Why we didn't get Lee Evans

[DutchmanAZ]

Good writeup by Sando.
More here....http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest


Coach Ken Whisenhunt offered a football education Monday during a wide-ranging interview with XTRA910 radio in Phoenix.

His explanation as to why the Arizona Cardinals did not pursue receiver Lee Evans by trade was terrific. Basically, Larry Fitzgerald's presence made Evans a questionable fit. I've broken out some of Whisenhunt's thoughts below. There's much more in the interview.

 

[Cheesebeef]

"Whisenhunt would rather find the next Steve Breaston -- a relatively unheralded draft choice who becomes a front-line player -- than chase an established veteran who might not fit the team's specific needs."

cheese and rice... instead of finding the NEXT Breaston... if that's the player you want... how about you just KEEP the Breaston the team already has. 10 million guaranteed over the next two years wouldn't have hurt a team that's still 14 million bucks in the black in the salary cap.

 

[Shane]

"Whisenhunt would rather find the next Steve Breaston -- a relatively unheralded draft choice who becomes a front-line player -- than chase an established veteran who might not fit the team's specific needs."

cheese and rice... instead of finding the NEXT Breaston... if that's the player you want... how about you just KEEP the Breaston the team already has. 10 million guaranteed over the next two years wouldn't have hurt a team that's still 14 million bucks in the black in the salary cap.

Cheese Breaston really is not a big loss. He just isnt.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Cheese Breaston really is not a big loss. He just isnt.

that's why Wiz is saying the team is looking for someone just like him to play the number 2 slot? okay. that makes sense.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I don't get it either. We need someone on the opposite side of Fitz to run the X routes and Lee is that guy. We move Roberts/Doucet in the Z.

 

[Shane]

that's why Wiz is saying the team is looking for someone just like him to play the number 2 slot? okay. that makes sense.

Well he was the #2 WR? so technically you have to replace him. But Breaston just wasnt as great as you all make him out to be IMO. His level of talent isnt all that hard to replace.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Well he was the #2 WR? so technically you have to replace him. But Breaston just wasnt as great as you all make him out to be IMO. His level of talent isnt all that hard to replace.

who's saying he's GREAT? He was a solid number 2, knew the offense, blocked well and the coach mentioned him by name as the type of guy they're looking for. sometimes things aren't that complicated Shane and personally, y'all can pump the rookies, second year guys and dude's who break when the wind blows, but i haven't seen much of any of those guys to convince me they can step up and be a productive number 2.

 

[JeffGollin]

Whoah!

Our first no. 2 WR opposite Fitz was Q and not Breaston. While Doucet or Roberts may not resemble Steve, the case can be made Vthat both Doucet and Roberts come closer to fitting the Boldin mode (& that wouldn't be all that bad).

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Whoah!

Our first no. 2 WR opposite Fitz was Q and not Breaston. While Doucet omr Roberts may not resemble Steve, the case can be made that both Doucet and Ro betts come closer to fitting the Boldin mode (& that wouldn't be that bad).

Q and Breaston practically played the same position when it was Fitz, Q, and Breaston.

 

[Mulli]

Q and Breaston practically played the same position when it was Fitz, Q, and Breaston.

Yet, they never ran into each other.

 

[dogpoo32]

who's saying he's GREAT? He was a solid number 2, knew the offense, blocked well and the coach mentioned him by name as the type of guy they're looking for. sometimes things aren't that complicated Shane and personally, y'all can pump the rookies, second year guys and dude's who break when the wind blows, but i haven't seen much of any of those guys to convince me they can step up and be a productive number 2.

Bingo. This is a real head scratcher. Looking to replace Breaston, who we could have signed long term, with someone who is like Breaston?

Scary thing is, we really don't know what we have in the rest of the WR corps. Except that Doucet is a walking chandelier and Roberts has potential...

 

[AzStevenCal]

Bingo. This is a real head scratcher. Looking to replace Breaston, who we could have signed long term, with someone who is like Breaston?

Scary thing is, we really don't know what we have in the rest of the WR corps. Except that Doucet is a walking chandelier and Roberts has potential...

I think we want someone like Breaston but NOT Breaston. Breaston is damaged goods.

Steve

 

[blindseyed]

who's saying he's GREAT? He was a solid number 2, knew the offense, blocked well and the coach mentioned him by name as the type of guy they're looking for. sometimes things aren't that complicated Shane and personally, y'all can pump the rookies, second year guys and dude's who break when the wind blows, but i haven't seen much of any of those guys to convince me they can step up and be a productive number 2.

That's how I took it too. Not understanding the logic unless they want the same for cheaper? I don't know

 

[Bert]

Did anyone think those quotes from Whis read a little like a Dr. Seuss story?

"You have your X's who play a certain way and your Z's who play another way. X's can be Z's but Z's cant be X's, the secret to the syste is to find a Z who thinks like an X but runs like a Z but can also block. I WILL NOT BLOCK said the Z to the X, THESE ROUTS NEED RUNNING SO KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE CLOCK!Its very simple, cant you see?"


...and that's why we didn't get Lee Evans.

 

[kerouac9]

"Whisenhunt would rather find the next Steve Breaston -- a relatively unheralded draft choice who becomes a front-line player -- than chase an established veteran who might not fit the team's specific needs."

cheese and rice... instead of finding the NEXT Breaston... if that's the player you want... how about you just KEEP the Breaston the team already has. 10 million guaranteed over the next two years wouldn't have hurt a team that's still 14 million bucks in the black in the salary cap.

It's not that he said that Breaston was a great #2 (I listened to this part of the interview). He said that no one heard of Breaston, and suddenly he exploded in a great season where he got 1000 yards receiving. He said that like Breaston, no one is expecting anything from the guys we have on the roster right now.

As for the stuff on Fitz, some of us were saying that during the "pursuit" of Braylon Edwards, and he said the same thing when Randy Moss's name came up in the interview. Fitz is going to run much more of the deep routes and the #2 is going to be asked to move the chains between the hashes (where you don't want the guy who's going to be making $12 million a year).

I don't mind holding on to the $14 million if it means that we actually lock up the young core of the team (Campbell, at least one of the offensive tackles, hopefully Deuce) for the long-term. If this team carries the $14 million into the offseason after extending Fitz and claiming that we have great cap flexibility for the future because we were able to absorb $25 million of Fitz's new deal this season, I'll be plenty put out.

 

[Buckybird]

We're still looking for the next Karlos Dansby too. IMO DWash isn't or never will be the player he was.

I get what Wiz is saying but this team still needs a guy to stretch the field & thus keeping deep coverage off Fitz & right now we don't have that. Doucet IMO would be a similar player to Q but he just can't stay healthy for more than 8-9 games.

 

[Pariah]

This thing sounds a little disingenuous to me. He TRIED to get Evans, he didn't pass because he wasn't a fit. If he didn't want to overpay for him, fine. But don't try to tell me we didn't get him because he's not the right kind of player.

All of us -- and pundits in the media -- have been saying that the Cards need a guy to stretch the field. Evans could have been that guy.

This isn't sour grapes on my part, I'm fine with not getting Evans. But this interview smells like spin.

 

[Cheesebeef]

This thing sounds a little disingenuous to me. He TRIED to get Evans, he didn't pass because he wasn't a fit. If he didn't want to overpay for him, fine. But don't try to tell me we didn't get him because he's not the right kind of player.

All of us -- and pundits in the media -- have been saying that the Cards need a guy to stretch the field. Evans could have been that guy.

This isn't sour grapes on my part, I'm fine with not getting Evans. But this interview smells like spin.

I agree with this too... if Roberts/Doucet are the underneath guys, and Fitz is... well, the everything guy... wouldn't it seem like the one thing missing is a genuine burner. that way the team would have every base covered in the type of WRs they need on the field.

 

[kerouac9]

We're still looking for the next Karlos Dansby too. IMO DWash isn't or never will be the player he was.

I get what Wiz is saying but this team still needs a guy to stretch the field & thus keeping deep coverage off Fitz & right now we don't have that. Doucet IMO would be a similar player to Q but he just can't stay healthy for more than 8-9 games.

Unfortunately for Fitz, he's the player who stretches the field and opens up the underneath and intermediate routes for Heap, Roberts, and Doucet. Sometimes Stephen Williams will likely command some attention on the outside, but Whis in the interview specifically stated that he wants Fitz on the perimeter of the field where he can do the most damage.

 

[Catfish]

#1. Knowing that playing the slot is the position that causes the most physical harm to a wide receiver, how can anyone have faith that Doucet, (most easily injured of our wide receivers), is the logical choice for that postion.

#2. How can one person say that he wants to wait until he finds another Steve Breaston, when he just passed on him to do the job? Even with bad knees, Breaston was more likely to be a successful slot reciever than Doucet is. You could simply have cut Doucet, and offered his salary to what you were already paying Breaston, and kept Breaston. The injury possibility can't possibly have been higher than trying to play Doucet in the slot.

#3. We have acquired TE's who can cover the slot receiver routes, probably more effectively than either Breaston or Doucet could have. It seems like simply a matter of plugging them into the schematic so that they can catch passes over the middle and block downfield, just like Whiz wants to do. I would rather see them used for that purpose, than set on the bench like our TE's have since Whiz has been here. If we did that, then Evans, or the #2 from San Diego, would both have been able to play the wideout opposite Fitz, and BOTH were very fast, quality route runners, with good hands. We finally would have had someone to stretch the field. Boldin was simply a WR in a TE's body, and with a TE's mindset. That is what made him such a great slot receiver. He was fearless over the middle. We now have Heap, and Housler to fill that slot. Both are TE's with a wideout's speed, hands and route running ability. They seem to be perfect to me to work the slot area of the field and do what Q did. Whizenhunt's argument rings hollow to me--------

 

[AzStevenCal]

We're still looking for the next Karlos Dansby too. IMO DWash isn't or never will be the player he was.

I get what Wiz is saying but this team still needs a guy to stretch the field & thus keeping deep coverage off Fitz & right now we don't have that. Doucet IMO would be a similar player to Q but he just can't stay healthy for more than 8-9 games.

There's a world of difference between trying to replace a Steve Breaston vs trying to replace a Karlos Dansby. I think there's a good chance we've already replaced Breaston, it might take us a decade to find another Dansby.

Steve

 

[Mitch]

This thing sounds a little disingenuous to me. He TRIED to get Evans, he didn't pass because he wasn't a fit. If he didn't want to overpay for him, fine. But don't try to tell me we didn't get him because he's not the right kind of player.

All of us -- and pundits in the media -- have been saying that the Cards need a guy to stretch the field. Evans could have been that guy.

This isn't sour grapes on my part, I'm fine with not getting Evans. But this interview smells like spin.

Money post, right here, Pariah. Tell me what team couldn't or wouldn't make good use of having Fitz on one side and Evans on the other.

Coaches can adapt the offense and the WR roles to the strengths of the personnel. The roles aren't set in stone.

 

[Treefiddy]

Did Whis specifically say he wanted to find the next Breaston, or was that just Sando's spin after the meat of the article? I didn't get to hear the audio so I'm not sure if that's what was said or if people are just making assumptions.

No one was sold on Breaston as a receiver until he had his big year. The entire year before and during TC in 2008, there were people saying he wasn't "the guy" even as the 3rd receiver behind Fitz and Boldin.

I'm perfectly happy with Roberts in the #2 slot right now. That said, a healthy Breaston is worth the money he's being paid right now. We lose Game 1 against the Rams last year if we didn't have Breaston on the field.

 

[Totally_Red]

]#1. Knowing that playing the slot is the position that causes the most physical harm to a wide receiver, how can anyone have faith that Doucet, (most easily injured of our wide receivers), is the logical choice for that postion. [/B]

#2. How can one person say that he wants to wait until he finds another Steve Breaston, when he just passed on him to do the job? Even with bad knees, Breaston was more likely to be a successful slot reciever than Doucet is. You could simply have cut Doucet, and offered his salary to what you were already paying Breaston, and kept Breaston. The injury possibility can't possibly have been higher than trying to play Doucet in the slot.

#3. We have acquired TE's who can cover the slot receiver routes, probably more effectively than either Breaston or Doucet could have. It seems like simply a matter of plugging them into the schematic so that they can catch passes over the middle and block downfield, just like Whiz wants to do. I would rather see them used for that purpose, than set on the bench like our TE's have since Whiz has been here. If we did that, then Evans, or the #2 from San Diego, would both have been able to play the wideout opposite Fitz, and BOTH were very fast, quality route runners, with good hands. We finally would have had someone to stretch the field. Boldin was simply a WR in a TE's body, and with a TE's mindset. That is what made him such a great slot receiver. He was fearless over the middle. We now have Heap, and Housler to fill that slot. Both are TE's with a wideout's speed, hands and route running ability. They seem to be perfect to me to work the slot area of the field and do what Q did. Whizenhunt's argument rings hollow to me--------

I'm from Missouri on Doucet staying healthy. It is always something. He's no Q but he might develop into a decent receiver if he could just avoid injury.

 

[Duckjake]

We've gone from Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston to Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Roberts and Early to the first aid wagon Doucet.

Is this going to be like when we had Anquan Boldin, Bryant Johnson and Bryan Gilmore and Nate Poole and Kevin kasper and Jason McAdderly when our #2 WR had 35 catches?

We'll see.