Sportsline Cards Report for 1/29/04

[Stronso]

Cardinals report: Notes, quotes, anecdotes Jan. 29, 2004

Inside slant | Strategy and personnel --From the Was-It-Something-I-Said Department: TE coach Pat Flaherty, hired only a couple of weeks ago by new coach Dennis Green, has left to take the offensive line coaching position with the New York Giants.
How does that happen? The Cardinals evidently announced Flaherty's hiring after he had agreed to terms, but before he actually signed a contract -- which evidently he never quite got around to doing before quickly changing his mind and going to work for Tom Coughlin in the Big Apple.

It is the first little embarrassment in the new Green regime, but the sort of snafu that has been standard operating procedure around Tempe since 1988.

--Green quickly landed on his feet by hiring Mike Wilson, who is not a member of the Beach Boys but a former member of the San Francisco 49ers, and has four Super Bowl championship rings to prove it, to coach tight ends. Green was an assistant with the 49ers during part of Wilson's playing days.

--Green tapped into his networking roots to complete his staff -- assuming nobody else leaves before signing a contract. Mike Kruczek, former head coach at Central Florida, is the new quarterbacks coach. Among Kruczek's claims to fame was recruiting and developing QB Daunte Culpepper, whom Green eventually drafted while coaching the Minnesota Vikings.

--The accolades continue to pour in for rookie WR Anquan Boldin. The latest is his selection as the Sporting News 2003 Rookie of the Year. Boldin set rookie records for receptions (101), yards (1,377) and touchdowns (8). He finished third in the NFC in total receiving after leaping onto the NFL radar screen with a 217-yard, two-touchdown performance in Week 1.

Boldin also was named AP Offensive Rookie of the Year and he is the only rookie chosen to either team this year in the Pro Bowl.

Boldin received 18 first place votes from 22 NFL pro personnel directors in the TSN poll.

--RB Damien Anderson, the team's third back, was released from a hospital after being seriously injured when ejected from the SUV he was driving during a rollover accident. He lost his spleen, suffered liver damage and a collapsed lung. Anderson was sedated and in intensive care for nearly two weeks. His agent says that Anderson is expected to make a full recovery and be available to take part in off season workouts that begin March 1.

Anderson, however, still might face legal problems. Toxicology results have not yet come back. He could face charges if found to have been impaired. His two brothers were riding with him and both received injuries, although less serious than Damien's. They, too, are now out of the hospital.

--Before heading home to Boston for some offseason R&R, C Pete Kendall offered what he thinks needs to be done to bring the team back:

"We need to find dynamic difference makers, whether it be a shutdown corner, or an outstanding pass rusher, or a legitimate deep threat to complement Anquan (Boldin, rookie Pro Bowl WR) on offense. Those guys might be on this roster, and if they are, I can't wait for them to emerge. And if they are on somebody else's roster or in the college program, I say Godspeed in finding them and bringing them here."

--New defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast is from a family that sold a parcel of land in Glendale, Ariz. to the team for its new stadium, a retractable-roof facility to open for the 2006 season and host the 2008 Super Bowl. Pendergast seems almost embarrassed by the coincidence of that piece of history as he goes into his new job. There is no connection between the land sale and his hiring, but he won't comment on his family's involvement in helping get the stadium built.

--Former Defensive coordinator Larry Marmie, who was with the team for seven seasons, was hired as defensive coordinator by the St. Louis Rams.

--Given the chill in Sun Devil Stadium on game days from a community totally disconnected from a team that rarely won, it is only appropriate that the team announced it will freeze season-ticket prices ... Until March 1.

Rarely did the team have the 73,000-seat facility more than half full and once again was a distant last in the league in attendance.

After March 1, modest 2004 increases of $2-$5 on six seat categories and no increase on the least expensive category will bring the Cardinals' average ticket price to $50.55, still approximately $19 below the league average.

It might not be a bad buy for anyone who likes pro football because the home opponents include Super Bowl-bound New England and last season's Super Bowl champion, Tampa Bay, which is loaded with former Cardinals players such as DE Simeon Rice, RB Michael Pittman and RB Thomas Jones.

And just to show that it's not a total waste of time to go to a Cardinals home game, the team is sending a season-ticket holder from Chandler, Ariz., to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. Jim Golotko won two round-trip plane tickets, two nights' lodging and two game tickets in a contest. The bad news is he had to sit through another futile season of Cardinals games to get them.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"In my 10 years with Minnesota, I never fined a player one time -- I cut a lot of them that thought they were going to get fined." -- New Cardinals coach Dennis Green, on restoring discipline.

 

[Stronso]

Cardinals report: Inside slant Jan. 29, 2004

Notes, quotes, anecdotes | Strategy and personnel Restoring discipline and getting players to perform to potential are the two biggest challenges facing Dennis Green as he begins his first offseason as coach of the Cardinals.
While their roster is not loaded with Pro Bowlers -- the only player they have in the game this year is rookie receiver Anquan Boldin -- there are many competent players who have not performed commensurate with their ability and paycheck.

At the top of that list is right guard Leonard Davis, who just completed his third season after being the second pick in the 2001 draft.

Davis, by the estimation of nearly everyone who has an iota about the league, should be a Pro Bowler. This past season, he was thwarted first by reporting to camp overweight, then by fracturing a hand in a foolish practice-field fight with a teammate, and finally by foot and ankle problems that might or might not have been exacerbated by his weight.

His personal lost season reflected that of a team that won four games and got its coaching staff fired. Green wants to run the ball. He likes Davis, who no doubt will be high on Green's list of reclamation projects.

A close second will be Davis' sidekick, right tackle Anthony Clement, who was all but a ghost in a uniform this season.

Together, Davis (6-6, 384) and Clement (6-8, 333) form one of the league's largest and most talented right sides of an offensive line. Perhaps it is no coincidence that their setback performance in 2003 came after each got a sizable contract extension.

Green, like Dave McGinnis before him, sees the Cardinals' offensive line as the rallying point of the team. With veteran Pete Kendall in the middle, Cameron Spikes at left guard and L.J. Shelton at left tackle it has shown on occasion that it can be a force.

The midseason emergence of running back Marcel Shipp reflects that.

That is precisely what Green wants to see, and it is precisely where the Cardinals have to begin their road back to respectability (the defensive line, where improved run-stopping and a pass rush also are critical) will be job 1-A.

As Green hired his coaching staff, he said all "meet our criteria of being good teachers with positive approaches to making Cardinal players better."

In Davis and Clement, two young talented players, there is a core around which to build. But they must snap out of whatever caused their 2003 funk and lead by example.

They will be at the heart of showing a commitment to discipline and playing to potential in 2004.

 

[Stronso]

Cardinals report: Strategy and personnel Jan. 29, 2004

Notes, quotes, anecdotes | Inside slant --QB Josh McCown showed some potential in the closing three games, all starts, perhaps enough to convince the team to use the third pick overall on another position. He made plays not only with his arm, including the game-winning TD pass against Minnesota on the final play of the season, but also with his feet. He averaged more than 6 yards a carry.
But Green likes veteran Jeff Blake, perhaps harkening back to the late-career success that Randall Cunningham had in Minnesota when Green brought him out of retirement. Blake started the first 13 games in 2003 for the Cardinals.

--Starting RB Marcel Shipp has proven himself for two seasons as a reliable high-average-per-carry banger but he lacks breakaway speed. Green likes the idea of resurrecting NFL career rushing leader Emmitt Smith, who is coming off the worst season of his career in his Cardinals debut, and who now might be more motivated to come back for the second and final season on his contract.

The team needs a third back after Damien Anderson was injured seriously when ejected from a vehicle during a rollover accident two weeks ago. His future is unknown.

--CB is a real concern with supposed shut-down chieftain Duane Starks having spent most of the past two seasons injured.

The two players who started most of the season -- David Barrett (unrestricted) and Renaldo Hill (restricted) -- become free agents of varying degrees. Neither stood out. There are many appealing corners in free agency and the draft this year.

--The pass rush has been the league's worst for three years. Run defense has been more miss than hit. The down line needs work at the tackle spots.

--Alex Wood is the new offensive coordinator. His resume includes working with Cincinnati WRs Chad Johnson and Peter Warrick this past season, and with developing a young Minnesota QB Daunte Culpepper while on the Vikings staff.

--Bob Wylie is the new offensive line coach. He has coached four other NFL teams, most recently Chicago, during his 13 years in the NFL.

--Robert Ford is the new wide receivers coach. He has coached at Miami and Dallas, where he tutored former Cardinals TE Jay Novacek and coached three Super Bowl championship teams.

--Kirby Wilson is the new running backs coach. He was with Tampa Bay the past two seasons that included a Super Bowl title, and during his career has coached Iowa State's Troy Davis, the only player in NCAA history to reach the 2,000-yard rushing mark in consecutive seasons, New England's Curtis Martin (1997) and Washington's Stephen Davis (2000).

--Deek Pollard is the new defensive line coach. He is a 39-year coaching veteran who has been out of the NFL since 1996.

--Frank Bush is the new linebackers coach. He was on the staff at Denver when the Broncos won back-to-back Super Bowl titles.

--Richard Solomon is the new defensive backs coach. He was with Green for 10 years on the Vikings staff.

--Kevin O'Dea is the new special teams coach. He has coached in the league for a decade, including the past two seasons in Detroit where their kickoff and punt returners ranked among the league's best.

--Steve Wetzel is the new strength and conditioning coach. He is a former record-holder in the bench press in the American Drug-Free Power Lifting Association and was on Green's staff in Minnesota for a decade. Also on Green's staff was assistant strength coach Daryl Lawrence, who will have the same job with the Cardinals.

--Bill Khayat is the new offensive quality control coach. This is his first NFL assignment. He has been running backs coach at Tennessee State the past four years and is the son of former NFL player and coach Eddie Khayat.

--Robert Courtright is the new defensive quality control coach. This is his first NFL assignment. He was defensive coordinator at Western Illinois the past three years.

UNIT-BY-UNIT ANALYSIS

QUARTERBACKS
Starter -- Josh McCown. Backups -- Jeff Blake, Preston Parsons.

McCown started the final three games of a lost season and showed potential not only with his arm but also his feet. He is big and strong and could be a starter around whom Dennis Green can build. But Green likes the veteran Blake, who started the first 13 games and who has cannon to throw the deep ball. The Cardinals also hold the third pick in the draft and could bring in a new QB of the future. Third-stringer Parsons in two seasons has yet to take a snap.

RUNNING BACKS
Starters -- RB Marcel Shipp, FB James Hodgins. Backups -- RB Emmitt Smith, RB Damien Anderson, RB Josh Scobey, FB Josh Rue.

The youngster Shipp emerged after Smith suffered a shoulder injury, and Shipp showed that he has the endurance and instincts to be a bona fide pro back. His liability is lack of breakaway speed. But it will be interesting to see how effective the aging Smith will be with a new staff that wants to run the ball, headed by Green, who loves the NFL career rushing leader Smith. Depth is an issue and the team likely will add a back. Anderson was seriously injured in an off-season rollover accident, ejected from the vehicle, and faces an uncertain playing future. Scobey was a plow horse in college but hasn't shown much as a pro, largely because of injuries.

TIGHT ENDS
Starter -- Freddie Jones. Backups -- Steve Bush, Mike Banks, Lorenzo Diamond.

Jones is an excellent receiver who seemed to let the fortunes of a lousy team drag him down in his first two seasons with it. Keeping him pumped up mentally will be the challenge of the new staff. He could be much more to this team than he has been if others around him step up. Bush is one of the team's most versatile players. A better blocker than receiver, he often doubles as the backup FB on a team that has only one on its roster. He also is the backup LS. Banks has done nothing as a pro and faces a make-or-break season.

WIDE RECEIVERS
Starters -- Anquan Boldin, Bryant Johnson. Backups -- Bryan Gilmore, Jason McAddley, Nate Poole, Kevin Kasper.

Boldin burst onto the NFL scene as few rookie receivers ever have and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl. The second rounder is shaping up as one of the steals of the 2003 draft. Fellow rookie Johnson, a first-rounder, got off to a much slower start and it wasn't until the closing half of the season that he showed observers why anyone would have regarded him as a first-day pick. The backups also are young and might benefit from the addition of a veteran to lead them by example. Gilmore is one of the team's fastest players but has a disturbing history of injuries. McAddley is another burner who seems to get hurt a lot. Poole was the hero of the season-ending final-play win over Minnesota. Kasper doubles as an effective kick returner but contributed very little in 2003 as a WR.

OFFENSIVE LINE
Starters -- LT L.J. Shelton, LG Cameron Spikes, C Pete Kendall, RG Leonard Davis, RT Anthony Clement. Backups -- T Reggie Wells, T Raleigh Roundtree, G Chris Dishman, G Frank Garcia, C Jason Starkey, C Steve Grace.

This unit has the greatest potential and was the greatest underachiever on the team in 2003. Davis should be a Pro Bowler but hasn't made the trip after three years. Clement mysteriously dropped off the face of the earth last season. Kendall made a successful transition from LG before his season was cut short by injury for the third straight year. Spikes was signed to be a backup but took every snap of the season. Shelton has the quick feet to deal with speed pass rushers and the girth to block the run effectively. The team's fortunes were dictated largely by this group in 2003 and will be once again in 2004 when Green plans to place strong emphasis on running the ball.

DEFENSIVE LINE
Starters -- LE Dennis Johnson, LT Marcus Bell, RT Russell Davis, RE Calvin Pace. Backups -- E Kyle Vanden Bosch, E Kenny King, E-T Wendell Bryant, E Fred Wakefield, T Barron Tanner, T Derrick Ransom.

This unit needs to appear on A Makeover Story. It has been last in the NFL in sacks for three seasons and never has been a consistent force against the run, although it had its moments largely because of creative exotic schemes dreamed up by the former defensive coaching staff. Johnson emerged at midseason as close to a pass rusher as the team had. The team passed over Terrell Suggs in the draft in favor of Pace, who didn't have as many sacks all year as Suggs had routinely in a month. Vanden Bosch will be coming back from his second ACL repair in three years, now with one on each knee. He is a former starter who could emerge as the left-side starter opposite Pace. The defense was changed from two-gap to single gap last season hoping to take advantage of the quickness and minimize the relative lack of strength of Bell and Davis inside. It didn't work. A stud tackle or two would be good additions.

LINEBACKERS
Starters -- OLB Raynoch Thompson, MLB Ron McKinnon, OLB LeVar Fisher. Backups -- OLB LeVar Woods, OLB Gerald Hayes, MLB James Darling, MLB Michael Young.

There is speed and talent outside, where Fisher is an athletic playmaker but where Thompson missed the final month on league suspension for an alcohol problem. While Thompson was out, Woods started and was surprisingly productive, making him a strong challenger to hold the spot in training camp. McKinnon is undersize and aging. That might be a position at which the new staff takes a hard look.

DEFENSIVE BACKS
Starters -- CB Duane Starks, CB David Barrett, SS Adrian Wilson, FS Dexter Jackson. Backups -- CB Renaldo Hill, S Justin Lucas, CB Coby Rhinehart, CB Emmanuel McDaniel, CB Jason Goss, S Quentin Harris, CB-S Michael Stone.

This group doesn't want to hang around the chow hall in the morning or it could be mistaken for toast. Starks, the supposed prize for the team in its 2002 free agency shopping, missed the entire year after an injury-riddled opening season. He is a talented shut-down corner, but he has yet to show much of it in the desert. Hill started in Starks' place and his lack of foot speed was exploited weekly. Barrett is physical near the line of scrimmage but similarly lacked the speed to run with the fleet receivers. Wilson is an exciting athlete with a world of potential but he has to learn the discipline of his responsibilities. Jackson had a strong initial season coming over form world champion Tampa Bay as a free agent, saving two of the four wins with late interceptions. With Starks' injury history and Barrett and Hill becoming free agents of varying degrees, the team should go shopping in what appears to be a strong free agent and draft market at corner.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Starters -- K Neil Rackers, P Scott Player, LS Nathan Hodell, KR Josh Scobey, PR Anquan Boldin. Backups -- K Bill Gramatica, LS Steve Bush, PR Bryant Johnson, KR Kevin Kasper, KR Damien Anderson.

Bill Gramatica, who went on IR with a back injury, faces a strong challenge to come back to his job from Rackers, who was signed at midseason, then extended for two years after a solid performance. Player remains one of the best in the game, having become adept at direction punting to complement his already strong distance and hang time. Scobey stepped into the job after Kasper was injured early and was a pleasant success, one of the highest-average men in the conference. Boldin similarly has potential to be a game-breaking punt returner. Overall, these units are in good hands.