Last Year:
After a 7 ? 9 season under new head coach Dave McGinnis is 2001, the Arizona Cardinals dictionary expanded as they added the words ?hope? and ?expectations?. For a franchise that spoke the words ?winning season? only once in the last 17 years, an almost .500 season was an achievement. Unfortunately things went back to normal, as Arizona, a team that had to deal with a lack of depth and talent, had to also battle injuries to several vital players including David Boston. For some reason this franchise has achieved less than the Bengal?s organization, but does not get the same attention. To put it nicely, the only way the Cardinals will finish .500 is if there will be a season long strike.
What we learned from Last Year:
The Cardinals suffered numerous injuries last year, and in addition to that have made many roster changes so what we saw from last year?s group may not give us any indications of how they will play this year. That being said my comments will be a little briefer for this subject.
One of the shiny parts on this 1988 Ford Temp was Marcel Shipp. He had a few bright weeks after ex-Cardinal Thomas Jones couldn?t get the job done. Arizona had pretty good play from their offensive line last year which created some space for Shipp, he may see more success if this team develops a passing game. Regrettably for him, that may be a while.
Well, that?s about it.
What has changed?:
The Arizona Cardinals, for the most part, have changed their whole offense. Let?s have a look at all of the moves.
We can start out with the positive, Thomas Jones is finally gone. Even playing in the same division as Seattle didn?t help him save his job as he was traded off to Tampa Bay. Thomas was a first-round bust who couldn?t make decisions fast enough once he hit the hole. He was unproductive in his stint with Arizona, and I?m not sure he?ll be much more productive anywhere else. Believe it or not, Arizona had one of the best offensive lines and Thomas still couldn?t break out. Excuses can be made for last year?s poor performance due to several injuries but the year before Arizona?s offense was decent with David Boston leading the league in receiving yards yet Jones still accomplished nothing.
That?s about it for their positive moves.
So you?d think with Thomas gone, the job would be handed to last year?s surprise Marcel Shipp. Sorry Marcel. Last year he was a reserve to an awful bust, this year he?ll be a reserve to a once effective hall-of-fame running back. Either way, all of the carries won?t be his. We?ll come back to this move in a minute.
Next we have the Jake Plummer leaving Arizona. After years inconsistency and mixed feelings from the fans, Jake the Snake slithered out of Arizona. Two problems: Who is the backup plan? Well I guess they didn?t really think of that ahead of time, so they?ll just scrape the bottom of the free agency barrel for whoever is around, in this case Jeff Blake. I guess Plummer really grew out of favor with everyone, and Blake is a similar quarterback. Ok, fine. Problem #2: Why not franchise tag him, even if they don?t want him? The Denver Broncos made no secret of it whatsoever that they were interested in him, and Arizona could have got somebody in return for him. But instead, Arizona ends up empty handed. With David Boston, the same issue arises. Boston, although coming off an injury, is still one of the premier receivers in the league. Why not franchise tag him? I guarantee that some team in the league would have given up a draft pick or some kind of a player if either of these two guys were tagged. Anything is better than nothing, but I guess ?Zona chooses the latter.
Plummer leaving is fine. He spent his time there, didn?t really prove too much, so let him go. David Boston on the other hand is one of the best things that has happened to Arizona in the past few years. Why not keep him? Could they really not afford him? They are going to spend about 10 million on aging Emmitt Smith?s time in Arizona when they already have a running back, instead of spending a few extra million to keep one of the best receivers in the league in a position where the team is bare-naked. I don?t get it. Also now what?s going to happen is Emmitt will be taking carries away from Marcel Shipp. Instead of Arizona trying to develop Shipp to see if he was just a one hit wonder, or if he?s the real deal, Emmitt will be in the way again, just like he was in Dallas last year.
Well, that?s the offense for ya. The only thing that will save this team is good play from the offensive line. Without that, they would easily be the worst team offensively in the league. Jeff Blake will be starting at QB, and he?s decent. Between Shipp and Smith in the backfield, the running game should be reliable. The receiving corps has a ton of youthful guys with practically no experience, but some potential. Marquise Walker and Anquain Boldin were both game breakers on their college teams; they may be able to help this offense out.
On defense the Cardinals are looking for playmakers. Duane Starks spent most of last year on the sidelines hampered by injuries so his involvement in the defense will be refreshing. Out goes Tommy?s cousin, Kwame Lassiter, in comes Dexter Jackson. The Cardinals will need some kind of production from their defensive line which might hard to get due to their inexperience. The likes of Wendell Bryant, Calvin Pace, or Kyle Vanden Bosch will have to step up if this defense will have any success. The linebackers do look like the best part of this team, but if they don?t get any pressure from the front four then this team?s run defense could be as bad as Seattle?s was last year.
So many questions remain about this team talent and depth wise, and beyond that the team chemistry has to be rebuilt from a year ago. If this team has to deal with injuries again they could effortlessly be the worst in the league.
O/U 5.5:
With 5 wins a year ago, the Cardinals will be asked to win six this time around. They will be one of those teams that opponents can?t wait to stomp on, but on the other they might underestimated a couple of times. I?ll say they squeak one win out in their division which means they?ll need another 5 against: @Lions, Packers, @Cowboys, Ravens, Bengals, @Steelers, @Browns, @Bears, Panthers, Vikings. This team isn?t capable of winning 6 games straight up but the question remains is how many teams will look past the Cardinals too quickly?
Fantasy Sleeper:
With the uncertainty at running back, I would stay away from Shipp and Smith. Sharing is a good theory in real life, but not for your fantasy pool. Jeff Blake should have a decent year, but nothing mind blowing. As long as interceptions don?t hurt your point totals, he might be worth a very late selection. If you?re looking for a sleeper here, have a glance at Freddie Jones. He was a forgotten man last year but with all the uncertainty in the receiving corps he should be a big target for Jeff Blake.
After a 7 ? 9 season under new head coach Dave McGinnis is 2001, the Arizona Cardinals dictionary expanded as they added the words ?hope? and ?expectations?. For a franchise that spoke the words ?winning season? only once in the last 17 years, an almost .500 season was an achievement. Unfortunately things went back to normal, as Arizona, a team that had to deal with a lack of depth and talent, had to also battle injuries to several vital players including David Boston. For some reason this franchise has achieved less than the Bengal?s organization, but does not get the same attention. To put it nicely, the only way the Cardinals will finish .500 is if there will be a season long strike.
What we learned from Last Year:
The Cardinals suffered numerous injuries last year, and in addition to that have made many roster changes so what we saw from last year?s group may not give us any indications of how they will play this year. That being said my comments will be a little briefer for this subject.
One of the shiny parts on this 1988 Ford Temp was Marcel Shipp. He had a few bright weeks after ex-Cardinal Thomas Jones couldn?t get the job done. Arizona had pretty good play from their offensive line last year which created some space for Shipp, he may see more success if this team develops a passing game. Regrettably for him, that may be a while.
Well, that?s about it.
What has changed?:
The Arizona Cardinals, for the most part, have changed their whole offense. Let?s have a look at all of the moves.
We can start out with the positive, Thomas Jones is finally gone. Even playing in the same division as Seattle didn?t help him save his job as he was traded off to Tampa Bay. Thomas was a first-round bust who couldn?t make decisions fast enough once he hit the hole. He was unproductive in his stint with Arizona, and I?m not sure he?ll be much more productive anywhere else. Believe it or not, Arizona had one of the best offensive lines and Thomas still couldn?t break out. Excuses can be made for last year?s poor performance due to several injuries but the year before Arizona?s offense was decent with David Boston leading the league in receiving yards yet Jones still accomplished nothing.
That?s about it for their positive moves.
So you?d think with Thomas gone, the job would be handed to last year?s surprise Marcel Shipp. Sorry Marcel. Last year he was a reserve to an awful bust, this year he?ll be a reserve to a once effective hall-of-fame running back. Either way, all of the carries won?t be his. We?ll come back to this move in a minute.
Next we have the Jake Plummer leaving Arizona. After years inconsistency and mixed feelings from the fans, Jake the Snake slithered out of Arizona. Two problems: Who is the backup plan? Well I guess they didn?t really think of that ahead of time, so they?ll just scrape the bottom of the free agency barrel for whoever is around, in this case Jeff Blake. I guess Plummer really grew out of favor with everyone, and Blake is a similar quarterback. Ok, fine. Problem #2: Why not franchise tag him, even if they don?t want him? The Denver Broncos made no secret of it whatsoever that they were interested in him, and Arizona could have got somebody in return for him. But instead, Arizona ends up empty handed. With David Boston, the same issue arises. Boston, although coming off an injury, is still one of the premier receivers in the league. Why not franchise tag him? I guarantee that some team in the league would have given up a draft pick or some kind of a player if either of these two guys were tagged. Anything is better than nothing, but I guess ?Zona chooses the latter.
Plummer leaving is fine. He spent his time there, didn?t really prove too much, so let him go. David Boston on the other hand is one of the best things that has happened to Arizona in the past few years. Why not keep him? Could they really not afford him? They are going to spend about 10 million on aging Emmitt Smith?s time in Arizona when they already have a running back, instead of spending a few extra million to keep one of the best receivers in the league in a position where the team is bare-naked. I don?t get it. Also now what?s going to happen is Emmitt will be taking carries away from Marcel Shipp. Instead of Arizona trying to develop Shipp to see if he was just a one hit wonder, or if he?s the real deal, Emmitt will be in the way again, just like he was in Dallas last year.
Well, that?s the offense for ya. The only thing that will save this team is good play from the offensive line. Without that, they would easily be the worst team offensively in the league. Jeff Blake will be starting at QB, and he?s decent. Between Shipp and Smith in the backfield, the running game should be reliable. The receiving corps has a ton of youthful guys with practically no experience, but some potential. Marquise Walker and Anquain Boldin were both game breakers on their college teams; they may be able to help this offense out.
On defense the Cardinals are looking for playmakers. Duane Starks spent most of last year on the sidelines hampered by injuries so his involvement in the defense will be refreshing. Out goes Tommy?s cousin, Kwame Lassiter, in comes Dexter Jackson. The Cardinals will need some kind of production from their defensive line which might hard to get due to their inexperience. The likes of Wendell Bryant, Calvin Pace, or Kyle Vanden Bosch will have to step up if this defense will have any success. The linebackers do look like the best part of this team, but if they don?t get any pressure from the front four then this team?s run defense could be as bad as Seattle?s was last year.
So many questions remain about this team talent and depth wise, and beyond that the team chemistry has to be rebuilt from a year ago. If this team has to deal with injuries again they could effortlessly be the worst in the league.
O/U 5.5:
With 5 wins a year ago, the Cardinals will be asked to win six this time around. They will be one of those teams that opponents can?t wait to stomp on, but on the other they might underestimated a couple of times. I?ll say they squeak one win out in their division which means they?ll need another 5 against: @Lions, Packers, @Cowboys, Ravens, Bengals, @Steelers, @Browns, @Bears, Panthers, Vikings. This team isn?t capable of winning 6 games straight up but the question remains is how many teams will look past the Cardinals too quickly?
Fantasy Sleeper:
With the uncertainty at running back, I would stay away from Shipp and Smith. Sharing is a good theory in real life, but not for your fantasy pool. Jeff Blake should have a decent year, but nothing mind blowing. As long as interceptions don?t hurt your point totals, he might be worth a very late selection. If you?re looking for a sleeper here, have a glance at Freddie Jones. He was a forgotten man last year but with all the uncertainty in the receiving corps he should be a big target for Jeff Blake.
