Clayton Tune: The Fateful Path of an NFL Legacy by Walter Mitchell photo: @azcardinals.com via Instagram During the second night of the 2023 NFL Draft, Clayton Tune received a call from the Green Bay Packers. The Packers wanted to assure Clayton of their interest in drafting the University of Houston quarterback at some point on day three. When the Arizona Cardinals selected Clayton Tune with the #139 pick a day later, he was surprised, given that the Cardinals had not expressed any significant interest in him during the pre-draft process. The Cardinals were not one of the six teams that brought him in for 30 visits (Texans, Saints, Browns, Steelers, Bucs, Giants). Tune had also been given a private workout by the Rams. The eventual link the Cardinals had to Clayton Tune was that Israel Woolfork was one of his coaches at the Senior Bowl. At that time, Woolfork had just finished his second year of a Bill Walsh/Bill Willis coaching fellowship with the Cleveland Browns. A...
Another excellent show!!! Had a lot of fun getting ready for the start of the regular season today
ReplyDeleteCheck out Kyle's new graphics! Awesome!
DeleteYes Kyle, an excellent show to get ready for some Cardinals football this weekend. We will finally see what 2025 season will look like with all the roster moves and the veil of Cardinals pre-season being lifted.
DeleteThank you for the shout out, gentlemen! Great show and really enjoying the new blog!
ReplyDeleteI've been enjoying the podcasts Walter but would like to offer some rebuttals for discussion.
ReplyDeleteThere are many mentions here (and many other places) of the inexperience of the coaching staff and their refusal to hire experienced staff. In this podcast, there was a reference to the job that Demeco Ryans and Mike MacDonald has done in their respective organization as compared to the regime in Arizona. I have heard this mentioned a few times now but to me, these circumstances are night and day.
When this regime took over in AZ, the situation was dire. Our franchise QB was out with a torn ACL, our cap space was awful and our draft picks depleted by SK pulling from future picks to fill holes from his poor drafting. Many of our cornerstones were on expiring contracts with no cap to resign. Those that were still under contract didn't want to be here including Budda, who asked to be traded, and D-Hop, who was never gonna play another down with AZ under those circumstances.
Ryans went to a Houston team that had a great cap situation having finally got Watson off the books and absolutely loaded with draft picks from his trade. They had two seasons of lame duck coaching hires in Crennell and Culley (3 if you consider O'brien who was fired and replaced with Crennel) while rebuilding the roster. Many of their pieces were in place from seasoned vets to recent draft picks from the Watson trade like Collins, Pitre, Stingley, Harris among many others. It would be far more accurate to say that Ryans took over a team on year 3 of a rebuild (the same season MOJO is going into this season) than to say his situation was comparable to the one MO inherited.
Seattle is somewhat similar. Starting a soft reset under Pete Carroll with the trade of Wilson in 22, they put many high draft picks and pieces in place when they inexplicably fired him after the 24 season. Loaded with cap space and draft capital, and with a defence in place that would be comparable to the one the Cardinals have built up to this season, and a QB better than the one they traded, MacDonald was able to put together a winning season. Again, far more accurate to say he came in on year 3 of a rebuild than to say his situation was similar to AZ. I doubt very much either one of them could have had success with the Cardinals when MO and JG took over.
As it relates to the coaching staff, we have no prove that their inexperience is causing any issues. In fact, every move they have made seems to have made looks to have been correct, even when we were doubtful when the moves were made. These include;
Trading Simmons for pennies on the dollar - I thought Green Bay would be able to maximize his talent. Nope - he is out of the league.
Cam Thomas to KC - same thing, out of the league.
D-Hop - hasn't really looked good since leaving.
Josh Jones - bounced around a fair bit but hasn't really done anything of note. Currently back up tackle for the Seahawks.
Clayton Tune - I bet he is cut from Green Bays practice squad within 3 weeks of our game with them.
Can you think of a trade or cut that has proven incorrect to date where the player has found success in this league and looks like a mistake was made?
I also don't understand the attacks on Wilfork in particular (which at times I would say is ignorant at best and slander at worst) when there is nothing to indicate that he is not doing a good job. This coaching staff has proven that they move on from coaches who have not done a good job yet he is still here. I have only read great things about Wilfork from this staff and even pundits who have him on short lists. Not sure I get this one.
I should stress this is not always your comments but others as well with comments on this site (other other sites). And just for discussion, not taking jabs at you or anyone.
And the DT you were trying to remember that SK signed for poor value - Jordan Philips.