With the 16th Pick of the 2008 NFL Draft the Arizona Cardinals select……….??

Hell if I know, there is definately no clear choice this year for the Red Birds after coming off of a season of near misses and what-could-have-beens. I mean, they were a missed field goal away from making the playoffs if Neil Rackers nails a 51 yarder against Washington. Just 7 feet to the right, give or take an inch. That loss, along with three other losses that came down to the last play of the game, showed the Cards that they are that close to putting it all together.

Now the tough part is to figure out what position is in absolute critical need of an upgrade. Every team has needs, and Arizona is no different. But what does this team NEED TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS NEXT YEAR? That is the question that the coaching staff and management have to answer. But let’s break down the Offensive positions quickly and see what we come up with (and by we I mean me….)

Quarterback:
Do we even need to go there? Matt Leinart is the starter, Kurt Warner is the backup and Tim Rattay will likely be kept on as the third string option. Seriously, we will not debate this anymore!

O-Line:
Solid performance this year, losing OT Oliver Ross in preseason forced rookie Levi Brown to start sooner than anticipated, but he will improve as will the rest of this unit from another year together under the coaching of Russ Grimm. Definately not needed to spend a high draft pick on another O-Lineman.

Wide Receivers:
Gimme a break! Fitz, Q, these guys are money. We will probably not resign No. 3 receiver Bryant Johnson, but Steve Breaston will likely step into that role and we have some quality depth at the position such as Jerehme Urban, Sean Morey and Ahmed Merritt. We’re more than solid here.

Tight End:
Second year man Leonard Pope really came alive for the Cards this year. He became a consistent red zone threat and recorded his first career multiple TD reception game against the Lions this year. And rookie Ben Patrick played well in Pope’s absence once he went onto IR, catching two TD passes on the season after spending half of it on the practice squad. Blocking is still an issue with all of the Cards TEs, but it only looks to get better.

Running Back:
Here is the tricky part. I’ve written on this before; Edgerrin James has become the first Cards RB to record back-to-back 1000+ yard seasons since Otis Anderson over twenty-five years ago! But he is going to be 30 this year, and has never had any break away speed when he gets out into space. Marcell Shipp and JJ Arrington are decent backups and Arrington is great on the swing passes and screens, but that is all they are: backups. The Cards need to go to a true two back system in my opinion. James is a bruising back with great vision that can see the cutbacks and grind out the tough yardage. To compliment him, the Cards could draft one of several talented running backs: Felix Jones, Johnathan Stewart, Justin Forsett, Rashard Mendenhall to name a few. Edge is still my hero and I still believe we should bring him back next year, but we need to start platooning Running Backs, not QBs.

So for the offense the real NEED I see for this team is at the RB position. That is definatley an option that the organization is going to be looking at for our First Round Pick.

Tomorrow we’ll look at the defense, and we’ll sum it all up on Saturday looking at both sides of the ball. GO CARDS!!!

Mike Duggan
AZCardsfan4life