Vontaze Burfict signs with the Bengals.

[52brandon]

Now the starter at MLB...

good for him. Hell of a turnaround

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Burfict is second on the team with 101 tackles and first on the team with 59 solo tackles.

Amazing what good coaching, leadership, and talent evaluation can do.

 

[BurqueCardFan]

I think it has more to do with talent evaluation. He was right in our backyard. There was no reason not to take a flyer on this guy. He was a first round talent a couple years ago. As an undrafted free agent, it should have been a no brainer, especially with our need at LB. Several on here were asking for us to pick him in the 7th, which would have been fine.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I think it has more to do with talent evaluation. He was right in our backyard. There was no reason not to take a flyer on this guy. He was a first round talent a couple years ago. As an undrafted free agent, it should have been a no brainer, especially with our need at LB. Several on here were asking for us to pick him in the 7th, which would have been fine.

I think the leadership at ASU let him down, but the Bengals sure seem to have been able to see past that. It's a great story for Burfict and the Bengals, but I wish the Cardinals would have taken a chance on him. Good to see a Sun Devil succeeding anywhere, though.

 

[Chopper0080]

Burfict is second on the team with 101 tackles and first on the team with 59 solo tackles.

Amazing what good coaching, leadership, and talent evaluation can do.

Some ultra competitive and headache college players thrive once they get to the NFL and football becomes their life. Very structured lifestyle and older teammates to model themselves after.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I remain skeptical. Let's see who and what he is a few years down the road. I still would not have touched this guy under any circumstances and given our current environment, it's probably even more important for him and for us that we weren't the team that picked him

Steve

 

[PoolBoy]

Who is to say he would have been the same player here.

He would of had a lot of distractions coming from ASU and still having his entourage around.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Guy would've been a disaster here, the Cardinals do not have the right people in place to handle these kinds of characters. Vontaze always needed a fresh start in a new place even out of high school, never should have went to a place like ASU where even without Erickson's leniency there probably would have been too many distractions.

 

[52brandon]

I remain skeptical. Let's see who and what he is a few years down the road. I still would not have touched this guy under any circumstances and given our current environment, it's probably even more important for him and for us that we weren't the team that picked him

Steve

still, he's been a superb value this year. What he's done for that team already has been worth the risk they took on him

 

[AzStevenCal]

still, he's been a superb value this year. What he's done for that team already has been worth the risk they took on him

Yes, for them. I'm not sure the same would have been true if he'd have stayed in the valley.

Steve

 

[NashDishesDimes]

Guy would've been a disaster here, the Cardinals do not have the right people in place to handle these kinds of characters. Vontaze always needed a fresh start in a new place even out of high school, never should have went to a place like ASU where even without Erickson's leniency there probably would have been too many distractions.

Why would he have not been successful here? How do we not have the right people? A D coordinator that is very well respected on the team, Adrian Wilson, Paris Lenon, Vonnie Holliday, even DD (usually).

The guy got in one fight with a teammate and smoked some weed (who hasnt) and is now branded as a terrible person.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Why would he have not been successful here? How do we not have the right people? A D coordinator that is very well respected on the team, Adrian Wilson, Paris Lenon, Vonnie Holliday, even DD (usually).

The guy got in one fight with a teammate and smoked some weed (who hasnt) and is now branded as a terrible person.

I'm sorry but that's a very understated review of the problems surrounding Vontaze.

Steve

 

[52brandon]

Why would he have not been successful here? How do we not have the right people? A D coordinator that is very well respected on the team, Adrian Wilson, Paris Lenon, Vonnie Holliday, even DD (usually).

The guy got in one fight with a teammate and smoked some weed (who hasnt) and is now branded as a terrible person.

hell, DD just got into a fight with a teammate. I still want him here

 

[AzStevenCal]

hell, DD just got into a fight with a teammate. I still want him here

So do I but Dockett is a known commodity and his issues pale in comparison to those of Burfict. Even if you ignore the emotional problems, Vontaze went from being one of the best at his position to not warranting a starting spot during his run at ASU. That alone should have kept us away from him. Add in the fights with teammates AND coaches, his frequent cheap shot personal fouls that cost his team games plus all the other stuff and there was just no reason to take a chance on him. Keep in mind that even without a reputation his combine performance made him undraftable.
Steve

 

[52brandon]

So do I but Dockett is a known commodity and his issues pale in comparison to those of Burfict. Even if you ignore the emotional problems, Vontaze went from being one of the best at his position to not warranting a starting spot during his run at ASU. That alone should have kept us away from him. Add in the fights with teammates AND coaches, his frequent cheap shot personal fouls that cost his team games plus all the other stuff and there was just no reason to take a chance on him. Keep in mind that even without a reputation his combine performance made him undraftable.
Steve

But he wasn't drafted. I'd give him a 1-year deal to see what he's worth

 

[Cardiac]

So do I but Dockett is a known commodity and his issues pale in comparison to those of Burfict. Even if you ignore the emotional problems, Vontaze went from being one of the best at his position to not warranting a starting spot during his run at ASU. That alone should have kept us away from him. Add in the fights with teammates AND coaches, his frequent cheap shot personal fouls that cost his team games plus all the other stuff and there was just no reason to take a chance on him. Keep in mind that even without a reputation his combine performance made him undraftable.
Steve

This.

The Bengals are always taking chances on "head cases" and more than a few have blown up on them. So far they are lucky with this one but let's see how it plays out long term.

I'm glad the Cards don't roll the dice on known problem children.

 

[52brandon]

This.

The Bengals are always taking chances on "head cases" and more than a few have blown up on them. So far they are lucky with this one but let's see how it plays out long term.

I'm glad the Cards don't roll the dice on known problem children.

I don't think our D would play that ****. Between DD, DW, and AW, Burfict would get his ass handed to him, before Horton showed him the door

 

[Cardiac]

I don't think our D would play that ****. Between DD, DW, and AW, Burfict would get his ass handed to him, before Horton showed him the door

One would think so. But why even take the chance? Long history of issues and a combine that showed him to be below average athletically.

Not rooting against the guy but not hanging my head saying darn we blew not bringing him in.

 

[52brandon]

One would think so. But why even take the chance? Long history of issues and a combine that showed him to be below average athletically.

Not rooting against the guy but not hanging my head saying darn we blew not bringing him in.

head-banging or not, it's always easier to call the shots after you know the results. If I was as good at picking next week's lotto numbers as I am at picking last week's, I'd be posting this from my suite at UofP Stadium

and you're absolutely right, he was quite underwhelming at draft day. But as an UDFA, there was absolutely minimal risk. So we don't bring in one loser we knew we'd cut anyways and let sunshine hang around Flag for a bit and really assess the kid

 

[Beaver]

VB on the front page of ESPN now...

 

[CardsFan88]

ROFL their caption

"They Took A Flier

The Bengals know about gambling and losing. Marvin Lewis took a leap of faith with Vontaze Burfict and won."

Really? I swear there is no journalism anymore. Real journalists wouldn't put out such a statement for oh say another 3-5 years. Idiots will say, yeah one year is a win. This is where people writing stuff, can't possibly wait for real information, so they make up these low threshold moments up high as something, when really they're nothing. It's final, VB isn't a bust. Huh? Could you wait a few more years?

I mean, VB did pretty well as a freshman at ASU too remember? I mean that's why he was even on a draft radar (it sure didn't come from anything after that).

Hope he maintains the straight and narrow, but still not sold on him.

Still glad we didn't take him in the 7th or sign him as a FA. Still think he could nose dive the Bengals d in future years. Still think his demons can haunt him. Hope it's not the case, but doesn't really matter as he isn't helping or destroying ASU anymore and isn't on the Cardinals. It's now just become an as of now nice story that can still change to sad story.

Alot of crazy people can act sane for a short period of time. Lots of criminals can fly right for a short period of time. Getting away from entourages works....until a new one develops.

So I wouldn't be one praising a single year of normalcy with a guy who couldn't be preoccupied enough to prepare for the combine, throw everyone else under the bus for his own problems, and smoke weed right before every pot smoking player knows not to. Not to mention if he's lost his drive before he can do it again (see LB's backpeddling into RB tackles having future success). Not to mention a ton of other crap.

No doubt Erickson helped create the situation, but the catalyst of lawlessness in penalties that ASU suffered came from Burifict. The same thing can happen in the NFL. Even if you don't waste a draft pick, if such crap sullies a team, it can help create a situation where you waste many draft picks.

That's what people don't understand, is that one spark can start a Chicago fire, and with adding Burifict you basically giving a kid a jar full of non-childproofed lighters inside of a fireworks factory. 1 out of 100 (or whatever) turns the corner, meanwhile the other 99 might help destroy the chemistry or program of how many teams? I personally don't want the team to sign players that have a chance to destroy the team. We want players to sign that better it.

But once again kudos to Burifict for so far not reverting to ASU form. I wonder how many personal fouls he had this year?

 

[The Commish]

Glad to see Vontaze do well and wanted the Cards to take a flier on him.

The biggest question will be how he handles his early success. Does he build on it or become lazy like he was at ASU?