Arizona Cardinals offensive line improvements reason for cautious optimism

In a blog entry on the Arizona Cardinals official home page, Darren Urban stresses that "there has to be a wait-and-see about how this offensive line rebounds under new management."

He informs us that because of the limited work that can happen in OTAs, we really will not be able to actually see how they gel and mesh. This is important because of the turnover. If all stay healthy, there will be three position changes. Levi Brown returns to left tackle, Daryn Colledge moved from left guard to right guard, replacing Adam Snyder and rookie Jonathan Cooper will take over at left guard.

Yet despite the "wait-and-see" approach that is being urged in the article, I would like to take it a step beyond that, and welcome optimism, even a sip of the Kool-Aid.

There are some logical factors to lead us to believe that the line play should be much improved.

Look across the line as will probably look in Week 1. Levi Brown returns. He is an upgrade over D'Anthony Batiste and Nate Potter (at least at this point). We presume that Jonathan Cooper will be better than Daryn Colledge at left guard. Colledge, now playing right guard, can't possibly play worse than Adam Snyder did for most of last season (for whatever reason Snyder struggled, whether it was an injury or something else that was the cause). Lyle Sendlein and Bobby Massie return to center and right tackle.

Presumably, the talent simply is better.

Add in another -- Carson Palmer. He helps himself. In 595 dropbacks in 2013, he only was sacked 26 times. He gets rid of the football.

There is one factor that may cause the line problems -- Bruce Arians' vertical passing game. To run the offense successfully, a quarterback needs a little bit of time to throw the ball down the field.

The personnel is different and improved in talent. The quarterback is not one to hold on to the ball too long.

Yes, we do have to wait and see, but there is no reason to get at least a little excited.

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