What grade would you give Dennis Green?

[Toro]

There is a lot of negative talk about Dennis Green the past couple of weeks and how the decisions he is making. I am curious how people really think he as done.

I give Green a B for the job he has done since being hired. My observations:

1. The defense is hands down better than anyone expected.
2. The 2004 draft class so far is performing better than any Cardinal draft class I can remember.
3. The team is playing hard.
4. The offense is terrible. Is it talent? Is it the OC (Alex Wood)? Is it gameplan? You have talented receivers who have been getting few YAC. The running game is a C- and OL is a D-. I think a good running game and good OL make a world of difference.
5. I wish McCown was still the QB. Some QB's need time to develop. I don't think that Green patient enough.
6. Berry was a great FA pickup as was #30 (can't spell or pronounce his name).
7. Alex Wood needs to be fired after the season. I would love to see Danny White as our OC.
8. The OL needs help. I like the play of Davis and Stepovich. No one else is a keeper as a starter.
9. Special teams have been less than special. They have given up too many big plays and have not produced any big plays for us.
10. Playmakers are not producing. Fitz and Boldin need to be put into positions to make plays. I don't think they have. Five years from now, I think Fitz will be the biggest playmaker this team has ever seen. I hope Boldin can stay healthy (two knee surgeries in three years).

If you had told me that on DEC 1st we would be one game out of the wild card, I would be happy with that. I know that a 4-7 record is not good but the Cards could easily be 6-5 or 7-4.

 

[pete]

I give him a B-. Green has definitely enacted some positive change on this organization, but some of his personnel decisions have been puzzlers. Had more of those worked out and the offense was functioning at even half of what he had envisioned, the Cards would be in first place in their division and he'd be getting an A.

 

[ajcardfan]

I gave him a B+ because I think that the personnel added in the first year a coach is on the job is the most important aspect of performance. We have good reason to be optimistic that all four of the first picks will be good, productive, players five years from now. That is phenomenal! Sporting news had an article last year that showed less than 50% of 1st rounders are in the league after five seasons. And, the league average for entire drafts after five years is about 30%.

Can't give him an A, because the King signing was a bust, and we've been blown out twice on the road.

 

[clif]

B+ looking back on the year, I would say he has done a pretty good job. I still don't know about the benching of Shipp (but his injury has lessened that blow) and I am not really understanding the handling of the Qb situation. The loss that still gets me is the SF loss. I put that on him for not holding it together.

All is all he has done a great job of uping the competitiveness of the football team.

 

[pete]

Green definitely gets an A for the 2004 Draft. A couple more like that one and this team will be in first place.

 

[Jttsaz]

B/B- considering all the injuries the Cardinals had coming out of the gate I think he's done pretty well...especially with his draft. I would like to see the Cards compete in these last 5 games. They will need to win atleast 2 of them for me to think it was a successful season. If they lose out I will have to change my grade...

 

[AzCards21]

B+, so far he has made some great strides I think will continue. You can't get an A until the teams record is above .500 so it has to be B+.

 

[Rats]

B+....now if we win several of our remaining games he gets an A because if we get to 7-9( I predicted that record) it will be a small miracle with as many injuries and offensive woes this team has had. Building a base of talented players is the key for long term success and he removed half of the roster and replaced it his first year all the while having success from the added personel....That says the man knows talent. His pick up of Woods as OC is going to keep the grade down but getting Clancy for the D is really a super move. Another season of adding and subtracting like this and this team should be ready to compete for the playoffs consistantly for years.

 

[TRW]

I'd say a solid B so far. The ineptitude of the offense has been a bit surprising, but not a lot since I wasn't sold on Josh from the get go.

Alex "Dave Atkins Disciple" Woods must be replaced by someone who can put together and call a decent offensive game plan. He is pathetic in his first try at OC. Denny needs to upgrade at that coaching spot immediately upon the end of the season IMO. I'd also be looking for an experienced O-line coach if I were Denny.

Overall I think he has dramatically changed the mentality of the team and I think another good draft and a couple of good FA signings and this team can make some noise next season or the season after that at the latest.

I personally feel that once the rest of the Mac and Tobin guys are gone and new blood replaces them then the transformation will be complete.

 

[Lex]

A+

You can't blame Denny for ONLY having enough draft picks to change our defense from one of the worst in the league, to one of the best in the league, in his first year. Step back ...and look at our defense, what do we have, 2 or 3 players from last year? In ONE DRAFT Denny's completely changed that side of the ball, had to, that was the area that needed the most help when he got here, now we all see just how bad our "good" offense was.

Denny has also totally changed expectations around here, and has DRAMATICALLY increased the exposure of the Cardinals. The media here is talking about how it's bad that Denny isn't "patient" enough with some underperforming players.

Are you kidding me?

That's where I give Denny the "+". He refuses to accept mediocrity, he keeps striving for his high expectations, and I for one, appreciate that.

 

[Russ Smith]

I gave him a B-. What I like is how he's not taken the easy way out by just taking the strength of the team and adding to that and ignoring the weakness. One of my big fears was him spending the first draft and FA all on offense, and ignoring the D, nothing like what he actually did.

I think he tried a bit too hard to establish who was in charge, I think he was still doing that well after he needed to.

I think he misjudged the Qb. I think he made the OL even worse and scapegoated Wylie over it. Remember back in March this is what was written about Wylie:

"Everyone is going to love (offensive line coach) Bob Wylie. He is going to whip this OL into shape or they will die trying. Top notch coaching hire." From Ian - "I really like the new OL coach, he even hit me. After practice I was asking him something specific about the drills, so he grabbed me and showed me what he was talking about. Big guy, particularly when he grabs skin then thumps you. Liked him a lot, I also understood more about his drill and what he was looking for from the players."




But the improvement on defense, and the draft, can't be ignored. He's changed the way we do business, I said yesterday I think he's hit about 70% of his personnel moves, pretty impressive. I wish he'd have taken more control of the offense himself, but I'm just guessing for all I know he has and we just don't know.

 

[Dback Jon]

B+ Draft was great, getting Clancy was great. Most important - changing the Cards attitudes.

 

[Cheesebeef]

B - has changed the mindset of the team - ESPECIALLY the D. Great coaching hire with Clancy, GREAT draft, great way to root out the "leaders" of the Mac squads and only two blowouts. His grade is sharply hurt by the absolute abomination at the QB position(all his doing), but I believe he will rectify that next offseason and next year will have this team in the playoffs.

 

[SweetD]

B- even though he cut Kendall, he still made good moves buy cutting alot of dead weight. Dennis Johnson for one under past coaches we would see DJ starting every week. Plus this years draft class is the best from top to bottom and if Navarre works out his grade should be better.

 

[Toro]

Who graded Green D or D-????

I would hate to see the grade they would give McGinnis.

Maybe it was McGinnis or Joe Greene who gave the D or D- grades!

 

[Syracusecards]

B+

I know people don't think he's patient enough, but I actually like that. How many years have we watched the same sorry team go on the field. He's the first coach we've had that will bench people and change the lineup if they're not producing.
His draft was amazing. Best draft in the NFL handsdown.
His defense is playing out of their skulls, and I think the players drafted have as much to do with that as the coaching. Players from big time schools bring a "they're not scoring on us" attitude. Also, Bert was one of the best pickups we've ever had.

The only thing that has really bothered me is moving Q out of the slot position. When you've got McCown afraid to throw to receivers unless they're wide open, it would have made more sense to have Q run slants across the middle from the slot. He was open last year all the time. Plus, Q has the best RAC ability of anyone on the team.

 

[SunCityCarl]

I gave him a "C" only because of his smack in regards to the "high powered" offense. The Defense is so much better this season then last I have a hard time saying anything positive about McGinnis, Green & Marmie all "would be defensive minded"... I hope Navarre has a good day Sunday!

 

[azdad1978]

I'll give him an A- for the great 2004 draft.

 

[MrY]

I give him a B for draft and bringing the defense into respectability. I continue to be puzzelled by the performance of the offense.

 

[Duckjake]

A+

You can't blame Denny for ONLY having enough draft picks to change our defense from one of the worst in the league, to one of the best in the league, in his first year. Step back ...and look at our defense, what do we have, 2 or 3 players from last year? In ONE DRAFT Denny's completely changed that side of the ball, had to, that was the area that needed the most help when he got here, now we all see just how bad our "good" offense was.

Denny has also totally changed expectations around here, and has DRAMATICALLY increased the exposure of the Cardinals. The media here is talking about how it's bad that Denny isn't "patient" enough with some underperforming players.

Are you kidding me?

That's where I give Denny the "+". He refuses to accept mediocrity, he keeps striving for his high expectations, and I for one, appreciate that.

 

[BigRedMO]

If draft was so good why does the team not have a servicable QB? Two number ones last two years on WRs without addressing QB in draft or free agency (this year) speaks volumes about organization and Green(not responsible for first wr pick). Cards missed the boat on Big Ben.

 

[john h]

I give him a C. Our won loss record, if you were grading on a curve would be about a C so since this game is about winning and losing a C it is. Come the end of the season this can go up or go down but after all is said and done it comes down to how many did you win and how many did you lose. All the rest is small stuff.

 

[Scott MS]

Solid B. Green would need a winning record to achieve an A.

 

[Snakester]

C For all the good he has done, he has done so many stupid things that he doesn't deserve a high grade. Plus the Cardinals are looking at another losing record.

 

[PACardsFan]

Solid B. Green would need a winning record to achieve an A.

MY GOODNESS. He takes the absolute worst team in the history of professional football & you say needs a winning record to get an A. Some of you just don't realize just how bad a football team we had last year. We may have been 4-12, but that team was LUCKY to have won at all. I've been following this franchise since the early sixties, and the 2003 Cardinals were the worst Cardinal team I've ever seen. They were horrible on both sides of the ball & their special teams were bad also. When you add the coaching staff, IT WAS A MIRACLE that they didn't go 0-16. If Green ends up with a winning record, then he deserves an A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++