The meat and potatoes of any defense is it's linebackers and most importantly the middle linebacker(s). They're expected to lead the team in tackles and be an overall leader for the defense. The Cardinals have two experienced tackling machines in the middle of their defense and the depth behind the starters should be enough to keep everyone fresh and quell any panic that should arise if a starter goes down for a game or two. This unit could have the least amount of question marks of the entire defense but are they strong enough to cover the deficiencies in other areas?

Karlos Dansby: Dansby's been a starter since his rookie season and he's gotten better every season even though he's yet to play a full 16 games. It's not a stretch to say that his best football is still ahead of him though. Everyone knows his contract status and how that should motivate him this season. Anything short of a career year would have to be judged as a disappoint. He won't top the eight sacks that he had in 2006 but he should be able to easily top 120 tackles and pick up a handful of sacks. He may not be a Pro Bowl caliber player but he's a balanced player who plays equally well against the run and pass. 

Gerald Hayes: The outside linbackers get the love and Dansby gets the pub but Hayes is the only Cardinal who had 90 tackles in each of the past two seasons. He's not flashy or dynamic but he's been consistent and reliable in his two seasons as a starter. He's a take-down tackler and excels at stopping the run and is developing as a pass rushers. As long as he's healthy you can pencil Hayes in for another season of nearly 100 tackles, a handful of sacks and a play or two that changes a game (first Seattle game). The best thing is that he's still young (27) and, like Dansby, is still getting better. He's under contract through 2011 and the Cardinals will get the best out him throughout his prime.

Monty Beisel: Beisel's the top backup and he's got plenty of experience to get the job done if the Cardinals need a spot-starter for a game or two. He's never started a full season but he's started nearly 20 games over the past four seasons and averaged nearly six tackles a start. He totaled 42 tackles in 2007 despite only starting two games and is a valuable special teams player. He's a solid tackler who is better against the run and he's at his best when running 'down hill' to the ball carrier. Beisel's entering the final year of his current contract and should be motivated to prove to the team that he'll remain a productive player into his early thirties (turns 30 next month).

Matt Stewart: Stewart signed a one year deal in the offseason and comes to the Cardinals with 60 games of starting experience with the Browns and Falcons. He's not the biggest or most athletic player in the league but he's got a great work ethic, awareness and instincts. His strength is dropping back in coverage and could see most of his playing time on passing downs. He'll get his share of time on special teams coverage units as well.

Ali Highsmith: The deck is always stacked against an undrafted free agent and while that's the case with Highsmith, there is still a chance that he could win a roster spot. If he can learn both the inside and outside backer spots, he'd have a better chance of making the team out of camp. The biggest knock on him has been his lack of both height (just under 6'0) and size (230) and he's already put on some weight from playing days (223) at LSU. He's an instinctive player though who plays faster than his forty time (4.7) would indicate. It'll be a while before we know if he can shed blocks at the professional level but for now he should be able to star on special teams.

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The Cardinals don't have a superstar at inside linebacker but they do have a talented, experienced, deep group of guys who can shut down the run and defend the pass. Their all decently young and it wouldn't be a surprise if Dansby and Hayes had career years and led a surprisingly good defensive front seven. Beisel and Stewart should star on special teams and Highsmith will open some eyes during camp.

The 2003 NFL draft was action packed and kept fans on the edge of their seat as each of the first three selections was involved in some sort of trade. To make a long story short, the Cardinals traded their sixth overall and their early second round pick to New Orleans for New Orleans' two first round picks and their second round pick. So instead of the Cardinals picking 6th overall and 5th in the second round, they Cardinals got the 17th and 18th overall pick and the 22nd pick of the second round.

First Round Pick (17th Overall): Bryant Johnson WR - Penn State

The Cards reached a bit on the Penn State product and Johnson was pretty much the same receiver that his draft profile would suggest. The book on him coming into the draft was that he had decent speed and ran good routes, but that he would had mental lapses that would lead to dropped passes. Johnson was a solid player for his five seasons in Arizona but he wasn't the game changer that they were hoping for out with the 17th pick. He started at least 8 games in four of his five seasons but never really stood out for an extended period of time. His best season was in 2006 when he caught 40 passes for 740 yards (18.5 ypc) and four touchdowns. Johnson didn't get nearly the contract offers that he was hoping for this off season and signed just a one year deal for $2 million with San Francisco in March.

First Round Pick (18th Overall): Calvin Pace DE - Wake Forest

The Cards again reached on a guy who had an early second round
projection and Pace underwhelmed the franchise for four seasons. Luckily for Pace though, he had his best season as a pro during 2007 and he parlayed it into a lucrative contract with the Jets. Pace started his rookie season and finished the year with just over 30 tackles and a single sack. He'd lose his starting job the following season and would spend the next three seasons as a spot starter and he'd total 52 tackles and 5.5 sacks before exploding in 2007 under the Cardinals new 3-4 defense. Pace returned to a starting role at outside linebacker and finished the season with 98 tackles, 6.5 sacks and his first interception. Pace will remain as an outside linebacker with the Jets so we'll see if his breakout season was the result of a defense that finally suited him or a desire to get a big payday.

Other possible first round selections: Kevin Williams, Terrell Suggs, Marcus Trufant, Troy Polamalu

Second Round Pick: Anquan Boldin WR - Florida State

Boldin overcame a horrible combine performance (4.72 forty) and what he felt was a slip on draft day to explode onto the NFL scene in his first game with 10 receptions for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns. He'd go on to finish his rookie campaign with 101 receptions for 1,377 yards and 8 touchdowns en route to his first Pro Bowl. Boldin has went on wreaking havoc on the rest of the NFL for the next four seasons and injuries seem to be the only thing that can slow him down. Since his rookie season, he's missed 12 games but has still managed two more seasons with over 1,000 yards and set new career highs in both receptions (102 in 2005), yards (1402 in 2005), yards per catch (14.5 in 2006) and touchdowns (9 in 2007) since his rookie season. Boldin's list of acolades through five seasons include two Pro Bowls, a Rookie of the Year award and he's set records for most receiving yards for a rookie in his first game, most receptions in first 26 games (157), fastest WR to 300 receptions (47 games) and fastest WR to 400 receptions (67 games).

Other possible picks: Osi Umenyiora, Lance Briggs, Jason Witten

Third Round Pick: Gerald Hayes LB - Pittsburgh

Hayes took a while to get acclimated to the NFL, starting just three games during his first two seasons, then a knee injury ended his third season before it even got started. His fourth season though would be his coming out party. He started 14 games and finished the season with 93 tackles, one sack and three interceptions. Hayes improved on those numbers in 2007, starting every game and finishing just shy of 100 tackles and added four sacks, an interception and his first touchdown. Hayes isn't a flashy player but he fits perfectly into weakside linebacker role of Clancy Pendergast's 3-4. Hayes is solid against the run, can punish opposing ball carriers and his style of play should allow him to keep racking up tackles for quite some time.

Other possible selections: Nate Burleson, Kevin Curtis, Chris Brown

Fifth Round Pick: Kenny King DT - Alabama

King played in 11 games, even starting one, his rookie season and totaled 17 tackles and two sacks but he wouldn't play in another game for the Cardinals over the next three seasons. King missed the entire 2004 and 2005 season with a wrist injury and the same injury caused him to miss most of 2006 as well. He left after the 2006 season and most recently failed a physical with the Ravens.

Other possible selections: Justin Gage, Brian St. Pierre, Dan Koppen

Sixth Round Pick: Reggie Wells OT - Clarion

Not many NFL starters come out of Clarion University but Wells has been the starter for at offensive guard for the past four seasons. He's become one of the most consistent starters on the offensive line and at this point is a veteran who not only tutors the young players but also leads by example. Wells is signed through the 2010 season and even though he'll likely never reach Hawaii, he's a solid contributor that the Birds can count on and an absolute steal in the sixth round.

Other possible selections: Gerome Sapp, Cato June

Sixth Round Pick (Compensatory Selection): Tony Gilbert LB - Georgia

Gilbert didn't make the 53-man roster out of camp in 2003 but the Cardinals signed him to the practice squad. He didn't last long on the p-squad though as the Jaguars signed him to their active roster in October. Gilbert has gone on to star on the Jags special teams units, playing in 56 games and totaling 38 special teams tackles. He's also added 23 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery on defense. He signed a new contract with Jacksonville after the 2007 season.

Other possible selections: David Tyree, Yeremiah Bell, Tully Banta-Cain

All in all, another solid draft for the Cardinals. They'll enter the 2008 season with 3 above average starters (Boldin, Hayes and Wells) and the 2003 draft combined to start over 230 games for the Cardinals and played in a total of 350 games. A draft with that kind of production can't be any lower than a very solid A.

Some might consider this blasphemy, but the selections after Boldin really intrigued me, especially Osi and Witten. If we re-drafted the 2003 draft would you still take Boldin over those two or someone else that catches your eye?

The first week of organized team activities concluded this afternoon in Arizona and the good news is that there aren't any new injuries and there weren't any surprise absences. The reports that come out of OTAs need to be taken with a grain of salt but I'll pass them along anyways.

• Steve Breaston seems to be the shining star so far after three practices. He'd carried the momentum from a solid mini-camp shortly after the draft. After a rookie season in which he made a name for himself as a returner he definitely made it a point this off season to improve as a receiver. He's making sure that  Early Doucet will have to do more than simply show up to get the #3 job.
• Coach Whisenhunt stated that he has been in contact with both Anquan Boldin and Darnell Dockett but that he doesn't expect them in for OTAs anytime soon. This isn't as bad as it sounds though. Sure it would be nice to have two veteran players in town, mentoring the youngsters but with them gone right now, Doucet and Calais Campbell are getting considerably more snaps than they would have. Doucet is taking snaps with the second group and Campbell is taking snaps with the first and second defense.
  
• Offensive line coach Russ Grimm found an interesting way to get around the NFL's 'no contact' policy for OTAs by doing one on one offensive lineman drills with a tackling dummy between the guys. Not sure if he did this during his days with the Steelers but it's definitely a way to keep things from getting monotonous.
  



• There's also a 'feel good' article on Antrel Rolle's new job at free safety and how he's moving to a more natural position for his skill set. The good news for Rolle is that he's following up Terrence Holt, who did a great job of underwhelming everyone last year, so the bar is set pretty low. There's an odd about Rolle possibly playing safety on first and second down then switching to corner back to cover slot receivers in the nickel defense. I don't really see the point in 'flip-flopping' him like this because he can't focus on being a great safety if he's playing a third of his time at corner. Oh well, there's still a couple of months before we'll see if that'll work. Hopefully DRC can step up and lock down the #3 job with a close eye on Eric Green's job.
  
• There's also an encouraging story from the Cardinals official site about rookie Tim Hightower. It's encouraging in that the coaching staff has relatively high expectations of him for a guy who was a fifth round pick and is supposedly buried on the depth chart (4th in line). It sounds like they expect him to move up the depth chart and have a legit role for this team in 2008. That could be bad news for veterans Marcel Shipp and JJ Arrington.
  
• The streak of seven practices without a turnover ended today though as a pass from Matt Leinart was tipped by Gerald Hayes and intercepted by Clark Haggans. Coach Whisenhunt has said a couple times though that Leinart looks much better now than he did this time last year, which is great news for the Cardinals. Hopefully a full season and off season under the new system will make light years of difference for Matt.
  

All in all, not a bad first week. We've heard good things about several of the young guys, both quarterbacks have looked good and the team as a whole looked sharp which led to crisp practices. It's way too early for any of this to mean much, but it's still good to hear that is sounds like the Arizona Cardinals are buying into what Whisenhunt is preaching. Thoughts? Has anyone been able to watch any practices?

Sure there are numerous training camp battles that need to play themselves out before we can start serious talks about a final 53 man roster, but where's the fun in that. Here's my 53:

QBs: (2) - Matt Lienart & Kurt Warner

I've never been a fan of keeping 3 QBs on the active roster, that's what the practice squad is for. St. Pierre's not eligible for the practice squad but undrafted rookie Anthony Morelli is so in essence he's your 3rd QB.

RBs: (3) - Edgerrin James, JJ Arrington, Tim Hightower

Arrington beats out Shipp because Arrington has value on special teams. Not to mention that Arrington's 4 years younger and Shipp hasn't averaged over 3 yards a carry since 2003.

FBs: (1) - Tim Castille

Castille beats out incumbent Terrelle Smith, former Brown, and the team does Smith a favor by letting him go instead of making him sit on the bench

WRs: (6) - Fitz, Q, Early Doucet, Steve Breaston, Jerheme Urban, Jamaica Rector

Sean Morey ends up being a surprise cut despite his track record for being a special teams standout and his familiarity with the coaching staff. Former Cowboy, Rector wins the job in preseason and camp by showing his improved ability to stretch defenses.

TEs: (3) - Leonard Pope, Ben Patrick, Jermane Tuman

No surprise here, tight end is quite possibly the most set position on the offensive depth chart. Pope and Patrick are the youth and future and Tuman, the former Steeler, is the veteran blocking tight end that Whiz covets.

OL: (9) - Levi Brown, Deuce Lutui, Al Johnson, Reggie Wells, Mike Gandy, Elton Brown, Lyle Sendlein, Brandon Keith, One veteran OT cut by another team

The ninth spot will depend a great deal on how Keith preforms in the preseason. If he does well enough that the coaching staff would feel comfortable giving him snaps at tackle, then they can only carry eight. I don't have that much faith in a rookie yet though. Otherwise Elton Brown is the only backup OT.

DT/NT: (2) - Gabe Watson & Alan Branch

If the Cards play much 4-3, then a couple defensive ends will have to slide down to tackle but Watson and Branch should be a great rotation as 3-4 nose tackles.

DE: (6) - Darnell Dockett, Antonio Smith, Bryan Robinson, Calais Campbell,  Kenny Iwebema, Bo Schobel

That's an awful lot of guys to fill just two positions but four of them (Dockett, Smith, Robinson and Campbell) can also slide down to DT when the Cardinals decides to roll out a 4-3. In the end it looks like a deep a talented unit where everyone should stay fresh.

OLB: (5) - Chike Okeafor, Bertrand Berry, Clark Haggans & Travis LaBoy

The outside backers are deep and talented and should make for a formidable rotation. Chris Harrington will end up on the practice squad as the conversion from college defensive end to NFL linebacker is too much to overcome in one offseason.

ILB: (5) - Karlos Dansby, Gerald Hayes, Monty Beisel, Matt Stewart, Ali Highsmith

Call me crazy but somehow I just think Highsmith, the undrafted free agent, will do too much in the preseason to not make the 53. He'll have to keep his motor in high gear especially on special teams. He'll take his lumps but he's a player.

CBs: (5) - Roderick Hood, Eric Green, DRC, Matt Ware & Micheal Adams

Youth and athleticism rule the secondary as Ware and Adams beat out veteran Ralph Brown. DRC won't win the starting job for week 1, but he'll take over for Green before mid-season.

FS/SS: (4) - Adrian Wilson, Antrel Role, Aaron Francisco & Oliver Celestin

The starting two are solid and as long as they're healthy, the secondary will be solid. Francisco and Celestin are adequate backups but we have to hope that they're role players behind Wilson and Role instead of fill-in starters in case of injury.

Specialists: (3) - Neil Rackers, Dirk Johnson & Nathan Hodel

If Rackers is even decent this unit is above average. If he has another season like 2007, they need to find another kicker mid-season.

Thoughts? What tweaks would you make?

Last week we looked at the offensive depth chart and potential positional battles. The defensive side of the ball has far more question marks than the offense though. The Cardinals employed a 'hybrid 3-4' defense in 2007 and it should become a bigger part of the base defense in 2008. The big question though is what does the transition mean to the players that are currently here? Normally a team will go through a one or two year transition period in which they start adding players that fit the new scheme. The Cardinals seem to be doing that when you look at their free agent additions and draft picks. Their additions include, Clark Haggans former Titan defensive end, Travis LaBoy, Calais Campbell (2nd round) Kenny Iwebema (4th round), (6'4 267) and Chris Harrington (6th round). Here's how the front seven currently looks in a 3-4:

Defensive Line: The cornerstone of every successful 3-4 defense is a wide-bodied nose tackle who is stout against the run and can consume multiple blockers. The Cardinals have two young, promising guys who fit that role very well in 24 year old, Gabe Watson (6'3 332) and 23 year old, Alan Branch (6'5 332). With fire plugs like these two and a successful rotation, these two should be able to clog up the middle of the field. At defensive end the left side is a lock with Pro Bowler and former defensive tackle Darnell Dockett sliding over. He's young (26) and has the right size (6'4 285) and athleticism to excel on the outside (9 sacks in 2007). The other end should be in place this year with 26 year old, Antonio Smith (6'4 282). He's only on a one year deal though so the drafting of Campbell could signal that Smith needs use this season to raise his free agent value. They also have former Bengal Bryan Robinson (6'4 304). Robinson is a veteran player (33) that can play anywhere on the line and can be a solid member of the rotation, but will need limited snaps to be effective. The remainder of depth should come from rookies, Campbell and Iwebema.

Outside Line Backers: This group will be responsible for pressuring the quarterback and they again should have plenty of depth to keep everyone fresh. They have four guys with starting experience competing for two spots in Bertrand Berry (6' 264), Chike Okeafor (6'5 265), Clark Haggans (6'4 243), and Travis LaBoy (6'3 260). Berry's a very good player when he's healthy but he missed 21 games the past three seasons and he's in the final year of his current contract. At 32 years old and a $2 million dollar price tag, he'll have to prove he's healthy and can be productive in a switch from DE to OLB in order to make an impact on the team. Okeafor (32), another veteran DE who'll be moved to outside line backer, is a dynamic pass rusher who's averaged over 7.5 sacks the past six seasons, not counting 2007 when he missed the entire season due to an injury in preseason. Haggans is the only true outside linebacker of the bunch and yet another former Steeler on the roster. Haggans (31) has been a starter for the past four seasons and has averaged over 50 tackles and 6 sacks a season during that span. He's better when his snaps are limited so the depth around him will be key. Free agent signee, Travis LaBoy is the future of this group (26 years old) and another defensive end who'll be making a transition to outside linebacker. LaBoy had a a breakout season in 2007 when he recorded 6 sacks despite not starting a single game. Harrington will compete for a roster spot but could up on the practice squad so that he'll have a year to adjust to the position change.

Inside Line Backer: The starting inside linebackers are as close to set in stone as they can be in mid-May with Gerald Hayes (6'1 249) and Karlos Dansby (6'4 250). Hayes (27) is coming off his second solid season as a starter and despite not being a dynamic player, he could register his first 100 tackle season of his career in 2008. Dansby (26) is as close to a star as there is in this linebacking core. He's recorded over 20 sacks and over 300 tackles during his first four seasons and 2007 was his best year to date. The franchise tag kept him in Arizona for one more season, but make no mistake about it, he's playing for a pay day after the season. Behind them are veterans Monty Beisel (6'3 240) and Matt Stewart (6'3 239), both of whom are under 30 years old and have starting experience. Also keep an eye out for undrafted free agent signee Ali Highsmith. It was a surprise that he wasn't drafted but his non-stop motor should keep in the running for a roster spot.

Looking back at this front seven, I come to this conclusion: If the outside linebackers can assimilate their new positions, this unit can be really good. The defensive line should be able to stuff the run and they have some dynamic pass rushers to pressure the quarterback. Hayes and Dansby have the experience and ability to make plays all over field. If the foursome of Berry, Okeafor, Haggans, and LaBoy can put pressure on the quarterback and do a decent job in pass coverage, they'd go a long way to helping out a secondary that really struggled in 2007. Anyone else see this kind of potential or have I been drinking too much Red Kool-Aid?

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.
  

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