Arizona Cardinals Team Needs In 2009

The Cardinals offense should not miss a beat in 2009 with three 1,000-yard receivers and a talented young backfield in quarterback Kurt Warner's arsenal.

Despite finishing last in the league in rushing last season, Ken Whisenhunt's offense found balance in the playoffs, as the Cardinals called 112 rushing plays compared to 92 passing plays, and outgained their opponents in rushing yards 366-290.

The Cardinals, however, failed to address the need at tight end. Cardinals tight ends caught just 25 passes last season.

Leonard Pope has not lived up to his potential, Ben Patrick is still an enigma, and Stephen Spach is coming off a torn ACL. The Cardinals, rather than drafting for the position, elected to address it in free agency, signing former Rams TE's Anthony Becht and Dominique Bird.

The bottom line is that a pass-catching tight end could open up even more doors for this already high-powered offense.

Additionally, protecting Kurt Warner is a must, and an effective blocking tight end would help dramatically. Don't believe me? Just ask starting left tackle Mike Gandy, who was asked to single-handedly block NFL Defensive Player of the year James Harrison.

Defensively the Cardinals return much of same core, although switching to a true 3-4 defense should help this team immensely as it looks to improve from last year's 19th ranked scoring defense. 

The run defense was especially solid in the 2008 postseason, yielding only 72.5 yards per game. The pass defense was opportunistic, leading all postseason teams with nine interceptions in the playoffs.

The team's most glaring need remains defensive end. Antonio Smith departed for the Texans after a career year with 41 tackles, 3.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. While Cardinals finished a respectable 14th in sacks with 31, Smith is gone, and Darnell Dockett is in a contract dispute.

The Cardinals will rely on second-year pros Calais Campbell and Kenny Iwebema to fill the void. While both have talent, they are unproven and a lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks could put pressure on a secondary that is known to take its share of gambles.

Steve Breaston has not proven that he is an NFL caliber kick returner, and will be pushed by 7th round pick LaRod Stevens-Howling.