The Cardinals felt comfortable enough with their QB situation to pass on drafting a quarterback. The top three of the depth chart seems set with Leinart and Warner as 1 & 1a with St. Pierre a distant third. It's not uncommon though for a team to bring in an extra QB for training camp in order to keep the guys higher on the depth chart from taking too many reps. Sometimes these guys make the practice squad and sometimes they're just released. That makes me wonder how the Cardinals coaching staff feels about undrafted free agent signee, Anthony Morelli.

The former Penn State signal caller is a guy that has all the physical tools to succeed in any league. He's big (6'3 230), has decent athleticism and a strong arm that allows him to make all the throws, but the big red flag hanging from his resume is his ability to operate under pressure, read defenses and basically handle the mental aspects of playing QB in this league. The question that will face the coaching staff at the end of the season will be very clear, because every teams needs to have 3 quarterbacks somewhere on their team. The Cardinals can either keep 3 on their 53 man roster since St Pierre is not eligible for the practice squad or they can keep 2 on the active roster and Morelli on the practice squad. The problem for Morelli in that case is that he'll have to show the coaching staff quite a bit to unseat St Pierre who has a considerable amount of familiarity with the coaching staff from numerous days in Pittsburgh.

Continue reading this post »

Now that we've looked at how the offensive depth chart breaks down for the Cardinals in 2008, I started wondering will the Cardinals offense be better or worse in 2008? The offense was a clear cut Jekyll & Hyde case in 2007. The passing game was among league leaders with 254.1 yards per game (5th), but the running game left quite a bit to be desired with just 90 yards per game (29th). Overall the offense ranked 12th in total yards (344.1 yards per game) and 7th in points (404). For the sake of simplicity we'll look at these two aspects separately then tie them together at the conclusion.

Running Game: First we'll lay the bad news on you. The Cardinals were in the bottom five in yards per rush (3.6),  runs that resulted in first downs (70) and fumbles. They didn't have a single rush over 30 yards for the second consecutive season and they're leading rusher for the past two seasons (Edgerrin James) hasn't had one since October 23rd, 2005 when he was a member of the Colts.  The problem isn't just with Edge though because the Cards didn't have a running back average over 3.8 yards per carry in 2007. The good news though is that Edge was much better in 2007 than he was in 2006. He raised his yards per carry by nearly half a yard and had four carries of at least 20 yards (his long was 18 in 2006). Edge's bounce back year is at least partially related to a revamped offensive line that included three new starters and to make things even better those same five starters will be back in 2007. Edge will turn 30 years old shortly before the season starts and that's got to have something to do with the drafting of power back Tim Hightower. Hopefully Hightower can flash some skills in the preseason and take some of the load off of Edge, especially in short yardage and goal line situations. The bottom line is that it may seem like a bad sign that the same starters are coming back from a season in which the running game finished 29th in the league but with a more experienced offensive line and a back to keep Edge fresh, they might have just enough fire power to keep this offense balanced.

Passing Game: Well in my mind I was going to start with the negatives of the passing game but it's hard to find too many problems with the unit that ranked in the top five of the league in passing yards and touchdowns. They were also above league average in completion percentage and sacks allowed. Couple all those stats with the idea that each and every receiver hasn't reached their peak level of production in this league yet and it's hard not to image this unit not striking fear into opposing defenses. Ok, now I'll put down my Cardinal Kool-Aid and mention what everyone is thinking, what about the quarterback? Leinart will be the starter from day one even though he took a huge step back from his rookie season last year. His "sophomore slump" season was made even worse by a injury that ended his season just five games into it. Some mention should also be made that he was a young quarterback trying to learn and adjust to a new system in just his second season. He has the tools to succeed in this league and with an entire year and a half to learn and grow in this system, I expect a much better season in 2008. If all else fails and Matt stumbles out of the gate and the coaching staff gives up on him, they have arguably the best #2 QB in the league in Kurt Warner. Warner had his best season since his day in St Louis in 2007 and even with his age, he should be able to take over for another season if need be.The bottom line, in my opinion, is that while there may be some debate over who the starting QB should be, it should play itself out and one of them will prove capable of leading this unit to another successful season.

Continue reading this post »

There are always positional battles in training camp and in early May there are just too many variables to figure it all out. But we can preview the positions heading into camp.

Quarterback: The top two spots are set. Leinart would have to lose the job in camp to not be the opening day starter, but Warner is ready and waiting should Matt experience any hiccups. The spot to watch though is the #3 job. If the Cardinals chose to carry a third QB on the 53 man rosters it'll be St. Pierre (some teams carry just two). If they chose to carry only two, St Pierre would have to be released because the former Steeler has too much service time to be relegated to the practice squad. In that case, undrafted free agent rookie, Anthony Morelli would be the third QB but wouldn't count against the 53 because he'd be on the practice squad.

Running Back/Fullback: The drafting of Hightower and the projection of Castille (spent last season on the practice squad) means at least one of the current players has to go, if not two. At RB, the group includes Edge, Arrington, Shipp and Hightower. It is possible that the team could keep all four but it would be odd. Arrington offers something in the return game not to mention that he's younger (25) and cheaper than Shipp (30 years old). If the team decides to keep just three running backs, Shipp would look like the lowest on the totem pole. At fullback, Castille is a second year, undrafted free agent who's been praised by the coaching staff for bulking up in the off season. The coaching staff could have a difficult decision on their hands if it comes down to cutting veteran Terrelle Smith in favor of Castille. Smith hit 30 years old this year and he's considerably more expensive his counterpart. I'd look for Shipp and Smith to cut released before the start of the season.

Wide Reciever: We've already talked about the battle for the #3 WR job, but the competition will likely stretch all the way to the #5 job as well. The guys that stick around will have to contribute on special teams. Steve Breaston's roster spot should be safe considering he was one of the best punt returners in the league in 2007. Jerheme Urban is the most accomplished receiver outside of Fitz and Q, and he'll have to show continued improvement to keep his job. The group of Sean Morey (special teams standout), Ahmad Merritt (missed all of 2007 with injury), Jamaica Rector (speedster from Dallas), and undrafted free agent rookie, Lance Long will have to stand out above the rest in order to stick around. Obviously Fitz, Q, and Doucet's jobs are safe, so that leaves probably three other jobs among the six. Breaston will have fall on his face in order to not make the roster and Urban would have to prove he doesn't belong. That really leaves just one spot for the Morey, Merritt, Rector, and Long.

Picture via azcardinals.com

Continue reading this post »

We all know that Whisenhunt stated almost as soon as the season ended that Leinart was the starter for the 2008 season even though Kurt Warner had just finished his best season since he was winning Super Bowls in St Louis. Warner ended the season with 27 touchdowns versus only 17 interceptions, 3,400 yards, a 62.3% completion percentage and a respectable QB rating of 89.8, but he's still not considered the future of the organization or even a challenger for the starting job. How does he feel about that? That's exactly what Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports decided to find out:

“Why can’t a veteran guy become the face of a franchise? Why can’t he be the guy?” Warner asked. “I would love for it to be that way….The indications are that I’m going to get a shot – that the best player is going to play,” Warner said. “I’ve been there before and had coaches who tell me one thing and do another, so you’re always skeptical. You know how this business works with draft picks and money and all of those things. But until the people here prove me wrong as far as what they say, I’ve got no reason to doubt it. … They told me the best player is going to play come the first Sunday of the fall. That’s what I hang my hat on.”

Warner certainly doesn't sound like a guy who's ready to take a back seat to anyone. He's confident in his abilities even at 37 years old and in the final year of his contract. I'll say that I would always want my quarterback to be confident in his abilities but, I don't want Warner to be the starter at the beginning of the season or to become the starter at any point.

Let me explain myself, before I get blasted with "Leinart sucks and will get hurt" or "Warner's the better QB right now." I'll admit that Warner is very likely the better quarterback today and may be on September 7th when the Cardinals go to San Francisco. Warner might in fact be able to lead the Cardinals to a better record in 2008 than Leinart, but then what? Then we enter the 2008 off season still not knowing what we have in Leinart and Warner is a 38 year old free agent. Does the organization really sign a 38 year old quarterback to a new contract hoping that Leinart learns from the sidelines and is ready to start in 2009? The bottom line, as I see it, is I'm not interested in being good one season just to dive back into the doldrums of the NFL. They've built a solid foundation around the quarterback position and now it's time to develop the quarterback to take that foundation and build something great.

If Leinart starts the season and proves that he simply doesn't have the goods to play in this league, then I can accept Warner finishing the season. They can try to find another quarterback in the off season or through the draft again. Until they've figured out exactly what Leinart is though, I want him to be the quarterback of this team. Let the kid sink or swim. His future directly mirrors the future of this franchise.

Agree or disagree? Would you rather see how far Warner can take this team with an improved defense?

Matt Leinart didn't have the kind of season he was expecting in 2007. After seeing his playing time diminish thanks to a rare QB rotation employed by the coaching staff, Leinart broke his collarbone in week five and was done for the season. He had an even worse off season though when pictures surfaced of him surfaced partying at his home. Rumors swirled of underage drinking at his house and whether or not any of it was true, the damage was done. Leinart's now ready to focus on football and ready to get back on the field with his team. Just for the record though, Matt's  more concerned about what his team mates and coaches think than the public perception:

"I know that they support me 100 percent. ... All the other stuff doesn’t really mean a lot to me. What means a lot to me is this football team and moving forward."

Coach Whisenhunt was on record saying that he was disappointed with his quarterback but he's also noted that Matt's been working hard this off season.

"He understands the fishbowl he’s living in as a quarterback in the NFL. That’s the way it is. He’s working his rear end off. ... I’ve seen him up here at times when he didn’t have to, including time spent studying videotape of opponents. If you’re asking me about his commitment, just from what I’ve seen in this offseason, I have no doubts about him wanting to be one of the best quarterbacks and working hard at that."

It's an understatement to say that the Cardinals are depending on Leinart to become a franchise QB this season. So many pieces are in place with an impressive group of skill position players and a young and improving defense that some solid, efficient quarterback play could have the Cardinals in the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. Not to mention the money and time that the franchise has invested in Leinart.

Two things are clear four months from the start of the season: expectations are as high as they've ever been in the past 10 years and at least a handful of players are dissatisfied with their contracts. We'll get to the lofty expectations on a later day but are the number of disgruntled players something we should be worried about? Recent history has showed that one disgruntled player can divide a locker room and destroy a team's season (ala Terrell Owens and the Eagles in 2005).  But is the Cardinals' locker room that combustible and are any of these guys that kind of threat? Well lets look at each case individually.

Anquan Boldin - The most high profile of contract quibbles for the Cardinals is no doubt Boldin. The talk of him wanting a new deal started right around the time that Larry Fitzgerald signed his 4 year, 40 million dollar deal. The main question is where the talk is coming from though. Reports surfaced in the past couple of months that Boldin wanted out of the organization and that he demanded a trade but he's since refuted those reports. Boldin still have 3 years left on his current contract that was signed in 2005. The contract is nothing to sneeze at but his average of 5.67 million per year is a far cry from Fitz's 10 million per year. Boldin's had a prolific career to this point, holding NFL records for receiving yards in his first pro game (217), most receptions in first 26 games (157) and the fastest ever to 300 receptions (47 games). Boldin and Fitzgerald have also combined to form one of the most dynamic WR duos in  NFL history being just the second duo in NFL history to both have 100 receptions and 1,400 yards in the same season. The front office says that getting Boldin a new deal is a 'priority' but I wouldn't expect anything to happen until after this season.

Adrian Wilson - The man made famous as much by YouTube as his outstanding play on the field is ready to be paid and by paid, I mean the highest paid safety in the NFC. The silver lining to this thundercloud is at least he isn't requesting to be the highest paid safety in the NFL since most of the best and highest paid safeties reside in the AFC (Polamalu, Reed and Sanders). Wilson's currently playing under a 5 year, 21 million dollar contract that was signed in December of 2004. At the time, Wilson was a well paid player but now he's a relative bargain. He'll need a big bounce back season to convince the Cards that he's worth big money after an injury marred season that caused him to miss 7 games in 2007. He's still relatively young though at 28 years old so one more big contract should be in his future after the 2008 season.

Darnell Dockett - Dockett seemed the most likely to hold out or miss mini-camps but he showed up at the urging of his fellow teammates. The reason that his absence was more of a concern that others is because the front office has made it clear that they are not going to restructure his deal. Dockett signed an extension halfway through the 2006 season and is under contract through the 2011 season. He's well paid, at least 3 million every year, but Dockett had his best season to date in 2007 with career highs in tackles (58) and sacks (9) and was also voted to his first Pro Bowl. Dockett will have to come to terms with his current contract though because he's at the bottom of a long list of guys with their hands out and the Cards control his rights for the next four seasons.

Karlos Dansby - Dansby will have to be the first domino to fall if any contracts get done this off season. The Cards are expected to be right up against the cap after they sign their rookies but a long term deal for Dansby could free up some money to extend other veterans. He's currently scheduled to earn 8.065 million in 2008 under the franchise tag and he seems pretty satisfied with this current deal. If he stays healthy and has another productive season (averaged 88 tackles, 5 sacks and 2 interceptions the past three seasons), he'll hit free agency in his prime (27 years old) and ready for a pay day. Dansby recently saw his fellow linebacker, Calvin Pace, leave the Cardinals and sign a 6 year, 42 million dollar deal (20 million guaranteed). Signing Dansby to a long term deal is priority #1 for the Cards and they've actively working on getting a deal done.

Continue reading this post »

It's hard to tell much if anything at all from practices without pads or hits but there are still a couple of interesting notes to pass along. First everyone from the coaching staff to players are raving about how crisp and fresh the team looked in practice. Several sources noted that there wasn't a single turnover the entire weekend and possibly the best news is that both quarterbacks, Leinart and Warner looked very sharp for early practices. Also Leinart looks fully recovered and shouldn't be restricted at all this off season

• First round pick, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is already practicing with the first string, because Rod Hood strained a groin muscle. Hood's injury isn't considering serious but I love the idea of DRC getting as many reps as possible against Fitz and Q. Rodgers-Cromartie also mentioned that the team wants him to get his weight from 184 to 195, which he says won't be a problem. He did say though that the tough part would be to maintain that weight.
  
• The fullback position looks like a job that will be a battle through training camp. Incumbent starter, Terrelle Smith, took a backseat to Tim Castille for a portion of the weekend. Castille, an un-drafted free agent last season has recently been praised by the coaching staff for bulking up in the off season. Castille has two distinct advantages over Smith, he's 6 years younger and quite a bit cheaper. Smith will have to hope that his experience makes up for those two.
  
• Antrel Rolle's spot on this team may not be quite as defined as we thought. It was widely assumed that he would take over as the starting free safety this season and for the first couple of practices that looked to be the truth. During one of the practices on Saturday though, as the defense broke up into position groups Rolle went with the cornerbacks.
  
• The Cardinals will be put to some decisions pretty quickly once the seven rookie draft picks start signing contracts. There were 82 players at the mini-camp this weekend but rosters can't be greater than 82. Un-signed rookies aren't officially on the roster but once there starting signing two players will have to be cut.

Continue reading this post »

Before we start hearing about rookie contracts, I thought we'd take a look at where the Cardinals stand in terms of cap space. The salary cap is kind of like rocket science in that you have to be near genius in order to understand it all. Since I'm no where near that level, I'll defer to the experts on these numbers. This, from what I understand, is a very conservative estimate in that every possible bonus is included, even if it possibly won't count against the cap. Hat tip to joeschmo, resident capologist at azsportsfans for this comprehensive look at the Cardinals' cap for 2008. Here's a couple of things that jump out at me before we get down to the raw numbers.

• Matt Leinart has to step up and show signs of becoming the franchise QB in 2008. Having nearly $10 million tied up in two quarterbacks won't work much longer. Warner's contract ends after 2008 and they need Leinart to be firmly entrenched as the starting and productive QB.
• The offensive line is in better shape than I thought. The entire starting five are signed through at least 2009. Considering that they were at the very least average in 2007 and they were breaking in three new starters, I like the idea of those five guys growing more cohesive. A steady dependable OL will go a long way to helping Leinart develop and help Edge live out his contract.
  

Continue reading this post »