fans. Lots has changed with our beloved team in the past days and more changes are approaching. It's an exciting time to be a Cardinal fan! Yeehaw and Yippee-ki-yay!
Growing pains. we will feel them. It is going to take time for this new staff to develop the offense and get it ready for the NFL stage. Then, horror of horrors, other teams will get tape on us and start stopping what we do well. Thats when the skills of our offensive and defensive staff will be tested. Bounce back, adjust, adapt and overcome. Can they do it? Although he has never coached at the pro level I have a glimmer of faith that coach K2 will be able to make the required adjustments when the time comes. But we as fans need to be prepared for what may be a few rocky games as the learning curve straightens out.
Whoever becomes our OC will be working his tail off right out of the gate. Unlike many coaching hires K2 does not have an offense to install. It has to be built.***brick by brick*** (ouch)
Defensively I have faith that Vance Joseph can put together a top ten unit. with most of his history being geared towards the DB's,... the help of Billy Davis will be crucial in seeing that our linebacker investments pay dividends on sundays. I expect we will see a few additions to the defense via both free agency and the draft.
some of you have been around pro football for decades...others for merely years. One thing that has not really changed over the decades is player development timelines. Players whose position requires strength will generally take longer to develop. This is not just a skills development thing but a physiological thing. All things being equal, a 25 year old man is simply stronger than a 22 year old man. Men just develop that way. This means that badass DT or OG in the draft is at an automatic disadvantage when he takes the field at 22. It is also why historically speaking most players take three years to develop into NFL players. It used to be that a rookie might have a fantastic rookie season, than have a "sophomore slump" then come back in year three and start playing like a pro. The strength issues, like I said, affect the guys in the trenches the most. But they also affect a WR, as he needs to be able to fight off jams at the line and dominate the DB in position and hand fighting as they run downfield.
This three year development times is why I would make the "crazy" move of trying to extend the contract of Robert Nkemdiche. I wasnt for the pick at the time. But the guy has shown development and increase in strength. His recent injury will likely keep his production down next season as well. But we can use the development time and the injury to secure him with a lower contract. we wont likely get him locked up for 2.5 a year, but we can do it cheaper than if the injury had not happened. also, the signing bonus would put more money in his pocket right now compared to his fifth year option. Keep in mind RN wasnt a high pick, he was barely a first round guy...30 was it? For that draft position his development has been on par especially considering BA redshirted him his entire rookie season. I know lots of you guys are down on him...and we made a move like this with honeybadger that bit us in the ass. But we wont have to pay this guy top market price like we did with badger and DT's just take more time to develop unless they are just a pure athletic freak.
The development time is a big reason why teams hesitate to take an DT with a top five pick....those picks are usually used for instant upgrades. Thats why speed rushers off the edge often go in the top five, because while those guys still need to get stronger their speed allows them to make an impact as a rookie.
Seniors will usually show less development time in the NFL simply because they are older. But generally speaking most guys come out early and only stay for their senior season if they need time to post some numbers to increase their draft stock. So while seniors will develop faster they are often less talented to begin with.
Considering that it makes our choice at #1 overall easier or harder pending what you want. Bosa, Williams, and Oliver all have a speed factor in their respective games. Williams looks to be freakishly strong for his age. But neither Williams nor Oliver really fit our 34... they can be used but I would prefer seeing a guy with 20-30 more pounds on him at DE. IMO we would need a huge NT in order to offset their slighter builds at DE especially if RN is on the other side. Bosa fits at OLB but is too light to move in to DE and rumor has it he doesnt cover really well. Although only 21 Bosa has technique beyond his years which will allow him to be a day one contributor. Both Oliver and Williams can contribute right away as well. IMO Oliver would be better due to his quickness off the ball. A good DE can beat an OT with that first step and have instant pocket pressure.
With age comes weight. For guys in the trenches extra weight isnt usually an issue so long as they are not just getting fat. On the other hand, for guys on the edge who rely on speed the extra weight can start to limit their game...or at least change their contribution as added weight often starts to reduce quickness.
Of these three guys if I were making a selection at 1, I would pick Ed Oliver. He has the first step to contribute right away and also has a compact body type that will allow him to put on muscle without significantly changing his center of gravity. He should contribute as a rookie and continue to get better over the next few years as he gets stronger at the point of attack.
That being my choice I would also try and extend Markus Golden to keep his pass rushing presence across from Chandler Jones. It often takes a guy over a year to fully recover from a knee and IMO thats why his numbers were down...again, we can use that to get him for a lower contract. He and Jones were a nice tandem when both were healthy getting both sacks and pressures.
If we trade down I would look at Greedy Williams to put across from PP21 or if we let Golden go I would look at Josh Allen from KY. He would be a monster pairing with chandler jones and unlike Bosa there is no questions about his coverage ability. Of course it all depends on how far back we trade.
This took more typing than I anticipated so I'm gonna just stop here.
remember...opinions, but screw it, flame away anyhow.
Post contains opinions and products of personal experience which may be presented as facts. with that in mind, please keep your personal butthurt to yourself.
opinions, opinions, opinions.....
anyway. Good morning Cardinal fans. Lots has changed with our beloved team in the past days and more changes are approaching. It's an exciting time to be a Cardinal fan! Yeehaw and Yippee-ki-yay!
Growing pains. we will feel them. It is going to take time for this new staff to develop the offense and get it ready for the NFL stage. Then, horror of horrors, other teams will get tape on us and start stopping what we do well. Thats when the skills of our offensive and defensive staff will be tested. Bounce back, adjust, adapt and overcome. Can they do it? Although he has never coached at the pro level I have a glimmer of faith that coach K2 will be able to make the required adjustments when the time comes. But we as fans need to be prepared for what may be a few rocky games as the learning curve straightens out.
Whoever becomes our OC will be working his tail off right out of the gate. Unlike many coaching hires K2 does not have an offense to install. It has to be built.***brick by brick*** (ouch)
Defensively I have faith that Vance Joseph can put together a top ten unit. with most of his history being geared towards the DB's,... the help of Billy Davis will be crucial in seeing that our linebacker investments pay dividends on sundays. I expect we will see a few additions to the defense via both free agency and the draft.
some of you have been around pro football for decades...others for merely years. One thing that has not really changed over the decades is player development timelines. Players whose position requires strength will generally take longer to develop. This is not just a skills development thing but a physiological thing. All things being equal, a 25 year old man is simply stronger than a 22 year old man. Men just develop that way. This means that badass DT or OG in the draft is at an automatic disadvantage when he takes the field at 22. It is also why historically speaking most players take three years to develop into NFL players. It used to be that a rookie might have a fantastic rookie season, than have a "sophomore slump" then come back in year three and start playing like a pro. The strength issues, like I said, affect the guys in the trenches the most. But they also affect a WR, as he needs to be able to fight off jams at the line and dominate the DB in position and hand fighting as they run downfield.
This three year development times is why I would make the "crazy" move of trying to extend the contract of Robert Nkemdiche. I wasnt for the pick at the time. But the guy has shown development and increase in strength. His recent injury will likely keep his production down next season as well. But we can use the development time and the injury to secure him with a lower contract. we wont likely get him locked up for 2.5 a year, but we can do it cheaper than if the injury had not happened. also, the signing bonus would put more money in his pocket right now compared to his fifth year option. Keep in mind RN wasnt a high pick, he was barely a first round guy...30 was it? For that draft position his development has been on par especially considering BA redshirted him his entire rookie season. I know lots of you guys are down on him...and we made a move like this with honeybadger that bit us in the ass. But we wont have to pay this guy top market price like we did with badger and DT's just take more time to develop unless they are just a pure athletic freak.
The development time is a big reason why teams hesitate to take an DT with a top five pick....those picks are usually used for instant upgrades. Thats why speed rushers off the edge often go in the top five, because while those guys still need to get stronger their speed allows them to make an impact as a rookie.
Seniors will usually show less development time in the NFL simply because they are older. But generally speaking most guys come out early and only stay for their senior season if they need time to post some numbers to increase their draft stock. So while seniors will develop faster they are often less talented to begin with.
Considering that it makes our choice at #1 overall easier or harder pending what you want. Bosa, Williams, and Oliver all have a speed factor in their respective games. Williams looks to be freakishly strong for his age. But neither Williams nor Oliver really fit our 34... they can be used but I would prefer seeing a guy with 20-30 more pounds on him at DE. IMO we would need a huge NT in order to offset their slighter builds at DE especially if RN is on the other side. Bosa fits at OLB but is too light to move in to DE and rumor has it he doesnt cover really well. Although only 21 Bosa has technique beyond his years which will allow him to be a day one contributor. Both Oliver and Williams can contribute right away as well. IMO Oliver would be better due to his quickness off the ball. A good DE can beat an OT with that first step and have instant pocket pressure.
With age comes weight. For guys in the trenches extra weight isnt usually an issue so long as they are not just getting fat. On the other hand, for guys on the edge who rely on speed the extra weight can start to limit their game...or at least change their contribution as added weight often starts to reduce quickness.
Of these three guys if I were making a selection at 1, I would pick Ed Oliver. He has the first step to contribute right away and also has a compact body type that will allow him to put on muscle without significantly changing his center of gravity. He should contribute as a rookie and continue to get better over the next few years as he gets stronger at the point of attack.
That being my choice I would also try and extend Markus Golden to keep his pass rushing presence across from Chandler Jones. It often takes a guy over a year to fully recover from a knee and IMO thats why his numbers were down...again, we can use that to get him for a lower contract. He and Jones were a nice tandem when both were healthy getting both sacks and pressures.
If we trade down I would look at Greedy Williams to put across from PP21 or if we let Golden go I would look at Josh Allen from KY. He would be a monster pairing with chandler jones and unlike Bosa there is no questions about his coverage ability. Of course it all depends on how far back we trade.
This took more typing than I anticipated so I'm gonna just stop here.
remember...opinions, but screw it, flame away anyhow.
