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?

The Cardinals defense took much of the blame for faltering down the stretch in 2007 and while it was deserved, they had a decent excuse. Injuries ravaged the entire defense including Adrian Wilson (final 7 games), Bertrand Berry (final 7 games), Eric Green (final 5 games), and Chike Okeafor (entire season). The injuries were finally to much to overcome and even the guys that were healthy started to wear down. Guys like Pro Bowler, Darnell Dockett, who started the season with 35 tackles and 8 sacks in the first eight games but just 23 tackles and 1 sack in the final eight. The defense as a whole suffered as well allowing 29.1 points per game over the final seven games. That's a far cry from the respectable 21.7 that they averaged over the first nine games. That's a fairly important difference considering that two of their three losses during that stretch were by 7 points or less. Needless to say, the Cardinals entered the off season with a need to add depth, if nothing else, to a defense that finished 27th in points allowed and 28th in passing yards allowed.

The first day of the draft saw the Cardinals take a big corner exuding athleticism and a huge defensive end and the second day brought some much needed depth to the defensive line and line backing corps. The first mini-camp practice already had Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie practicing with the first string, thanks to the strained groin of Rod Hood. Mini-camps also brought the questions about where exactly Calais Campbell would line up. Coach Whisenhunt said it's too early to tell at this point but he'll likely get work at both defensive end (in 3-4 alignments) and defensive tackle (in 4-3 and pass rush situations). At this point Campbell is just going with the flow and working hard to improve his technique. Either way it works out the defense seems to be in a better position heading into 2008. Thoughts?

Continue reading this post »

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 »

In the calendar year of NFL Football today probably ranks pretty low on the totem poll but it is the first time that our team has been on the field in months. The rookies will get their first taste of the NFL and guys like Leinart will be able to get their feet wet again after a short season due to injury.

The good news for the Cards is that everyone showed up. There wasn't a lot of doubt that they would but Anquan Boldin and Darnell Dockett have chirped about their contracts since the end of the '07 season. Guys checked in last night and got their pictures taken as well as their physicals. The first practice should already be over for today and if there's anything to report, we'll bring it to you.

For now though the only thing to remember is the Annual Cardinals Fan Fest is tomorrow. Get there early for autographs for the kids and stick around to watch practice. The Diamondbacks don't play until 3:45 tomorrow so come out early and get some football watching in before setting in to see Brandon Webb beat down the Mets and add to their division lead.

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 »