Arizona Cardinals Weekly Flock
by Hawkwind on May 1, 2009 10:31 AM MDT
in Arizona Cardinals Links/Bird Droppings
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PrintWhen you draft a first round, high profile running back then cut the 11th leading rusher in NFL history, the traditional media tends to take notice. It also doesn't hurt when you cut two other starters and have a bevy of unresolved contract issues.Needless to say there are a fair share of Arizona Cardinals-related stories floating around out there. Here are a few that caught our eye:
- Sports Illustrated takes a look at where Edgerrin James will land, with the Saints, Eagles and Texans rounding out the top three.
- Mike Sando answers a question about the possibility of Anquan Boldin holding out during training camp, but Sando wisely points out that Boldin has very little to gain and much to lose from that move.
- If you're still thirsting for draft coverage, check out the team's official site. Their draft page is second to none.
- While we're on the topic of the NFL draft, it appears as if the New Orleans Saints almost selected Beanie Wells with the 14th overall pick and once he slipped past the 20th pick, they burnt up the phone lines trying to trade back into the first round. They supposedly had serious talks with the Patriots and Packers in the late first round but in end they just didn't have the ammunition to complete the trade. They had previously traded their second and third round picks for Jeremy Shockey and Jonathan Vilma. It would have been very interesting if each of the top three backs were off the board when the Cards picked at 31.
- Kent Somers takes a quick look at this weekends' mini-camp and says that a late 'contract related muscle strain' from Boldin wouldn't be a big surprise, but that having him on the practice field could help the progression of 4th round pick Greg Toler.
- What if Sports ranks the top 100 rookies in terms of impact that they'll have on their respective teams with Beanie Wells coming in a 19th, Rashad Johnson showing up at 28th and Big Herman Johnson bringing up the rear at 71st. We should point out though that they ran the same thing last year and DRC was supposed to be a disappointing 55th behind other Cardinal rookies, Early Doucet (51st) and Calais Campbell (35th) (so much for that).
- Pro Football Weekly has a small blurb about Alan Branch changing his eating habits in an effort to keep his metabolism up and his weight down. They also agree that it's common knowledge that he's facing a make or break season.
- If you really want to make you head spin, check out a seven round 2010 mock draft, but have no fear, they aren't the only ones who are ready to look ahead to next April.
- Michael Lombardi takes a quick look at the Cardinals 1st round selection of Beanie Wells and sums it up like this:
The Cardinals wanted Donald Brown in the first round and had to settle for Beanie Wells, but for me, that's not a settle. Beanie is one of the best backs in the draft and will make the Cards' offense even more explosive. When playing a three wideout set, the key component is the back, and Wells will be very effective. I love the value.
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While I agree with this assessment, where exactly does Lombardi get his information from? He’s the second person I’ve read who has reported that the Cards really wanted Donald Brown, yet I’ve never heard anyone from the organization even imply before the draft that they were targeting Brown. I think Indianapolis is out of their mind picking Brown over Wells.
Must be the same media who first reported that we wanted a 1st, 3rd, and 6th for Boldin, then modified it to a 1st and third, then downgraded it to a 2nd, and went on to report that we had received numerous offers for him, including a 1st and Todd Heap from the Ravens, when in reality we never listed an asking price for him and apparently the only offer was a second from Chicago.
Makes me think this report about wanting Brown over Wells is imaginative “reporting” as well. Since when does a team who doesn’t get the guy they want contact the player before the team in front of them has even made their selection?
I tend to wonder where this is comming from also...
I never heard that Brown came in for a personal workout like Beanie Wells did, correct me if I am wrong their. I never heard Whiz really talk about him either, where we heard him talk about Wells countless times before the draft, probably a product of journalists asking about Wells but we still heard more about Wells from Whiz.
In this day and age it is hard to believe everything a reporter says and until something happens or is said from the organization itself I rarely ever believe something that is reported.
I think I read that they brought in Wells, Brown and Greene for private workouts before the draft.
I think most people “assume” that we wanted Brown b/c they think he’d be the better fit for the offense as it’s currently constructed. He is a much more accomplished pass catcher and I think they’re putting to much weight on that.
Excellent point
I think you just hit the nail on the head with that. It seems like all the “experts” kept thinking the Cards wanted a finesse back so they could throw to him out of the backfield more. However, I’m certain they wanted a between the tackles runner who would be able to wear defenses down. The other thing that isn’t being mentioned enough is that Wells had a very good day catching the ball at his pro day. It is a skill he has but OSU didn’t waste their time throwing it to him (I wouldn’t have done it either with a 235 game breaker).
Can’t wait to see him in this offense.
plus
I doubt Whiz and Grimm want to build the ‘future’ around KW’s offense. They’re building for the day when Leinart takes over and when that day comes, we’ll need a good running game. Wells fits Whiz and Grimm’s style because of his down the hill, lower the shoulder or just stiff arm you back to the womb running style.
AZ doesn't want to move Boldin period.
Not to entirely change the subject but… AZ has never wanted to trade Boldin. The Bidwell’s will simply avoid the situation entirely telling the media they would be happy to keep him, but apparently he’s on the trading block. (WTF does that mean anyway, of course the AZ Cardinals are happy to keep a top 5-10 receiver who compliments Fitz perfectly, and is a total gamer at a bargain contract… that’s not the problem, the problem is Boldin wants the fuck out, and is tired of, in his perspective, incompetent management, and being underpaid.) All the while a lot of the media is trying to paint Boldin out to be a cancer/TO… which lowers his market value in a trade which the cards don’t so much care about, but also in contract negotiations, which they very much care about.
I’d have to agree w/ Boldin on incompetent management. You have a great player in the prime of his career (28 going on 29), has shown he can be a dominant #1 receiver (rookie year) w/o fitz, and you have several WR needy teams heavily under the cap to get a new deal done.
Cleveland Browns: $20.27 million
Chicago Bears: $20.96 million
Kansas City Chiefs: $32.3 million
Philadelphia Eagles: $37.44 million
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $35.54 million
Tennessee Titans: $13.05 million
Still no deal.
There are also multiple GMs who said they had no luck working out a deal/AZ never even responded/interested in moving Boldin.
Here’s what Jeff Fischer (Titans) said after the draft.
“Let me clarify things,‘’ Fisher said. "There was a lot of speculation, a lot of reports (Friday) evening. We never at any time made an offer to the Arizona Cardinals. We left several messages with them (Friday) night but they never returned our calls. We didn’t get in touch with them until before the draft today, and they said that they weren’t interested in moving him.’’
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090426/SPORTS01/90426038C5
The Bidwell’s don’t have cell phones apparently.
Similarly…
Jerry Angelo admitted his interest to the reporters gathered at Halas Hall Saturday night. This is courtesy of ESPN 1000’s Jason Belenke, who was stationed at the Bears facility:
“We did have conversations with Arizona, but nothing was able to get resolved,” said Angelo.
http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?post=4101481&name=dickerson
Lastly, I think you guys were 41 (?) M$ under the cap before free agency… No offense, because you guys have a ridiculously fun to watch team, on both defense/offense, and have two of the most talented/complimentary WRs… possibly since Carter/Moss. Pony up and pay the man and increase your window another with Warner who has at best 1-2 years left in him. But this is (imo) not Boldin’s fault, it’s just really really bad management from a historically awful, awful, awfully run team.
IMO it all just points to AZ management ignoring the problem hoping it will go away while going through the motions and making Boldin look like a prick.
Last point, if you were the very best in the world in a ridiculously profitable business (owners make money :D) wouldn’t you want to be paid competitively?
Wow you must be tired after typing all that crap.
Has to be the most useless post in history! Thanks for coming!
+ 1
yeah if they wanted to move him they would have before the draft.
The cards have the best #2 WR in the game signed for two more years for cheap. Not a situation that you hurry to deal with.
by CardsDefense on May 4, 2009 12:44 PM MDT up reply actions
All I know is the more and more I see of Wells...
The more I am liking this pick. He’s going to be a beast and the best back to come form this draft.
Who would win in a fight, Whisenhunt or a Hurricane?
Hold on, hold on, what if the Hurricanes name was Whisenhunt?
Daaaaaaaaaa Cards, Da Cards Da Cards Da Cards Da Cards!!!
Agreed
Wells will be good in your offense, he gives you toughness and burst you haven’t had at RB since… JJ Arrington! :D. Just kidding, I was shocked to see him slip so far, and if he gets 10-15 touches a game where he can really run hard… just another reason to watch the Cards offense. Bubble screens would be pretty sweet w/ fitz/boldin maul blocking :D.
Cards fans should thank Shockey and Vilma
otherwise we would have never gotten Beanie at #31. He looks better in red than he would have in gold anyway.
That's where I thought he was going
I thought there was a very good chance of him going to the Saints at #14, and like you said, thank god for their past trades because of all the reports I don’t believe I do think they were trying to get him before we picked.
who the heck would we have drafted if each of the top 3 RBs are gone?
One of the two top ILB’s (Rey Rey or James L), Eben Britton, Everrette Brown (DE/OLB), Clint Sintim or maybe Connor Barwin?
Tough call
I do think that the four guys they had targeted for round one were Wells, Moreno, Brown, and English, so if Wells had gotten snagged my educated (or not so educated) guess is that Everette Brown would have been the choice. I still can’t believe he lasted as long as he did, for a time I was beginning to think there was a glimmer of hope that he might continue his slide to us in round #2, but then reality set in.
that's a good question about Everette
I can’t remember a single mock that had him even avaliable at 31, much less in the middle of the second. I wonder what happened.
Who knows
I thought he’d be a top 10 pick, but I thought Beanie would be a top 15 pick as well so who knows? I’ve heard that it was a surprise that he measured in at 6’1" as opposed to 6’3" or 6’4", and while I can’t remember their history I’ve heard that DE’s from FSU who convert to a DE/LB have struggled with the transition but none of that is a good explanation for why he dropped so far.
I didn't expect San Diego to go after English so early
by AJ BirdWatcher on May 1, 2009 4:13 PM MDT up reply actions
I think English is going to be one of the top DE/OLB from the draft
In our mock I read up on him and watched a lot of Youtube footage and when ATL came up it was a no brainer to pick him. English is a beast.
Who’d have thought Pettigew to the Lions though?
Neither did I
While I think he was an excellent pick for SD that isn’t where I thought he was going either. Before the draft I was thinking Atlanta, and I thought Buffalo was going to get Pettigrew at #28.
All of the mocks I saw had him going to the Eagles or Saints...
I can’t say how surprised I was when I saw that the Cards got him at 31.
Also, the comment that was posted from Whiz asking Beanie during his work out which was something like “when we draft you, what do you want to be called Chris or Beanie”. That made me think that they landed exactly the guy that they wanted for their 1st round pick. Brown would have been great, but I think the FO got exactly who they wanted.
Alan Branch
I am astonished that the training staff didn’t already have Branch on a dietary regimen prior to this offseason! The Cardinals traded up in the second round to get this guy and, to this point, he has given the team virtually nothing. I hope that Branch can parlay his new conditioning program into a successful career because the defensive line is in dire need of that proverbial anchor in the middle.
I'm sure they did have him on a dietary regimen
However they can’t hold his fork and make him stick to the regimen – he now seems to realise that it’s in his interest to get into the team.
Hopefully he can challenge for the NT position because both he and Watson could really improve the defensive line this season if they play to their potentials.
+1
Watson and Branch might be the two biggest (figuratively and literally) keys to the defense this year. If they’re both healthy and motivated, they should be able to occupy multiple blockers and let the LB’s roam free.
+1
both of them need to be healthy and play effectively at the same time to provide a solid rotation. That’s a strenuous position to hold up.
by AJ BirdWatcher on May 4, 2009 3:07 PM MDT up reply actions
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