Well, I have been unable to walk away from my computer for about 3 days now due to manning watch. And while everyone has been watching manning there have been some other major developments in the NFL. A few that I want to touch on are the vikings releasing some vets, the colts releasing some vets and lofa tatupa signing with the falcons.

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Hey all, another combine has come and gone. Eisen has set a personal best and almost ran as fast as Vontaze and the mocking and discussion is starting to heat up. I figure that I really enjoy when other members post what they think the team should do and we all get to read and debate it so I figured I would add another 'if I was GM situation' to the mix. I will attempt to state where I believe our biggest weaknesses are and the few players I would like to see us pursue (FA or Draft), to fill those needs.

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So basically the season is done. yes we have one more game to go and I would love to finish at .500 instead of below .500, but thinking long term it would be much better for us to lose. I have included a link to espn that discusses draft position and big difference between 7-9 and 8-8. basically the best 8-8 team would pick 20th while the worst 7-9 team would pick 9th. that is a huge difference and IMO the difference between landing a franchise LT and either reaching for a OT or taking a player at a position we do not need.

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So I have been ranting about my disappointment in the Cardinals. Most of my blame goes to Coach Whiz as the Head Coach is responsible for the product put on the field. I have not been impressed with the cardinals this year. We have blown 3 games. But, hope abounds as it is still early and lest we forget, we play in the NFC west.

I hope to write a short series of posts detailing what I think are the cardinals biggest issues moving forward. The reason I have been calling for Whiz to be held accountable because these important issues have not been addressed during his 5 year tenure as HC in the desert.

If you have been watching what I have been posting I have been talking about important key positions on football teams. Mainly that the NFL is a pass first league, thus your most important positions are QB, Blindside protector (usually LT), and Pass rusher. I am not going to discuss Kolb, because I like what he brings and I think he is one of the best trades the cards have ever made. He gave us hope, allowed us to sign Fitz, and is putting up solid numbers with a swiss cheese Oline. Thus, We are onto issue number 2- LT. 

So without further ado, Arizona Cardinals problem #1 - Levi Brown

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I am extremely frustrated at this loss. I have always been a supporter of whiz, but that is starting to change. As of today he no longer has my vote of confidence and to me, his job should not be considered as safe. This is a game we should have won, but our coaching staff lost it for us. And the problems we have now will not go away this season.

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I liked a lot of what I saw on defense tonight. There were also a few things I really did not like. It really hurt having Toler get hurt. But hit the jump and see if you agree or disagree with what I saw.

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Here are a few of the players I think the Arizona Cardinals should pursue.

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Maybe a little premature, like (insert any innuendo here), but I am pumped for the regular season to begin. And to get the ball rolling I am going to make 5 predictions for our home opener. In typical homer fashion, you will notice a, shall we say, optimistic slant to these predictions. If you are cynical person who claims 'I'm just being a realist", screw off. But if you are pumped for football that matters to begin, by all means, read on.

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First of all, I am glad football is back on and have loved our offseason thus far. I am just curious as to what the feeling is in regards to our recieving options. I think our front office has sent a message that we will finally be incorporating the TE into the offense, which I think is great. That being said, I think we need to get another receiver. I think there have been some good options in FA this offseason that have signed elsewhere (sims-walker, rice, moore, edwards, etc.) so I am wondering what the FO is planning.  

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Like every fan of NFL football in the world right now, I think my team just became elite. At first, I was screaming at the TV about how stupid our picks were, then I got pretty excited as I believe we had a solid draft. Like so many of us here, I was expecting us to draft O Linemen and pass rushers early and often. I still think we should have drafted either Rudolph, Reed or Ayers or traded down in the 2nd, but only time will tell. overall, love the 'pistol' (PP7, eh? thoughts?, maybe 'pistol whip', I have never been great with nicknames) and our late LB'er choices although I wanted Herzlich, but was thrilled with our 2nd and 5th round selections.

I believe the Cards biggest problem moving forward is coaching and before you light your torches, let me explain myself.

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I am a big sports fan and a huge Cards fan and have been for years. I am always so frustrated at teams that refuse to rebuild. teams are always looking to be competitive every year. I say we throw the season, and start over. The NFL has become such a win now league that it is impossible to build for the future because coaches worry about job security. well I think that we can all agree that we like Whiz and feel that he is capable of rebuilding a franchise. lets give him an opportunity to do so. Look at the NFL, what do the top teams have in common? Elite QB, yes, but what is key is stability in the front offices. green bay (ted thompson), New England (Billy Bob), Philly (Reid), Steelers (rooney/tomlin), Colts (dungy-caldwell, polian).

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I am not going to waste time discussing the cba because it is going to get worked out. As stupid and greedy as both sides are, they are not stupid enough to show all of us psychotic fans that life will continue without the NFL. Moving on, I will discuss what I think we should do in the draft and free agency to improve our team. I will move in order of what I think our biggest needs are.

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We need an offensive coordinator who is creative, has expectations and who holds players accountable. Say what you want about him, but I would love to get ol' joshy boy on our staff. Lets let grimm walk for the panthers, get McDaniels. Look what he turned Orton into. We need to to get a O coordinator, whiz has too much on his plate. He needs to worry about managing the team and the apathy and the lack of discipline. McDaniels has had great success as a coordinator and I would love to see his intensity on our sideline next year. That combined with a good D coordinator and we would be laying a foundation of success. I am realizing more and more the importance of coaching and this year was a rude awakening in that front. The Cardinals have way way way to much talent on both sides of the ball to be this bad. your thoughts?

  So after another disappointing loss I am left pissed off and wondering why and\or how I fell in love with the Cardinals. At 11:00 am this morning I felt like an excited groom waiting expectantly at the front of the church looking at the back doors only to be jilted again. What happened to the plan we had to build a legit franchise, to reach our immense potential and become a perennial contender? What happened to Steelers style football? Where is the defense? The run game? The discipline? We did not just lose today, We got outplayed, outworked and outclassed... by the chiefs! 

   After brewing for most of the afternoon and thinking about what has gone wrong it is my opinion that some major changes and plans need to be made. Or biggest problem is our Defense, then our QB's, and finally our play-calling. 

  Bill Davis is not ready to be a defensive coordinator. We need a defensive coordinator who will teach better technique and instill a tough mentality. Our defense is getting gashed on a consistent basis and it is due to poor play calling, bad discipline (5th most defensive penalties in the NFL) and even worse tackling. We have so much talent on the defensive side of the ball but it is being wasted by bad coaching. It feels like we have been one of the worst tackling teams for years and in our last two years it has been masked by a winning record. This is a basic skill that desperately needs to be taught and practiced. This season is slipping away if it has not already and one more lost with a bad defensive performance should cue the immediate release of Bill Davis.

  In the way of plans, we need to either go into a rebuilding mode, or find a legit franchise QB who is ready to play now. That means with a trade or FA, not through the draft. It is looking like we will have a high first round draft pick and it should be used to acquire a QB. If Vick is available he looks like a really good option in free agency, if not, I am sure the eagles would part with Kolb or maybe the Broncos with Orton for a high first rounder, or a bunch of middle round picks. Plus, there are no Sam Bradford's in this years draft. I personally think we have a lot a good players in their prime and have added a couple of twilighting players (Porter, Faneca) and with a QB and better game planning we can be a very strong team. I do not think we have time to wait for Skelton, Hall or Drafted QB to develop. Our draft needs to be focused on the O-line and LB'ing core. 

Onto our Offensive play calling. We claimed that we were going to run the ball this year and play smash mouth football. The retirement of Warner and signing of one of the best run blocking guards of all time (Faneca, not Rex, in case you were confused) seemed to give evidence to the seriousness of this claim. But right now we have 176 rushing attempts which puts us dead last, 26 attempts behind Washington and a staggering 141 and attempts behind first place Oakland. apparently we have strayed slightly from our plan. Now, I understand that the fumbles, constantly playing from behind and beanies injuries have some affect on this, but come on Whiz! run the ball, if for no other reason to give the Defense and break (Our offense is averaging a league low average of 26:40min/game). Also, we no longer have Warner or Boldin and our short passing game can no longer be a substitute for the run game. It seems like we are still calling plays like we have Warner. We attempt a running play and if it doesn't go for big yardage, we throw the ball for the next few plays. Our offensive linemen are maulers and we have two solid RB's (three including LSH), please run the ball.

Defensively: see above. Also, we need to do a better job of utilizing our talent and stopping the run. currently only the bills:1502 and bucs: 1365 have given up more yards on the ground then us (1351). And we must turn up the pressure. Although this is tough to do when your defense is on the field for an average of 33min and 52 sec per game (most in the league).

All in all some changes must be made. Whiz needs to get someone else calling the plays so he can focus more pointedly on his role as the HC. Bill Davis needs to go and we need to get a DC who will hold our players accountable and design better game plans. We do not need to rebuild anything other then our defensive coaching staff. And hopefully our front office realizes that we need to use our draft picks to acquire a franchise QB. We do not need another Levi Brown, Leonard Davis, Matt Leinart or Antrel Rolle.

Go cards and as much as it baffles me, I will be waiting expectantly again next Sunday for you to show up, please do not jilt me again.

What are the chances of the Cards going after Al Harris? I think we could really use him. Toler and DRC could use a mentor to show them how to compete. I Have a ton of respect for harris and his style of play and I think it would be good to have him rub off on our young corners. And as much as I like Money mike, I don't want to see him in coverage. I want to see him on special teams. With the amount of snaps our D is playing, another solid player in the secondary can't hurt. thoughts?

Anderson might be the worst starting QB in the League. He sucked it up against the rams. WE ALMOST LOST TO THE ST. LOUIS RAMS!!!!

Why are we tempering his awful performance with 'at least we won' or 'it was bad chemistry'.

Bottom line: we almost lost to the RAMS!!

Oh, but DA did not throw any picks. Because the rams suck. he threw a couple passes right to their secondary, they just can't catch. And half his incompletions missed everyone by 30 yards. terrible.

He was terrible. He had so much hype coming into the season about the long ball. who gives a damn how far he can throw it if he has zero accuracy. If he can only connect on like 3-15 when targeting fitz there is a problem. Fitz is potentially the biggest target in the league (taking into consideration his hands and leaping ability). wasn't everyone criticizing Leinart because he couldn't throw the long ball and just threw check downs. DA had two completions where he threw the ball more then 15 yards. boobs saved him today by turning check downs into yardage. again, I am not saying I like Leinart more, cause he sucks too, but he at least had some accuracy. why does everyone get a hard on for big arms? accurate QB's are what get it done in the league. 

Hopefully DA improves. if not Beanie better go crazy or this year will be rough.

I don't know why I had high hopes for DA? I feel like an idiot for having such ignorant expectations. shame on me.

What was I expecting from someone the Browns cut. when the Browns let you walk, you NFL career should be over, PERIOD!

In other news, I am really excited about Rhodes. definitely an upgrade from Rolle. Toler looks really good. We have one of the top secondaries in the league. CC and DD are the perfect ends in a 3-4, love our depth and play at the nose, and the linebackers look solid.

I am concerned about our depth at LB.

I really like our starters, but I hate our back-ups (except Davis, like him). But how can a guy like cyril be better then Cody Brown. Brown has been in the system for a year and a bit and I would wager that he would be better stopgap then cyril until Scho is ready. And Reggie Walker does not belong in the NFL. Are we expecting haggans and porter to play full games? Is Davis ready for a bigger load? I think that will greatly increase chance of injury for those old guys and I don't think Davis is ready to start yet. This is the area of our d that worries me. 

We have a great D line (DD and CC are in my opinion the best ends for a 3-4 D in the league), and any secondary with 3 pro bowlers is in good shape. Can anyone give me some insight on our LB'ing situation or at least something positive with walker and Cyril that I can focus on? 

Wait!! i have the solution. play with 3 LB, and 3 Safeties and let A Dub roam in the box.

After watching Whiz talk about QB's and our recent trade with Philly I am left Questioning him for the first time. Yes, in whiz we trust and all that good stuff, but his recent decisions have left me wondering if has been hitting the kool-aid. 

First Off, he seems unable to settle on a QB, which is hard on the team. Just pick a guy and go with him. pick a horse and ride it. Yes, competition is good, but I think he is chucking Matt under the bus. Now don't get me twisted, I don't love Matt, but you said he was our guy. then you completely undermine that by signing anderson and playing musical chairs. He said it was Matt's spot to lose and has not stuck to that. Leinart has not played poorly enough (higher rating then Anderson and safer play) to lose his spot and i think he could have real success in the NFL (maybe i need to lay off the kool aid). All this leads me to think that whiz doesn't like matt because he didn't pick him. if that is the case, OK, get rid of him and go with someone else. just get some continuity please, especially because it is at the most important position. Sports revolves so much around player confidence and it is hard to find confidence as a player if your coach has none in you.

Secondly, why trade Jorrick? could he not be on the practice squad? do we need a fullback that badly? hightower is a good blocker, let him play some fullback. Wright is a vet, I am sure he could play FB. Plus both those guys give us some speed and pass catching ability at the position. If is a power set for short yardage, let Herman 'House" Johnson play FB, or I am sure dockett would love another opportunity to hit someone. just saying, we have had pretty good success picking db's recently and it will kill me if Calvin makes a pro bowl for the eagles in 2014.

I have gone to great efforts to not be negative on whiz because, he is the man. that being said, pick a guy, have faith in him, give him a bit of a leash and trust the run game and D. And when you pick a guy (Calvin) put the effort in and develop him, or why pick him in the first place. just early season ramblings.

In whiz I trust....a little less.

JUST SOME OPTIONS. WHAT IF WE WERE TO GO BACK TO A 4-3 DEFENSE. WE COULD MOVE DOCKET INSIDE, HAVE BAGGS OR BROWN PLAY WITH THEIR HAND ON THE GROUND AND HAVE LENON AT MLB UNTIL HAYES IS HEALTHY. OR WE COULD LEAVE DOCKETT ON THE OUTSIDE AND HAVE WILLIAMS, WATSON, BRANCH AND B-ROB MAN THE DT SPOTS. I UNDERSTAND THAT OUR ROSTER IS BEING TAILORED FOR A 3-4 D, BUT DONTDON'T WE WANT THE BEST PLAYER PLAYING. I AM SORRY BUT I DO NOT FEEL THAT MONTY B. IS BETTER THEN GABE WATSON. SWITCHING OR PLAYING MORE 4-3 COULD GET OUR BETTER PLAYERS MORE PT.       

ANOTHER THOUGHT, KEEP MORE OLB AND MOVE HAGGANS TO THE INSIDE. A SMART VET LIKE HAGGANS SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE A QUICK TRANSITION TO THE INSIDE, NO?                               THOUGHTS?

It is no secret that we have high expectations for our young group of LB's But being the realist that I am, I am left wondering..well, what is realistic? so, I will lay out what my expectations are for our LB's.

Lets begin with the projected starters:

 Joey Porter- I agree he is not the LB he once was but I still think he is one of the top players at his position in the league. he is an outstanding pass rusher, and will bring a new sense of pride, toughness and swagger to our D. I think that there is plenty more behind the scene stuff he will also do to improve the cards immediately and for the long term. Porter is known as a great team influence (when in the right situation, and he is in the right situation with whiz and lots of minutes). Also, because i believe he is in the right situation, we will see some joey porter clones in the near future from guys like Davis, Brown and O'schofield...which is a very good thing.

Haggans - Again, on the downside of a great career. But, he is a solid, smart player who is very well rounded and an excellent leader. He and Porter will thrive together again like they did in college and for the steelers. Clark is another great mentor and his impact on our LB's will still be felt after he retires.

Hayes- Hopefully his back will be ready. we need him. A good run stuffer, that's about it. But he is reliable and consistent with is great praise for any pro athlete. I stated earlier that I thought he would break 100 tackles this year and if he stays healthy I believe he will do that.

Lenon- A bit of a question mark but I like the guy. Of course no one coming from the Rams is going to make headlines. he was undrafted out of richmond and has been a career overachiever, which speaks to his character. also, he is only 1 year removed from back to back 100 tackle seasons. Is he a downgrade from dansby: yes, could we do worse: yes!

Onto the young guns:

Brown-  he is going into his second rookie season, hoefully he can stay healthy. He was one of the cards draft picks that I did not like in recent history. I would have preferred Micheal Johnson over Brown, but in Whiz we trust. Thus, I was waiting for him to give me a reason to like him last and all he did was get hurt. I hope he turns out to be worth the 2nd rounder, but right now I like Davis much better. * Cody, if you read this, I really want to like you, so please give me reason to*

Davis- love this guy. Seems like a great kid. Has nice speed of the edge and a high ceiling. With some tutelage from Porter, he could turn into a beast. some of the best pass rushers in the were selected after the 3rd round. (jared allen, mathis, dumervil..just saying). 

Washington- I was so pumped when we moved up to get this guy. I love fast athletic linebackers. I know we will bring him along slow, but I think this guy has huge potential. He is intelligent, fast, good character and oh, did I mention he was fast. We need some youth and speed in the middle and he will bring that. I think his ability to cover tight ends will allow Billy Davis to get creative as well as allowing him to bring A-dub with pressure to destroy some more helpless QB's (see: trent edwards. Side note: A-Dub ruined edwards career with that hit, similar to how Baron Davis ended O'neal and AK-47 with 2 nasty dunks. youtube them.)

O'Schoefield- again stoked on getting this guy in the fourth round. With modern medicine his knee will be stronger when he is done rehab and the whole league will realize that they should not have let him slip all the way to the 4th round. He is one of the top 5 rushers out of this years draft and we got him late in the 4th. look for him to have a 2nd year similar to Campbell in which he will get like 8-12 sacks.

I am really excited about the potential of our LB's, but I still temper that with the reality that these young guys are yet to pan out. I think our special teams will benefit from all these young LB's, but it will take some time until they start to make in game contributions. If O'scho is on the IR, should we consider pursuing a guy like Antonio Pierce with a one year contract?

I love the NFL offseason. The media hype and speculation about which teams got better or worse and which rookies will make an nfl impact, which rookies are over or underrated and so forth. recently I read the book 'Outliers" by Malcom Gladwell. If you have not read it, it is all about success and the background causes of it. the basic premise is that there is not such thing as genius or talent and that success is solely derived from hard work and opportunity. He discusses everything from mozart to the NHL to bill gates.

I was considering this in lieu of the NFL and the recent draft. this leads me to wonder what sets up a rookie for success. How come these rookies have a 50% bust to boom (or bust to solid pro) ratio? teams invest huge dollars searching players backgrounds and probing into their past (see: Ireland and Dez Bryant), yet so many players don't make it. Obviously the ones with a questionable work ethic rarely succeed unless they are put on a team that has a coach who can light a fire or a vet (ray lewis) who can inspire the youngsters.

Basically what I am saying is that most if not all NFL draft picks have good, if not great work ethic and really want to have success and make big money playing the sport they love. so how come the 50% chance of making it. This leads to the second part of success according to gladwell, Opportunity. But the problem is what is a good opportunity? To be metaphorically tossed to the lions (real lions, because the ones from Detroit are not all that scary) and being thrust into the starting lineup to sink or float (what seattle plans to do with Okung), or to be brought along slowly ( as the cardinals do). I think both are valid and yet they are in a sense specific to each individual player. what might work for player A, may ruin player B. What if we would have started DRC instantly, he might be talked about in the same sentence as revis and Nnamdi, or he might have screwed up, fallen out of favor with the coaches and be waiting for his first career int.

I now pose this question to ROTB, is the way we bring along rookies good? do you think we do a good enough job as a franchise tempering opportunity with patience? and are/ should there be an exception to the rule. Most of you are probably like me and almost pissed your pants when we got Williams and Washington in the draft. should Williams be a starter day one? How long until Washington should get an opportunity to play over lenon?

just something to think about until OTA's

And as usual, comments? concerns? rebuttals?

So i was on the team sight today and reading some posts and saw a few things that alarmed me. First of all, I like mike adams and think he is a good guy and a good team first guy, which I really like. That being said I have a problem with him being our # 2 corner, which he is currently. I would prefer him as a 4 or 5 on the depth chart mainly contributing on special teams. Right now he is our wise veteran who is teaching our young corners. all of these things are alarming. He was violently abused by teams last year and that trend will only continue with DRC opposite him. Enough about adams. Whiz seems okay to with what we have at corner right now, but i do not know if i am okay with what we have at corner right now. there was brief mention about waiting for other teams to make cuts, but i do not like that either. I thought we had finally moved beyond taking other teams sloppy seconds. also, would it not be beneficial to bring in a corner as soon as possible so he can learn the playbook and work with J. Lott? I am just saying, i think it would be more then worth while to get a fred smoot or Dre Bly in to teach, lead and mentor our young CB's. It was a weakness last year that has only been addressed by trading mcfaden. Hopeful addition by subtraction applies here, or we go out and wrap up and amazing offseason with one more move. thoughts?

I am slightly concerned with a few things happening with the Cards. I am by no means doubting our draft choices because I have not interviewed or closely studied any prospects and I understand that there is more to an athlete fitting in on a team and having success than combine numbers and college stats. that is not what  concerns me, Whiz knows what he is doing and the type of players he likes. I think we hit a homerun with the draft, although I would have like to see a OL drafted. (on that note: anyone think we have long-term  plans of bulking up fray and moving him to tackle ala jason peters? just a thought) I am more concerned about two things.

1) we are so shallow at CB right now. DRC, toler and ....... adams? please tell me we have a plan here, or can someone more knowledgeable than me tell me something that will give me hope? please.

2) we have a very unproven QB and O-line that a lot of success hinges on. why will we be able to run the ball better? because we can't pass as well as we could last year? last time I checked, bad passing does not make running the ball easier in the NFL. again, I am begging for enlightenment.

But right now I am loving the prospects and players in place on our defensive front 7. anyways, will someone please address my concerns. thanks.

As I sit here impatiently awaiting the draft, all I can wonder is have we done enough this off season. The reality is we lost some of our top players on a team that is still developing depth, and those departures sting. I am all for Whisehunt and his desire to build through the draft. It is the only way, in my opinion to build sustainability into a roster. That being said, it feels as though we were not ready to lose all these pieces yet. It feels like we are 1 - 2 seasons away from have a solid team top to bottom. This concerns me because losing a bunch of starters may cause us to reach in the draft or draft according to need, not best available. Again, I trust whiz and graves as their draft history has been great but it is no secret that we have holes that need to be filled. So again I am left wondering, are there so key moves, or even depth moves that need to be made? Do we have enough high draft picks (4 in the top 90) to fill these holes. with the freedom from cap penalties this year, is there a solid veteran we could go get for a third or fourth rounder, I mean, that is all it took for Q. just saying, is there solid OT or NT out there who could buy another year or two until we could find a true long term solution through the draft. maybe a veteran WR, to go 4th on the depth chart or an older CB to help mentor all our youth at the position. Perhaps a great coverage LB, because we will need that as haggins is the only guy back there who has any idea how to play in coverage. And good coverage LB's are cheap because they do not put up sexy stat lines (sacks). Just saying, it might be a little much to ask 3rd, 4th and 5th rounders to play real minutes as a rookies. Undoubtedly this is a deep draft, but with so many holes and the way we bring rookies along slowly, I do not know if we have the pieces yet. Maybe they got something cooking up there at HQ... but i guess we will remain in the dark, at least until the draft. Again, I remain very optimistic about this season and lets not forget we play in the NFC west, but I feel we need to address one more position before the draft whether it be a LB, OL, DL, WR, CB.  Your Thoughts please.

First off, in my last post I might have given it a title that was not truly accurate. I do not think the Cards are better now then they were last year. That being said I do believe that losing Warner is the only loss that will truly hinder the Cards. I think Boldin, Dansby and especially Rolle will not be missed. I truly believe that our Defense will be better this year then it has in the past Decade. I think our secondary is shallow, but the best it has been since I have been a fan. I think that our D's improvement will be in large part due to a stronger run game, which will keep them on the sidelines longer. Moving on, in this post I want to open up discussion in regards to our top needs this off season. I will rank in my opinion our top needs and invite you all to respond.

#1- Our biggest need is at OT. Gandy was a mediocre tackle at the best of times, and bridges is a solid backup, nothing more. These two looked okay due in large part to warners ability to dissect secondaries, pick up the blitz and sense pressure. If Leinart is going to be successful, which I believe he will, we need to keep him clean and improve the run game so he can use play-action more and keep opposing defenses honest. Maybe I am influenced by the fact that I just watched 'the blindside', but we cannot expect much from leinart if he is getting hit 10+ times a game.  Again, I trust whiz and graves to make good draft selections and develop players, but I think we have a real opportunity to snatch Jared Gaither (6'9'', 340, age: 24) from the ravens. He is a monster, young, lots of upside and could give the Cardinals the long term solution at tackle we thought we got with Leonard Davis or Levi Brown. I think Okung and Bulaga are the only two tackles that might be comparable/ better then Gaither, and neither of them will be there for us at 26. If we are going to pay a tackle huge money, it might as well be one who has proven something at the NFL level. 

#2- NT- many of you are probable surprised that a ILB/OLB is not in this spot. But I feel that a beast in the middle of the d-line would be a huge plus for the cards. I was hoping we would pursue Ma'ake keamodakwhatever in FA. anyways, Robinson is old and while he is okay, I think he could be better utilized as a mentor for a young NT and in a reduced role. This would keep him fresh, which is always a plus, especially with aging players. Watson, is decent but again hasn't lived up to his potential. Same with branch, although I am not willing to write of Branch yet. I think he has the ability to become a poor mans docket, which gets me excited. I think our D-line is a run-stuffing NT away from having great depth and versatility. If we found a beast of a NT like Terrence Cody, Dan Williams or even a Kade Weston (georgia), it would free up docket, campbell, and porter to make more plays. As well, it making life easier for our LB's allowing less O-linemen through to the second level. It would be a huge boost for our defense if we gave up less then 3 ypc as opposed to last year when we gave up 4.5 ypc (too much). that is a game changing stat.  We need a big, double team commanding NT for 1-2 down to stop the inside run and give our pass rushers the freedom to get after the QB. he does not have to be a stud. He does not have to be smart, just big, strong and mean. We can use watson and robinson in situations where more cerebral activity is needed. I am just saying, what do top defenses have in common? (casey hampton, williams wall, jenkins, sedrick ellis, and look how many DT/NT's got paid this year.) is this a legit need? or do I just have steeler, viking, saints, jets envy?

#3- LB- it is no secret that this is a need. What is interesting here is that if we do in fact hang onto our first rounder, I kinda want us to use it here. with the impact that these players have been making as rookies, this is our best shot at a big time player at a big time position who can make an immediate impact (Matthews and Orakpo and even merriman are examples). But all in all, I think we will be okay. Porter is a big signing for us. I think the change of scenery will do him good and he will bring a renewed sense of pride and toughness to our defense. His expereince on great defenses will be great for the cards. We talk about winning mentalities and I think porter will bring a much needed winning mentality to our D. that being said, I think that hayes, the forgotten man in our D will emerge to take dansby's place. Look for hayes to go over 100 tackles this year. Also, Baggs ( as CFL transfer) will add some more pass rushing ability. Also, I like the lenon signing, solid player. Although we do not have great LB's, we have gotten younger at the position and will need to deal with the growing pains of that. I am not overly excited about our LB's as I think our LB grade would be about a C+ or a B- and I would be thrilled if we added a hybrid backer somewhere in the first 3 rounds of the draft. 

#4 - CB- I really like McFadden so this is painful, but unless something changes, he has got to go, or at least drop on the depth chart. But because of the way we bring along rookies, which I love by the way (slowly that is, we bring 'em along slow), looks like mcfadden is our #2 for the year. I do not think Greg Toler will challenge him for that this year. I do not see us using our 1,2 or 3 rounder on a CB unless Hayden or Kyle Wilson somehow fall to us. thus, McFadden is our guy. I am hoping that he will have a good year. On that note, we need to get rid of Adams, he is about as useful as I would be out there...(which is not very useful, in case you were wondering). I like him on special teams and he is a good character guy, but should be #5 on the depth chart, at best. All in all I do not see any solutions to our lack of depth a corner. If DRC has complications with his rehab or gets re-injured, our secondary is in trouble. that being said, I like our starters back there (McFadden, Rhodes, Wilson, DRC), not bad. three pro bowlers and a conerback who played on one the best defenses ever. We need to find a couple of corners, but this is a pretty deep draft, so I trust Whiz and Graves to find a good one or two CB's late, but that does not help us this year.

#5- WR- only because we lost 2 (urban and Q). Fitz is a stud and will put up big numbers. breaston and Doucet are good enough that Fitz will not receive the same attention that Calvin Johnson and Andre Johnson do. I would love to see us draft a little speedster like a Jordan Shipley (texas) or Dexter McCluster and use him like a percy harvin or reggie bush. We are not weak here, just short players.

I am leaving it at those 5. I like the Hadnot signing, but feel like we have a bunch of okay linemen. I would love to see a guy like Deuce step it up this year and blow open some big holes for the backs. I still would love to see us take a risk on Shawn Andrews. If he is healthy he could be one of the best Guards in the league and it would be nice to have someone to run behind to pick up those 3rd and 1's or 3rd and 2's. alright, I am done for now and curious to see how the rest of cards nation feels about this. again, go Cards and I think we are a few moves away from being a strong, more well-rounded team that should be able to hold off the 49ers and win the NFC west again.

First off, losing warner hurts... a lot, but outside of that i have loved all of our off season moves. that being said we have a few more to make to have an A+ offseason. Can we please address our O-line. We are no going to find a better OT than Jared Gaither late in the first round. lets pay the first round tender and sign him long term and shore up left tackle for the next 5 years. also, can we please sign shawn andrews and get some linemen who can actually open holes for beanie and tim. On that note I think this year or next we will start to see b. Keith and h. Johnson start to play thanks to grimm and his ability to develop O linemen. The only reason our O-line has appeared to be decent is cause warner got rid of the ball so quick. then we can use the draft to address other needs such as LB, NT, and CB. We did not need Boldin, and as much as I loved him and hated to see him go, we could not afford him and got okay compensation for him. But how many teams would kill to have fitz and breaston as their 1-2 WR's?  Rhodes is a much better safety then rolle and at a much better price and Dansby was solid but not worth anything near what he got. 2 years of being franchised went to his head. obviously warner will be missed but with a better O line I think we could have a strong running game. with beanie and Tim and even LSH we have three young backs and 2 (beanie and larod) have major big play potential. all in all, with a legit NT to demand double teams and collapse the pocket and Mcfadden playing better our defense can and will be better this year. We have Campbell, Docket, Porter, and Wilson who are legit rushers who can win one on one match-ups. add to that a balanced offense and look for the cards to go about 9-7 and win the NFC west again. 

Ps. leinart is a good QB. He has had his ups and downs but look for him to take big strides and build upon his performance against the titans. leinart is going to be the next matt schaub or aaron rogers, wait for it

Go Cards