Arizona Cardinals 2011-12 Season: Most Disappointing Player Of The Year

Now that we have finished up all of the positive awards, we unfortunately have to move on to the award that doesn't shine such a bright light on some of the Cardinals players. But first, let's do a quick recap. Patrick Peterson was voted as the rookie of the year, Larry Fitzgerald was the offensive player of the year, the community voted Calais Campbell as the defensive player of the year and lastly, Beanie Wells took home the comeback player of the year trophy. It would be extremely difficult to argue with any of these selections.

Unlike all of the players mentioned above, the players listed after the jump did not have seasons that one might consider to be very good. Let's take a look at some of the most disappointing Cardinals players of the 2011-12 season.

Kevin Kolb

With Kolb being new to the team and having to deal with injuries all season long, he gets his name mentioned with this 'award'. He only managed to play in nine games total due to turf toe and concussion complications. In the nine games that he did start, Kolb often struggled to run the offense and put up subpar numbers because of that.

Kolb ended the season on the bench with a 57.7% completion rate and an 81.1 quarterback rating. He also had nine touchdown passes compared to eight interceptions. Although Kolb was disappointing, he is one player that I would expect huge improvements from going into next season.

Todd Heap

The former Arizona State Sun Devil failed to give much production to the Cardinals at all this year. He, like Kolb, was forced to sit much of the year due to nagging injuries. He played in only ten games, starting four of them. His first --and only -- touchdown reception came in week 17 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Heap was brought in to be a safety net for the quarterback and a legitimate red zone threat, which is exactly what he was while playing in Baltimore. Unfortunately, it just didn't pan out and unlike Kolb, I fear he may not get the opportunity to prove his worth in Cardinal red next season.

Joey Porter

After restructuring his contract to remain a Cardinal, coaches and fans alike expected big things from one of the best pass rushers of this generation. Sadly, Porter only managed to make it through the first six games of the season before succumbing to a knee injury that would end his tenure in Arizona. Although he has not officially been cut from the team, there is realistically no chance he returns next season.

In the six games Porter did play, he was highly ineffective. He registered just one sack and remains three sacks shy of the 100 mark for his career. His poor play this season may be the nail in the coffin for Mr. Porter's career.

Stewart Bradley

When the Cardinals signed Bradley to a 5 year, $30 million free agent contract, it was expected that he would quickly adapt to the new defensive scheme and take over at the inside linebacker spot, allowing Paris Lenon to come in on situational downs. Instead, Bradley was relegated to special teams for most of the year, coming in sparingly to give both Lenon and Daryl Washington some rest.

When he was in the game, Bradley often looked lost on the field. He collected no stat of recognition and struggled to learn the defensive playbook. The hope is that next year, Bradley can come out and compete for the starting job, but after watching Lenon continue to play at a high level, I'm not so sure that Bradley has it won just yet. He will need to show major improvements before he sees an increase in playing time.

Dan Williams

The first round selection out of Tennessee in 2010 had issues with trying to handle the rigors of being the team's starting nose tackle. Williams was only able to play in ten games this season after breaking his arm during a freak accident in the away game against the San Francisco 49ers. While he was on the field, Williams did not do everything the coaching staff was expecting of him.

First of all, Williams came into the year out of shape yet again. This seems to be a reoccurring issue with him and if it isn't curbed soon, Williams could become the next Deuce Lutui. Also, Williams wasn't really the big run stopping plug that everyone expected him to be this season. In fact, his spot on the depth chart was questioned due to the inspiring play of rookie defensive tackle, David Carter. Losing Williams for the final six games of the season did not even appear to hobble the Cardinals defense in any fashion. He needs to come into OTAs this summer with his weight under control and a new sense of urgency.

My vote for most disappointing player has to go to Kevin Kolb. After the Cardinals gave up so much to acquire him to be their starting quarterback, I never thought I would be questioning whether or not John Skelton should be starting over him at any given point. I realize the lack of an offseason hurt his growth and chemistry with his new teammates, but sometimes we have to play with the cards we are dealt. Kolb still has a lot to prove if he wants to earn the respect of this franchise and it's fans.

While there were other players that had poor seasons, these were the five that I found to be the most underwhelming. If you feel there was someone else that should win the Disappointing Player of the Year award, feel free to leave a comment below (I'm talking to you, Levi haters).

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