R I S E ___ U P ___ D A R K ___ S I D E (2022)

[Stout]

Green, ertz, moore...Moore....

Not gonna look much different than last season except kyler will get the ball to brown in space rather than the jump balls that went to Hop.
We also get mad Maxx back...we have plenty of weapons

We had Ertz, Green, and Moore during the slide last year. How'd that turn out when Nuke went down to injury. Hint: not good. Ertz is a decent chain-moving target, but is limited and aging. He is not, actually, a WR anyway. Green...no, just no. Moore is a gadget player that many here think is already good, others hope is good, and I am highly skeptical of. WR is, at this point, not a position of strength on this team.

 

[Garthshort]

If there is any hope for the first six games, I would imagine the following would have to happen:
1. McBride would have to be on the field early as KK will have to design a lot of two TE plays. Third down type plays that move the chains, like Nuk makes.
2. KM and AJ Green have to develop a rapport and make sure that comes Game Day that they are on the same page.
3. We'll know early on if Rondale Moore can play NFL WR or is just a gadget guy.
4. I'm confident that Hollywood will do Hollywood things, and will be our leading receiver. Even if facing double teams, much like he had to do in Baltimore.
5. And lastly, this Suspension gives AI, Wesley and Dorch and maybe a FA surprise to make an impression.

Pressure (in a way is off Arizona) as everyone knows we'll fail. But remember that after the first game, that after just another five games we'll have Nuk back and maybe Maxx Williams as well.

 

[pemory09]

Hollywood is 1 inch shorter than AB, who was considered the best WR in the NFL a few years back.
We are gonna be fine....and then we get the luxury of inserting a healthy DHop into our offense mid season.

…just in time for the KK end-of-year 2-9 slide.

 

[az jam]

I can't see anything positive at all about Hopkins suspension. The key on the Hollywood trade is that he will be the #2 WR that we needed and teaming up with Hopkins would make it hard on defenses. That is out the window as the opposing teams best CB will be covering him. AJ Green is washed up, it was dumb to resign him. Sure I like the TE McBride signing but he is a rookie and has never played an NFL game. I'll wait till the schedule comes out to make any predictions but the bottom line is that this sucks big time.

 

[Garthshort]

azjam, I don't see how anyone can disagree with your closing sentence. I tried to give some hope for the first six games, but, I'll admit that requires some luck, which would be very unusual for the Cardinals.

 

[Garthshort]

Reference AJ Green, if he is washed up (very possible), the team will know that in TC. So he is a possible late cut and we pick up someone's else's late cut, who MIGHT have something left. Not likely, but possible.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Make some room on the bus, nuts to butts guys.

Definitely puts the Cardinals behind where they should be.

I would argue the Cardinals win at least 2 more games down the stretch if Hop plays.

 

[blindseyed]

We'll get D-Hop back right around the time Watt gets his yearly season ending injury

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Make some room on the bus, nuts to butts guys.

Definitely puts the Cardinals behind where they should be.

I would argue the Cardinals win at least 2 more games down the stretch if Hop plays.

Hopefully, post-PED Hop will play as well as "before-he-was-caught" Hop.

 

[az jam]

Hopefully, post-PED Hop will play as well as "before-he-was-caught" Hop.

Well if we use Patrick Peterson as an example we are really screwed!!

 

[BritCard]

We had Ertz, Green, and Moore during the slide last year. How'd that turn out when Nuke went down to injury. Hint: not good. Ertz is a decent chain-moving target, but is limited and aging. He is not, actually, a WR anyway. Green...no, just no. Moore is a gadget player that many here think is already good, others hope is good, and I am highly skeptical of. WR is, at this point, not a position of strength on this team.

Yeah but that was mid season, without 4 months to plan for it.

 

[BritCard]

I can't see anything positive at all about Hopkins suspension. The key on the Hollywood trade is that he will be the #2 WR that we needed and teaming up with Hopkins would make it hard on defenses. That is out the window as the opposing teams best CB will be covering him. AJ Green is washed up, it was dumb to resign him. Sure I like the TE McBride signing but he is a rookie and has never played an NFL game. I'll wait till the schedule comes out to make any predictions but the bottom line is that this sucks big time.

Losing your star WR1 can never be positive but it doesn't have to be negative either. Still plenty of offensive talent.

And anyone that had 850 yards last year despite only being 3rd in targets (4th for games with Nuk and Ertz) isn't washed up.

 

[PACardsFan]

We had Ertz, Green, and Moore during the slide last year. How'd that turn out when Nuke went down to injury. Hint: not good. Ertz is a decent chain-moving target, but is limited and aging. He is not, actually, a WR anyway. Green...no, just no. Moore is a gadget player that many here think is already good, others hope is good, and I am highly skeptical of. WR is, at this point, not a position of strength on this team.

Moore was injured for most of that slide. And our OL, DL, and secondary all had injuries. Losing Hopkins was a major blow, yes, but it was the accumulation of everything that led to our demise.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Moore was injured for most of that slide. And our OL, DL, and secondary all had injuries. Losing Hopkins was a major blow, yes, but it was the accumulation of everything that led to our demise.

That's why I think having Hop might have helped win two more games, specifically Seattle #2 and Colts games. Those game were close enough that a few plays from Hop might change the outcome.

 

[Zalixar]

That's why I think having Hop might have helped win two more games, specifically Seattle #2 and Colts games. Those game were close enough that a few plays from Hop might change the outcome.

Uh he sure would have helped, otherwise why the f*** we paying him over $20 mil a year?.

We got boned by injuries and we couldn't make it up. They got mentally shot too knowing they couldn't. Simple as that

 

[cardpa]

To quote Rocky: "It ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how you can get hit and keep moving forward." This team under KK is fine as long as they are doing the hitting and everything is going their way however once they get hit it's pretty much goes South.

These KK didn't have time to make changes for Hopkins missing time just don't do it for me. That's part of his job to be able to make adjustments on the fly when things happen. He didn't do it for 7 games. Any good coach would make adjustments, see how they work and then refine those adjustments as required. If KK needs 4 months to figure this out then this team will never realize a full season of success. Maybe that's why his teams always flounder later in the season, because he is incapable of steering the team in a different direction once injuries start to mount.

It's like ground hog day watching his teams sink like the Titanic over and over every year he's been a head coach. If you can't figure out why your teams keep failing after nine straight years of it odds are pretty slim you're ever going to figure it out.

 

[Stout]

To quote Rocky: "It ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how you can get hit and keep moving forward." This team under KK is fine as long as they are doing the hitting and everything is going their way however once they get hit it's pretty much goes South.

These KK didn't have time to make changes for Hopkins missing time just don't do it for me. That's part of his job to be able to make adjustments on the fly when things happen. He didn't do it for 7 games. Any good coach would make adjustments, see how they work and then refine those adjustments as required. If KK needs 4 months to figure this out then this team will never realize a full season of success. Maybe that's why his teams always flounder later in the season, because he is incapable of steering the team in a different direction once injuries start to mount.

It's like ground hog day watching his teams sink like the Titanic over and over every year he's been a head coach. If you can't figure out why your teams keep failing after nine straight years of it odds are pretty slim you're ever going to figure it out.

Hammer, meet nail.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

5 and 3 maybe?? doesnt seem un doable

Lol. Want to give me the lottery numbers for next 5 months too?

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Maybe this thread will pick up some steam again now that the Suns' season is over...


















Too soon?

 

[cardpa]

Well since the darkside is opening back up for business, I figured I get it started. I think expectations of the rookie class of 2022 are way too high and people are going to be disappointed when some of this class ends up sitting on the pine and maybe even looking for employment and camp. I think Sanders is going to be one of the biggest ones. He played for a college which didn't exactly have a high caliber schedule and still couldn't get to the QB on a regular basis (2-1/2 sacks) and now people think he's going to get sacks against NFL caliber tackles? To me is that's wishing on a star stuff. Maybe after several years of development but to think he's going to produce year one is pretty hopeful.

 

[PACardsFan]

Well since the darkside is opening back up for business, I figured I get it started. I think expectations of the rookie class of 2022 are way too high and people are going to be disappointed when some of this class ends up sitting on the pine and maybe even looking for employment and camp. I think Sanders is going to be one of the biggest ones. He played for a college which didn't exactly have a high caliber schedule and still couldn't get to the QB on a regular basis (2-1/2 sacks) and now people think he's going to get sacks against NFL caliber tackles? To me is that's wishing on a star stuff. Maybe after several years of development but to think he's going to produce year one is pretty hopeful.

I don’t think anyone on this board has expectations that Sanders will be an overnight sack demon. The hope is that he is disruptive, which is something he excelled at in college. Maybe, with good coaching, he could develop into someone that garners sacks down the road. If Keim doesn’t add sack help after 6/1, it could be a long season for the D.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Well since the darkside is opening back up for business, I figured I get it started. I think expectations of the rookie class of 2022 are way too high and people are going to be disappointed when some of this class ends up sitting on the pine and maybe even looking for employment and camp. I think Sanders is going to be one of the biggest ones. He played for a college which didn't exactly have a high caliber schedule and still couldn't get to the QB on a regular basis (2-1/2 sacks) and now people think he's going to get sacks against NFL caliber tackles? To me is that's wishing on a star stuff. Maybe after several years of development but to think he's going to produce year one is pretty hopeful.

Sanders had SIXTY TWO pressures last year, including 10 while matched up against #7 overall pick Evan Neal of Alabama.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Sanders had SIXTY TWO pressures last year, including 10 while matched up against #7 overall pick Evan Neal of Alabama.

That sounds great. But doesn’t it make you raise an eyebrow when a guy has 62 pressures and only gets home on 2 1/2? Something doesn’t compute. Maybe there’s a difference between high impact pressures and eh-I-guess-that-qualifies-pressures?

 

[Stout]

That sounds great. But doesn’t it make you raise an eyebrow when a guy has 62 pressures and only gets home on 2 1/2? Something doesn’t compute. Maybe there’s a difference between high impact pressures and eh-I-guess-that-qualifies-pressures?

Agreed, Ouchie. Color me unimpressed with our efforts to shore up the edge. I liked the Cam pick in the draft, although he will be a project. Throwing a bunch of JAGs at the problem isn't going to come close to solving it, though. We're going to struggle to get to the QB, and that's going to expose what'll probably be a bang average set of CBs.

 

[BritCard]

Well since the darkside is opening back up for business, I figured I get it started. I think expectations of the rookie class of 2022 are way too high and people are going to be disappointed when some of this class ends up sitting on the pine and maybe even looking for employment and camp. I think Sanders is going to be one of the biggest ones. He played for a college which didn't exactly have a high caliber schedule and still couldn't get to the QB on a regular basis (2-1/2 sacks) and now people think he's going to get sacks against NFL caliber tackles? To me is that's wishing on a star stuff. Maybe after several years of development but to think he's going to produce year one is pretty hopeful.

Oweh had 5 sacks last season as a rookie on limited snaps after having 0 his last season in college and only 7 in 3 years.

Gregory Rousseau only had 4 despite having 15.5 in his last college year.

A lot of schools line up very different on the DL and use Edge players in different ways than the NFL. It's why teams look more at traits than production.

On saying that I'm not expecting much in year 1. Even the best edge guys rarely blow the league away in sacks. Chase Young is one of the best college edges in the past 10 years but topped out at 7.5 as a rookie and only had 1.5 though 9 games last year. TJ Watt had 7. Garrett had 7.

If we can get 4 from Sanders and 4 from Thomas I'll be happy. Plus 5 from Gardeck. 4-5 from Kennard and 8 from Golden that should put us around or above our standard edge production.

Also sacks are overrated. That's not to say they are not important, just that they are overrated by fans because they are a simple, tangible, easy to see play. A pressure that results in a throwaway or a misplaced pass is just as useful as a sack, sometimes more so if it results in a turnover.