He has big play potential and is expected to be the nickel back as a rookie. Roderick Hood and Eric Green are expected to remain the starters. Adrian Wilson is a solid safety, and Antrel Rolle will be the other safety this year. The secondary should be improved in 2008.
The other area the Cardinals wanted to improve on was the pass rush. While 36 sacks ranked 12th, it was also 17 sacks less than the league-leading NY Giants. The Cardinals were far from an elite pass-rushing group last season. Darnell Dockett made the Pro Bowl with his nine sacks at defensive tackle. The Cardinals drafted Calais Campbell and Kenny Iwebema to give them more depth at defensive end.
Finally, the offensive line still needs some work. James is still an effective runner, but he doesn’t get the same lanes he did in Indianapolis. Brown and Gandy are good at tackle, but the Cardinals have little depth behind those two. The interior of the offensive line is improved from the Dennis-Green days, but still needs work.
Prediction: This is my surprise division winner in 2008. The Cardinals have been a trendy Wild-Card pick the last couple seasons, only to disappoint. I picked them to finish fourth last season, which turned out to be an underestimate. I thought it would take a couple years to recover from the Green era.
There are good things going on in Arizona, and few people realize the Cardinals were two bad, 49er losses away from earning a Wild Card berth. The Cardinals beat the Steelers, Seahawks, and Browns last season. They were anything but a pushover.
I love their schedule to start the season. 1) @ San Fran, 2) Miami, 3) Washington, 4) New York Jets, and 5) Buffalo, gives them an excellent chance to start 4-1. They need to start hot because they close the season with 15) Minnesota, 16) @ New England, and 17) Seattle. That isn’t going to be an easy stretch to make up ground.
Arizona had a very nice draft and would be a bigger favorite to me if they had their quarterback situation figured out. Warner is a question mark at this point in his career, and Leinart needs to break out this year. If he has another year like he did last year, he is going to earn the bust label. I expect him to rebound.
I think Arizona made a good hire in Whisenhunt, and the Cardinals are on the way up. I think Seattle’s window has started to close. This is the year I think the Cardinals finally put it together and win the NFC West behind a potent offense and a favorable schedule.
Arizona Cardinals’ Record: 9-7—NFC West Divisional Champion; NFC No. 4 Seed
2) Seattle Seahawks
‘07 Record: 10-6
Points Scored: 393 (ninth)
Points Allowed: 291 (sixth)
Playoff Result: Lost NFC Divisional Round
2008 Strength of Schedule: 122-134 (.477) (19th in NFL)
Strengths: The strength of this team is their defense. That is important, because no other team has a defense with as much talent as the Seahawks in the NFC West. The Seahawks recorded the fourth-most sacks in the NFL with 45. That was in large part to Patrick Kearny and his All-Pro, 14.5-sack season. The defensive line did an excellent job of putting pressure on the quarterback.
What they need to improve on is stopping the run. They ranked 12th in rush-yards allowed and 27th in rush-touchdowns allowed. That was really the defense’s only weakness in 2007. This is a very fast front-seven, which creates the pressure, but is a little on the light side to stop the run.
The Green Bay Packers exposed the Seahawks for that weakness in the divisional round. Ryan Grant ran right through that defense, to the tune of 201 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Lofa Tatupu has emerged as one of the best middle linebackers in the NFL. He was an All-Pro selection last season. Julian Peterson was selected to the Pro Bowl at the outside linebacker spot. These two are extremely fast and make plays all over the field.
In the secondary, Marcus Trufant had a Pro-Bowl year with seven picks. He is emerging as one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks. Jennings, Russell, and Grant round out a very solid secondary.
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