AZ Secondary

[AZRams]

Bickley: Butler's absence adds more doubt around Cardinals defense

The list of question marks for the Arizona Cardinals defense got even longer with the addition of CB Malcolm Butler to the retired list.

arizonasports.com

Things in Phoenix got turned upside down in a hurry on cut day, LOL.

The developments are shocking, but they only feel swift. Truth is, Butler has been gone from the team for over a week. His retirement is just another unexpected development on a defense full of preseason weirdness. To wit:

General manager Steve Keim told returning captain Jordan Hicks he could not compete for a starting job, instead awarding it to rookie Zaven Collins. Can you imagine how many eyes will roll inside the locker room when Hicks is asked to play a huge role in 2021?

Isaiah Simmons continued to struggle mightily at inside linebacker only to be working with the safeties during a recent practice. Chandler Jones requested a trade, returned to camp, was injured during practice and has yet to return. J.J. Watt seemed to scoff at the bubble wrap treatment surrounding his hamstring injury, but the Valley has yet to see him play a snap of competitive football with the Cardinals.


As for the depleted cornerback room? Surely, additional players will be arriving in Arizona. They will hail from a giant pile of leftovers, players who were recently cut by their previous teams. None will be capable of playing shutdown cornerback in the NFL.

That leaves Byron Murphy Jr., one of the most improved players on the team. But can he really defend elite NFL receivers?

Fourth-round pick Marco Wilson has shined in two preseason games, and is playing a position made for instant impact, where a young buck can be assigned to cover a certain wide receiver, taking all mental calculus out of the equation. But can you really trust the limited snaps Wilson has played in the preseason? Can he hold up for the duration of a real NFL game?

Meanwhile, Robert Alford’s next regular season will be his first in three seasons with the Cardinals while Tay Gowan seemed relieved just to make the roster.

Butler’s retirement is the first groundswell of real adversity in Arizona. There will be plenty more. The defense might feature a rookie middle linebacker, a rookie cornerback and a former No. 8 overall pick who played in only 34% of the defensive snaps in 2020.

They will face four elite wide receivers and two top-shelf running backs in the first two weeks of the regular season. Against the Titans and Vikings, they will encounter Derrick Henry, Julio Jones, A.J. Brown, Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, in a year when non-divisional wins are paramount.


What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Flatlyner]

Hopefully, everything goes wrong. F them and the horse they road in on.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

What a mess.

 

[Neil039]

Good for them, I love it!

 

[Loyal]

Bickley: Butler's absence adds more doubt around Cardinals defense

The list of question marks for the Arizona Cardinals defense got even longer with the addition of CB Malcolm Butler to the retired list.

arizonasports.com

Things in Phoenix got turned upside down in a hurry on cut day, LOL.

The developments are shocking, but they only feel swift. Truth is, Butler has been gone from the team for over a week. His retirement is just another unexpected development on a defense full of preseason weirdness. To wit:

General manager Steve Keim told returning captain Jordan Hicks he could not compete for a starting job, instead awarding it to rookie Zaven Collins. Can you imagine how many eyes will roll inside the locker room when Hicks is asked to play a huge role in 2021?

Isaiah Simmons continued to struggle mightily at inside linebacker only to be working with the safeties during a recent practice. Chandler Jones requested a trade, returned to camp, was injured during practice and has yet to return. J.J. Watt seemed to scoff at the bubble wrap treatment surrounding his hamstring injury, but the Valley has yet to see him play a snap of competitive football with the Cardinals.


As for the depleted cornerback room? Surely, additional players will be arriving in Arizona. They will hail from a giant pile of leftovers, players who were recently cut by their previous teams. None will be capable of playing shutdown cornerback in the NFL.

That leaves Byron Murphy Jr., one of the most improved players on the team. But can he really defend elite NFL receivers?

Fourth-round pick Marco Wilson has shined in two preseason games, and is playing a position made for instant impact, where a young buck can be assigned to cover a certain wide receiver, taking all mental calculus out of the equation. But can you really trust the limited snaps Wilson has played in the preseason? Can he hold up for the duration of a real NFL game?

Meanwhile, Robert Alford’s next regular season will be his first in three seasons with the Cardinals while Tay Gowan seemed relieved just to make the roster.

Butler’s retirement is the first groundswell of real adversity in Arizona. There will be plenty more. The defense might feature a rookie middle linebacker, a rookie cornerback and a former No. 8 overall pick who played in only 34% of the defensive snaps in 2020.

They will face four elite wide receivers and two top-shelf running backs in the first two weeks of the regular season. Against the Titans and Vikings, they will encounter Derrick Henry, Julio Jones, A.J. Brown, Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, in a year when non-divisional wins are paramount.


What could possibly go wrong?

SONOFA... ~ MojoCard

 

[CGI_Ram]

And we wonder why Larry Fitzgerald ain’t feeling it?

 

[oldnotdead]

They have drafted poorly and have out of desperation signed the over the hill squad to try to save Kliff and the FO's jobs. They have been a dumpster fire forever as ownership is also incompetent.

 

[thirteen28]

Gosh, I feel so sorry for them.

 

[TexasRam]

Many outlets are now reporting they will also be forced to start a midget at QB.

Back to you Bob.

 

[CoachAllred]

General manager Steve Keim told returning captain Jordan Hicks he could not compete for a starting job

This one sentence represents complete and total dysfunction.
Didn't realize kiem was the HC

 

[Loyal]

Many outlets are now reporting they will also be forced to start a midget at QB.

Back to you Bob.

 

[Angry Ram]

 

[RhodyRams]

Wait, let me check.......................



Nope, no tears here

 

[AZRams]

They have drafted poorly and have out of desperation signed the over the hill squad to try to save Kliff and the FO's jobs. They have been a dumpster fire forever as ownership is also incompetent.

A number of my Cards-fan friends were all excited about the Watt signing but that defense with the secondary issues (which were still less than ideal with Butler) is a potential dumpster fire. Bickley was ready to can Kliff after the second Rams game last season so I can't wait to hear/read him if they got off to a horrible start.

And I've never been a Keim fan. Just objectively he's not that good a drafter at all.

 

[ArkyRamsFan]

Uhh....so Julio Jones is not in Atlanta anymore?
Really?

~ArkyRamsFan~

 

[LouisvilleRam]

First offensive play we have should be Tutu on a go route

 

[snackdaddy]

I wonder if Kyler Murray will puff out his chest when he walks by Tutu and say "Hey shorty!"?

 

[oldnotdead]

A number of my Cards-fan friends were all excited about the Watt signing but that defense with the secondary issues (which were still less than ideal with Butler) is a potential dumpster fire. Bickley was ready to can Kliff after the second Rams game last season so I can't wait to hear/read him if they got off to a horrible start.

And I've never been a Keim fan. Just objectively he's not that good a drafter at all.

LOL I have no doubt that there will be house cleaning in AZ in January if not before. The problem is that offense was supposedly designed just for Murray as a running QB. Kliff has never understood that the one read-and-run college offense just won't work in the NFL.

Drafting has always been the problem in AZ. I was surprised when they believed Kliff and his nonsense. It will take years for them to become relevant. Meanwhile, the Rams and even the Niners will be so far ahead AZ won't likely be able to catch up for years. Team building starts with a GM who knows how to draft. That is why IMO Detroit has finally done it the right way.

Years ago DeCosta the Raven GM was a hot commodity but Newsome refused to let him go. DeCosta was his hand-picked choice to be the next GM in Baltimore when he retired. Newsome groomed him for the job. That's why the Ravens have been good for so long. I shudder to think what would happen if the Rams ever lost Snead. Les IMO is one of the most underrated GMs in the NFL.

So until AZ understands team building starts in the FO they will forever flounder around as basement rats. The Chargers GM Telesco has always been poor in his drafts. But since they have been in LA and I can only guess, watching the Rams he has begun to outsource much of his scouting and analytics. Since then their drafts have improved. With the hiring of Staley, things are going to change even more. He's been instrumental in bringing their analytics in-house and they have hired a top young star in sports analytics to head their team.

When I compare that scenario with what's been going on in AZ's circus I can't help but wonder how long it's going to be before Bidwell looks at the Chargers and tries to emulate that turnaround here in AZ. He needs to completely clean house in that FO and look long and hard at what's going on with the other teams in the NFL.

Cleveland is another team that has been forced to dump the one-read and run style of offense that Baker Mayfield wanted to play in. To his credit, he's worked hard to develop himself into a better pocket QB who can run if he needs to. I think Snead's fear of Perkins not clearing waivers was specifically because of AZ. Murray may be a better runner and have a stronger arm, but Perkins is a far better pocket QB than Murray. Snead saw how that entire team folded up when Murray got hurt and they had no one to run that offense behind Kyler. I have no doubt in my mind that AZ would have snatched Perkins up in a heartbeat. Drew Brees proved arm strength can be improved dramatically in one year, but learning to read defenses takes much longer.

 

[fearsomefour]

They are who we thought they were.

 

[Merlin]

If I'm the coach and Keim tried to pull that shit I'd throw him out of my office on his ass. I'm serious man. Fire me if you don't like it dude but you don't say who fucking starts that's HC territory.

What a clusterfuck. And I loved the Collins pick but removing competition is breaking a cardinal rule. Oh man I lucked into that one.