Arizona Cardinals (5-11)
The Arizona Cardinals enter their third season under Dennis Green. The team has been an unimpressive 11-21 under Green the past two years. After a 6-10 season in 2004, analysts were quick to assume Arizona would rise to the top of the NFC West. Following a 5-11 season last year, they are once again predicting drastic improvement from the Cardinals. The Cardinals should improve this year, but the addition of Edgerrin James alone will not vault this team into the playoffs.
The addition of James should help balance an offense that ranked #1 in passing and #32 in rushing in 2005. However, Arizona did little to address their offensive line in the offseason. They signed Milford Brown (Houston) to start at right guard, but he came from one of the few lines worse than Arizona's last year. Second-round choice Deuce Latui could develop into a solid player in the future, but he is not expected to make an impact this season. The biggest addition could be a healthy RT Oliver Ross who struggled with injuries much of last season. All things considered, Arizona will once again have one of the worst offensive lines in the league trying to protect an old, fragile Kurt Warner and open holes for an aging Edgerrin James.
Arizona still has a scary offense with Edgerrin James, Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald. James should force teams to respect the run a little bit more, but he has never been a threat to break the long one, so defenses will force the Cardinals to prove their offensive line can give him room to run. Third-round pick TE Leonard Pope is a good blocker and receiver and should help in both the running and passing game. However, neither Kurt Warner nor Dennis Green have been known to utilize tight ends effectively. Matt Leinart should be a steal at #10, but it will take him at least a year to develop. Like Carson Palmer, he would be served best by sitting on the bench for a year and absorbing the pro game. It may prove to be a mistake letting Josh McCown go in free agency. He was the starter for nine of the eleven wins the past two seasons in Arizona (9-10 in 19 starts), while the other Arizona QBs went 2-11 during that stretch. Arizona was willing to fork over $18 million over 3 years for Warner, while McCown found a home in Detroit paying him $6 million over 2 years.
To their credit, Arizona did finish 8th in overall defense last season However, they were 27th in scoring defense, which would suggest the offense simply gave opponents a short field to work with. Dennis Green did little to address the problems on defense. The biggest free agent addition was DT Kendrick Clancy from the NY Giants. He is should be decent, but he represents a step back from Russell Davis, who signed with Seattle in free agency. Davis was hurt half of last season, so a healthy Clancy could help somewhat. The toughness and size of Davis helped DT Darnell Dockett play better, but Clancy is undersized and the Cardinals will be soft up the middle. Dennis Green waited until the fourth round to draft a defensive player, and he chose underachiever DT Gabe Watson from Michigan. CB Antrel Rolle (8th overall pick in 2005) missed most of last year with a knee injury and it has been acting up again recently. If Arizona wants to win now, they would be wise to use their $11.5 million in cap space to add Ty Law to their group of aging veterans (Kurt Warner and Edgerrin James).
Overall, the Cardinals should be better than they were last year simply because of the huge upgrade at running back. Other than that, there is no reason to think the defense will be any better or the offensive line with be able to protect the QB. If and when Kurt Warner gets hurt, Matt Leinart will not be successful, especially behind a poor offensive line (see: Alex Smith) and John Navarre has a career passer rating of 43.9. Arizona is at least two offensive lineman and a couple of defensive difference makers away from being able to challenge Seattle for the top spot in the NFC West. As it stands, Arizona might find themselves 3rd in the division for the 3rd straight year.
Key Additions: RB Edgerrin James (IND), OG Milford Brown (HOU), DT Kendrick Clancy (NYG)
Key Losses: DT Russell Davis (SEA), QB Josh McCown (DET)
0 comments:
Post a Comment