MadCards 2025 Offseason Plan post Super Bowl

[DVontel]

I think I see your problem.

One day he’s against PFF, another he’s for PFF.

Funny guy.

 

[Cheesebeef]

You bring so many quality posts but then do this. How about he doubled the # of wins in just one year.

Man, people keep making this speciois argument. With a boatload of cap space and draft picks, he doubled the number of wins from a paltry 4 to a mid 8 in TWO YEARS, not one.

That just isn’t that impressive.

 

[phillycard]

I hope so. Trouble is, Monti (and probably ownership) has painted himself into a corner. If he doesn't get this offseason absolutely spot on, it all falls apart. Building the belly of the team and changing culture is all fine and dandy but it is the bare minimum. He has done the bare minimum while failing quite hard at anything beyond that. Where's the bit talent on this team? What major holes have been filled? He's impacted the low end but done very little to impact the high end. He needs SEVERAL Big Johns in the draft. Not maybe kinda in three or four years they'll be stars...he needs them NOW, because he hasn't been bringing that top-end talent in. That's to say nothing of FA. It doesn't matter if it's thin--he didn't spend last year and now he HAS to spend. If he's smart, he'd blow FA dollars on the OL and at Edge, then take advantage of the Edge and DT class in the draft. We shall see. He is a far cry from proving himself smart at this point. He can get there, but he's rather stacked the deck against himself so far, in my books.

I do not envy M.O. at all. He has unfortunately painted himself into a corner of proving the worth of his hire or falling into the pit of incompetence. There has been no real signature move to hang his hat on, and I'm finding it hard to buy in as a fan. Remember when we were kids and arcades started moving away from quarters and switched to tokens to get you to spend all of your money? It was genius because the tokens had to be spent on site or they were worthless once you left. You wound up having to play a game of Qix, or the knock off Pac Man just to get your money's worth. We're going to overpay in free agency because we have no choice. He's playing with arcade tokens while the Rosemans of the world still use quarters.

 

[Stout]

Paris Johnson was PFF's 12th ranked tackle last year. Marv was their 24th ranked wide receiver as a rookie and had nearly 900 yards. Was he Justin Jefferson in year 1? No. But then expectations were way over the top in my opinion. Garrett Williams was PFF's 4th ranked CB and I see greatness in DTD, very impressed by the snaps he had as a rookie and I think we'll be adding him to the list of great picks after next year.

I have high hopes for Wilson, Melton while the jury is still out on D-Rob, Benson, Reimann, Beej etc

For me, both Monti's draft class are better than anything Keim ever did at the same stage.

We've gotten some talent upgrade, no question. We have not gotten any of the top-tier types of players we truly need to get us over the hump, however. When you compare what Monti has done to what the Rams have done, it's...well, not fun reading.

 

[Cardiac]

Man, people keep making this speciois argument. With a boatload of cap space and draft picks, he doubled the number of wins from a paltry 4 to a mid 8 in TWO YEARS, not one.

That just isn’t that impressive.

Totally missed my point.

 

[BritCard]

I think I see your problem.

Come back when you have another way to grade players by identical metrics.

 

[BritCard]

One day he’s against PFF, another he’s for PFF.

Funny guy.

I am neither for or against it. It's a tool that's good for some thing and not for others.

If you have another way of comparing players at the same position using the same metrics then I'm all ears.

 

[BritCard]

We've gotten some talent upgrade, no question. We have not gotten any of the top-tier types of players we truly need to get us over the hump, however. When you compare what Monti has done to what the Rams have done, it's...well, not fun reading.

The difference between what the Cards have done and what the Rams have done is predominantly due to quarterback play.

People keep banging on about Verse, Fiske, Kitchens etc when the Rams defense gave up more yards per game than ours and gave up identical points per game to ours. The Rams gave up both more rushing yards per game and just 5 yards less per game in passing yards.

The reason the Rams players get talked about is because they win, and they win due to a good quarterback and a good offense. If Paris, MHJ, DTD or Williams was on the Rams they would be talked about in the same vain.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

The difference between what the Cards have done and what the Rams have done is predominantly due to quarterback play.

People keep banging on about Verse, Fiske, Kitchens etc when the Rams defense gave up more yards per game than ours and gave up identical points per game to ours. The Rams gave up both more rushing yards per game and just 5 yards less per game in passing yards.

The reason the Rams players get talked about is because they win, and they win due to a good quarterback and a good offense. If Paris, MHJ, DTD or Williams was on the Rams they would be talked about in the same vain.

Yeah, Verse and Fiske went 1/3 in rookie of the year voting on defense because of great QB play. Sure buddy.

 

[Chopper0080]

I think Monti demonstrated that very acumen with his first draft. Not sure what the lack of self awareness means. I respect your opinion very much and would appreciate a clearer picture if you don't mind.

I think Monti has given himself a lot of picks to build his roster through the draft and has had pretty mid results. He has utilized FA to sign short term contracts which has led to a roster in year 3 that has holes his drafts have just failed to fill.

His lack of self awareness has been this. He gutted the roster in year 1, and then chose to ignore high, dollar FAs with long contracts in year 2. He has prioritized accumulating picks and held to his board which leaves the Cardinals heading into year 3 where the best players are still arguably Keim's players. After two seasons the Cardinals till have major issues at EDGE and along the offensive line despite multiple resources being used to address these areas. Maybe he needs one more off-season to show that he understands you can't just build through the draft unless you are hitting on an above average number of your picks, but I have not gotten that vibe.

I would argue the only area of the team Monti has built heading into year 3 is the secondary. Maybe the defensive line is deeper, but there is not any talent on it that is better than Allen was. EDGE is still bad. If White leaves, ILB is a wash at best. OL still has issues. Fro is good and Paris essentially replaced DJ but the rest is still a huge ? QB is the same. WR is about the same. TE has improved but the player who makes that an improvement was already on the roster. RB is the same.

 

[kerouac9]

You bring so many quality posts but then do this. How about he doubled the # of wins in just one year. Both these stats are true but neither really speaks to the point.
It was an obvious tank job in year one for several reasons. Monti missed big time imo in year 2 by not getting an impact edge but the original post was about Monti not being able to work the draft because of his lack of self awareness. It was not about the actual picks that were made.

I don't think Monti deserves a ton of credit for spending two years to build a 4-13 team to an 8-9 team. That's not the point I'm making though.

I'm saying that maybe we should be conceptually concerned about his theory of the case when we just watched a team with the best players win the Super Bowl and we don't have any of the best players. PJJ is a good pick, nice player, but he's not a difference-maker. Garrett Williams can't get on the field full time -- he's getting blocked by Starling Thomas IV. Our best offensive player is a 29 year old running back.

Come back when you have another way to grade players by identical metrics.

I don't place a lock of stock in any OL/DL grades, but to consider PFF's grades and rankings an objective metric is bananas, and every coach and player will tell you so.

I don't love some of the other reality-based OL metrics. I don't like Pass Rush/Run Block Win Rate. I kind of like the blown block % that the DVOA guys used (but I haven't bought an annual in a couple years), but I don't know how valuable those are.

 

[phillycard]

The difference between what the Cards have done and what the Rams have done is predominantly due to quarterback play.

People keep banging on about Verse, Fiske, Kitchens etc when the Rams defense gave up more yards per game than ours and gave up identical points per game to ours. The Rams gave up both more rushing yards per game and just 5 yards less per game in passing yards.

The reason the Rams players get talked about is because they win, and they win due to a good quarterback and a good offense. If Paris, MHJ, DTD or Williams was on the Rams they would be talked about in the same vain.

Brit, I love ya man, but I can't clap to that.

 

[DVontel]

Yeah, Verse and Fiske went 1/3 in rookie of the year voting on defense because of great QB play. Sure buddy.

And it’s not like Stafford had a great season or anything. A bulk of his production came against Buffalo & Minnesota. LA’s running game was bottom 5 if I remember correctly as well.

Brit has to do better.

 

[oaken1]

He ranks like middle of the pack in the NFL, he's young I get it and he'll improve but i don't see any Boldin, Peterson etc type picks as of yet , I think that's what @ASUCHRIS and I are wondering (maybe he isn't and I just rudely spoke for him anyway lol)

Incorrect.
He ranks 4th in the league among all CB's and 2nd among nickle backs

 

[oaken1]

I do not envy M.O. at all. He has unfortunately painted himself into a corner of proving the worth of his hire or falling into the pit of incompetence. There has been no real signature move to hang his hat on, and I'm finding it hard to buy in as a fan. Remember when we were kids and arcades started moving away from quarters and switched to tokens to get you to spend all of your money? It was genius because the tokens had to be spent on site or they were worthless once you left. You wound up having to play a game of Qix, or the knock off Pac Man just to get your money's worth. We're going to overpay in free agency because we have no choice. He's playing with arcade tokens while the Rosemans of the world still use quarters.

Sheeeiiiitt, I used to sell joints for arcade tokens... 10 cents credit per token.....tokens were brilliant...local arcade gave 5 for a dollar then made every game 2 tokens...except pinball

 

[BirdGangThing]

I do not envy M.O. at all. He has unfortunately painted himself into a corner of proving the worth of his hire or falling into the pit of incompetence. There has been no real signature move to hang his hat on, and I'm finding it hard to buy in as a fan. Remember when we were kids and arcades started moving away from quarters and switched to tokens to get you to spend all of your money? It was genius because the tokens had to be spent on site or they were worthless once you left. You wound up having to play a game of Qix, or the knock off Pac Man just to get your money's worth. We're going to overpay in free agency because we have no choice. He's playing with arcade tokens while the Rosemans of the world still use quarters.

read this as the edibles were kicking in - good stuff

 

[Cardiac]

I'm saying that maybe we should be conceptually concerned about his theory of the case when we just watched a team with the best players win the Super Bowl and we don't have any of the best players.

Watching the Eagles destroy the Chiefs was very sobering for me. It made me feel like we are 20 players away from competing against the top teams. I do agree that Howie has proven to be a far better GM than Monti, heck most GMs.

Hoping Monti has some aces up his sleeves.

 

[Chopper0080]

Incorrect.
He ranks 4th in the league among all CB's and 2nd among nickle backs

As of right now, he is a 73% snap player that opposing teams can send to the bench by shifting their personnel groupings. I like him, but his impact is capped.

 

[Chopper0080]

Watching the Eagles destroy the Chiefs was very sobering for me. It made me feel like we are 20 players away from competing against the top teams. I do agree that Howie has proven to be a far better GM than Monti, heck most GMs.

Hoping Monti has some aces up his sleeves.

In all honestly, the Cardinals are probably 7-8 players away outside of the QB away from competing with the top teams. The issue is with the quality of those players. If you want to compare with the Eagles, the secondary is kinda close. TE is a little better. WR is closer than some think and the Eagles don't have a deep room. After that, the Eagles clear AZ in both top end talent as well as depth.

 

[kerouac9]

Incorrect.
He ranks 4th in the league among all CB's and 2nd among nickle backs

But third in the heart of his coaches (based on playing time)

 

[phillycard]

Sheeeiiiitt, I used to sell joints for arcade tokens... 10 cents credit per token.....tokens were brilliant...local arcade gave 5 for a dollar then made every game 2 tokens...except pinball

Well hey, that's using the ol noggin bro! There was always someone smart enough to capitalize on a free market system.