Harry
ASFN Consultant and Senior Writer
Hi Gang.
Thanks for the private messages. No: I’m not dead yet. Everything is fine personally. It’s just that some professional stuff has kept me from contributing very much. Let me make a couple of inquiries and see if I can put something up on the board beyond this.
I will try to answer a couple of your questions now. Throwing Mount Cody at me right off the bat is a tough call. He goes mid-2 at the earliest, but more likely late 2 or early 3. Dedication and self-discipline are the big issues. When at the top of his game, he is an immovable object. That said, by late in the season last year, he was out of gas by half-time. He’s slow and of little value in pursuit. He can stop the inside run, but will make very little contribution in pass defense. He likely comes out on obvious passing downs and will be in trouble facing a no-huddle offense. He would literally be a huge asset in a goal-line defense.
Having commented on his speed, I want to take a minute to express one thought related to a previous post I made. Some of you may recall my post about an early-on opinion (now apparently shared by quite a few) that McFadden was no improvement over Hood. It was met with a response of football sabermetrics (I know that’s a baseball term), wherein people dug up all sorts of numbers off the Internet to indicate I was wrong. One of my favorite saying about stats goes like this, “Some people use statistics like a drunkard uses a lamp post; more for support than illumination.” My point is that it’s okay to quote stats, but they are not the Holy Grail of talent evaluation. So in this case, don’t get caught up in the combine or Pro Day numbers. They are always worth examining, but ask Mr. Boldin if they tell the entire story.
The other major inquiry concerned my opinion of the state of the Cardinals. I don’t think this is a case of déjà vu of 1998, but this many changes would have to concern any intelligent person. The change at safety likely helps a little. I’m a Rolle fan, but neither he nor Wilson is great in coverage. Rhodes should be a better fit for the defense if he plays to his ability.
The linebacker corps is likewise a push; better on the outside, weaker on the inside.
On offense, the change at quarterback doesn’t scare as much as it bothers others. The Cards will have a better running attack than last year, a more mobile QB and still retain a superior group of receivers. The offense ill score enough. Warner made the right decision to quit. I admire him tremendously and hope the Cards tie him to the franchise. However, by year’s end, he wasn’t the same player that carried this team to the Super Bowl. I think Leinart gets the job done.
If he doesn’t, the problem will most likely be with the line. You may remember I chided the Cards for not strengthening that line in last season’s free agency. Their plan to just shuffle the Cards, moving Bridges and Brown, seems an awfully risky move to me.
As for the draft, you’ve likely heard the scouts tell everyone how deep this draft is, as was the one last year. The actual point is that most of the best college athletes are gravitating towards football. This trend will continue.
This draft is deep in linebackers and linemen on both sides of the ball. Running backs are plentiful and there are several good receivers. Quarterback is the weakest position, likely followed by cornerback.
The Cards will probably take the best front 7 defensive player available in round one unless one of the top OTs drops. I think the same pool is the focus for round 2. They need to think about a kick returner with one of the round 3 picks.
I don’t see a trade in round 1 unless they moved down. You might see some action later as they have that extra round 3 pick with which to maneuver.
Thanks for the private messages. No: I’m not dead yet. Everything is fine personally. It’s just that some professional stuff has kept me from contributing very much. Let me make a couple of inquiries and see if I can put something up on the board beyond this.
I will try to answer a couple of your questions now. Throwing Mount Cody at me right off the bat is a tough call. He goes mid-2 at the earliest, but more likely late 2 or early 3. Dedication and self-discipline are the big issues. When at the top of his game, he is an immovable object. That said, by late in the season last year, he was out of gas by half-time. He’s slow and of little value in pursuit. He can stop the inside run, but will make very little contribution in pass defense. He likely comes out on obvious passing downs and will be in trouble facing a no-huddle offense. He would literally be a huge asset in a goal-line defense.
Having commented on his speed, I want to take a minute to express one thought related to a previous post I made. Some of you may recall my post about an early-on opinion (now apparently shared by quite a few) that McFadden was no improvement over Hood. It was met with a response of football sabermetrics (I know that’s a baseball term), wherein people dug up all sorts of numbers off the Internet to indicate I was wrong. One of my favorite saying about stats goes like this, “Some people use statistics like a drunkard uses a lamp post; more for support than illumination.” My point is that it’s okay to quote stats, but they are not the Holy Grail of talent evaluation. So in this case, don’t get caught up in the combine or Pro Day numbers. They are always worth examining, but ask Mr. Boldin if they tell the entire story.
The other major inquiry concerned my opinion of the state of the Cardinals. I don’t think this is a case of déjà vu of 1998, but this many changes would have to concern any intelligent person. The change at safety likely helps a little. I’m a Rolle fan, but neither he nor Wilson is great in coverage. Rhodes should be a better fit for the defense if he plays to his ability.
The linebacker corps is likewise a push; better on the outside, weaker on the inside.
On offense, the change at quarterback doesn’t scare as much as it bothers others. The Cards will have a better running attack than last year, a more mobile QB and still retain a superior group of receivers. The offense ill score enough. Warner made the right decision to quit. I admire him tremendously and hope the Cards tie him to the franchise. However, by year’s end, he wasn’t the same player that carried this team to the Super Bowl. I think Leinart gets the job done.
If he doesn’t, the problem will most likely be with the line. You may remember I chided the Cards for not strengthening that line in last season’s free agency. Their plan to just shuffle the Cards, moving Bridges and Brown, seems an awfully risky move to me.
As for the draft, you’ve likely heard the scouts tell everyone how deep this draft is, as was the one last year. The actual point is that most of the best college athletes are gravitating towards football. This trend will continue.
This draft is deep in linebackers and linemen on both sides of the ball. Running backs are plentiful and there are several good receivers. Quarterback is the weakest position, likely followed by cornerback.
The Cards will probably take the best front 7 defensive player available in round one unless one of the top OTs drops. I think the same pool is the focus for round 2. They need to think about a kick returner with one of the round 3 picks.
I don’t see a trade in round 1 unless they moved down. You might see some action later as they have that extra round 3 pick with which to maneuver.
