Rant time

[Cbus cardsfan]

I'm sorry but I don't get all the disrepect(I hate that term) that Chris Wells gets around here. What does the guys have to do to be appreciated for the RB that he is.

1000 yard rusher.....check
double figue TD's'.....check
played through pain.....check

I don't what more people want out of him. He had an injury plagued second year and that was the only time he has not been a very good RB. I'm not putting him at the top of the class but people on here are clamoring for Ryan Williams to start. WHY? Beacause he had a couple nice runs in meaningless pre-season games?? Because there were reports that he was good in practice??? We heard the same things about Stephen Williams at WR and look how that translated when they started playing for real. Throw in the fact that he's coming off one of the worst injuries a RB can have and it's even more mind boggling.

Wells is the best RB the Cards have had simce Ottis Anderson and because he gets banged up a little bit people are quick to toss his ability aside. Guess what, RB's get dinged up and miss games. I rememeber last year someone tried to argue he'd never be an elit back because he didn't score on a 76 yard run. What is about Wells that makes people want to knock him and not give him any credit? Then you have people using the argument that he isn't a good blocker. Of course the main thing you want of your feature RB is blocking ability, not running ability .

If Whiz wanted to, he could make Wells into a 1400 yard back and 12+ TD's but when you have Larry Fitzgerald on your team, you try and get him the ball as much as possible, and with our inaccurate QB's that takes more attempts than normal. I don't blame Whiz for that one bit. But that doesn't take away the talent and running ability we have in Wells at RB. Wells will put up another 1000 yards and 10+ TD's and then be gone in a year and people wil be okay with it because Ryan Williams may have a nice run in week 13, or something like that. Then we can go through another cycle of RB's like Johnnie Johnson, Tim Hightower(who some incredibly liked better than Wells also), a 64 year old Edge, Marcel Shipp, and JJ Arrington, maybe then people will appreciate what we have in Wells.

This isn't to bang on Williams, I hope he plays well, but we have a feature RB in Wells and people are quick to throw him to the curb. I'm not saying he's a top 5 RB, he could be but isn't used that way, but he is still a feature back that teams need to account for and the Cards haven't had too many of those throughout the years.

Rant over.

 

[Buckybird]

I agree CBus. Beanie gets a bad rap.

Btw-we had these 2 RBs named Hearst & Jones that up until this point I consider the best since the Juice. They both got no respect in AZ & succeeded elsewhere.

 

[Lomax to Green 84]

I agree as well. Wells kind of reminds me of OJ Anderson. If you recall, Anderson too had a reputation early in his career of being kind of a soft player. He never really got the reputation changed until he went to the Giants and won a Super Bowl.

I think Wells has elite talent, but until he has a full season and plays all 16 games, he will have that label.

 

[Garthshort]

Agree with Holian. If, and it's a big IF, CW plays nearly all of the 16 games, EVERYONE will be on the Beanie Bandwagon.

 

[Cardsfanstl]

I agree with you. Remember last year in St. Louis when he set the Cards rushing record. All some poeple could say was how he was caught down from behind on long runs.

 

[Goldfield]

Last year Wells played like a beast. Before that he was up and down.

I think with a combo of Wells and a more shifty Williams will be great.

 

[BigRedFan]

I agree as well. Wells kind of reminds me of OJ Anderson. If you recall, Anderson too had a reputation early in his career of being kind of a soft player. He never really got the reputation changed until he went to the Giants and won a Super Bowl.

I think Wells has elite talent, but until he has a full season and plays all 16 games, he will have that label.

Although OJ was on a Super Bowl winning team with the Giants, his best days were long gone by that point. He never averaged more than 3.5 yards per carry with the Giants; his best year in yards he only averaged 3.1.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

I agree Wells is under appreciated here and among Cardinals fans.

But the onus is on him to compound a great year in 2012 on top of a good year last year. Doing hat should get all the doubters off his back.

And then we can all bitch about how Graves hasn't signed him to an extension yet.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I agree CBus. Beanie gets a bad rap.

Btw-we had these 2 RBs named Hearst & Jones that up until this point I consider the best since the Juice. They both got no respect in AZ & succeeded elsewhere.

I thought they got bad raps as well but they didn't put up 1000 yards numbers with double digit TD's in Arizona either. Hearst was promising though with 1070 yards but only 1 TD and a 3.8 ypc. Still very good and shouldn't have been allowed to leave. More ridiculously, Buddy tried to slide a 1000 yard rusher through waivers . Even the Bengals were smart enough to catch that one.

 

[Pariah]

I love having Beanie in the backfield. I'm glad to have a potentially dangerous one-two punch with Williams, though.

 

[kerouac9]

I'm sorry but I don't get all the disrepect(I hate that term) that Chris Wells gets around here. What does the guys have to do to be appreciated for the RB that he is.

1000 yard rusher.....check
double figue TD's'.....check
played through pain.....check

I don't what more people want out of him. He had an injury plagued second year and that was the only time he has not been a very good RB. I'm not putting him at the top of the class but people on here are clamoring for Ryan Williams to start. WHY? Beacause he had a couple nice runs in meaningless pre-season games?? Because there were reports that he was good in practice??? We heard the same things about Stephen Williams at WR and look how that translated when they started playing for real. Throw in the fact that he's coming off one of the worst injuries a RB can have and it's even more mind boggling.

Wells is the best RB the Cards have had simce Ottis Anderson and because he gets banged up a little bit people are quick to toss his ability aside. Guess what, RB's get dinged up and miss games. I rememeber last year someone tried to argue he'd never be an elit back because he didn't score on a 76 yard run. What is about Wells that makes people want to knock him and not give him any credit? Then you have people using the argument that he isn't a good blocker. Of course the main thing you want of your feature RB is blocking ability, not running ability .

If Whiz wanted to, he could make Wells into a 1400 yard back and 12+ TD's but when you have Larry Fitzgerald on your team, you try and get him the ball as much as possible, and with our inaccurate QB's that takes more attempts than normal. I don't blame Whiz for that one bit. But that doesn't take away the talent and running ability we have in Wells at RB. Wells will put up another 1000 yards and 10+ TD's and then be gone in a year and people wil be okay with it because Ryan Williams may have a nice run in week 13, or something like that. Then we can go through another cycle of RB's like Johnnie Johnson, Tim Hightower(who some incredibly liked better than Wells also), a 64 year old Edge, Marcel Shipp, and JJ Arrington, maybe then people will appreciate what we have in Wells.

This isn't to bang on Williams, I hope he plays well, but we have a feature RB in Wells and people are quick to throw him to the curb. I'm not saying he's a top 5 RB, he could be but isn't used that way, but he is still a feature back that teams need to account for and the Cards haven't had too many of those throughout the years.

Rant over.

You're arguing two different things here. Is Beanie Wells the best back on the Arizona Cardinals? Without question. Is Beanie Wells an elite NFL running back? I have serious doubts about it. I'm not sure I could count Beanie among the top 10 starting runningbacks in the NFL, and that's a pretty expansive elite class.

If the coaching staff would give Beanie more of a vote of confidence, I think that more of the fan base would line up behind him. But the staff has undermined Beanie since jump street, when they settled for him instead of Donald Brown.

 

[Duckjake]

I thought they got bad raps as well but they didn't put up 1000 yards numbers with double digit TD's in Arizona either. Hearst was promising though with 1070 yards but only 1 TD and a 3.8 ypc. Still very good and shouldn't have been allowed to leave. More ridiculously, Buddy tried to slide a 1000 yard rusher through waivers . Even the Bengals were smart enough to catch that one.

It wasn't Buddy. According to rumor Tobin was forced to do that. Had to make room to pay SiMEon Rice.

Thomas Jones was nothing but a malcontent when he was in Arizona. He pulled a LeShon Johnson and ran for 173 yards in one game and never really did much else. The same season he got the 173 he had a game with 11 carries and gained 10 yards.

 

[Zeno]

I am with you CBus, people knock Beanie on his durability and then choose to ignore that Williams missed more games in college than Beanie and then promptly got hurt in his first NFL preseason (unrelated but a pattern nonetheless). Last year Beanie proved he can play through both injury and pain and be productive, would anyone have really blamed him if he had decided to get surgery when we were sitting at 2-6?

I hope Williams does well but Beanie is the guy the team should look to to carry the load.

 

[ARZCardinals]

rant away....

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Beanie is OK, to try to make him into anything like an elite back is ridiculous.

After week 3, he averaged more than 4 yards per carry in 2 of the final 11 games he played. Not good.

I realize he was injured, and am happy he played through injury, but he's also quite injury prone.

He has a lot to prove before I'd even think about paying him.

 

[THESMEL]

Whisenstupid

Well Whisenstupid not starting The Bean behind THT had the most to do with it, THT bless his heart was the worse starting back in the NFL and was played in front of The Edge after 2 1000 yards seaons!

Why because The Edge made the "I'm not an offensive lineman " comment- He was kicked to the curb until the Seattle Game in 08, Leinart went to te press and The Bean was benched after He went to the press about the Knee surgery-

Whiz Piled on how Beanie was not that hurt in the last preseason game, The Bean lost endorsements and reputation He never got back. Then disclosed that he had surgery after the injury and Whiz blasted him in the press and ranted about his open door policy.

Sorry Whiz is a piece of crap to his players, Many coaches get by without this manufactured drama. Whis dtroys their marketability - How can RB and oline Excel when the Starting RB gets 143 carries t years in a row like THT? with the best back in the bank.

Beanie is elite with 3 different skill sets, He is feared by tacklers, just look at the way he ran over Hoffer Ed Reid the the last play of the first 1/2 against the Ravens, Defenders fall in the fetal position to avoid his attack!

Beanie is OK, to try to make him into anything like an elite back is ridiculous.

After week 3, he averaged more than 4 yards per carry in 2 of the final 11 games he played. Not good.

I realize he was injured, and am happy he played through injury, but he's also quite injury prone.

He has a lot to prove before I'd even think about paying him.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Not elite, but one of six backs in the NFC to go over 1000 and only three of the six had higher yards per carry averages: McCoy 4.8 - Turner 4.5 - Jackson 4.4. Beanie tied with Gore at 4.3, and Lynch had 4.2.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Well Whisenstupid not starting The Bean behind THT had the most to do with it, THT bless his heart was the worse starting back in the NFL and was played in front of The Edge after 2 1000 yards seaons!

Why because The Edge made the "I'm not an offensive lineman " comment- He was kicked to the curb until the Seattle Game in 08, Leinart went to te press and The Bean was benched after He went to the press about the Knee surgery-

Whiz Piled on how Beanie was not that hurt in the last preseason game, The Bean lost endorsements and reputation He never got back. Then disclosed that he had surgery after the injury and Whiz blasted him in the press and ranted about his open door policy.

Sorry Whiz is a piece of crap to his players, Many coaches get by without this manufactured drama. Whis dtroys their marketability - How can RB and oline Excel when the Starting RB gets 143 carries t years in a row like THT? with the best back in the bank.

Beanie is elite with 3 different skill sets, He is feared by tacklers, just look at the way he ran over Hoffer Ed Reid the the last play of the first 1/2 against the Ravens, Defenders fall in the fetal position to avoid his attack!

Excellent point!

 

[Cheesebeef]

i think Beanie's got above average talent and could be a very good RB, but he's just so damn injury prone. that's where most of people's problems lie with him IMO.

that being said, I don't believe he's got "elite" skills.

 

[jefftheshark]

I probably under-appreciate Beanie because I didn't go to Ohio State.

another smart-ass JTS drive-by production

 

[Phrazbit]

Agree with the sentiment here. Wells played very well last year. He produced despite injuries, infrequent attempts and a wretched passing game that couldnt keep defenses honest. He deserves the benefit of the doubt over a guy who has yet to play in a regular season game and is coming off a major knee injury.

 

[kerouac9]

Not elite, but one of six backs in the NFC to go over 1000 and only three of the six had higher yards per carry averages: McCoy 4.8 - Turner 4.5 - Jackson 4.4. Beanie tied with Gore at 4.3, and Lynch had 4.2.

Man, that's a lot of parsing. So if you take away half of the 32 starters in the NFL--and 12 of the top 20 rushers in the NFL last season--Beanie ranks 8th among the remaining 16 starting running backs in the NFL in terms of average, and 6th in terms of yardage.

So, basically, he's a legitimate starter but clearly not an elite player. He only had four fewer TD runs than Cam Newton okingCBus:

 

[BigRedRage]

Man, that's a lot of parsing. So if you take away half of the 32 starters in the NFL--and 12 of the top 20 rushers in the NFL last season--Beanie ranks 8th among the remaining 16 starting running backs in the NFL in terms of average, and 6th in terms of yardage.

So, basically, he's a legitimate starter but clearly not an elite player. He only had four fewer TD runs than Cam Newton okingCBus:

Meh, top 6 in the NFC is acceptable IMO. No reason to anoint him permanent starter and franchise back but enough to get us by while williams gets a shot to prove his worth and or draft another next year. Id keep drafting low though, we draft too high on RBs.

 

[Shane]

Yes Beanie had a 1000 yards 1/4 of which came in one game. So spread the rest out and his season really isnt all that impressive IMO. I like Beanie and believe he is a good RB. But he isnt elite and IMO will never be elite. He is just too fragile like Chessy said.

Hell he likely isnt even going to be ready for traing camp after supposedly having a simple scope procedure or a cleaning out as they call it. Thats certainly not normal healing time. Its his second year in a row with knee issues to boot. Not to mention teh ankle and shoulder injuries he has had as well.

He is a big imposing physical guy. He should be holding up better than he does. He simply cant be counted on to last the season as a true #1 RB should. Something minor is going to ale him.

 

[kerouac9]

Yes Beanie had a 1000 yards 1/4 of which came in one game. So spread the rest out and his season really isnt all that impressive IMO. I like Beanie and believe he is a good RB. But he isnt elite and IMO will never be elite. He is just too fragile like Chessy said.

Hell he likely isnt even going to be ready for traing camp after supposedly having a simple scope procedure or a cleaning out as they call it. Thats certainly not normal healing time. Its his second year in a row with knee issues to boot. Not to mention teh ankle and shoulder injuries he has had as well.

He is a big imposing physical guy. He should be holding up better than he does. He simply cant be counted on to last the season as a true #1 RB should. Something minor is going to ale him.

Somers or Urban actually intimated that it was a microfracture procedure. I don't know how anyone but real haters can question the toughness of Beanie Wells after last year.