McCarthy Gone - Now the search is on - Schottenheimer Hired

Simpleton

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The Cardinals finished 2nd in YPA (5.0) and 4th in total rushing YPG in 2023 with Murray only playing half the season, and 3rd in YPA (5.3) and 7th in total YPG in 2024. Each year they only finished behind a handful of teams in those categories and almost all of them either had elite personnel at OL/RB like Detroit or San Francisco, or one of the best running QB's in the league like Jackson, Hurts or Daniels who skew the numbers with their scrambles.

Murray only ran 44 times in 2023 and 78 times in 2024, which is nothing compared to guys like Jackson/Daniels who run 140-150 times a year, so you can't attribute much of their rushing success to him like you can with those other teams.

But what's really interesting is when you look at the personnel on their OL compared to other top rushing attacks.

Teams like Detroit, SF and Philly usually have 2-3 Pro Bowlers, but with these guys you have one top talent in Paris Johnson who will probably make a few Pro Bowls, but after that it's basically a bunch of journeymen, JAG's and backups.

Will Hernandez, DJ Humphries, Evan Brown, Kelvin Beachum, some guy named Hjalte Froholdt.

And not only that, but in 2024 Froholdt and Brown were the only OL to play more than 80% of the snaps, with a hodgepodge of random guys filling in due to injuries to some of the more recognizable names like Will Hernandez. You had guys I've literally never heard of like Trystan Colon-Castillo playing 35% of the snaps.

If Guyton can get his head on straight the talent he'll have on the OL here is not just significantly better, it'd be in a completely different universe.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Well he’s also had a mobile QB in Murray .. while all we have is a gimp … so those sack numbers will go up quite a bit
Mobile doesn't mean less sacks. Getting the ball off means less sacks. It's why Peyton Manning was rarely sacked compared to far more mobile QBs. Brady, almost never sacked. Russell Wilson while very mobile, sacked a lot.
 

Simpleton

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It all depends on the RB.
I don't think it all depends on the RB unless they stick their heads in the sand and roll with Dowdle and not much else. As long as they spend one of their top 3 picks on a RB we'll be fine.

With that said, the new OC here both played and coached at Boise St., so...
 

boozeman

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I don't think it all depends on the RB unless they stick their heads in the sand and roll with Dowdle and not much else. As long as they spend one of their top 3 picks on a RB we'll be fine.

With that said, the new OC here both played and coached at Boise St., so...
The Jeanty talk will be deafening if he makes it past the Raiders.
 

Simpleton

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The Jeanty talk will be deafening if he makes it past the Raiders.
I could see the Bears taking him with Johnson trying to recreate some of what he did in Detroit, but ultimately I think their OL is so bad that they won't have any choice but to address it with that pick. I'd assume Johnson is smart enough to realize that the success he had in Detroit was mostly a function of their elite OL.

Drafting Gibbs was kind of the last piece of the puzzle after the rest of the stuff was mostly in place.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I could see the Bears taking him with Johnson trying to recreate some of what he did in Detroit, but ultimately I think their OL is so bad that they won't have any choice but to address it with that pick. I'd assume Johnson is smart enough to realize that the success he had in Detroit was mostly a function of their elite OL.

Drafting Gibbs was kind of the last piece of the puzzle after the rest of the stuff was mostly in place.
I'd be excited for what Jeanty could do for us. But I'm not stressed if someone takes him before our pick or even if we pass on him. The only thing that would stress me out is if we go through the first three rounds and don't take a RB. Then I'm going to stress that it's just going to be a repeat of the last two years when we really needed a RB and passed.
 

Simpleton

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I'd be excited for what Jeanty could do for us. But I'm not stressed if someone takes him before our pick or even if we pass on him. The only thing that would stress me out is if we go through the first three rounds and don't take a RB. Then I'm going to stress that it's just going to be a repeat of the last two years when we really needed a RB and passed.
I can't see them ignoring RB again unless they sign Dowdle and another external FA (very unlikely). Schottenheimer is obviously putting a focus on the running game and wants to go play action-heavy, you can't do that with Dowdle and a bunch of schlubs at RB.
 

boozeman

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I can't see them ignoring RB again unless they sign Dowdle and another external FA (very unlikely). Schottenheimer is obviously putting a focus on the running game and wants to go play action-heavy, you can't do that with Dowdle and a bunch of schlubs at RB.
The Dowdle decision will tell me a lot if they trying to decide to be serious.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I can't see them ignoring RB again unless they sign Dowdle and another external FA (very unlikely). Schottenheimer is obviously putting a focus on the running game and wants to go play action-heavy, you can't do that with Dowdle and a bunch of schlubs at RB.
Yeah I really thought the same last year to be honest. I guess the year before that with Pollard getting the franchise tag I didn't expect it that strongly but I thought we would take a more legit RB than Duece that year too.
 

Foobio

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Wouldn’t surprise me at all if they ignored RB again or addressed it in a completely insufficient manner. These aren’t serious football people and at this point they’re just professional trolls.
 

boozeman

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Wouldn’t surprise me at all if they ignored RB again or addressed it in a completely insufficient manner. These aren’t serious football people and at this point they’re just professional trolls.
You may be completely correct.

If anything it shows that there seems to be commitment to the run game as a pacemaker to the offense and not just a thing to do. Go ahead and try that with a Dowdle.
 

Genghis Khan

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Wouldn’t surprise me at all if they ignored RB again or addressed it in a completely insufficient manner. These aren’t serious football people and at this point they’re just professional trolls.

This is what I'm expecting until proven otherwise.
 

Chocolate Lab

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Pretty sad our cynicism meters are all on 11.

Thanks Jones Boys!
 

boozeman

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He will probably bring an assistant from Arizona, maybe Chris Cook. He used to coach football at a local HS in Charlotte.
 

Chocolate Lab

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Tulius! :doh
 
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