Questions for Cardinals' Fans and Theo Mackie re his 53-Man Roster Prediction (Part 1: Offense)
By Walter Mitchell
In terms of the media who follow the Arizona Cardinals, in my opinion, Theo Mackie of the azcentral.com has emerged as a bell cow reporter. He has a penchant for turning over rocks to see whether snakes slithers out. In other words, Theo asks the Cardinals' administrators, coaches and players the kind of tough questions that most reporters, many out of allegiance to Michael Bidwill, will not dare to ask.
The excellence of Theo Mackie's work has inspired me to re-order a digital subscription to the newspaper.
I am not sure if Theo will respond to the questions (if he happens to see them) about his recent post-OTA 53-Man Roster predictions, but just as he believes, it doesn't hurt to ask.
For all of the readers here, these questions are for you as well, with a prize reward attached. Here is the link to Theo's predictions (tomorrow we will look at his 25 picks on defense) and his reasons why:
Arizona Cardinals depth chart, roster projection after minicamp (azcentral.com)
QB (3): Brissett, Minshew, Beck
Mike Florio said during a recent interview with Devin McCourty (Jacoby's former NE teammate who has been talking to him throughout his holdout), "Harrison recently said that it's hard to develop chemistry with Brissett if Brissett is not there --- and some interpret that as a shot at Brissett --- but it's a shot at the team. The team has to fix this. The Cardinals already have a reputation of being cheap and I know they've tried to get past this --- but this is what a cheap team does --- it drags its feet ---it doesn't do right by its players --- it doesn't pay a fine value for the service it is going to get."
Note: McCourty added that Jacoby has said to him, he's not looking for $30M, but he wants a fair salary to be the starter.
Pro Football Talk interview:
https://youtu.be/J-grq6-ZIAw?si=aBKdvzWJNuaTpqQM
QB Questions:
(1) Do you agree with Mike Florio's take?
(2) What do you make of Carson Beck being the only draft pick still unsigned?
(3) Was this a factor as to why the coaches gave the vast majority of OTA QB reps to Gardner Minshew and Kaden Slovis?
RB (4): Conner, Allgeier, Love, Benson
RB Questions:
(1) It appears that Jeremiyah Love has been talking more about his role as a receiver than as a running back. He also has been espousing a running back by committee approach to sharing carries. Mike LaFleur has stated that his approach will be to "ride the hot hand" at RB. How do you think Mike LaFleur will use Jeremiyah?
(2) Typically, when a team keeps 4 RBs it expects to get special teams' value from the 3rd and 4th RBs. In this case, Trey Benson in his two seasons has yet to play a snap on STs. Bam Knight took 33 STs snaps last year. In ATL last season Tyler Allgeier took 202 STs snaps and graded well at 69.3. Do you think Allgeier can fill Emari Demercado's roles on STs?
(3) Do you think STs could be a factor as to whether Trey Benson or Bam Knight makes the 53-man roster?
(4) Do you think the Cardinals should try to trade Trey Benson?
WR (6): Wilson, Harrison Jr., Bourne, Duvernay, Virgil, Fehoko
WR Questions:
(1) Do you think the Cardinals are going to reach an agreement on a contract extension with Michael Wilson? If so, will the team value him as WR1 or WR2? Or somewhere in between?
(2) Do you think Jeremiyah Love will get the bulk of snaps at slot WR?
TE (3): McBride, Higgins, Reiman
TE Questions:
(1) With Mike LaFleur being so keen on using 12 and 13 personnel, would he be inclined to keep 4 TEs on the roster, especially if the Rams waive Davis Allen in light of selecting Terrance Ferguson and Max Klare as Day 2 picks to go with Colby Parkinson and Tyler Higbee?
(2) Do you think Tip Reiman will display the discipline and technique to be consistently effective?
T (4): Johnson Jr., Wilkinson, Fryar, Pryor
T Questions:
(1) Given that run blocking is Elijah Wilkinson's forte and pass blocking is Matt Pryor's, could you foresee a run/pass platoon at right tackle?
(2) Paris Johnson Jr. has said that he thinks his contract extension will work out. He has also said that he wants to be paid $40M a year. Given his overall play at LT and ending up on the season0ending IR the past two seasons with knee injuries, do you think the Cardinals will give Johnson Jr. the extension he wants anyway? Do you think they should?
IOL (5): Seumalo, Froholdt, Adams, Bisontis, Gaines II
Regarding the reason why Isaiah Adams has been starting at RG during OTAs, he made significant progress late in the season while starting the last 6 games at RG. Most notably, his pass blocking grades improved from 57.6 from his 5 starts earlier in the season to 72.7 in his 6 starts to end the season.
IOL Questions:
(1) Given Isaiah Adams' improvements at RG and the Cardinals' key off-season signing of UFA Isaac Seumalo, why then did the Cardinals draft Chase Bisontis at pick #35? Yes, Bisontis is a mauler, but then again, so are Seumalo and Adams, both of whom the team has already invested heavily in. Given that Chase has said he wants to be able to play all 5 OL positions, do you think it would be a good idea to try out Bisontis at RT?
(2) Do you think the Cardinals have been overlooking Jon Gaines II's prolific physical talents?
QB Questions:
(1) Do you agree with Mike Florio's take?
(2) What do you make of Carson Beck being the only draft pick still unsigned?
(3) Was this a factor as to why the coaches gave the vast majority of QB reps to Minshew and Slovis?
RB Questions:
(1) It appears that Jeremiyah Love has been talking more about his role as a receiver than as a running back. He also has been espousing a running back by committee approach to sharing carries. Mike LaFleur has stated that his approach will be to "ride the hot hand" at RB. How do you think Mike LaFleur will use Jeremiyah?
(2) Typically, when a team keeps 4 RBs it expects to get special teams' value from the 3rd and 4th RBs. In this case, Trey Benson in his two seasons has yet to play a snap on STs. Bam Knight took 33 STs snaps last year. In ATL last season Tyler Allgeier took 202 STs snaps and graded well at 69.3. Do you think Allgeier can fill Emari Demercado's roles on STs?
(3) Do you think STs could be a factor as to whether Trey Benson or Bam Knight makes the 53-man roster?
(4) Do you think the Cardinals should try to trade Trey Benson?
WR Questions:
(1) Do you think the Cardinals are going to reach an agreement on a contract extension with Michael Wilson? If so, will the team value him as WR1 or WR2? Or somewhere in between?
(2) Do you think Jeremiyah Love will get the bulk of snaps at slot WR?
TE Questions:
(1) With Mike LaFleur being so keen on using 12 and 13 personnel, would he be inclined to keep 4 TEs on the roster, especially if the Rams waive Davis Allen in light of selecting Terrance Ferguson and Max Klare as Day 2 picks to go with Colby Parkinson and Tyler Higbee?
(2) Do you think Tip Reiman will display the discipline and technique to be consistently effective?
T Questions:
(1) Given that run blocking is Elijah Wilkinson's forte and pass blocking is Matt Pryor's, could you foresee a run/pass platoon at right tackle?
(2) Paris Johnson Jr. has said that he thinks his contract extension will work out. He has also said that he wants to be paid $40M a year. Given his overall play at LT and ending up on the season0ending IR the past two seasons with knee injuries, do you think the Cardinals will give Johnson Jr. the extension he wants anyway? Do you think they should?
IOL Questions:
(1) Given Isaiah Adams' improvements at RG and the Cardinals' key off-season signing of UFA Isaac Seumalo, why then did the Cardinals draft Chase Bisontis at pick #35? Yes, Bisontis is a mauler, but then again, so are Seumalo and Adams, both of whom the team has already invested heavily in. Given that Chase has said he wants to be able to play all 5 OL positions, do you think it would be a good idea to try out Bisontis at RT?
(2) Do you think the Cardinals have been overlooking Jon Gaines II's prolific physical talents?
Thoughts:
ReplyDelete(1) QB - The Front Office is once again at fault (IMO) for not handling the Brissett situation much earlier in season, it has bad optics and for organization with bad track record, the Cardinals did not need the distraction in LeFleurs 1st season as HC.
(2) RB I believe they should trade Connor (who has been great for Cardinals) but with the signing of Algier they have the Connor replacement for short yardage, Love brings both running and passing options, Benson provides a good backup, Knight can be used on ST (along with Duverney). Again, Our front-office failed in offseason in how they handled the RB room (resigning Connor, Signing Algier, and drafting of Love) showed no real plan (IMO - just throwing darts at last years injuries).
(3) OT - You kind of have to extend PJJ as you have no clear replacement and needs at QB next year so drafting one isn't really an option and picking up OT in FA is tough. I am hoping Wilkerson can hold RT position without platooning another for pass game.
(4) IOL - I think they lost confidence in Adams irregular level of play. I also think Gaines has talent but has been limited due to past injuries. He could very well be long term plan to backup replace Froholdt. But we haven't really seen Gaines on field enough.
(5) WR - Cardinals should extend Wilson at WR2 #s; one season wonder so far, Wilson could choose to wait and bet on himself for WR1 #s but that can just as easily backfire (if Cardinals do intend to tank).
(6) TE - Keep three + one on PS. I do think Love will be taking some passing reps in 12 & 13 Personnel groups; so no need to keep 4 on roster (IMO).
On the guard issue I think they made a conscious decision to upgrade both left and right side of the line. Our guard play was so bad it affected our tackle play. Between Gaines and Adams they have a decent plug n play backup. Neither one has shown they can consistenly play at a high level there.i think with Jacoby they will get something done before camp even if it's a 2-3 million bump. They don't want that distraction heading into season. They more than likely move Benson or Carter before season starts. Every year there are teams that come out of camp with injuries they need to back fill. They may have a trade in place for a defensive player as an option as well.
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