O'Brien Schofield: The Steal Of The Cardinals' 2010 NFL Draft

by Cardsfan928 on Feb 27, 2011 10:10 PM MST

The Cardinals have free agency and the Draft in the near future, so let's touch on what happened last off-season. We had star players Karlos Dansby and Antrel Rolle depart from our defense, along with Bertrand Berry calling it a career. Then, on offense Anquan Boldin signed with Baltimore, Kurt Warner retired and then, for some strange reason, we traded the O-line captain Reggie Wells to Philadelphia.

On defense, we found a productive replacement for Dansby, and an upgrade at FS in Kerry Rhodes. Offensively the only thing we really did was sign Alan Faneca and our line play was flat out embarassing.

The draft of last year has yielded some great results: Daryl Washington was productive, Dan Williams made a noticeable difference when opponents ran up the middle on the back end of the season, Andre Roberts started looking like he could be a problem shifting around in the middle and Jim Dray seems consistent.

Now, onto O'Brien Schofield. He was being touted as one of the best pass rushers in last year's draft (Like Von Miller this year). He blows out his knee at the Senior Bowl. (Find many of the articles where this is mentioned on ROTB). We get him late in the draft, and he spends the preseason and most of the season rehabbing his knee. The very limited time he saw on the field this season he recorded 2 sacks.

Let's say Schofield progresses like Calais Campbell in year two, then we take a guy like Von Miller at #5. I'm thinking we may have one nasty OLB tandem.

Poll

Were you impressed with Schofields very limited playing time?

Yes

213 votes

No

21 votes

234 votes | Poll has closed

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Revenge of the Birds' (ROTB) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of ROTB's editors.

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Comments

+1

Like the Cardinals? Revenge of the Birds is where to go.
Like Arizona Sports in general? SB Nation Arizona is where you'll get it all.

by Jess Root on Feb 27, 2011 10:12 PM MST reply actions

Beast

Period. This man is going to turn into an absolute beast in the next two years.

I hope.

by Handsome Bert on Feb 27, 2011 10:52 PM MST reply actions

He's undersized

Which worries me about his ability to consistently rush the passer, but his overall athleticism is excellent. Wash and Schofield covering TE’s isn’t near as scary as any of the LB’s we have and have had.
If we draft Miller and he pans out, that would give us some super athletic OLB bookends.

by Jesse Reynolds on Feb 27, 2011 11:34 PM MST reply actions

its normally Wilson

who covered TE last year…. Thats why TE tore our defense apart. Am I the only one who sees Wilson more like a LB than a safety?

by Will Smith on Feb 28, 2011 10:46 AM MST up reply actions

Nope. Been saying that since last year.

If his coverage doesn’t pick up, he may find himself doing LB drills next summer. I think at this stage of his career he could transition into a really good 3-4 ILB or 4-3 OLB. He’s definitely got the size for it.

If you don't have anything good to say about the Cards this season, you'd be correct.

by hevchv on Feb 28, 2011 11:46 AM MST via mobile up reply actions

More and more I think Bill Davis' schemes were what caused much of his struggle.

Pendergast was superb at putting AW in the right position. Davis did not put him in the box as often. Maybe that is because Rolle, with cornerback knowledge could mask some of the coverage issues, but I think Davis did a poor job at putting him in positions to make plays.

Like the Cardinals? Revenge of the Birds is where to go.
Like Arizona Sports in general? SB Nation Arizona is where you'll get it all.

by Jess Root on Feb 28, 2011 1:00 PM MST up reply actions

Here's to hoping Horton can get the best out of A-Dub.

The secondary seemed to be in confusion much of the time under Davis. No big surprise that those coaches are all gone with the new DC coming in.

by hadrarius on Feb 28, 2011 7:37 PM MST up reply actions

I like the quote...

…that Horton said about the things McFadden learned when he was here in AZ. He said that it took months for McFadden to “unlearn” the things he was taught here. That makes me feel better that the problem wasn’t necessarily the players, or even the heart of the players, it was the schemes they were taught. With a new regime coming in, that’s all going to change, and we may see DRC in that elite form again.

"When life gives you lemons, I say f**k the lemons and bail."

by SGM on Feb 28, 2011 8:48 PM MST up reply actions

Nail on the head

The more I think about it, size could become a problem for the Cards if we get a guy like Von Miller. Miller and Schofield would definitely be a very talented set of OLBs, but would a decent, large O-line that they go up against be able to neutralize them because of their lack of size? This has got me thinking more about Quinn with the #5 overall. Dudes pushing 270 AND he’s quick. Then Schofield is small and agile. That sounds like a nightmare for O-line coaches. (The brain tumor in the past is still concerning, though)

Also, on a separate note, is anyone else wondering how Solder or Carimi would look in Cardinal red? I know they’ll both more than likely gone by the second round, and neither of them is worth the #5, but this O-line needs revamping.

"When life gives you lemons, I say f**k the lemons and bail."

by SGM on Feb 28, 2011 4:40 PM MST up reply actions

Yes

on Solder or Carimi in the second….back to Miller and Schofield, and them being small. Considering CC and DD are both a bit out of the 3-4 DE mold, We have DD for the long term, and we get CC locked up…Schofield and Miller would be perfect complements to the oversized ends

by Cardsfan928 on Feb 28, 2011 6:12 PM MST up reply actions

It seems like that want Williams to take up blocks and let all of these fast small guys run through those holes.

Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Phoenix Suns/Chicago Bears fan [I have always lived in Arizona, dad is from Chicago].

by JoeCB1991 on Feb 28, 2011 7:05 PM MST up reply actions

Double teamed?

Did opposing O-lines ever need to double team Williams? I can’t recall.

"When life gives you lemons, I say f**k the lemons and bail."

by SGM on Feb 28, 2011 7:29 PM MST up reply actions

Yes

Take a look at the backhalf of the season, particularly when teams ran up the middle…Compare the snaps between Robinson and Williams…he made a difference in consuming space.

by Cardsfan928 on Feb 28, 2011 8:04 PM MST up reply actions

Against the Rams

Williams dominated. It seemed like the Rams game planned to attack the middle (from how many times they tried) that game too.
After that game, teams didn’t attack the middle as often when Williams was in.

by Jesse Reynolds on Feb 28, 2011 11:01 PM MST up reply actions

I've got the same concern

about a Schofield / Miller line up. Quinn’s size is appealing. I’d like to see Miller in drills against O-line, particularly his ability to bull rush and power through a lineman. He has the speed around the end but I’m not sure he can overpower an nfl OL. A heavy hitter at ILB to replace Hayes / Lenon would go a long way in helping too. Still I would be happy with either Quinn or Miller at #5.

by hadrarius on Feb 28, 2011 7:35 PM MST up reply actions

Apparently, he was dominating people in the Senior Bowl

Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Phoenix Suns/Chicago Bears fan [I have always lived in Arizona, dad is from Chicago].

by JoeCB1991 on Feb 28, 2011 7:46 PM MST up reply actions

Don't have the nfl channel so I missed that game.

How did he dominate them is the question?

by hadrarius on Mar 1, 2011 6:11 PM MST up reply actions

Blowing by some of the offensive linemen during the drills they were doing.

Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Phoenix Suns/Chicago Bears fan [I have always lived in Arizona, dad is from Chicago].

by JoeCB1991 on Mar 1, 2011 6:45 PM MST up reply actions

That's what he's known for.

I have no doubt about his skill to run circles around them. Can he develop the ability to overpower them? That would appear to be the weak part of his game. His speed off the edge is dominant and his coverage ability is apparently solid.

by hadrarius on Mar 3, 2011 10:18 PM MST up reply actions

I really liked this pick last year

I didn’t think he would play, but liked what I saw from him when he played.

by Cardzfan on Feb 28, 2011 7:13 AM MST reply actions

Very impressive considering that he just finished recovering from his knee exploding during a practice.

Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Phoenix Suns/Chicago Bears fan [I have always lived in Arizona, dad is from Chicago].

by JoeCB1991 on Feb 28, 2011 8:41 AM MST reply actions

I'm a huge Schofield fan...

this guy is a GYM rat and extremely hard worker. He was said to labored for hours alone in the gym when no one was there to push him. I was ecstatic at how athletic this guy is. He came in and made a difference quickly. Remember that ball he striped in Minnesota on special teams? I knew he was going to light it up after that. If he gets his coverage skills down and Washington and Will Davis keep progressing our OLB will go from worst to first!

by Punisher3190 on Feb 28, 2011 8:51 AM MST reply actions

I think last year's Draft was one of the best

In Cardinals history. All of the draft picks were playing considerable time by the end of the year, and even Jorrick Calvin (Our 6th Round pick that we traded) became a starter in Philadelphia (Might’ve only been as a KR, though).

by Skii on Feb 28, 2011 4:05 PM MST reply actions

+1

Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Phoenix Suns/Chicago Bears fan [I have always lived in Arizona, dad is from Chicago].

by JoeCB1991 on Feb 28, 2011 4:20 PM MST up reply actions

Cards had a very impressive draft last year

And I think Schofield will be a beast there for a while. As long as his knee holds up, he was very highly rated. That was such bad timing for him and I really felt bad for the kid. Does all that work to get himself so highly rated, then blows out his knee and has to hope he is even picked up by a team in the last step before the actual draft.

Glad he went to the Cards though because now I can watch him every week!

by PhoenicianPakFan on Feb 28, 2011 9:40 PM MST up reply actions