PFW: Are Cards committed to McCown?
By Dan Arkush
[email protected]
Feb. 17, 2004
If a vote were to be taken in the Valley of the Sun on the lowest moment of the Cardinals’ 2003 campaign, the odds are strong that Josh McCown’s backward pass during mop-up duty of Arizona’s ghastly 50-14 loss to the Niners in Week 14 would be high on the list.
At the time, McCown’s wayward toss, which practically stuck in the earhole of OT L.J. Shelton’s helmet, appeared to offer further proof that the second-year pro out of Sam Houston State was just way too skittish and tentative to ever make an impact in the big leagues.
Now fast forward to the final play of the Cardinals’ season finale vs. the Vikings — the no-brainer selection as the Cardinals’ highest moment of this past season.
Following sacks on second and third down, the last of which caused a fumble that the Cardinals scrambled to recover, McCown, in the final act of a Montana-like performance, stepped up in the pocket in the face of unrelenting pressure and slung a 28-yard BB to a leaping Nate Poole in the corner of the endzone. The end result was a stunning 18-17 victory over the Vikings that knocked Minnesota out of the playoffs.
Suddenly, McCown’s skittishness was a distant memory.
Suddenly — although his heroics vs. Minnesota didn’t appear to alter the widely held belief that the Cardinals would use the third overall pick in the draft to select a franchise-caliber quarterback (either Eli Manning or Ben Roethlisberger) — McCown had become a legitimate keeper.
In a relatively short period of time, the 6-4, 212-pound McCown has become much more than that. With the draft fast approaching, new Cardinals head coach Dennis Green recently raised eyebrows around the league when he said it was highly unlikely the Cardinals would draft a quarterback in the first three rounds because of his confidence in McCown.
“Josh McCown, I think he is going to be a great one,” said Green, who used seven different quarterbacks in the eight seasons in which the Vikings made the playoffs under his direction. “I think people have a hard time believing it, but when I buy into a quarterback, I really do. That’s my track record.”
Nonetheless, there are many who can’t get over the feeling that Green’s fondness for McCown is nothing more than an industrial-sized smokescreen, and that either Manning or Roethlisberger could still be the Cardinals’ top pick come draft day.
In my opinion, Green’s not trying to josh anybody. When he says he sees many of the same qualities in McCown that he saw in Daunte Culpepper, I believe him.
“I see a guy who has tremendous athletic ability,” Green said of McCown. “If you want to pick up the five best quarterbacks (in the NFL) and play a little hoops, he’s going to probably be part of that five. If you are going to pick the four guys and get in a relay race, he’s probably going to be in that four.”
As for McCown himself, he is quick to acknowledge his flashy emergence from the NFL woodwork.
“It’s amazing when you look where I was at the beginning of December,” said McCown of his three-game stint as the Cardinals’ starting quarterback. “If I don’t start those three games, we’re not talking whether I can start long-term, we’re talking whether I can start for Barcelona (in NFL Europe).”
But McCown’s rags-to-riches saga is nothing new, when you consider the massive strides made by Kurt Warner, Tom Brady and Jake Delhomme, among others.
I think McCown, who first opened eyes in the 2002 Senior Bowl, is worth the gamble Green appears intent on making. He’s one of those pure athletes who can make something out of nothing in crunch time. He’s got a strong arm and terrific mobility. Most importantly, he’s got real leadership ability. His command in the huddle was far better than that of Jeff Blake, whom Green wasted no time removing from the equation a few weeks back.
No, I don’t think Green is blowing smoke at all. I think he is now hoping beyond hope that Pittsburgh WR Larry Fitzgerald, a family friend, is still on the board when the Cards make their first pick. Green has been a consistent advocate of the best-available-athlete theory and is on record as saying that Fitzgerald is the best player available in the 2004 draft.
The prospect of adding Fitzgerald to a WR corps also featuring Anquan Boldin, a Pro Bowl sensation in his first season, and 2003 first-round pick Bryant Johnson has to give the offensive-minded Green goose bumps.
What if Fitzgerald is snatched up with the first or second pick? Then I see the Cardinals moving down in the first round — a strategy that they used last season that didn’t turn out all that well, considering the disappointing rookie campaigns of Johnson and the team’s other first-round pick last season, DE Calvin Pace.
But if the Cardinals move down, I see them moving no lower than the eighth spot. Green believes there are eight obvious blue-chippers in this year’s draft — in no particular order, Fitzgerald, Manning, Roethlisberger, Iowa OT Robert Gallery, Miami (Fla.) S Sean Taylor, Miami (Fla.) TE Kellen Winslow Jr., Oklahoma DT Tommie Harris and Texas WR Roy Williams.
Harris or Williams in particular look like excellent fits on the Cardinals’ roster. So does Taylor, especially if the Cardinals try to move Adrian Wilson to cornerback, as has been rumored.
Before signing off, Green recently offered one other really interesting revelation when he said the only entrenched starters on the Cardinals’ roster at the moment were Boldin, LBs Ronald McKinnon and Raynoch Thompson and C Pete Kendall.
Very conspicuous by their absence were Shelton and OG Leonard Davis (each of whom’s contract was extended last November), RB Marcel Shipp and former Buccaneers S Dexter Jackson, who offered many more pluses than minuses in his first season with the Cardinals.
More smoke in the Valley of the Sun? Only Dennis Green knows for sure.
By Dan Arkush
[email protected]
Feb. 17, 2004
If a vote were to be taken in the Valley of the Sun on the lowest moment of the Cardinals’ 2003 campaign, the odds are strong that Josh McCown’s backward pass during mop-up duty of Arizona’s ghastly 50-14 loss to the Niners in Week 14 would be high on the list.
At the time, McCown’s wayward toss, which practically stuck in the earhole of OT L.J. Shelton’s helmet, appeared to offer further proof that the second-year pro out of Sam Houston State was just way too skittish and tentative to ever make an impact in the big leagues.
Now fast forward to the final play of the Cardinals’ season finale vs. the Vikings — the no-brainer selection as the Cardinals’ highest moment of this past season.
Following sacks on second and third down, the last of which caused a fumble that the Cardinals scrambled to recover, McCown, in the final act of a Montana-like performance, stepped up in the pocket in the face of unrelenting pressure and slung a 28-yard BB to a leaping Nate Poole in the corner of the endzone. The end result was a stunning 18-17 victory over the Vikings that knocked Minnesota out of the playoffs.
Suddenly, McCown’s skittishness was a distant memory.
Suddenly — although his heroics vs. Minnesota didn’t appear to alter the widely held belief that the Cardinals would use the third overall pick in the draft to select a franchise-caliber quarterback (either Eli Manning or Ben Roethlisberger) — McCown had become a legitimate keeper.
In a relatively short period of time, the 6-4, 212-pound McCown has become much more than that. With the draft fast approaching, new Cardinals head coach Dennis Green recently raised eyebrows around the league when he said it was highly unlikely the Cardinals would draft a quarterback in the first three rounds because of his confidence in McCown.
“Josh McCown, I think he is going to be a great one,” said Green, who used seven different quarterbacks in the eight seasons in which the Vikings made the playoffs under his direction. “I think people have a hard time believing it, but when I buy into a quarterback, I really do. That’s my track record.”
Nonetheless, there are many who can’t get over the feeling that Green’s fondness for McCown is nothing more than an industrial-sized smokescreen, and that either Manning or Roethlisberger could still be the Cardinals’ top pick come draft day.
In my opinion, Green’s not trying to josh anybody. When he says he sees many of the same qualities in McCown that he saw in Daunte Culpepper, I believe him.
“I see a guy who has tremendous athletic ability,” Green said of McCown. “If you want to pick up the five best quarterbacks (in the NFL) and play a little hoops, he’s going to probably be part of that five. If you are going to pick the four guys and get in a relay race, he’s probably going to be in that four.”
As for McCown himself, he is quick to acknowledge his flashy emergence from the NFL woodwork.
“It’s amazing when you look where I was at the beginning of December,” said McCown of his three-game stint as the Cardinals’ starting quarterback. “If I don’t start those three games, we’re not talking whether I can start long-term, we’re talking whether I can start for Barcelona (in NFL Europe).”
But McCown’s rags-to-riches saga is nothing new, when you consider the massive strides made by Kurt Warner, Tom Brady and Jake Delhomme, among others.
I think McCown, who first opened eyes in the 2002 Senior Bowl, is worth the gamble Green appears intent on making. He’s one of those pure athletes who can make something out of nothing in crunch time. He’s got a strong arm and terrific mobility. Most importantly, he’s got real leadership ability. His command in the huddle was far better than that of Jeff Blake, whom Green wasted no time removing from the equation a few weeks back.
No, I don’t think Green is blowing smoke at all. I think he is now hoping beyond hope that Pittsburgh WR Larry Fitzgerald, a family friend, is still on the board when the Cards make their first pick. Green has been a consistent advocate of the best-available-athlete theory and is on record as saying that Fitzgerald is the best player available in the 2004 draft.
The prospect of adding Fitzgerald to a WR corps also featuring Anquan Boldin, a Pro Bowl sensation in his first season, and 2003 first-round pick Bryant Johnson has to give the offensive-minded Green goose bumps.
What if Fitzgerald is snatched up with the first or second pick? Then I see the Cardinals moving down in the first round — a strategy that they used last season that didn’t turn out all that well, considering the disappointing rookie campaigns of Johnson and the team’s other first-round pick last season, DE Calvin Pace.
But if the Cardinals move down, I see them moving no lower than the eighth spot. Green believes there are eight obvious blue-chippers in this year’s draft — in no particular order, Fitzgerald, Manning, Roethlisberger, Iowa OT Robert Gallery, Miami (Fla.) S Sean Taylor, Miami (Fla.) TE Kellen Winslow Jr., Oklahoma DT Tommie Harris and Texas WR Roy Williams.
Harris or Williams in particular look like excellent fits on the Cardinals’ roster. So does Taylor, especially if the Cardinals try to move Adrian Wilson to cornerback, as has been rumored.
Before signing off, Green recently offered one other really interesting revelation when he said the only entrenched starters on the Cardinals’ roster at the moment were Boldin, LBs Ronald McKinnon and Raynoch Thompson and C Pete Kendall.
Very conspicuous by their absence were Shelton and OG Leonard Davis (each of whom’s contract was extended last November), RB Marcel Shipp and former Buccaneers S Dexter Jackson, who offered many more pluses than minuses in his first season with the Cardinals.
More smoke in the Valley of the Sun? Only Dennis Green knows for sure.
