Per Jurecki on Twitter ...... Cardinals sign DE Frosty Rucker

[kerouac9]

It's for the 4 man rush---our 34OLBers have not translated well as 4 man rush DEs. Plus, Shaughnessy and Rucker can rush from the inside as well.

DE Shaughnessy
DT Campbell
DT Dockett
DE Rucker

The hope is too that Lorenzo Alexander can be a 4 man rush DE. I believe he may surprise us with his ability to do that.

I like how Mitch continues to believe--falsely--that the Cards last year used a lot of four-down-lineman formations, especially in the pass rush. I like how he continues to believe that the Cards will do so this year. And that he somehow believes that Shaughnessy and Rucker are legitimate rush ends.

Mitch is like the Woodbury of zombie ideas. He keeps them in a trench and brings them out every month or so.

 

[Mulli]

I like how Mitch continues to believe--falsely--that the Cards last year used a lot of four-down-lineman formations, especially in the pass rush. I like how he continues to believe that the Cards will do so this year. And that he somehow believes that Shaughnessy and Rucker are legitimate rush ends.

Mitch is like the Woodbury of zombie ideas. He keeps them in a trench and brings them out every month or so.

So you disagree then?

 

[kerouac9]

So you disagree then?

LOL. I do. I think if the Cards go to a four man rush, it doesn't make sense to bring in scrubs to play DE. the best four-man rush lineup is (from the QB's right to left) Campbell-Carter-Dockett-Someone We Don't Have.

You don't get great pass rushers in rounds three through five, as a general rule. And you can't use first- and second-round picks on guys who are situational players for the long term. That's poor resource-allocation.

If we're going to go with a four-man down lineman alignment, then let's draft Werner or Ansuh or maybe Mingo and DO IT. None of the Cards' moves have shown that is the plan.

If there's a guy who can legitimately get 12 sacks per year, you're not going to find him two weeks into free agency.

What I expect is that the Cards will use three-down linemen in clear passing situations, and take Jasper Brinkley off the field to add the additional defensive back. We sucked against the run last year not for personnel reasons, but for structural reasons when we ran the 2-4-5 on second-and-six type down and distance type situations and teams happily ran the ball for four or five yards.

 

[Mulli]

LOL. I do. I think if the Cards go to a four man rush, it doesn't make sense to bring in scrubs to play DE. the best four-man rush lineup is (from the QB's right to left) Campbell-Carter-Dockett-Someone We Don't Have.

You don't get great pass rushers in rounds three through five, as a general rule. And you can't use first- and second-round picks on guys who are situational players for the long term. That's poor resource-allocation.

If we're going to go with a four-man down lineman alignment, then let's draft Werner or Ansuh or maybe Mingo and DO IT. None of the Cards' moves have shown that is the plan.

If there's a guy who can legitimately get 12 sacks per year, you're not going to find him two weeks into free agency.

What I expect is that the Cards will use three-down linemen in clear passing situations, and take Jasper Brinkley off the field to add the additional defensive back. We sucked against the run last year not for personnel reasons, but for structural reasons when we ran the 2-4-5 on second-and-six type down and distance type situations and teams happily ran the ball for four or five yards.

Agree. The DE signings were merely replacing rotation guys Eason and Holliday.

 

[MadCardDisease]

We sucked against the run last year not for personnel reasons, but for structural reasons when we ran the 2-4-5 on second-and-six type down and distance type situations and teams happily ran the ball for four or five yards.

I hated that formation!

 

[Duckjake]

LOL. I do. I think if the Cards go to a four man rush, it doesn't make sense to bring in scrubs to play DE. the best four-man rush lineup is (from the QB's right to left) Campbell-Carter-Dockett-Someone We Don't Have.

You don't get great pass rushers in rounds three through five, as a general rule. And you can't use first- and second-round picks on guys who are situational players for the long term. That's poor resource-allocation.

If we're going to go with a four-man down lineman alignment, then let's draft Werner or Ansuh or maybe Mingo and DO IT. None of the Cards' moves have shown that is the plan.

If there's a guy who can legitimately get 12 sacks per year, you're not going to find him two weeks into free agency.

What I expect is that the Cards will use three-down linemen in clear passing situations, and take Jasper Brinkley off the field to add the additional defensive back. We sucked against the run last year not for personnel reasons, but for structural reasons when we ran the 2-4-5 on second-and-six type down and distance type situations and teams happily ran the ball for four or five yards.

I don't understand why fans don't get this. In a pass happy league Horton sacrificed the run defense to stop the pass being content to let teams run down the field only to bog down when the Cards went big inside the 20. You don't have one of the top Red Zone defenses in the NFL if you can't stop the run.

 

[kerouac9]

I don't understand why fans don't get this. In a pass happy league Horton sacrificed the run defense to stop the pass being content to let teams run down the field only to bog down when the Cards went big inside the 20. You don't have one of the top Red Zone defenses in the NFL if you can't stop the run.

That's fair. I think it speaks to our problems at rush linebacker that we sacrificed the run so much for the sake of getting to the quarterback.

Pittsburgh's defense was in 2-4-5 21% of the time in 2011. Maybe they were just more effective at stopping the run out of that situation because they had more traditional two-gap defensive linemen.

Houston's defense in 2011 was in 2-4-5 only 6% of the time, and they were better in that formation than they were in their base alignment.

I really don't have a problem with the poor run defense. If you want to stop the opposition from running on you, score some points with your offense. The 2012 Cards' defense was right in the middle of the NFL (T19th) in defensive rushing YPA.

If people think that being "tougher" against the run (whatever that means--Toler and Gay were willing and adept tacklers, as were Wilson and Rhodes) in 2012 will equate to better overall defensive production, I think they've got a big, BIG surprise coming to them.