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What The Arizona Cardinals Have In Brodie Croyle


Hi all, KC Chiefs fan here. I'm also a big Arizona Cardinals fan as I fell in love with the team when I lived in AZ a couple of years ago. That said, I'd like to take a moment to bring you up to speed on Brodie Croyle and hopefully give you some insight into what you've got in him.

Star-divide

When Brodie wasn't resigned during the off season, the reaction among KC fans was, for the most part, a collective shrug. A few were quite relieved to see him walk, but no one will will miss him here. I'll get into the reasons why in just a moment, but I'd first like to note that he has no animosity toward him here in KC. We don't hate him; hell you'll find us rooting for the kid. We see him as the subject of a failed experiment who carries a handicap to his game we've feared for years he would be unable to overcome.

    Brodie was drafted in 2006 as the heir apparent to Trent Green as the QBOTF. He slid in the draft over concerns about his ability to stay healthy.  Unfortunately, the injury bug followed him into the NFL huddle as well and haunted him his entire stint in KC. He was never able to wrest the starting job from Green or capable veteran Damon Huard, due to spotty play and recurring injuries. Finally, in 2008 the inept Herman Edwards regime just handed him the job after waiting in vain for him to win in outright. Adalius Thomas ended his season early yet again that year, opening the door for Tyler Thigpen to finish it out. In '09 The new Haley regime (you may have heard that name) replace him with Matt Cassel of NE fame. For two more seasons Brodie rode the bench, seeing occasional relief duty for Cassel.

  Brodie has the dubious distinction of having never won an NFL game he's started. To be fair, he captained some truly horrific teams in his time in KC. He was throwing to pop warner caliber players behind a line that allowed not only him, but every other QB who suited up for KC between '06 and '08 to be taken out of the game. His slight frame certianly has not helped him though. We often hoped he would get up beyond his meager 205lb frame. On the plus side, the kid has an absolute bomb for an arm. Stretching the field is not problem for him.

  To close, we liked Croyle but the only roster he was able to stay on was the hospital patient one. We came to calling him "Brokie" over it. Is he better than Skelton or Hall? I'd say there probably isn't a huge difference either way. As long as he's on your team though, you will have some decent eye candy. Google his wife. She might be the best part of the deal.

 

Check out the Arrowhead Pride discussion for more on Brodie. 

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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I gotta say

I’m really surprised by this move. I know Hall is injured and they need some camp depth, but Broken Croyle? Interesting move.
Thanks for the insight. Hope you guys are enjoying Haley. We sure miss him and his fiery personality.

by Jesse Reynolds on Aug 23, 2011 4:06 PM MDT reply actions  

+1

Arizona Cardinals/Phoenix Suns/ Arizona Diamondbacks/Phoenix Coyotes/ Arizona Rattlers/Chicago Bears fan

[I have always lived in Arizona, dad is from Chicago].

by JoeCB1991 on Aug 23, 2011 5:17 PM MDT up reply actions  

Not sure what you expect

Not going to be great QB quality available at this point in training camp. Heck, even DA has a job…

Besides, he’s the #3 and will be cut as soon as Skelton’s ankle heals anyhow.

by CardsFan1976 on Aug 24, 2011 12:14 PM MDT up reply actions  

Well

I was thinking we would bring in a guy like Hall. A no-name (relatively) with potential. Not a has been.

by Jesse Reynolds on Aug 24, 2011 1:28 PM MDT up reply actions  

Thought Croyle looked like he could be good at times

I don’t have a problem bringing him in, but I’d be surprised if he can make an impact at this point.

by tw3kr on Aug 23, 2011 7:45 PM MDT reply actions  

He has a cannon but has never been able to put it to good use...

If you have a solid oline he would do okay but if he gets hit… forget about it.

by tomahawk44 on Aug 23, 2011 8:00 PM MDT up reply actions  

I'm not sure what to make of this...

all kinds of ways to look at it.
Hall is done here? They want to push Bartel or don’t like what they see there? Skelton’s ankle has them concerned with a viable #2?

by Cardzfan on Aug 23, 2011 7:54 PM MDT reply actions  

I think Broken Croyle

Is just a camp dummy I think Big Red’s Skelton & Bart make the 53, but we can pretend Haley sent us something for Breaston.

Chicago Cubs - Arizona Cardinals 168 combined years and no rings
I guess I'm a masochist

by TBru on Aug 23, 2011 11:32 PM MDT reply actions   1 recs

Rec'd

And agree. It will take a catastrophic fail by Bartel now to not make the squad,

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by Jess Root on Aug 24, 2011 12:57 AM MDT up reply actions  

It's happened before.

See: “Leinart” circa 2010

But in seriousness Bartel is looking good and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was #2 for the beginning of the season depending on Skelton’s sprain.

by DustGrazer on Aug 24, 2011 11:15 AM MDT up reply actions  

Or an injury.

Yeah, Croyle is just a camp body for now. The team will get a chance to look at him closely and decide if he is worth bringing back another time if they find themselves in a bind.

by hadrarius on Aug 24, 2011 4:49 PM MDT up reply actions  

As Brodie Croyle's number one fan

And as someone who intends to name his firstborn son Brodie, I can promise you I’ve seen every snap Brodie Croyle has ever taken in an NFL game.

People are going to tell you he’s fragile. Fact is, that may be true. He’s always had a tough time staying healthy, in fact, even when he was playing at Alabama he was playing through injuries about a third of the time.

But if you put that aside, the kid has an incredible arm. He’s very accurate and make all the passes. He’s fairly athletic and could be a very good stop-gap starter in a long term back up role. He almost led KC to a win over the Ravens two years ago (when the Chiefs weren’t surging as they are now), and in the times when he couldn’t stay healthy, neither could any other KC QB due to an abysmal offensive line. Chiefs fans, as much as I love them, will often forget to mention that Damon Huard, Tyler Thigpen, and Brodie Croyle all got injured in the same season that Brodie was going to take over the reigns – this fact is even more significant that Thigpen was brought in as an athlete with bulk. Then they retooled their offense around Thiggy with a borderline gimmicky set called the “Arrowspread.” No such adjustments were ever made for Brodie.

In fact, when Brodie last started, a fill in job for injured Matt Cassel against San Diego, Charlie Weiss dialed up one of the most unimaginative, repetitive, and predictable game plans imaginable. Even down by multiple scores in the second half, Weiss refused to put his quarterback in a position where he would be able to succeed, almost always running on the first two downs to little avail and leaving Brodie to try and force something on third down in order to convert.

Rarely will (perhaps rightfully) jaded Cheifs fans mention Brodie’s game against the Ravens. Even rarer still will they mention Croyle’s first NFL start, a close loss to Indy where Brodie posted a better passer rating than his counterpart in Peyton Manning.

With a solid offensive line, Brodie can be a solid, solid back up in this league. I think that realistically at this point that may be his peak, but its something that often seems to desperately hard to find in exactly the moment you need it most.

If you have any questions about Brodie I’d love to answer them. If you find a highlight real on YouTube from his time in KC… that’s me. Its on there somewhere. Feel free to check it out and see what the kid can do.

"It is unlikely that anyone has ever read Nietzsche or Derrida and has been inspired to open a soup kitchen"

by troy145 on Aug 24, 2011 9:34 PM MDT reply actions  

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