Cardinals a playoff team in 2024, Vogel future, Denny Green nod…

Make your plans with pencil, not a pen. The Cardinals are a playoff team in 2024. Look at the improvement at several positions in the last 12 months, and it’s not that hard to see eight/nine wins, which is what it takes to play games in January into February. Close losses to Washington and the Giants to start the season a year ago (7 points combined) without Kyler as quarterback. Add in single-digit defeats to the Ravens, Texans, and Seahawks without a full roster, and you can see that eight wins is pretty reasonable a season later. Why not put down a playoff GUARANTEE for 2024? Because these are your Cardinals who seem to have a knack for bad things coming their way. However, I am optimistic that with the GM and head coach in place and the fresh faces being brought in on the roster, getting to eight wins should happen later this year…

A friend texted on Friday night, “This draft reminds me of (the late)Dennis Green’s draft in 2004. He wasn’t a great coach for us, but he was a GREAT drafter”.  A refresher will show that Green took Larry Fitzgerald, Karlos Dansby, and Darnell Dockett that year, setting the franchise in motion toward the 2009  Super Bowl. The critics/cynics should check themselves if they don’t look at what the football people have done in the last two April selection days and give this franchise a tip of the cap. Big brands were the order, with four players from the Big 10 and ACC,  and two from the Big 12. The great talent evaluators and front offices find players on Day 3. I’m interested to see how this year’s class turns out…

Monday’s chant in the Valley will be, “beat LA, beat LA” with the Dodgers in town. Sunday nights chant will be “Fire Vogel, fire Vogel”…

Asking for a friend. Would Chris Paul or Cam Payne be able to help the Suns right about now?…

Memo to the high school football athlete who thinks what they do or say now won’t matter later. On Saturday, the NFL Network at one point spent almost ten minutes talking about why Spencer Rattler still hadn’t been drafted. NFL insider Ian Rappaport reported that he spoke to some NFL teams that saw Rattler’s Netflix special from his high school days, where he didn’t come across as great(understatement of the year), which concerned them. They WILL watch and read everything you put out on social media and how you speak of your teammates, etc. New Orleans is perfect for him to go off the radar and play ball. What’s done is done. The idea of using the usual “haters going to hate” or “chip on a shoulder” more often than not doesn’t work…

The University of Arizona had a first-round pick in this year’s draft, taking Jordan Morgan with the 25th pick. Wildcat teammates Jacob Cowling and Tanner McLachlan went in on days two and three. Expect several Wildcats to be on the board in 2025, with wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan a likely first-round pick.

It was a good weekend for former Valley High School players who got their name called. Brenden Rice went from Hamilton to Colorado to USC to the LA  Chargers. Jawar Jordan went from Hamilton to Syracuse, Louisville to Houston, and then to the Houston Texans. Morgan went from Marana to the University of Arizona to the LA Chargers. Rattler’s journey went from Pinnacle to Oklahoma, South Carolina to the New Orleans Saints. Jacob Cowling started at Maricopa before heading to UTEP, then the University of Arizona, before landing in with the 49ers. Before the 49ers took Ricky Pearsall, he was at Florida. He started his college career in Tempe. Corona Del Sol was his high school. 

Arizona State had no players selected…

At least two Valley High School players who got away from the instate schools will be early picks in the 2025 draft. Denzel Burke(Saguaro) from Ohio State is slotted to be a first-day selection. The same is true for Benjamin Morrison(Brophy Prep) at Notre Dame. Both play in the secondary.  A good note from PFF on Morrison vs Cardinals first-round pick Marvin Harrison Jr. -Morrison posted an 86.8 single-coverage grade since 2022, which paces all returning Power Five corners. On seven targets against Marvin Harrison Jr. over the last two years, he had more forced incompletions (three) than allowed catches (two). Former Hamilton quarterback Tyler Shough, who is now at Louisville, is hopeful to have his name called early next year. Shough’s college roadmap has taken him to Oregon, Texas Tech, and now he is at UL…

We’re closing in on day 170 without an Athletic Director at Arizona State…