Arizona Cardinals: Where We've Been and Where We're Going

by dwaters11 | 7 years ago | 0 Comments

Joining the league during week 12 with a 2-8 record, there was not much to look forward to this season.

State of the Squad

While having some very good key parts in David Johnson, Allen Schwenke, Mack Victorian, and Max Cheese Lobato to start with there was also a huge number of over the hill (30+ years old) players on ridiculous contracts with 7+ years remaining. By the grace of the mish and the admins I was allowed to drop some of this dead weight to start a rebuilding project. This project came at a cost, leaving the squad with two players with a rating of 75 or better left in the seondary and a depleted WR corp. Additionally I moved the squad from a 4-3 to a 3-4 which I felt better suited the front seven talent (and is my preferred base defense). Despite this the Cardinals were not content to coast in to the offseason to try and secure a better draft pick. Needing to get used a new league, new sliders, and a bump from all-pro to all-madden we finished the season 4-2 losing to the Niners and the Saints by 7 and 6 respectively for a final record of 6-10. Unfortunately along the way we lost David Johnson for 9 weeks to a partial ligament tear, Lobato for 7 weeks for something I forget, and Roman Love who is an exciting young CB with 95 speed and 96 acceleration for 6 weeks due to a fracture forearm. The Cardinals ended the season without much to cheer for; major injuries, a dev bump down from SS to Quick for Schwenke, and the roster still riddled with overpaid AARP members who were sadly necessary to keep. The one bright spot was young CB, Charles Germany, some how making the pro bowl (kick or punt returner perhaps?) and with the XP gained got significant boosts - enough to make him a starter.

Trust the Process

I have had success in my CFM career giving youth a chance and building up a balanced team rather than focusing on one or two stars and the blueprint will be implemented here in Arizona as well. Mathieu and Castonzo have already hit the trade block with Mack Victorian rumored to maybe possibly (albeit unlikely) be available for a king's ransom. Other players like Taylor Lewan and Carlos Dunlap don't fit my philosphy but the cap penalty keeps them and a few others on the team...for now. In the draft we are likely to target defensive backs in the early rounds and keep an eye out for any star WRs that get passed over or consider trading down from #10 for more picks. I also hope to little extra depth for OL, WR, and OLBs in the form of short contracts for veteran free agents. The front seven is the strong point of this team but with only two of the seven starters coming in under 30 years old will soon be an issue as well.

After a hopefully active offseason the Cardinals will look to come out of the gate strong and try to fight for a hotly contested NFC playoff spot.