32 Teams in 32 Days, Team #24: The Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals finished last season .500. It wasn’t playoff worthy nor was it very impressive. The fact is the Cardinals play in a bad division where the only team that should make the playoffs from it every year is the Seattle Seahawks. However, the Cardinals actually have a lot of talent on their team, it’s a shame that it couldn’t translate to victories last season. The Cardinals have improved their team via the draft with quite possibly my favorite rookie players, with the exception of Glen Dorsey and Darren McFadden. So lets take a look at the Cardinals this year.

On the defense, the star power is lacking. That is a key part to why so many teams in the NFL have bad defensive units. Adrian Wilson is a very talented safety that can and will make plays, but the star power ends there. At least that was the case until this year’s draft. The Cardinals went ahead and drafted Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie out of Tennessee State. Rodgers-Cromartie is unbelievably talented and is going to make huge plays for this team if given the opportunity. He’ll most likely share time with Roderick Hood, but I don’t see it being beyond the realm of reality to see Rodgers-Cromartie win the position pretty quickly. The next person bringing star power to this team is Defensive End Calais Campbell. He’s going to be a pass rusher and that will allow the Cardinals to apply more pressure to opposing quarterbacks. Campbell combined with the Antonio Smith is going to be fun to watch. Yes they both play the same position, but in the NFL things change. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of these men playing on a different side come week 1.

If you thought that the wide receiver combination of Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald couldn’t get more impressive then you thought wrong. Ladies and gentlemen let me introduce you to Wide Receiver Early Doucet out of LSU. He is another huge playmaker. He was a standout playing at LSU with talented quarterback JaMarcus Russell. He can make the big plays when his number is called. The Cardinals added a big time playmaker to a team that already has big time playmakers on the offensive side of the ball. That is going to provide a lot of instant replay footage from Arizona this year. Leonard Pope is more of a blocking tight end then a receiving one, but he made some pretty key plays last year. If the offense opens up a little more this year, expect Pope to be apart of that in a bigger way.

We come to a running game that wasn’t as potent last year as it was the previous year. Lets face it, Edgerrin James is older now. He’s lost a few steps since his dominant performances in Indianapolis. He can still make plays, but the Cardinals should be moving in a different direction. And they have. Edge’s backups include Marcel Shipp, a talented, but un-drafted plow share, and J.J Arrington. Arrington isn’t the best running back in the world, but he is a good compliment to both James and Shipp. The Cardinals also drafted running back Tim Hightower out of Richmond. Hightower has the talent to make this team and become a threat on the ground. I believe he may be the future of this team if he is given the opportunity to develop. James will get the carries this year. That may not be a bad thing, but the Cardinals will be heading a new direction very soon.

Now we get to the controversial quarterback position. Perhaps the most controversial situation in the league that doesn’t have to do with Brett Favre. We’ve got a position battle because the Arizona head coach can’t just go ahead and name a starting quarterback. It was so bad, that he actually rotated the two quarterbacks during games last season. We’ve got the standout from USC, Matt Leinart v.s the longtime veteran Kurt Warner. In my opinion Leinart has not performed to the level of a franchise quarterback. He’s just not ready to be a starter in this league and many people may disagree with me, but just watch him play. He is not an NFL level quarterback, it looks like he’s still playing college ball to me. Kurt Warner is just plain better then Leinart. He’s obviously got the experience edge, but his arm strength is better, his decision making is better. Kurt Warner is just a better football player then Matt Leinart. However, right now Leinart is QB1 and all indications are that he will win the position battle. I think its wrong to put Leinart in as the starter over a game Kurt Warner. If you want to win, you put in the better option. That is Warner. If Leinart is the starter for week 1 and remains the starter throughout, I don’t see many wins for the Cardinals. Every team in the league is defined by their quarterback and a team is only as good as their starting quarterback. Matt Leinart just doesn’t get the job done. Kurt Warner does.

The success of the Cardinals will all be predicated on who the starting quarterback is. If its Matt Leinart, I don’t see the playoffs this year. If its Kurt Warner, I see a chance at the playoffs. The Cardinals will have to contend with the tougher Seattle Seahawks, but they don’t have a tough schedule until the last stretch of the season where they will have 3 tough games in a row against Minnesota, New England, & Seattle. To make the playoffs, The Cardinals will have to win the games they are supposed to win. They could potentially have a 10-6 season, again depending on who the starting QB is and how much the Cardinals want it. I can’t say they will make the playoffs, but they have a really good chance. Decisions need to be made and the right players need to play. Lets hope for the Cardinals sake, the right decisions are made.