Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
If it wasn't prefectly clear before this draft that the Cardinals---under the highly questionable leadership of Ken Whisenhunt, Rod Graves and Steve Keim---don't understand its personnel---and its greatest areas of need---
If it wasn't perfectly clear before this draft that the Cardinals are inept in developing their young talent---
If it wasn't perfectly clear before this draft that the Cardinals under the current management simply do not understand how to take command of the draft---or understand how the draft works---or have a grasp on where the draft is loaded---
Last night, the Cardinals removed all doubt.
They are what we thought they were---incompetent and inept.
To put this notion into the clearest possible perspective---consider the following:
1. In the last three drafts the Cardinals have used a #1, a #4 and a #6 on CBs---two years ago they also signed a UFA CB (McFadden) to be their starting RCB. Here it is three years later---two trades later (dealing McFadden and Jorrick Calvin away)---and the Cardinals use another #1 on a CB.
Now I think we all get the BPA reasoning---and there is no question the Cardinals drafted a player who is possibly the best athlete in the draft.
Fine.
We are all cool with that.
However---as I and many of you predicted during our draft prep---if the Cardinals decided to take the BPA and the BPA is not an OLB---this will make it imperative that the Cardinals draft an OLB at #38.
Let's be clear about the Cardinals' oppotunities top draft one of the best OLBers in this draft---a draft that was chock-full of top shelf candidates (which speaks to whether the Cardinals understand where the draft is loaded)---
Save having no chance at drafting Von Miller...the Cardinals have had the opportunity to draft every other OLB in this draft---
Aldon Smith
Robert Quinn
Ryan Kerrigan
Cameron Jordan
Bruce Carter
Brooks Reed
Dontay Moch
Justin Houston
Akeem Ayers
Jabbal Sheard
And they have now squandered that opportunity---
They have not only squandered that opportunity---they have shunned that opportunity...
In favor of drafting a RB and a TE.
Now let's get this straight---RB Ryan Williams is a first round talent---some pundits had him going to the Dolphins at #15. And Williams is excellent value in the second round---and perhaps the aspect of his game that makes him such a good fit in the dink and dunk is, he can catch the football and create chunk yards with it.
However---and this is going to sound redundant---which it is---Whisenhunt shunned the drafting of a sorely needed pass rusher two years ago when he drafted Beanie Wells with his #1---while he already had a good young RB he spent a #5 on in Tim Hightower...and moreover...Whiz spent a #7 on drafting a speed RB who can impact the passing game.
I nearly laughed out loud when Mike Mayock said of the surprising Williams pick that "this just shows that Coach Whisenhunt want to bring the Steeler style of smashmouth football to the running game."
Let's get this straight---Ken Whisenhunt drafted Ryan Williams for two reasons: (1) Whisenhunt has not been able to coach up Hightower and Wells with regard to ball security which is why he (incorrectly as it turns out) billed Williams as a RB who never fumbles; (2) he wants a pass receiving RB for his dink and dunk.
As long as Ken Whisenhunt is the HC---there will be no smashmouth running game in Arizona. Let's get this straight, for once and for all.
Further proof?
If you want a smashmouth running game you do not appoint Mike Miller, the passing game coordinator, as the new OC.
And---if anyone needed more proof---you don't reach for a pass receiving TE with the #69 pick in the draft who cannot block!
What Ken Whisenunt was saying to his football when he picked Ryan Williams is that adding my pass receiving RB was more imprtant that trying to replace 3 linebackers in the mid-30s---none of whom at this point can provide the pressure on the QB the Cardinals so desperately need.
This pick was extraordinarily selfish on Whisenhunt's part---and the TE pick was egregiously selfish.
Whisenhunt is now on his third DC in five years---he's been running through DC the way he's running through RBs.
He now has what looks to be a great choice in Ray Horton---yet this is Ray Horton's welcome to Arizona?
In a draft that clearly was meant to bolster the talent on defense, Whisenhunt has taken the draft into his own hands in order to feather his own nest on offense...when he already has far more young talent than Horton does on defense.
And there are also tremendous ironies here.
While every DC in the league would love to get his hands on PP7---what this most likey means is that the Cardinals will now not pay the money to sign Horton's perfect fit CB: Ike Taylor.
The OLB free agent market is thin---the Cardinals vow to be aggressive---but the Cardinals version of aggressive is waiting a week for players who are not snatched up merely in order to set up a visit---and then have the UFA leave town without an offer---and we know very well by now why the Cardinals have been unable or unwilling to sign high impact free agents.
Before the draft I watched tapes of TE Rob Housler. This kid is fast and he has excellent hands. I like him a lot---and he's a real fit in the dink and dunk---but---there is no justification for taking him that early (at #69---are you kidding me? Who are the Cardinals kidding?) when there were very good, starting caliber defensive players on the board.
Housler is a luxury.
Linebackers are a necessity.
Defensive line dpeth is a necessity.
Making the football team TOUGHER is a necessity.
Stopping the embarrassing blowout losses---even at home to NFC West rivals---IS A NECESSITY.
Which part of this does Ken Whisenhunt, Rod Graves, Steve Keim and Michael Bidwill not understand?
What the selections of Williams and Houser do---more than anything else---is continue to damage Ken Whisenhunt's credibility with his own players. His own players haven't been playing hard for him---and, hey, if you are Darnell Dockett or Adrian Wilson or Kerry Rhodes...what do you imagine they are thinking after last night?
I will assure you of this---they are more feeling even more incredulous---even more irate---and even less trusting of the so-called brain trust than we are.
If it wasn't perfectly clear before this draft that the Cardinals are inept in developing their young talent---
If it wasn't perfectly clear before this draft that the Cardinals under the current management simply do not understand how to take command of the draft---or understand how the draft works---or have a grasp on where the draft is loaded---
Last night, the Cardinals removed all doubt.
They are what we thought they were---incompetent and inept.
To put this notion into the clearest possible perspective---consider the following:
1. In the last three drafts the Cardinals have used a #1, a #4 and a #6 on CBs---two years ago they also signed a UFA CB (McFadden) to be their starting RCB. Here it is three years later---two trades later (dealing McFadden and Jorrick Calvin away)---and the Cardinals use another #1 on a CB.
Now I think we all get the BPA reasoning---and there is no question the Cardinals drafted a player who is possibly the best athlete in the draft.
Fine.
We are all cool with that.
However---as I and many of you predicted during our draft prep---if the Cardinals decided to take the BPA and the BPA is not an OLB---this will make it imperative that the Cardinals draft an OLB at #38.
Let's be clear about the Cardinals' oppotunities top draft one of the best OLBers in this draft---a draft that was chock-full of top shelf candidates (which speaks to whether the Cardinals understand where the draft is loaded)---
Save having no chance at drafting Von Miller...the Cardinals have had the opportunity to draft every other OLB in this draft---
Aldon Smith
Robert Quinn
Ryan Kerrigan
Cameron Jordan
Bruce Carter
Brooks Reed
Dontay Moch
Justin Houston
Akeem Ayers
Jabbal Sheard
And they have now squandered that opportunity---
They have not only squandered that opportunity---they have shunned that opportunity...
In favor of drafting a RB and a TE.
Now let's get this straight---RB Ryan Williams is a first round talent---some pundits had him going to the Dolphins at #15. And Williams is excellent value in the second round---and perhaps the aspect of his game that makes him such a good fit in the dink and dunk is, he can catch the football and create chunk yards with it.
However---and this is going to sound redundant---which it is---Whisenhunt shunned the drafting of a sorely needed pass rusher two years ago when he drafted Beanie Wells with his #1---while he already had a good young RB he spent a #5 on in Tim Hightower...and moreover...Whiz spent a #7 on drafting a speed RB who can impact the passing game.
I nearly laughed out loud when Mike Mayock said of the surprising Williams pick that "this just shows that Coach Whisenhunt want to bring the Steeler style of smashmouth football to the running game."
Let's get this straight---Ken Whisenhunt drafted Ryan Williams for two reasons: (1) Whisenhunt has not been able to coach up Hightower and Wells with regard to ball security which is why he (incorrectly as it turns out) billed Williams as a RB who never fumbles; (2) he wants a pass receiving RB for his dink and dunk.
As long as Ken Whisenhunt is the HC---there will be no smashmouth running game in Arizona. Let's get this straight, for once and for all.
Further proof?
If you want a smashmouth running game you do not appoint Mike Miller, the passing game coordinator, as the new OC.
And---if anyone needed more proof---you don't reach for a pass receiving TE with the #69 pick in the draft who cannot block!
What Ken Whisenunt was saying to his football when he picked Ryan Williams is that adding my pass receiving RB was more imprtant that trying to replace 3 linebackers in the mid-30s---none of whom at this point can provide the pressure on the QB the Cardinals so desperately need.
This pick was extraordinarily selfish on Whisenhunt's part---and the TE pick was egregiously selfish.
Whisenhunt is now on his third DC in five years---he's been running through DC the way he's running through RBs.
He now has what looks to be a great choice in Ray Horton---yet this is Ray Horton's welcome to Arizona?
In a draft that clearly was meant to bolster the talent on defense, Whisenhunt has taken the draft into his own hands in order to feather his own nest on offense...when he already has far more young talent than Horton does on defense.
And there are also tremendous ironies here.
While every DC in the league would love to get his hands on PP7---what this most likey means is that the Cardinals will now not pay the money to sign Horton's perfect fit CB: Ike Taylor.
The OLB free agent market is thin---the Cardinals vow to be aggressive---but the Cardinals version of aggressive is waiting a week for players who are not snatched up merely in order to set up a visit---and then have the UFA leave town without an offer---and we know very well by now why the Cardinals have been unable or unwilling to sign high impact free agents.
Before the draft I watched tapes of TE Rob Housler. This kid is fast and he has excellent hands. I like him a lot---and he's a real fit in the dink and dunk---but---there is no justification for taking him that early (at #69---are you kidding me? Who are the Cardinals kidding?) when there were very good, starting caliber defensive players on the board.
Housler is a luxury.
Linebackers are a necessity.
Defensive line dpeth is a necessity.
Making the football team TOUGHER is a necessity.
Stopping the embarrassing blowout losses---even at home to NFC West rivals---IS A NECESSITY.
Which part of this does Ken Whisenhunt, Rod Graves, Steve Keim and Michael Bidwill not understand?
What the selections of Williams and Houser do---more than anything else---is continue to damage Ken Whisenhunt's credibility with his own players. His own players haven't been playing hard for him---and, hey, if you are Darnell Dockett or Adrian Wilson or Kerry Rhodes...what do you imagine they are thinking after last night?
I will assure you of this---they are more feeling even more incredulous---even more irate---and even less trusting of the so-called brain trust than we are.
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Mitch, I agree! Except for our 1st Rd, I can't believe the 2nd and 3rd. I have given up watching 4 thru 7. Wow! I hope I'm wrong, but I have doubts we will be 5-11. Graves has got to go!
