The Arizona Cardinals had a difficult offseason, losing a number of key players. They'll turn to the draft to replenish their roster, starting at No. 26 tomorrow night. KSCR 1560 AM in Los Angeles' Dave Dulberg, a Cardinals fan, believes the team has a few options in the first round.
In the valley of the sun expectations could not be higher regarding the Arizona Cardinals. Over a two year span, in which the team has won two division titles and been on the doorstep of football immortality, a franchise that was once despised for its frugal ownership, game day choke jobs, and draft day busts (yes I’m talking to you Wendell Bryant and Andre Wadsworth) has become the team of the city.
But just as the team and its growing faithful began reveling in the success of the past two campaigns, it seems the 180-degree transformation may have hit a bit of a speed bump this off-season. For an organization coming off its best statistical regular season since relocating to desert in 1987, it seemed more than plausible that the team would spend the months following their 42-14 Conference Semifinals shellacking at the hands of the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints retooling rather than reviving.
However, in typical “Cardinal fashion” anything that is too good to be true, probably is. In a less than a month, the team lost its spiritual and offensive leader Kurt Warner to retirement, its defensive punch in Karlos Dansby and Antrell Rolle to free agency, and arguably its strongest force, both mentally and physically, in Anquan Boldin, whose departure via trade was written on the wall months earlier.
While the team tried to save face with both its fans and players, bringing in an aging interior linebacker who is past his prime (Joey Porter), a one-hit wonder whose accuracy leaves something to be desired (Derek Anderson), and a tempestuous cornerback with a checkered work ethic, still leaves the Redbirds with some work to do this weekend at the NFL Draft. Even if their talent alone is good enough today to capture a third straight division title in the NFC West, which is easily the worst division in professional sports, the team’s manic makeover leaves them with an inexperienced quarterback in a league defined by the position.
Although the departure of Warner, Boldin, Dansby, and Rolle on the surface appear to have created holes in playmaking positions, the biggest loss for a team predicated on its 3-4 defense, was the retirement of Bertrand Berry. While Thursday night will be full of nose tackles and defensive ends like Gerald McCoy and Dan Williams going off draft boards early in the night, the Cards' best bet at No. 26 is to fill Berry’s role with a versatile linebacker who will: a) further along the maturation process of Will Davis and Ali Highsmith through competition; b) allow the newly-signed Porter to roam freely on the outside; or c) provide versatility both as run-stopper and third down rusher (both qualities Berry exhibited throughout his tenure).
The big names that come to mind from a linebacker standpoint are Big 12 studs Sean Weatherspoon (Missouri) and Sergio Kindle (Texas). While they both are without a doubt the two most athletic pro-ready backers in the draft, in many ways their high marks basically cancel each other out, leaving the potential that one falls to the latter part of the first round. If those two names are called quicker than expected, look for the Cardinals to go after two-time All-American Jerry Hughes from TCU. The reigning MWC Defensive Player of the Year is the ultimate DE/LB hybrid in this year’s draft and could be a more than admirable fit for NFC West champs at No. 26. While undersized, his quickness off the line combined with the uncanny amount of strength he displayed with his 11.5 sacks in 2009, makes him an instant bona fide pass rusher a la Dwight Freeney.
If all else fails the Redbirds could look to add a pass catching threat for Leinart, and if they choose to go in that direction, it most likely will come from the tight end position- in particular, Oklahoma’s Jermaine Gresham. While a right meniscus tear kept him out of playing his senior season, with his 6’5”, 251-pound frame it is no wonder he caught 25 touchdowns his final two seasons in Norman. If any early round prospect can help make up for the loss of Boldin, it is the physical Gresham, who plays more like a big receiver than a tight end.
For now it’s a waiting game, or for Cardinals’ fans, a praying game. Let’s just hope the Bidwill family doesn’t do anything stupid, after all the draft’s now in primeti
Showing posts with label Gerald McCoy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gerald McCoy. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
A Lions Fan's Roar
I asked fans of a number of different teams to give me their take on how their team should draft. Kevin Patra of TheSportsUnion.com answered the call for Detroit.
I have to start by giving props to Martin Mayhew. He had one of the most solid drafts of any team in 2009 outside of Green Bay. He got his franchise quarterback, a tight end who looked good until getting hurt midway through the season, a safety who actually makes plays on the ball, a solid outside linebacker and a useful defensive tackle. He didn't draft an offensive lineman until the seventh round, but all in all it was a good draft for the first time GM.
I will not claim that I knew Mayhew had it in him, and I was just as pissed as the next guy when they took a tight end and a safety the first 33 picks--I was already over them giving $41 million guaranteed to Stafford at that point. But I was wrong.
Can you really blame any Detroit fan for being skeptical? After eight years of watching Matt Millen screw up pick after pick, we all just figured this was another case of a terrible GM making god-awful decisions. Almost a year later, I'm still stunned more than half the selections were actually players with a pulse.
The greatest part of being a Lions fan in 2010 is that after suffering a 2-30 record the past two seasons--I would have gone for the past ten, but I start to weep adding all those numbers in the right-hand column--is that no one, not even Matt Millen could screw this draft up. (There is only one scenario I can think of that would actually be disappointing, but we will get there in a bit.)
Sitting at No. 2 the Lions will go one of four ways. They take whichever DT falls to them, Ndamukong Suh or Gerald McCoy, take offensive tackle Russell Okung or trade down.
That is it, there really are no other choices.
Thankfully there is no big, flashy skill player that makes GMs lose their senses like a 14-year-old in love. All three of the players they would draft are in trench positions, a place where the Lions were despicably terrible last season. And if they trade down and obtain several more picks while saving money, all the better. They can't go wrong filling gaps in a roster that is more devoid of talent than a WB television mini-series.
Suh seems to be everyone's consensus top player in the draft, but with the Rams already spending several first rounders on their D-line the last few years, some gurus believe they will go QB with their pick, leaving Suh for the Lions. After the acquisitions of DE Kyle Vanden Bosch and DT Corey Williams, Suh wouldn't be under such enormous pressure to perform all by himself on a pathetic line. The attention on other players would give him an easier time controlling the middle. Of the top DTs he is the best at controlling the line of scrimmage, and while he doesn't provide as great an interior push as say a Warren Sapp, for a team that was so bad between the tackles last season he would solidify the middle.
McCoy, on the other hand isn't as strong or as forceful at holding his spot as Suh, but he does provide more penetration up the middle. Matched with Vanden Bosch on the outside the two could wreck havoc on opposing backfields.
Recently word has spread that after making moves in free agency and trades to shore up the line the Lions will go OT with their first pick in the draft. If this is the case, I say, Hallelujah! While both Suh and McCoy grade out better than Russell Okung, the best O-Lineman in the draft, left tackle has been a need position for the Lions since Lomas Brown left in 1996. Okung would allow the Lions to move Mr. Offsides, Jeff Backus, to guard, where he would be much more effective. That would allow Detroit to kill two birds with one stone--a good left tackle, and a decent to good left guard. It would also help Matthew Stafford stay upright a little more than last season.
Trading out of the No. 2 spot wouldn't be a bad move either. If they can move down a few spots for someone who wanted to move up and take Suh, and the Lions can get a couple extra picks and still take Okung, that would be ideal. I also wouldn't be too upset if they traded down and picked up a cornerback like Florida's Joe Haden.
There is still that one scenario that would get me upset. After last season I'm able to put it out of my mind and pretend that there is no way on God's green earth it will happen, but I'll throw it out anyway. If the Lions pull a Cleveland and trade down about 35 times (I'm assuming no one outside of the top 12 will have the goods to trade up into the No. 2 spot) and end up drafting, say, C.J. Spiller with the 17th pick, I will not be happy. Not that Spiller doesn't have the potential to be a great player, and hey if somehow they can scam an extra six picks out of the deal it will probably calm my rage.
But I would just like one draft where the Detroit Lions take players that do the dirty work. You know, like the rest of the Blue Collar people that work in Detroit.
I have to start by giving props to Martin Mayhew. He had one of the most solid drafts of any team in 2009 outside of Green Bay. He got his franchise quarterback, a tight end who looked good until getting hurt midway through the season, a safety who actually makes plays on the ball, a solid outside linebacker and a useful defensive tackle. He didn't draft an offensive lineman until the seventh round, but all in all it was a good draft for the first time GM.
I will not claim that I knew Mayhew had it in him, and I was just as pissed as the next guy when they took a tight end and a safety the first 33 picks--I was already over them giving $41 million guaranteed to Stafford at that point. But I was wrong.
Can you really blame any Detroit fan for being skeptical? After eight years of watching Matt Millen screw up pick after pick, we all just figured this was another case of a terrible GM making god-awful decisions. Almost a year later, I'm still stunned more than half the selections were actually players with a pulse.
The greatest part of being a Lions fan in 2010 is that after suffering a 2-30 record the past two seasons--I would have gone for the past ten, but I start to weep adding all those numbers in the right-hand column--is that no one, not even Matt Millen could screw this draft up. (There is only one scenario I can think of that would actually be disappointing, but we will get there in a bit.)
Sitting at No. 2 the Lions will go one of four ways. They take whichever DT falls to them, Ndamukong Suh or Gerald McCoy, take offensive tackle Russell Okung or trade down.
That is it, there really are no other choices.
Thankfully there is no big, flashy skill player that makes GMs lose their senses like a 14-year-old in love. All three of the players they would draft are in trench positions, a place where the Lions were despicably terrible last season. And if they trade down and obtain several more picks while saving money, all the better. They can't go wrong filling gaps in a roster that is more devoid of talent than a WB television mini-series.
Suh seems to be everyone's consensus top player in the draft, but with the Rams already spending several first rounders on their D-line the last few years, some gurus believe they will go QB with their pick, leaving Suh for the Lions. After the acquisitions of DE Kyle Vanden Bosch and DT Corey Williams, Suh wouldn't be under such enormous pressure to perform all by himself on a pathetic line. The attention on other players would give him an easier time controlling the middle. Of the top DTs he is the best at controlling the line of scrimmage, and while he doesn't provide as great an interior push as say a Warren Sapp, for a team that was so bad between the tackles last season he would solidify the middle.
McCoy, on the other hand isn't as strong or as forceful at holding his spot as Suh, but he does provide more penetration up the middle. Matched with Vanden Bosch on the outside the two could wreck havoc on opposing backfields.
Recently word has spread that after making moves in free agency and trades to shore up the line the Lions will go OT with their first pick in the draft. If this is the case, I say, Hallelujah! While both Suh and McCoy grade out better than Russell Okung, the best O-Lineman in the draft, left tackle has been a need position for the Lions since Lomas Brown left in 1996. Okung would allow the Lions to move Mr. Offsides, Jeff Backus, to guard, where he would be much more effective. That would allow Detroit to kill two birds with one stone--a good left tackle, and a decent to good left guard. It would also help Matthew Stafford stay upright a little more than last season.
Trading out of the No. 2 spot wouldn't be a bad move either. If they can move down a few spots for someone who wanted to move up and take Suh, and the Lions can get a couple extra picks and still take Okung, that would be ideal. I also wouldn't be too upset if they traded down and picked up a cornerback like Florida's Joe Haden.
There is still that one scenario that would get me upset. After last season I'm able to put it out of my mind and pretend that there is no way on God's green earth it will happen, but I'll throw it out anyway. If the Lions pull a Cleveland and trade down about 35 times (I'm assuming no one outside of the top 12 will have the goods to trade up into the No. 2 spot) and end up drafting, say, C.J. Spiller with the 17th pick, I will not be happy. Not that Spiller doesn't have the potential to be a great player, and hey if somehow they can scam an extra six picks out of the deal it will probably calm my rage.
But I would just like one draft where the Detroit Lions take players that do the dirty work. You know, like the rest of the Blue Collar people that work in Detroit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)