The New Corners

[Harry]

Trayvon Mullen is an example of beggars can’t be choosers. If we were talking draft, he wouldn’t be my choice. First he’s best as a press corner and that’s not a great fit on a team that sometimes puts CBs in isolated coverage. He’s played in all formats but is limited in man defense, especially if he gets no help over the top. Secondly, he’s not a ball hawk. The Cards might be the first team to go through a season with no CB interceptions. He does have go burst so he breaks up his share of passes, but his limitation in flat out speed can cause him to be left out of the play completely. He’s also often confused by stacked receivers. He’s best surrounded by vets. He willingly supports against the run but has a tendency to lower his head to quickly so he can be pushed aside. In essence, he’s not a sure tackler. He’s only slightly better than what they have.

Javelin Guidry is the other pickup. I have no clue what he’s doing here. It’s true you can’t teach speed. On the other hand he seems to lack the ability to learn how to play the corner. He might be the fastest guy on the team, but he quickly loses contact with his assigned receiver. Add in the fact he’s a weak tackler and I have no clue how he helps the situation. Frankly, he’s not an NFL level player. Watch him quickly because he won’t be here long. Pray for rain.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

You're the 2nd person to say Mullen is best used as press ... But aren't there comments in his thread, attributed to Raiders coaches saying the opposite?

 

[Cardsfaninlouky]

Wow! Just wow lol.

 

[Cardsfaninlouky]

Maybe VJ can teach Guidry how to cover a TE lol?

 

[AZ Native]

No problem VJ can coach them up.

 

[overseascardfan]

Top CB's, pass rushers and QB's are gold, no team is looking to get rid of them in trades unless they get a king's ransom unless you deal with Bill Belichick. Because the NFL is a pass happy league you don't see teams trying to deal their starting and back up CB's because of 5 receiver sets and injuries you can never have enough of them. The draft was the point of no return in landing a starting CB (one worthy of starting) but Keim ignored the position and signed a guy who had potential but was extremely unproven and tragedy put the team back to square one but Keim always trying to prove he's the smartest GM in the league is putting this defense behind the eight ball without a proven pass rush and thin CB unit.

 

[Timm Rosenbach]

Early nickname of the Cardinals defense this year: “The Burn Unit.” I expect this defense to be exposed early and often with things only getting worse with a potential injury, which cannot be afforded at any position on D. On a positive note, I expect the offense to be fun to watch when Hopkins returns. 8 wins tops

 

[NashDishesDimes]

Appreciate the analysis but where does this come from? In reading the Raiders forums, everyone seems to unanimously like Mullen and think he was good when played. Your take seems much more pessimistic

 

[Cheesebeef]

Top CB's, pass rushers and QB's are gold, no team is looking to get rid of them in trades unless they get a king's ransom unless you deal with Bill Belichick. Because the NFL is a pass happy league you don't see teams trying to deal their starting and back up CB's because of 5 receiver sets and injuries you can never have enough of them. The draft was the point of no return in landing a starting CB (one worthy of starting) but Keim ignored the position and signed a guy who had potential but was extremely unproven and tragedy put the team back to square one but Keim always trying to prove he's the smartest GM in the league is putting this defense behind the eight ball without a proven pass rush and thin CB unit.

I just can’t believe how little we did to out together a pass rush AND a serviceable corner room.

 

[AZ Native]

I just can’t believe how little we did to out together a pass rush AND a serviceable corner room.

Is it over? Has the window completely closed? I don’t know. If so, it sucks. If not, we’ll see.

 

[Jetstream Green]

I can't help thinking that saying Javelin Guidry is a weak tackler was more about looking at his height than what he has actually shown. Something Javelin Guidry has shown to do well is tackle

 

[BritCard]

Top 4 cornerbacks last year - Rookie Wilson, Murphy, Alford, Hamilton

Finished 6th vs DVOA. Unweighted we still gave up the 9th least air yards per game.

Top 4 cornerbacks this year - 2nd year Wilson, Murphy, Mullen, Hamilton

Fans - We're the worst. They're going to torn apart.

Does either unit scream elite? No. But considering Mullen is certainly no worse than Alford and 2nd year Wilson will be better than rookie Wilson then surely them being pretty good last year gives some hope for this year?

 

[Card'em]

We still don't know anything about Antonio Hamilton's injury, but it could cost him more than the first game. If he's out any length of time our corners are Murphy, Wilson, Mullen, and Guidry; and that's probably significantly worse than last year.

 

[DaHilg]

We still don't know anything about Antonio Hamilton's injury, but it could cost him more than the first game. If he's out any length of time our corners are Murphy, Wilson, Mullen, and Guidry; and that's probably significantly worse than last year.

I’m not sure it is being the lame scheme that VJ runs. It’s basically the corners job in his system to not let the the long play… hence lack of Ints and constant cushion allowed by our CBs. I hate the scheme, but if we are playing that way - the need for an elite CB isn’t as important as traditional systems.

 

[Stout]

Top 4 cornerbacks last year - Rookie Wilson, Murphy, Alford, Hamilton

Finished 6th vs DVOA. Unweighted we still gave up the 9th least air yards per game.

Top 4 cornerbacks this year - 2nd year Wilson, Murphy, Mullen, Hamilton

Fans - We're the worst. They're going to torn apart.

Does either unit scream elite? No. But considering Mullen is certainly no worse than Alford and 2nd year Wilson will be better than rookie Wilson then surely them being pretty good last year gives some hope for this year?

A surprise entry from the commanding general of the sunshine brigade

Is there a worse CB room in the league? Time will tell. The Burn Unit will certainly cost us games, along with the Rush Hour pass rush that comes at you like they're in a traffic jam.

Signed by the commanding general of the doom and gloom brigade

 

[CardNots]

Top 4 cornerbacks last year - Rookie Wilson, Murphy, Alford, Hamilton

Finished 6th vs DVOA. Unweighted we still gave up the 9th least air yards per game.

Top 4 cornerbacks this year - 2nd year Wilson, Murphy, Mullen, Hamilton

Fans - We're the worst. They're going to torn apart.

Does either unit scream elite? No. But considering Mullen is certainly no worse than Alford and 2nd year Wilson will be better than rookie Wilson then surely them being pretty good last year gives some hope for this year?

you can’t be a fan of the Cardinals without hope

I’m hoping the DL takes a step forward

 

[BritCard]

you can’t be a fan of the Cardinals without hope

I’m hoping the DL takes a step forward

It's not hope. It's evidence led projection based on a direct comparison to last years CB room which was no better and performed well. Certainly well enough.

 

[overseascardfan]

I get why KK and Keim appear high on Hamilton, they are trying sell him to fans as a starting CB. But Hamilton is not starting CB material. Dude has been in league 6 years (74 games, 4 starts), no INT's and 9 passes defended. His injury is the universe trying to tell Keim stop being stupid and go and find a starting CB and leave Hamilton as a back up.

 

[BritCard]

A surprise entry from the commanding general of the sunshine brigade

Is there a worse CB room in the league? Time will tell. The Burn Unit will certainly cost us games, along with the Rush Hour pass rush that comes at you like they're in a traffic jam.

Signed by the commanding general of the doom and gloom brigade

Quantify "Worse cornerback room"?

Does what it looks like on paper matter if they are top 10 in results? Like last year.

We went through this last year with the whole "P2 is gone, the rookie is starting" and it was fine.

The CB's on our initial 53 last year were Byron Murphy, Marco Wilson, Tay Gowan and Luq Barqoo. So I'd say currently we are vastly improved over the same stage last year.

There are a lot of poor CB rooms in the league. Lot's of teams without a real CB1.

There are lot's of unknowns. And it may take time for guys like Mullen to pick up the scheme but acting like it's a disaster when we just proved last year it need not be seems histrionic.

 

[Garthshort]

Harry, congratulations for putting your reputation on the line, with the statement that Arizona might go through an entire season with ZERO CB INTS. Time will tell.

 

[Proximo]

Top 4 cornerbacks last year - Rookie Wilson, Murphy, Alford, Hamilton

Finished 6th vs DVOA. Unweighted we still gave up the 9th least air yards per game.

Top 4 cornerbacks this year - 2nd year Wilson, Murphy, Mullen, Hamilton

Fans - We're the worst. They're going to torn apart.

Does either unit scream elite? No. But considering Mullen is certainly no worse than Alford and 2nd year Wilson will be better than rookie Wilson then surely them being pretty good last year gives some hope for this year?

Wilson was good at the start of last year, and bad the second half, and he has looked bad this preseason. There is good reason to expect his performance to be worse than last season.

Hamilton most likely has a serious injury of some kind or the details of it would be announced by now - I for one expect him to miss significant time if not the whole season.

 

[football karma]

I for one expect him to miss significant time if not the whole season.

if that were true -- the team would have IR'd him on cut down day

if it were a one month thing -- they would IR him now

whatever Hamilton has -- they believe its a one or two week thing

 

[BritCard]

Wilson was good at the start of last year, and bad the second half, and he has looked bad this preseason. There is good reason to expect his performance to be worse than last season.

Hamilton most likely has a serious injury of some kind or the details of it would be announced by now - I for one expect him to miss significant time if not the whole season.

How has he looked bad in pre season? Apart from that 1 snap in game 1 that everyone bases this opinion off? Which was a zone mixup that we have no idea was his fault? It may well be that the safety was supposed to pick up that route and didn't, with it being Wiggins or someone else back there.

He played 34 snaps all preseason. 34. There is no GOOD reason to expect he will be worse.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Top 4 cornerbacks last year - Rookie Wilson, Murphy, Alford, Hamilton

Finished 6th vs DVOA. Unweighted we still gave up the 9th least air yards per game.

Top 4 cornerbacks this year - 2nd year Wilson, Murphy, Mullen, Hamilton

Fans - We're the worst. They're going to torn apart.

Does either unit scream elite? No. But considering Mullen is certainly no worse than Alford and 2nd year Wilson will be better than rookie Wilson then surely them being pretty good last year gives some hope for this year?

Yeah the "sky is falling, our CBS are terrible" crowd aren't backed by actual metrics. That's their feelings, but the facts support the opposite.

Mullen's career stats are better than any other CB on the roster. He's not a scrub.

 

[BritCard]

Yeah the "sky is falling, our CBS are terrible" crowd aren't backed by actual metrics. That's their feelings, but the facts support the opposite.

Mullen's career stats are better than any other CB on the roster. He's not a scrub.

He's better than 34 year old Alford, put it that way.

It might be bad, because football is more than what names you have on the roster. There are 100 things that go into how the players perform on the pitch, it's what makes football so interesting, but there's no reason so say "This unit is bad" when if anything it's better than last years pretty good unit on paper.