Big Red Rage - Big Roster Decisions Ahead

Slash podcasts. The rod scene, rising guard, temperaturizing vision, flurring, rage taking over. Here's Paul KELVC. Get the popcorn ready. It's gonna be a show and Ron will flip. It doesn't get any better than that horn. Unleash the far our flag here on the Big Red Rage, regal and majestic and its splendor, Ron Wolfley, it flies half staff tonight in honor of a season that has passed. Now. It lived a life longer than any season before it since two thy fifteen. But the end, the very end,

was abrupt and grizzly. It wasn't a matter of what the eleven wins. The playoff spot. It was a matter of how how you got there, how you suffered losses in five of the last six. So maybe at some point here, you know, we're all gonna put the rage into Big Red Rage tonight. And that's okay because you know what, in my book, it just means we care. Yes, we're invested. It's you know, you don't want the apathy, Okay.

So so that's my piece here off the top of the Big Red Rage, brought to you by Santan Ford and Gilbert. We are Santan four. Now my game plan says, it's Ron Wolfley's job to bring some big red perspective and analysis. Yeah, you know what, honestly, PAULI right now, seven and oh happened as well. Seven and oh happened, and ten and two happened. And that's the part that

gets me, Paul, That is the part. I think it is the expectation that I allowed myself to have when they were ten and two and it had the best record in the National Football League. I think it was the expectation that I allowed myself to have looking at that team and Kyler Murray and how Kyler Murray was playing. Just the fact too that you miss Kyler Murray for three games along with DeAndre Hopkins, and yet there you

were at ten and two. Man, its just it's a hard thing to think of and then see the way that season ended. Yeah, that's perfectly acceptable. You raise your expectations at that point. Not only were you ten and two and atop all the power polls, you were one of two teams along with Buffalo, to spend the entire season at that point top five and scoring offense, top five and scoring defense. You were seven and o on the road, and every win on the road was by

double digits. Yes, so there was a lot to celebrate and there was a lot to get excited about it and bolster those expectations as to what might be coming in January. So it was the December. It was the January that once again is so confounding that it has everyone in the red seat asking a two word question,

what happened? What happened? Paul? Honestly, right now, and I think you've got to highlight this once again, you really do, because honestly, right now, if you would have told me the Cardinals would have got out to a good start on the season, I'm not going to throw out any numbers, just a good start, and then they had a five hundred, had a five hundred finish down the stretch the second

half of the season right there. You know, honestly, Paul, if you won eleven games and finished eleven and six, what would we all have said, Oh, my goodness, this is just fantastic the way they went ahead, won five games the first year of Cliff Kingsbury and then eight games. Yeah, they folded down the stretch. But you know what, now, they won eleven games the third season. If they won eleven games again out of the postseason, we wouldn't be talking like we are now. The problem is they were

ten and two. It happened. They were ten and two and then went one in five, including the playoff game, down the stretch. Once again, my thesis statement off the top, it's not the what, it's the how. Yes, it's how you got there. It's it's that feeling everyone had in La we were there and JJ Watt, let's just say, he vocalized it. He capsualized it, and you know what, he didn't mince any words when he gave his assessment

on twenty twenty one. It was a massive failure. I mean, from what we were capable of doing and from what we showed we can do to what to today. There's no other way to describe it than as a failure. Paully. When I heard that, I have to tell you right now. When I heard that, it gave me hope. It really did. Is down in the dumps. And you know I was down in the dumps as down in the dumps as I was when I heard J. J. Watt characterize it

as a massive failure. I actually add hope, because Paully, the first thing you've got to fix, you cannot fix unless you tell the truth. You have to tell the truth, and you have to characterize it. You know me, Paul, I'm a big Nights Templar guy. I really am right. But Paul, I've told you this many times. They believe tough started with terminology. What you called things, or what you said about things, or how you characterize things. It

mattered to the templars. And I think the blatant truth about one in five and the one in five finish culminating on Monday night. You gotta call it what it is. And J. J. Watt did that, and that makes me think if you can tell the truth about what happened. Now you can go ahead and fix it. You can confront it, and you can fix it, but you gotta

start by saying what is true and what happened. If you put a thought bubble over his head while he held that press conference, I think it would have said something along lines of I I just cut my timeline from this massive shoulder injury and half to come back for this. You know, it's just it was just abject frustration obviously on the part of JJ Watt. And you know, I have a bunch of different theories. I advanced some of them in Cardinals Underground, but off row this one

out here before we hear from Kyler Marie. And by the way, Darren Urban is going to be our guest on this edition of The Big Red Raid. Okay, so it will get in depth there, believe me. But here's

a quick theory. Because we did all these Cardinals folk tales, and we went back to the two thousand and eight regular season, and we did the snow Game and the Cardinals in the state of the Cardinals before they went into that two thousand and eight playoff run all the way to Super Bowl forty three and now, the comment from Chris Collinsworth the worst playoff team in the history

of the postseason, et cetera. We remember all that, But what I did not remember were some of the comments from Kurt Warner at the time about how he had to battle his own locker room to let these guys know that making the playoffs is not the end goal. Making a run in the playoffs is the end goal. And he said that was a byproduct of a team of a roster that had not been to the postseason in quite a long time. Well, the Cardinals just ended the longest NFC playoff drought at six years, from two

fifteen to twenty twenty one. And the only working theory I have that's really feasible and plausible is that perhaps at ten and two, Ron Wolfley everybody said, yeah, we just checked the main box, the main objective this year, which was to make the playoffs, take that next step in this progression, and then all of a sudden they

lost that edge. That's the only thing I can truly think of that might set because it happened before, and Kurt Warner had to fight against that in the two thousand and eight season and then literally take that team by the nose and lead them on a playoff run. Yeah, you know, and that's why, Paul two though, I was hoping for the reset. But no, I'm not saying that maybe they took their foot off the gas, that maybe human nature took over and maybe they got a little complacent.

I know that. Hey, listen, ten and two. It happened. It was real. We all saw it. They were the best team in the league after three months of the season and then they just fell apart. There has to be something something you could point to, something that is tangible and say this is what happened. Maybe you're right about that, Paul, I don't know. And look, I'm like you a week ago at this time on this very show,

I fully expected the Cardinals to flip that switch. Was going to be the playoffs, yes, and they were going to have that same energy and intensity and edge about them that they had to start the first two thirds of this season, especially on the road when it's them against the world. And we did not see the same team that we saw that started ten and two. And after the game, after the playoff loss thirty four eleven in La, Kyler Murray was was asked about well, the

immediate future, the near future. Here's Kyler. I haven't really thought about the future or anything like that, trying to trying to, you know, soak all this in. Um, there's a lot of motions, Um, you know, proud of the team, probably the way we fought, a lot of disappointment of failure to end the season. But there's definitely a lot to build up as well. And look, Kyler and the

Cardinals were not their best in prime time. They went over four in prime time, whether it was Thursday nights, Sunday night, whether it was day night football, oh for four And you know what, Kyler and those four games combined had one touchdown pass and six interceptions. Now, a couple of those games were tight. In fact, a lot of those games. The Green Bay game was tight. The Rams game was tight in Week fourteen, obviously after they got that on side kick and they took it down

to the wire. The Colts game was tight for most of the game. But once again, Kyler and the Cardinals were certainly not at their best in prime time. Yeah, you know what, Paully. Honestly though, when I think of prime time, I get what you're saying. The national audience and everything. I didn't think that was what Kyler Murray was going to suddenly look like the Kyler Murray we all know and the way that he can play. To me,

it was the moment, it was. It was the fact that it was the playoffs, that it was one in done, a one in don scenario, and that's why I fully expected him to come out and light the lamp. That didn't. Yeh. He made plays we hadn't seen since his rookie year. And that's that's just a fact, Hay. To catch up on past episodes of The Day Pash Podcast, you can fall along via your preferred podcast provider. Get the last up States updates via Twitter at pashpod on Twitter. All right,

Darren Urban is up next? Do you think we have questions? Absolutely the Cardinals inside or on acy Cardinals dot Com. I'm gonna bring some answers next. The Big Red Rage presented by Santan Ford in Gilbert Murry back to throw on second and nine in trouble, moves to his left, being chased by Bosa, now throws it deep across the field near side, just falling at the ten and tackled at the nine yard line. Kyler Murray threw that ball outside the numbers on the far side to the near

sideline five twenty ago. Cardinals lead ten to seven. Can they put them away? Can they get a touchdown? Snap the Kyler? He throws a fade left side in the end zone and in his card Bird put down the hop bought it with Josh Norman draped all over and trying to pull the ball away. What a great catch by DeAndre Hopkins. Broke the sickles out on the fade and staffed the pig up the air and brought it in man. At some point, when you've got dudes who

are just better than the other team, that's enough. I've the good old days, Week five at home home win against the forty nine ers, when you had the dynamic duel of Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins. Yeah, you had the nine yard touchdown just over five minutes to go after the thirty yard reception, and then the Cardinals got the ball back with Fort's wold to play. I'm looking at the quick game summary notes here, and they ran

out the clock to end the game seventeen ten. They beat the forty nine ers to go five and oh for the first time since nineteen seventy four. But what's interesting, Wolf is after the game a couple of quotes, Kyler Murray called the offensive formance ugly. It was winning football, but it was ugly, man. And as the season went on, other guys noted that, you know what, there were mistakes

when they went seven to No. Ten and two, But maybe they got glossed over a little bit because after the game Kyler said something that now proves to be a little cryptic when his quote was you can't get bored with winning. You can't get bored of doing the little things right. That was Kyler Murray postgame week five. Wow, Bally, So intriguing, is it not? Yeah, there's no done about it. It It really is right here. They've got to answer some of these questions going forward, and that certainly is

one of them. What happened, especially down the stretch. Somebody who's been trying to answer questions in his mailbag at Acy Cardinals dot com is Darren Urban, the longtime Cardinals insider who joins us now. Darren, thank thanks for your time here in the Big Red Rage, brought to you by santan Ford and Gilbert. How has it been, you know, how's your mental health after dealing with the mail bag this week. Guys, how you doing? My mental health is fine.

I mean, you know, the season was going to end at some point. Uh. You know, obviously everybody's hoping that it's gonna be after the super Bowl. But uh, you know, our our jobs go on. Uh. That's part of it, you know, for me. Uh, and that's part of it for the players too. I mean, uh, you're now on the point where, okay, it's over. Um, just like the one week at a time thing of the season where you know, it's it doesn't pay a whole lot to

look back. It pays to look forward. I think the players now kind of have to refocus on, Okay, what what do we do going forward? Rather than looking back. But obviously it was a disappointing end of the season. I mean there's no way of getting around that. And you know, I I you know, you you listen to J. J. Watt right after the games, Uh, sit up there at the podium and say called it a massive failure. And

and because Kingsbury wasn't going to go there. Uh And and that might have been in the emotion of the moment, but it pretty much encapsulated how everybody was feeling that night. I think it so DRB. How do you fix this? And you started, you know, I want to hear your thoughts on Wolf. Honestly, you know difficult, isn't it? I mean, where do you begin on this? Well? How do you how do you diagnose it first before you fix it?

What is the problem? Because DJ Humphrey said this week it was Monday, It was Tuesday after the game and he was asked about he said, well, when you lose that many games, you lost something. What is something? You know? That's a great question that Paul, you and I were

talking about it on our podcast this week. I mean, there were some people that kind of analyze the numbers that we're saying that some of the success they were having early in the season was not sustainable and a and a very basic example, and again I brought this up with you, Paul, but Wolf, I mean, how many times early in the season, especially did they score a touchdown or get a first down when it was third

and twelve, third and fourteen, third and sixteen. It seemed like they were doing it every single time they were in one of those situations. And that's not something you're going to be able to pull off for a seventeen game season, and that's that's one example. I think the penalties got a little bit worse. There's no question the injuries hurt them, and clearly I think some of the

player regressed, and some of that is the quarterback. I mean, when you go into a playoff game and the coach says that the quarterback is going to have his, hopefully his best game of the year, and Kyler then talks about being raised to be that kind of player, You're you're really hoping that he plays better than he did, and he didn't. You know, when it comes to total wins without d Hop, Kyler and Colt McCoy tied, they

both had two. Kyler won two out of seven games without d Hop, coult McCoy won two out of three. So something happened. Now you still have a quarterback who's going to the Pro Bowl, obviously, And after the game, zach Ertz actually the next day meeting the media and he was asked about twenty four year old Kyler Murray and what he sees. Kyler is the most talented player I've ever been around, and I think the sky is the limit for him. I mean, if he didn't get

hurt this year, he's probably winning the MVP. And if you have an MVP caliber quarterback, you're gonna have a chance to win a Super Bowl. He puts so much pressure on himself to be great, to win football games, to play great, And that's why I think guys love playing for him. Can I throw out a quick analogy and you guys can agree with disagree, and I know

you will. Here we go, Lamar Jackson. Did Lamar Jackson not have a miserable playoff game or two at the beginning of his career and then rebound and win an MVP plus a postseason game or two? But didn't the very beginning of Lamar Jackson of playoff football was ugly? Was it not? Yes? And a lot of people wondered, Okay, wait a minute, how viable is this guy long term? Has the NFL figured out Lamar Jackson? It's it's a lot of the same blowback we're hearing now with Kyla Murray.

Every quarterback is different. But yeah, well, if I throw that to you, and you know, obviously Lamar Jackson had to evolve his game. Is the ball now in Kyler's core? Yeah, there's no doubt about it. And hopefully the good news here is that Kyler Murray is going to embrace the fact that he's not a finished product and he's got to get better. I fully expect him to embrace that and to get better whatever it may be in his preparation. Get better on the field, get better with decisions, get

better with reading coverage, whatever it may be. PAULI, I mean, I believe Kyler is that type of individual. Let's hope that he is and he embraces the process of getting better right now, and I fully expect him to do that, Paul. The one area I will say the one thing, guys, when you talk about the Arizona Cardinals, especially this season, when you talk about something being unsustainable, think of how many times they had leads. They were in the lead

almost all the time. When you think about it, how many games did they actually have to come back in, Paul, I'm thinking Jacksonville they had to come back in that game, and I think Houston as well. They got down five nothing in that game and had to come But but after that, you know, before they went on that's one in five streak to win this season, they were all about having leads and getting leads, there's no doubt about it. And then and then as far as the playoff game goes, Darren.

You know, after the game, Aaron Donald said in a quote, I feel like the quarterback wasn't comfortable at all. Yeah, did the Rams just proved to be a really bad matchup for Kyler and the Cardinals in hindsight? Well, I mean it was a bad matchup potentially in the playoffs. I mean, obviously they weren't a bad matchup the first time they played in the season, when the Cardinals had their way with them. Um, now, that was a much

healthier Cardinals team than down the stretch. And again, not gonna go too far in the injuries because every team's got him that kind of thing. But you know, obviously the Cardinals were missing a piece, especially on offense, that meant something. But I agree with you. I don't think that Kyler was particularly comfortable in that last game, and I do think there was some echo of what he felt the first time they played. The first time they played the Rams on Monday night at the home game

where they lost. So you know, I'm very curious to see where it goes with the quarterback. I mean, Kyler, a lot of eyes are going to be on him. I know you were talking about Lamar Jackson. You know another guy who played pretty poorly in his first three playoff games and two of them were blown out losses was Peyton Manning, And obviously that turned out okay. Now, nobody's saying Kyler Murray is going to be paid Manning

or even have the playoff success of Lamar Jackson. But I do think there's a certain amount of leeway we need to give. Now how much more in this in the culture that we live in these days, with coaches and organizations making quicker changes, I don't know, but I you know, I do think that Kyler has shown enough that you can feel confident that he has a chance to be that guy. But like Will said, I think he has to kind of embrace what he went through, and I think he's got to. He does have to

make some changes, I think to get better. I don't know what those are exactly. I'm not around him all the time. I don't know what he does in the offseason and what his preparation is, but I do think he could probably do things that not only would help his own game, but would help the team around him. Well, here's Kyler on the team around him and all the impending free agents. That's one of those things that you know, hasn't you know, it won't sink in until you know,

maybe a couple of days or whatever. But you know, hopefully we can get some of those guys back, you know, if not all of them. So you know, when you build relationships with these guys, that's always the tough part about sports, is here one day going the next. So I love all those news and look, there's a lot of big names. Chandler Jones, James Connor, zach ertz Aj Green, Christian Kirk, Chase Edmonds, Justin Pugh, you know, Jordan Phillips,

Max Williams, Colt McCoy, Robert Alfred. There's a lot of names, there's no doubt about it. And in the next segment we'll start getting into some of the running back and linebacker questions. But Darren, when it comes to the receivers in particular, you know, what do you see in terms of weapons, especially at wide out, what do you see

for Kyler and the Cardinals? Well, I mean, obviously you need to get DeAndre Hopkins back, and Cliff Kingsbury did say that he felt confident that DeAndre is going to be better in the next month or so and he'll be ready to go in the offseason to do what he needs to do. I mean, I don't know what happens. Christian Kirk is a free agent. AJ Green's a free agent. I think you might want to get a little bit younger and perhaps get something more, a little bit more explosive.

I could see them, you know, potentially trying to find a way to keep Christian Kirk, but maybe finding an another young guy to become that number two and be a little more explosive. I mean, I do think you need to be in a position where you need to get some size. If you keep Christian Kirk. You do have Rondelle Moore, you like those guys, but you need to be in a spot where you have a younger, bigger receiver to make some things happen, especially if you

lose somebody like Hot for a period of time. You need to be able to do some of those things. Yeah, what about the tight end position as well, zach Ertz. Of course, Max Williams, Derrel Daniels, what do you think is going to happen? Here d. I think that's a great question. I think zach Ertz guys, I mean, he looked like he fit really well out of this offense. I'd love to see him be able to stick around.

But I mean, one of the reasons he wanted out of Philadelphia was because they were clearly moving on from him. And one of the reasons they were going to move on from him is because they weren't going to pay him. So you wonder what kind of money he's looking for, and so I think he'd like to be there. I think the Cardinals would love to have him. I think the Cardinals would love to keep Max Williams. But again, at some point, you're not going to be able to

pay everybody. I mean, the cap does go up by a significant amount, but you also have a handful of guys who are seeing a significant jump in their salaries that are going to eat some of that up, whether it's DeAndre Hopkins or Buddha Baker, Buddha Baker or even Kyler.

Kyler's salary jumps. So there's gonna be some things that you're gonna have to You're gonna have to figure out, and that's gonna mean losing out some of the guys that you're probably gonna want to keep Oline real quick, Darren Oline, So what sort of priority do you think that'll be and what sort of changes do you foresee up front? I think personally that they're probably gonna have to look at least for one guard. I mean, obviously

they like Rodney Hudson. I think Max Garcia did a yeoman's job in there, but he was ultimately their third choice to start because they were gonna go with Josh Jones and then they ended up going with Justin Murray before he got hurt. So I'm thinking they're gonna want

to upgrade there. And you don't know what's gonna happen with Justin Pugh, who's under contract for next year, but it's for such a large number that I don't know if that's even plausible that they're going to bring him back at that So what does he do something with his contract? Do they let him go and they go get somebody else? I don't know, But I think on the offensive line, guard is going to be the number one priority, and I think they're gonna want to upgrade

at least one of those spots. And your thoughts on Chandler Jones quickly as well. Chandler is a tough thing. I mean, it feels a lot like the Patrick Peterson situation of last year. But we'll see. I mean, we'll find out what his market is. But if Chandler Jones isn't here, you better find a pass rusher. Yeah, I mean, right now at twenty three overall, I'm thinking your number

one want. At least we can argue the needs, but the want at twenty three, whether that player is there or not, has to be an edge rusher, wouldn't you think? Do you think that's the clubhouse leader right now? Wolf? Yeah, no, I think there's no doubt about it. You've got to address that position. It all comes down to what a lot of these guys are going to be offered from other teams, Let's face it. Yeah, I'm thinking either edge rusher or perhaps a number one corner at twenty three overall.

If Byron Murphy can be your number two corner, that would be an ideal situation, obviously, But we'll see. You know,

that's that's down the line in April. We still have more immediate questions, especially with free agency coming in mid March and Darren Urban continues with us here the Cardinals Insider from az Cardinals dot Com on the Big Red Rage presented by Santan four in Gilbert Hurry and the gun takes the shot comes then or stand looks now backs up, goes office back book one hand and catch Connor over in the middle of the ten, inside the ten and down in the five yard line for an

eighteen yard game. What a Grandhabby does it back to back weeks with one handed catchet, go, go, gadget staff the bag and they run Connor up the middle. He's stuffed, but he breaks a tackle and get into the ends of for a touchdown. James Connor continues to be one of the best free agent signings maybe ever for the Cardinals. They're gonna go wildcat Jonathan Ward in the backfield with Connor, who takes the snap. Connor runs left, He's down to

the five and keeps defeat moving. James Connor is into the end zone for the touchdown. Yeah, arm tackles aren't bringing down James Connery. At eighteen total touchdowns this regular season, number three in the NFL, fifteen rushing touchdowns number two in the NFL for a Cardinals offense that finished tenth

in rushing overall yards per game. And let's not forget, gentlemen, welcome back into the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford and Gilbert Yours truly, Paul calvec Ron Wolfley, and our special guest, Cardinals insider Darren Urban that the Cardinals were nine and oh wolf when they had thirty or more rushes in a game. Yeah, you know, honestly, their

run rate. You know how big I was on that for the first half of the season, and actually beyond I would say the first twelve thirteen weeks of the season, the run rate was right there, top three in the National Football League. Was pretty incredible for an air raid coach. Ball. Yeah, what sort of priority is James Conner this offseason? Darren? I think, I know. It's almost a rhetorical question, isn't it. I mean, yeah, I mean, I would be shocked if

they didn't want him back. But he just scored eighteen touchdowns. And you know, this is a team that in the not too distant past paid a lot of money to a running back and that did not work out very well at all, And so I find it hard to believe that they're going to be dealing out a tremendous amount of money for a running back. Now that doesn't mean James Connor is going to be asking for what David Johnson was asking for once upon a time, or he would even get it. But these are the things

that have to be weighed. And I don't know if that gets figured out before free agency actually starts, or if we actually have to get to market. But I think they absolutely want James connorback, and I think if they had their choice, they would probably take them both back if the price was right. But again that's the

big if. And at this point, you know, James Connor has already been a free agent once, had to do a one year, proved deal here proved it, So he's gonna want his one big payday because that's basically where he is. And Chase Edmonds might be in a position where this is one big payday. So you can't begrudge these guys for looking to kind of set themselves up when this is their one chance, especially at the position

they play. But certainly they were both excellent for the Cardinals, and I do believe one of the reasons that the Cardinals struggled so much down the stretch is because they

ultimately played two games together in the last nine. I think it was they played together to obviously that didn't go very well, and then they played together in the playoff game, even though James Connor was clearly not Yeah, he was grimacing every time he came off the field, by the way, any at extra patting around his midsection to protect those injured ribs. So and then you know, Kenyan Drake was a great running back upon acquisition and then the next year wasn't so great and end up

leaving for the Raiders. So Wolf, how do you see the running back position? Right? Yeah, Paula. You know what, though Kenyan Drake can never seem to embody to me the physicality and the leadership that the Arizona Cardinals wanted. I'm not saying that Kenyan Drake wasn't a physical player. I'm not saying that he wasn't a good leader. I'm saying that James Connor was everything that this team wanted to become in the off season, and then he proved it on the field in how he played. The physicality

of James Connor I think changed the team. It changed the team, It inspired his teammates that were on the sideline watching him play. I think it even altered Cliff Kingsbury's philosophy. That's just me, Paul. But he wasn't just a playmaker. He was a mentality. Yes, he really was what JJ Watt was to the defense, you know James Connor was to the offense. Yeah, there's no doubt, and it jacked everybody up. Darren. My question to you would

be this right here. Does he want to be paid like he's in every down back or is he willing to share the backfield? That would be my question to James Connor. Well, I mean you just made two different questions of the wallfield. Are you saying is he willing to share the time or is he want to get paid like he's not shamed the time. I mean, I

think he has no problem sharing the work with Chase Edmonds. Sure, But if you're going to tell him we're all going to pay you so much because you're sharing the time, yeah, then then you're going to have that you might have an issue there. Again, I don't. I don't think this is going to come down for James Connor to have in himself. I need all the carries and I want

to get paid like that. But if another team comes along and says, we are going to give you all the carries and Dusty, we're going to pay you X amount of dollars, and the Cardinals don't want to go there. I mean, if you're James Connor, you almost have to leave. I mean, running backs in this league have a very short shelf life. And let's face it, both these guys were banged up. James Connor lasted most of the season, but he got hurt, and that was part of the

issue of why Pittsburgh let him walk away. And as much as I think I know I love Chase Edmunds and I think you guys really love his game too, let's face it, the times when he's really had to be used a lot, he's ended up hurt for part of the time. So that's something you have to keep in mind, not only in terms of how many backs you have on your roster to be able to show the load, but also when you're paying him James Connor, and I have to remind myself of this. He's not

a thirty plus year old running back either. He's in his prime. He's twenty seven years of age, saying with Chase's obviously in his prime, just wrapped up his initial four year deal. Here's the head coach and play caller, Cliff Kingsbury on those two running backs set to be free agents. Huge fans of both those guys. I mean, you can't ask for two guys that work harder, do things the right way. You know, they're they're dialed in each and every day, and they both earned good deals.

As far as I'm concerned, I hope that we can afford both guys because they both had fantastic seasons and they deserve to get nice contracts. But I would love to have them both back. I think they compliment each other really well. Yeah, and I agree Wolf. I mean Cliff Kingsbury, you know, once, especially once he realized also that James Connor could catch the ball, Oh my goodness, we afually became interchangeable, seriously with Chase Edmonds and James Connor.

I thought that was absolutely huge. Guys. I just I want to reminisce just a little bit. I want to go back to when the Arizona Cardinals were subbing and oh, go back to the five and oh, as a matter of fact, after five games and looking at Max Williams as the tight end. Max Williams and eleven personnel, one back, one tight end, three wide receivers. When you had DeAndre Hopkins, you had Aj Green, you had Christian Kirk, you had Max Williams as your stud tight end, and then you

had James Conner and Chase Edmonds. I'm guys right now, that to me is when this offense was absolutely at its best and rundown situation first and ten, second and one to six. And the reason why I say that is because they were so balanced. They could use that personnel group on first and ten and you had no idea if it was going to be a run or if it was going to be a pass, and they ran the ball in a physical way and they could do it with Max Williams as their stud tight end.

That's a great point, You're right. I mean, how many times were they a step ahead of the defense And that was when Max Williams was part of their personnel sets. There's no doubt about that. And then if you flip it, Darren, the other big question comes at linebacker. Obviously, where would the Cardinals have been on defense without Jordan Hicks? Think

about that? Think how close he was perhaps to go into another team when upon the drafting of Zavin Collins, he was told he wouldn't even have a chance at that point to compete for his starting spot. Instead, he led the team in tackles. Him and Jayleen Thomps are right up the top near for the entire season, and I mean he was absolutely the beating heart of that defense.

He wore the green dot. How do you see the inside linebacker spot, especially with those two guys joining him, former first round picks and Isaiah Simmons and Zavan Collins. I think that's something definitely to watch. I mean, for Jordan Hicks to go from basically hearing that he wasn't going to start to asking for a trade to playing the most snaps on defense all season is kind of

an amazing turn of events. But I don't know what's going to happen, you know, Jordan Hicks was asked the other day if he was gonna ask for a trade again because he is a contract for another year. He said it was too early for him to comment on that.

He didn't know kind of where everything was going to go. Obviously, Zavan Collins did not play a whole lot of defense down the stretch, and the last couple times he did play, the majority of his snaps were on the outside, and we were talking about whether Chandler Jones comes back, Is it possible that they think about putting him outside instead. I mean, that's what happened with a Son Reddick. I

don't know how that's going to go. I mean, even Isaiah Simmons, you know, bounce round played a bunch of different places. You know, they praised him all season. He played a ton of snaps. I didn't think there were times when I was watching Isaiah Simmons that I still feel like he's still trying to figure out where he needs to be in space, sometimes as an inside linebacker. But when you spend first round picks on these guys, that's that you need something from them, and you need

something quickly. So you know, do they move on from Jordan Hicks saying we've got to have these two first round picks as or guys. I don't know what's going to happen, but it's going to be fascinating to watch playouts. The one thing I want to see is Isaiah Simmons continue to grow. He was having to me a great

first half of the season. I don't know about you, Derb, how you feel about that, but I thought he was having a great first half of the season, and then all of a sudden, I would say, maybe down the last five six games of the season, he just really started overrunning a lot of tackles and in the open field he looked lost. Now, he made the unbelievable play because he's so incredible athletically, made the great play where he punched the ball out on Dak Prescott. How big

of a play that was. But man, he seemed to regress to me in the open field in particular over the last five or six games. Guys, I just want to say this quickly. If I were the Arizona Cardinals, and believe me, vance Joseph in the defense. They know way more than I'll ever know, and they're gonna do the right thing by Zaiah Simmons. But I just get this feeling, guys that I'd love to stick him at the weak side linebacker and tell him I want I want you to master this position. You know I've been

talking about this. I know everyone loves to move him around, but I want you to master this position. And that means taking on fullbacks because he's not afraid. He isn't. I think he's his mind has got to be trained to be a killer on the inside. It's funny that you you bring up how he may have regressed a little bit. I mean, let's face it, Wolf, you tell me who who would you look on both sides of the ball and not feel that way up? Yeah, yes, No,

you're right about that. He wasn't alone in that regard. You're absolutely right. I'll say this about Zaven Collins too. If they bring back Jordan Hicks, Jordan Hicks will beat out Zaven Collins again, especially advanced. Joseph is a defensive coordinator. I'm pretty confident in saying that. It's one thing, Paulie, you know what, It's a good point. The one thing I don't want to see though, is don't move him outside again. I mean, you know, this is Hassan Reddick

part two. He wasn't even he wasn't even the backup to Jordan Hicks this year. I mean, Tanner Vallejo and Joe Walker Oh played above Davin Collins. I know, but I know this guy's got all sorts of ability as well, And sometimes you just gotta throw somebody out there and you just got to let him sink or swim, and then that's what That's what Jordan Hicks said. Somebody asked Jordan Hicks, if Jordan wasn't around next year, does he think Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins are ready to be

those guys? And he basically said, yes, I think they can do it. But he went on to say, because that's what you drafted him for and at some point you just got to stick him out there and they've got to get it done. And so maybe that happens, Maybe they move on from Jordan Hicks just to force Zavan Collins to have to play. I don't know, and I don't know how that leads you as a defense. All right, Darren, you're on the hook right now. Where did the Cardinals go with a twenty third pick? Overall?

Come on, now, let's go. I think the pass rush is definitely in play, but I also think an offensive lineman like a guard would be in play, and maybe a wide receiver if somebody falls. I mean, we can talk all day about the defense, but I do think they need some pieces on offense. This offense needs to get more consistent. Give me a guard, Give me a guard. I'll take that all day right now. I don't even

care number twenty pay in the third round. Give me a big slobber knocker, some blood gut that'll come off the ball and just drill somebody. I'll tell you what. Ninety ninety year division and the likes of Nick Bosa, who moves around the defensive front. Yeah, I'm not against that. So Darren, thank you for the time. There you go, Darren, Urban Cardinals Inside or Acy Cardinals dot Com will come back. Well, if I have a couple more theories, I'm gonna earhole

you with. Next on a Big Red Rage presented by Santan Ford in Gilbert. Part of sports is that you get to enjoy the highs, but then you also have to live with the lows. And you hope to have less lows and highs, obviously, but you know, if you're gonna if you're gonna ride high, and if you're going to enjoy the good times, and if you're gonna be confident and excited during the good times, you also got to be you know, when it goes bad, you take that too. So I'm not going to stand up here

and not take my lumps. I mean, we didn't do what we were supposed to do. We started the season great and we finished the season terrible. JJ Watt in the Trust Tree with the media and the fans after the playoff loss in La zach Ertz added at one point telling the media, look, it's going to sting. I want guys to feel this sting. Yes, So we wrap up this edition of The Big Red Rage presented by

Santan Ford and Gilbert Why do you say? Yes, Ron Wolfley And just because once again that's where you've got to start. You want every player to characterize the season exactly, exactly like jj Watt Jus did because he's telling the truth. When you start ten and two, Paulie, when you start ten and two and then you finish one and five, including how they played in that playoff game, that's a massive failure. And I think that should drive every player

that is coming back. You should be driven. And if you're not driven, if you don't feel that you need to go, especially coming off a year where you started six and three and then lost five year last seven. So you know, like we talked about in the team playing, Cardinals are gonna get Cardinals gonna start eight and three, nine and three. No one's gonna believe it until they

prove it in December and January up next year. Yes, and to do that well, you're gonna have to bolster the roster because guess what, the NFC West is the NFC best you are in the best division in football. Here's Cliff Kingsbury on some of those items they're gonna have to check off. We've got a lot of work to do and we want to be better and finished strong and all those things. But we definitely improved dramatically in the first three years and are hoping to do

the same next year. And we're gonna have to. The NFC West is a challenge here, and you're out with great players and great teams and we got to make some some real progress if we want to keep up. Is there a next step for the head coach? Yeah, you know what I believe, so, Polly, to your question, I believe that the next step for Cliff Kingsbury is being the alpha mel in the room. I think that is the next step for Cliff. Now again, Polly, when I say that, that doesn't mean that he has to

turn into a screamer. No, he does not have to turn into a screamer. He doesn't mean he has to act like a jerk, Paul. He does not. But for me, he's got to be the definitive voice that is inside that locker room. He's got to be the alph. And once again, I'm not talking about walking around and acting all bad and everything up, because that's not Cliff, That's

not who he is. But Paul Bill Belichick never walked around like that, yet everybody knew he was the alpha in the room, and I think that's important in Cliff's development as a head coach in the NFL taking that next step. We saw a lot of that when they started seven to ZO ten and two, did we not. We witnessed that on the sideline. Chase Edmonds told us on this very show that he personally fed off the

head coach and the increased intensity. So yeah, it's also confounding, you know, as to exactly how to diagnose what happened, But internally, I'm guessing they know and they've already set out about how to correct it going into next year. Speaking of you can join the Cardinals season ticket priority list for the twenty twenty two season. Go at Easy Cardinals dot com Slash Priority List for more information. Special thanks Darren urban, Ron Wolfley on Paul Calvic Special thanks

as always to Jim Almahundro and Jeff Darge. This has been the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford and Gilbert. We are satan Ford number one til you've been listening to the Big Red Ray presented by Santanford in Guildark. Are you Santanford State Farm Talk to an Agent today at eight hundred State Farm And by Arizona Cardinals Podcasts. Visit Acy Cardinals dot com Slash podcasts. This has been an exclusive presentation of Arizona Cardinals Football Club.