The new season is right around the corner, and I had to take a hiatus from football in general in order to take care of personal matters. In doing so I’ve been meaning to write an article to the fanbase of the Arizona Cardinals.
I’ve been a Cardinals fan since the early 2000’s, and thus have followed the team year in and year out. In doing so, I couldn’t help but notice that our fanbase tends to lean one way or another when it comes to major situations. The obvious example is that of Kyler Murray, do you believe he’s the franchise savior, or do we cut bait and move on? Just so everyone knows where I stand, I’m pro what’s best for my team, I just want my team to compete and win a championship.
What happened to the Cardinals this offseason?
This year has been a Cardinals nightmare off-season, and to be quite honest, it was a draining one.
Starting with a change the majority of the fan base was hoping for, GM and Head Coach. We can all agree the GM was overdue, but I don’t agree as far as the coach goes. Furthermore, the cycle that Kliff was going through, you can say the same for most head coaches taking the mantle. Usually, it starts out with a lot of optimism, quotes like “the last regime would have…” insinuating that this regime is already leagues better.
Everyone needs to keep in mind that people were optimistic about Kliff in 2019, and were praising the fact we moved off Steve Wilks. I bet that notion has changed, especially amongst those who praised the move, who were the loudest one calling for Kliff to be fired last year. The truth is both Wilks and Kliff’s situations are more nuanced than what has been reported when it comes to their tenures.
Saying all that; we are going forward with a new regime and we need to remember we have absolutely no idea what Monti and Gannon are bringing to the table.
Monti can be a master and hit on all his draft picks or he can miss horribly and miss on all his picks. We can see him as a genius during the draft, and in a year look at that draft and think about what we passed on. This is why I reserve judgment for the years to come. Monti isn’t a failure or a success to me until I see what these picks turn out to be.
I didn’t agree with taking Paris Johnson at 6 after we traded back, mostly because tackle wasn’t really a desperate need for the Cardinals, but center and guard were. It’s called a great pick because it’s a premium position, but now we have to wait another year to address the interior.
Aside from that, I did end up liking most of the picks from the 2023 draft, but regardless I will wait to pass judgment on Monti, cause once upon a time, I know it’s hard to believe, Steve Keim would get annual praise for his draft classes.
All you have to do is listen to podcasts each year after the draft, there are a few bad ones where the consensus wasn’t on board, but for the most part every year is the same reaction. I know part of that is just the homer take, we want to believe our draft is the best every year, and that we stole players under other teams. Meanwhile, we can laugh at picks other teams make. I think Zaven Collins and Trey McBride had the worst reactions from the fans, and thus I feel like Keim was criticized for making those picks, but truly remember what the reactions are after each draft every year.
This is the reason why I no longer make judgments based on what I think at the moment.
I may not like the Paris Johnson pick mostly because we gave up picks at a good spots to move up for a position I didn’t think the Cardinals desperately needed. That’s not on Paris, that’s on my judgment alone, for all I know Paris can become the next great RT or LT and end up in the ring of honor, maybe even the Hall of Fame. So I’m not making a call on this pick being a mistake, I do, however, want to remind everyone that the Cardinals have a bad track record with top 10 linemen (Levi Brown, Jonathon Cooper).
As for Kyler, it would help immensely if he could put away the talks of drafting Caleb Williams. With a new offensive system in place, Kyler will be learning an entirely new playbook for the first time in his life. I ask that people be fair about his assessment as far as his development goes, leaving a shotgun system to get under center presents challenges to the 5’10” QB. Expectations should be when Kyler is back, the system might look a lot similar to the Air Raid the first couple of games.
Isaiah Simmons Trade
With the recent transactions, there is one that stands out amongst all the transactions, the Isaiah Simmons trade.
He had a terrible game that was similar to the game last year in which it became a huge spectacle to replay and rehash the negatives that the selection brings on. This also verifies to everyone that passing up on other players who reached all-pro/pro-bowl status was on par with Steve’s horrible draft record.
This is why the selection of Paris Johnson was celebrated. I really hate delving into the hindsight game because my example is not passing up on Nick Bosa who was seen as the best prospect in the 2019 draft. Kyler is the QB of my team and therefore is my quarterback.
I will say the level of scrutiny Isaiah has received from the fan base and media borders on bullying and harassment, something I don’t wish on any player no matter how bad they are for us.
Firing of Kliff Kingsbury and Staff
The last thing I want to go over is the release of Kliff, I will dive into it more deeply but I feel like the culture change needs to start from the very top, and that with Michael Bidwill.
I don’t believe Kliff deserved all the blame he received nor do I appreciate the amount off scrutiny and bullying he received from the media and fanbase. I couldn’t stand Vance Joseph and believe he had a major hand in this team’s lack 0f success. Time will tell if I was completely right about the scheme.
That being said if that meant major scrutiny or bullying I do not and will not be ok with a person being bullied, no matter how bad he could be. I wish Kliff good luck, and hope he has success wherever his path leads him as well as Isaiah, Josh Jones, Hopkins, and even Vance even though that would mean people will make the case against me, he still deserves to have a successful career (if he adapts).
We’re almost to the start of 2023, let’s hope for a great season or seasons to come.
