Keim: Pass Rusher is Top Priority

[Stout]

I am annoyed to read in the AZ Republic this morning that Peterson was upbeat after the game and said of the defense, "I thought we played well collectively as a group."

Did he really say this? He's a jackass if he did. A better statement would have been "I'm sorry I stunk it up and played like a dog turd rather than a Pro Bowler, and will strive to never do that again" lol

 

[Stout]

Anyway, as to Keim: Gee, you really think so? About friggin' time!

 

[Russ Smith]

In terms of 3-4 DEs,. Clark is a quality pass rusher. He has good athleticism, active hands, and can bull rush or swim.

But he didn't play 3/4 DE in college he played DT.

I think he MIGHT be able to play a 3/4 DE but he hasn't done it.

he has 6.5 sacks in his whole college career, 5.5 this past season. Very good college player not opposed to drafting him, but his strength is run stopping.

 

[Russ Smith]

He is our #3 CB...#4 if Mathieu is healthy. We aren't going to be able to field an all star team. I get that he has issues, but you can't re-sign Powers (or pay 4 mil for a comparable player) and then sign an upgrade over Bethel, and still expect to be able to upgrade the front 7. That isn't feasible. If we re-sign Powers (which I expect us to), then we will probably draft a CB in the 3-6 round range in the draft. If that player beats out Bethel, then fine. If not, oh well.

If you prefer to upgrade the secondary over the front 7, then that is your opinion and we can disagree. But if you believe we can fix all of these issues in one off season, you are crazy.

Im not saying that I'm saying I don't think Bethel can play CB in the NFL and I think the last few weeks showed how far away he is from that. Maybe he'll get better but he was drafted as a S and ST player and then moved to CB because he's so athletic.

Some guys just don't react to the ball in the air over their head, he seems to be one of those guys. Even when he's in position, he doesn't make the play.

I thought we overpaid to keep him I hope they don't compound the problem by forcing him on to the field more than his play warrants. it was necessary now because of HB getting hurt but generally speaking he has not shown a talent for CB.

We have to get better up front we all see that.

 

[overseascardfan]

They are tough to find at the end of the first round if you aren't willing to take on a bunch of risk.

Draft picks in general are risky no matter where you pick in Round 1. Last year both the guys ARZ were after (Ray & Dupree) were snatched up right before our pick. IMO, pass rushers are the one position worth taking a gamble on.

You mentioned Calhoun isn't the speed rusher we need but have you seen his highlights? The guy can get to the QB. I personally would take a gamble on Spence in Round 1 because he has stayed clean since arriving at EKU and we have guys who can keep on the straight and narrow. He would have been a Top 10 pick had he not made the mistakes he did, same situation as Matthieu and he turned out okay.

 

[conraddobler]

I think in general the best GM's and the best managed teams have roles for players. They then go out and find the best fit for those roles.

You can have many flavors of ILB for instance but in your world it comes down to three or four players out there at a given time that might be the best fit, getting one for that role is your task.

The rest of it leads to a jumbled mess of randomness because you should take BPA and adapt to what you get but that's not really feasible either so the only solution to that is to get a defined role that you're filling we want this kind of ILB, this kind of WR does this guy fit that role or not?

Is this guy an upgrade, downgrade or are we holding our own here?

To avoid randomly building whatever team you get through the draft and avoid busts all you can do is have a goal at each position and go from there. Then you have to be right about the player evaluation.

If you want a hard nosed player don't draft a soft player to fill that role or you're just failing at it.

 

[b8rtm8nn]

The less you draft for need the better because drafting for need screws you BIG TIME you start seeing things that aren't there.

In fact if I ran a team I'd enforce a very strict BPA policy that required some ridiculous process to get an exception to.

In other words yes at times you are going to make an exception but the process for that would be TIGHT as in you are going to have to sell your ass off to get me to buy into how this guy is who we take given he's not the BPA right now.

Well, if you do that, you will have to hear a season of grumbling about those BPA sitting on the bench their first year (ala Humphries and Riddick)

 

[clif]

Ya think?

Glad Keim recognizes that. Now, what offensive lineman is he taking #1 this year?

I respect Keim for what he's done but he can't keep whiffing on 1st rounders IMO.

Whiffing on 1st rounders? You mean the 1 out of 3 (debatable)? Humphries not playing this year was clearly the goal from day one.. so to say otherwise is revisionist history. Cooper is the maybe. Deon was a stroke of genius.

 

[conraddobler]

Well, if you do that, you will have to hear a season of grumbling about those BPA sitting on the bench their first year (ala Humphries and Riddick)

I never grumble about that it's silly to think every good player on your team is equal in terms of starter ready players.

There are always going to be players that take a year or two to be ready and you don't pass up on those players just because it's going to take one or two years.

I get that ideally you would prefer an entire roster ready draft but that's wildly unrealistic.

On the other hand a bust is someone who is not who you thought they were and in that case that's bad.

 

[Chopper0080]

But he didn't play 3/4 DE in college he played DT.

I think he MIGHT be able to play a 3/4 DE but he hasn't done it.

he has 6.5 sacks in his whole college career, 5.5 this past season. Very good college player not opposed to drafting him, but his strength is run stopping.

He rotated and played all across the defensive line.

 

[Chopper0080]

Draft picks in general are risky no matter where you pick in Round 1. Last year both the guys ARZ were after (Ray & Dupree) were snatched up right before our pick. IMO, pass rushers are the one position worth taking a gamble on.

You mentioned Calhoun isn't the speed rusher we need but have you seen his highlights? The guy can get to the QB. I personally would take a gamble on Spence in Round 1 because he has stayed clean since arriving at EKU and we have guys who can keep on the straight and narrow. He would have been a Top 10 pick had he not made the mistakes he did, same situation as Matthieu and he turned out okay.

No, Calhoun isn't a speed rusher because he doesn't show burst or bend around the edge. He gets to the QB because he is rushing against less talented offensive linemen. I don't care about the end result, I care about the process that gets him there. His first step and ability to cut the edge isn't in the same league as speed rushers in the NFL. It doesn't mean he can't be a good player, but isn't an edge speed guy. He also isn't very physical which is why I don't know if he has a place on this defense.

Spence has the tools. Good burst. Can win with speed and with power. But, how many players are you going to bring in with issues? You can look at the Bengals and see what happens when you being in too many guys with character issues. If you are willing to waste another first rounder, Spence has a pretty high ceiling. Personally, I would look to trade up in round 2 over taking him with a first rounder.

 

[Chopper0080]

Whiffing on 1st rounders? You mean the 1 out of 3 (debatable)? Humphries not playing this year was clearly the goal from day one.. so to say otherwise is revisionist history. Cooper is the maybe. Deon was a stroke of genius.

Cooper is a bust until he proves that label wrong at this point.

I disagree that Humphries was drafted to sit. That being said, lots of college tackles are struggling to transition to the NFL, so I am not panicking. The issue is his maturity. Will he have the professionalism to work hard, and make the changes he needs to be a starter. That is the question.

I also disagree that Bucannon was a stroke of genius. He was never drafted to be a LB, so his ability to play the position as well as he has is more luck than genius. Also, let's acknowledge that he is the best of a bad group, and doesn't look like a guy who would start for Denver, New England, Carolina, or Seattle.

 

[kerouac9]

Whiffing on 1st rounders? You mean the 1 out of 3 (debatable)? Humphries not playing this year was clearly the goal from day one.. so to say otherwise is revisionist history. Cooper is the maybe. Deon was a stroke of genius.

Maybe not starting was the goal, but I don't think that the Cards drafted Humphries with the belief that he'd be behind Earl Watford and Bradley Sowell for the entire year.

Bradley Sowell! That dude sucks! He's terrible at football! D.J. Humphries couldn't even make it a contest against Earl Watford! He'd never played tackle before! Ever!

 

[Buckybird]

I also disagree that Bucannon was a stroke of genius. He was never drafted to be a LB, so his ability to play the position as well as he has is more luck than genius. Also, let's acknowledge that he is the best of a bad group, and doesn't look like a guy who would start for Denver, New England, Carolina, or Seattle.

Agree.

Buc is a good player totally playing out of position at his size, he was abused in the run game yesterday along with others.

Can he add the weight to play LB or do we put him in at DB going forward?

 

[Krangodnzr]

I don't care if the Cardinals reach a bit, the need for a pass rusher is dire.

I think at a minimum, the Cardinals need to add TWO Linebackers with some pass rush skills and one more defensive lineman.

I like Noah Spence from the highlights I've seen, Darron Lee and Eric Striker. Striker has some Honey Badger in him, he's small but I wouldn't bet against him.

Maybe draft Lee in Round 1 and Striker in Round 3. Move Lee to ILB and keep Striker as a Jack of all trades that lines up all over the formation.

 

[BillsCarnage]

They also need to find someone for punt returns. That part of ST has been missing for 2yrs now.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Cooper is a bust until he proves that label wrong at this point.

I disagree that Humphries was drafted to sit. That being said, lots of college tackles are struggling to transition to the NFL, so I am not panicking. The issue is his maturity. Will he have the professionalism to work hard, and make the changes he needs to be a starter. That is the question.

I also disagree that Bucannon was a stroke of genius. He was never drafted to be a LB, so his ability to play the position as well as he has is more luck than genius. Also, let's acknowledge that he is the best of a bad group, and doesn't look like a guy who would start for Denver, New England, Carolina, or Seattle.

Agreed, and honestly I wouldn't put Bucannon ahead of Tony Jefferson, who is looking like our starting SS for the next few years.

 

[football karma]

Two big issues to deal with, both were fatal last night:

no pass rush with four -- so that leaves the Cards playing lots of man, lots of one v one match ups. High end qbs -- the ones you meet in the playoffs -- make you pay for this.

right 3/5s of the line. Each one of those guys are good enough if the two on either side are really solid, but each in a row arent. `

secondary issues:

yet again, special teams were nothing but. Set aside for a moment the PP fumble -- the Ginn return early is something we have seen too much of.

Part of me wonders if Jefferson would be better in the deep middle than Rashad Johnson -- too many missed tackles and bad angles from Rashad. Curious to see what the team does there this offseason.

 

[b8rtm8nn]

https://twitter.com/kentsomers/status/691716883012169728

 

[Chopper0080]

https://twitter.com/kentsomers/status/691716883012169728

Ugh...as pass rusher and more secondary help. How much is enough? How about quality defensive linemen? How about LBs for a defense that starts FOUR of them? I hate how ok our coaching staff seems to be with our defensive line and ILBs.

Maybe I will back up off the ledge and assume that speed is for the ILB spot.

S with size us a huge issue because Jefferson and Mathieu are both very short and Rashad isn't very tall either. I would tell Arians that he got a S with size in Bucannon, and he moved him to ILB.

 

[ajcardfan]

Ugh...as pass rusher and more secondary help. How much is enough? How about quality defensive linemen? How about LBs for a defense that starts FOUR of them? I hate how ok our coaching staff seems to be with our defensive line and ILBs.

Here's the bottom line..

36 sacks total this season NINE came in one game against a team that had two backup tackles playing that day.

Our leading sack guy was Freeny who is 75 years old and was signed in OCTOBER.

When I look at that, it is really amazing we were a top five defense almost the entire year and won 14 games.

OBVIOUSLY, for something like the last 10 years, a pass rusher is our top need going into the offseason. We also badly need an ILB that will allow Bucannon to play more safety.


I have no clue how we can pull that off barring a trade for either one. Free agency doesn't look that appealing right now, and we are drafting late.

 

[DeAnna]

Ugh...as pass rusher and more secondary help. How much is enough? How about quality defensive linemen? How about LBs for a defense that starts FOUR of them? I hate how ok our coaching staff seems to be with our defensive line and ILBs.

Maybe I will back up off the ledge and assume that speed is for the ILB spot.

S with size us a huge issue because Jefferson and Mathieu are both very short and Rashad isn't very tall either. I would tell Arians that he got a S with size in Bucannon, and he moved him to ILB.

LoL, and BA repeated that on radio today. Tall SS with speed - umm... you have one already - he's called DBuc. He even said they were fine with the olinemen they have, and DJHumphries will be fine next year, lol

 

[Shaggy]

I hope the try to resign Freeny. He still has it and with a full off season, training camp, I bet he can get a little better.

 

[Chopper0080]

I hope the try to resign Freeny. He still has it and with a full off season, training camp, I bet he can get a little better.

I think the point is that Freeney doesn't want to go through a full offseason and training camp. I think he wants to work out on his own, and then sign for a team who looks like they will make the playoffs.

 

[ajcardfan]

I think the point is that Freeney doesn't want to go through a full offseason and training camp. I think he wants to work out on his own, and then sign for a team who looks like they will make the playoffs.

Yes, Freeny doesn't need training camp or preseason. It would be more important to keep his legs as fresh as possible.


i wouldn't be surprised if they give him an under the table handshake to sign him after the season starts.