O-line the strength - and a goal to be NFL's best

[Ronin]

O-line the strength - and a goal to be NFL's best
Earlier this offseason, Cardinals coach Steve Wilks said he felt the offensive line was the strength of the team. It raised a couple of eyebrows at the time, in part because there were probably other places one would think would be mentioned first.

Wilks was again asked about that Thursday, and if he still felt the same, then why?

"Number one, I like the free agents we got in the offseason," Wilks said, a nod to new starting right guard Justin Pugh and right tackle Andre Smith. "Those guys are working hard. ... The run game is important, you can see the emphasis from (coaches) Ray Brown and Steve (Heiden). Everything we do starts up front."

https://www.azcardinals.com/news/of...goal-to-be-nfl-s-best-justin-pugh-andre-smith

 

[MadCardDisease]

It all starts with the OL. If they can pass block then Bradford remains upright for most of the season. If they can run block then David Johnson has a monster year and the defense remains fresh.

However if they can't stay healthy then all bets are off.

 

[Ronin]

Cardinals think they can have the best offensive line in the NFL
There’s nothing more important to the Cardinals this season than protecting the oft-injured starting quarterback, Sam Bradford, and giving first-round rookie, Josh Rosen, time to develop. The Cardinals think they have the offensive line to make that happen.

That’s the word from Cardinals offensive line coach Ray Brown, who said he believes the Cardinals can have the best offensive line in the NFL.

“What I tell guys all the time, when I got this job and went into that first meeting, I said, ‘Guys, we really can be the best in the world. We can be the best in the league. We can have the best offensive line in the league.’ I was like, ‘Wow, I said that,'” Brown said. “When you say things like that [out loud], you have to work toward it. I always tell guys, you don’t necessarily need to have sight to have vision. For me, I have this vision of us being the best, of us winning championships. Now, that’s me saying that. The minute you put that out in the air . . . you’ve got to move toward that. You have to work your tail off.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/cardinals-think-best-offensive-line-170434687.html

 

[gmabel830]

It's the offseason - dreaming is free.

 

[overseascardfan]

Until they can prove to be reliable I would be reluctant to start Rosen.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

If NFL teams are moving towards more of a college type offense, then really how important is the offensive line ?

For a pro-style offense, it is critical, and I agree is extremely important in the NFL. Yet, if you start running more college type offenses, it is less critical.

So, it matters.

As for how good this offensive line is ? I dunno, but that is a tough situation for the Cardinals, not sure what they could do to instill any confidence in our fan base. Not that it is a bad thing, but the expectations vs. reality is a pretty wide gap.

Not to mention one man's Tyron Smith, is another man's Levi Brown.

We will see, but the Cardinals put a lot of money, time, effort and resources into their offensive line......it has not produce the desired results, but I think to say it is a lack of effort is unfair.

 

[Ronin]

Arizona Cardinals' revamped offensive line talking the talk
Like most people, Cardinals offensive linemen prefer not to sit thigh-to-thigh unless required, so they give themselves ample space in their meeting room at the team’s Tempe facility.

But comfort isn’t the only reason spacing is important in the classroom. Line coach Ray Brown is hopeful that it also improves communication.

For instance, when left tackle D.J. Humphries asks center A.Q. Shipley a question, which happens often, he has to speak up. Shipley, in turn, has to answer loud enough that his voice carries across the room.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/spo...humphries-offensive-line-ray-brown/684972002/

 

[Stout]

It's the offseason - dreaming is free.

Exactly. I mean, I like Wilks has the attitude, but give me a break. We're miles from having even an average line. Could it change, could it all come together during the season? Sure. Am I confident of that? No.

 

[GuernseyCard]

Exactly. I mean, I like Wilks has the attitude, but give me a break. We're miles from having even an average line. Could it change, could it all come together during the season? Sure. Am I confident of that? No.

Given that this is largely a new line, we can't say, but Wilks is in a position to make a professional assessment.

What we know is that 4 of 5 projected starters are first round picks.

 

[GuernseyCard]

It's the offseason - dreaming is free.

Wilks is not in the 'dreaming' business; we are.

 

[devilalum]

For something to become a reality you first have to imagine it as a possibility. Better yet visualize it as an expectation.

 

[Stout]

Given that this is largely a new line, we can't say, but Wilks is in a position to make a professional assessment.

What we know is that 4 of 5 projected starters are first round picks.

Levi Brown was a top-10 first round pick. Draft status means less than nothing.

 

[DutchmanAZ]

Levi Brown was a top-10 first round pick. Draft status means less than nothing.

This seems to conflict with your earlier posts about getting a QB in the first round? That seemed very important to you.
Yeah - a bit of a nit I understand but if you truly value draft position as an indicator for success I don’t see how you’d argue this point. However- time will indeed tell

 

[oaken1]

Levi Brown was a top-10 first round pick. Draft status means less than nothing.

draft status should indicate that the guy has talent. product on the field indicates whether or not that talent has shown itself at the pro level....not showing could indicate he cant handle the pros,..but could also indicate he has been poorly coached. IMO, our oline has been poorly coached the past five years or so. I am interested to see what these guys can do this year... but I think what will be most important is whether or not the left side stays healthy.

 

[don7031]

When Arians took over the assessment was one guard away from having a really good offensive line. The projected line was Levi Brown, Daryn Colledge, Lyle Sendlein, Jonathan Cooper (the final piece lol), and Bobby Massie (replace after OTA's by Eric Winston). They ended the season ranked dead last by pro football focus.

We've heard this tune before.

 

[Carolinacacti]

I stopped listening to Arians years ago before the season started. I will give Wilks a chance.

 

[Stout]

This seems to conflict with your earlier posts about getting a QB in the first round? That seemed very important to you.
Yeah - a bit of a nit I understand but if you truly value draft position as an indicator for success I don’t see how you’d argue this point. However- time will indeed tell

Not at all. I was responding to a post talking about draft positioning in the PAST tense. Once a player is in the league for years, they have a body of work that you base their ability upon. At that point, draft positioning is laughably irrelevant.

 

[Cheesebeef]

man... if the underachieving MASH unit known as our O-line is going to be the strength of this team, that's is some bad news for the season!

That said, we got a QBOTF and could give a rip! Bring on the season and the future!!!!

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

This seems to conflict with your earlier posts about getting a QB in the first round? That seemed very important to you.
Yeah - a bit of a nit I understand but if you truly value draft position as an indicator for success I don’t see how you’d argue this point. However- time will indeed tell

That’s a terrible twist on his argument.

Being able to draft a QB in the first round greatly increases your success rate. If you measure round-by-round success I’m 99% sure the first round will be leaps and bounds better than any other single round.

Using what round a player WAS drafted in as an indicator of how good they will be, once their ability has ALREADY BEEN ESTABLISHED IN THE LEAGUE is just plain stupid.

 

[Krangodnzr]

That’s a terrible twist on his argument.

Being able to draft a QB in the first round greatly increases your success rate. If you measure round-by-round success I’m 99% sure the first round will be leaps and bounds better than any other single round.

Using what round a player WAS drafted in as an indicator of how good they will be, once their ability has ALREADY BEEN ESTABLISHED IN THE LEAGUE is just plain stupid.

Yeah numerous times in the past it's been shown that round one is where you find successful QBs. If I remember correctly, success with round one QBs is equal to all other rounds and methods (UDFAs) combined. Just because there is a high miss rate with round one QBs doesn't mean it's not the best place to find them, it just means that you need to draft one in round one every few years until you find your guy.

The Cardinals have skipped over a few chances over the years because of their reluctance to take a shot because they believed they were good enough. If I were a GM, I would always take a shot at a QB if the prospect could one day be better than my current starter. Case in point was taking Buc over Carr a few years ago, or skipping over Rodgers when he fell on draft day years ago because the Cardinals had McCown.

I think Keim's litmus that players have to have a certain kind of drive to be successful is the right litmus for judging whether a prospect will be successful, ceteris paribus. That's why I'm excited about Rosen; he has the drive to be really successful in the NFL, and I think his only personal stumbling block will be his health.

 

[gimpy]

And probably a lot of that ^ depends on his line.

 

[JeffGollin]

When Arians took over the assessment was one guard away from having a really good offensive line. The projected line was Levi Brown, Daryn Colledge, Lyle Sendlein, Jonathan Cooper (the final piece lol), and Bobby Massie (replace after OTA's by Eric Winston). They ended the season ranked dead last by pro football focus.

We've heard this tune before.

True. Things seldom go as expected.

But it works both ways. We could end up with five no-names who could take us to the promised land.

Welcome to the NFL.

 

[Krangodnzr]

When Arians took over the assessment was one guard away from having a really good offensive line. The projected line was Levi Brown, Daryn Colledge, Lyle Sendlein, Jonathan Cooper (the final piece lol), and Bobby Massie (replace after OTA's by Eric Winston). They ended the season ranked dead last by pro football focus.

We've heard this tune before.

Yeah but I would argue that

DJ (healthy)>>>Brown
Iupati>>>>Colledge
Shipley>or=Sendlein
Pugh>>>>Cooper
Smith=Massie/Winston

 

[Carolinacacti]

Well I'm sure this O Line is better then what the Panthers have had.

 

[don7031]

Well I'm sure this O Line is better then what the Panthers have had.

It's a pretty resounding NO to the Cardinals having a better offensive line than the Panthers under Ray Brown.

Brown coached the Panthers interior triangle (Andrew Norwell, Ryan Kalil and Trai Turner) to All Pro status. Of the current Cardinals only Mike Iupati has achieved that lofty status.