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Dynasty and Redraft: David Johnson Saints (4 Viewers)

WheelsUp has a point here although Arians is a good coach.  Some coaches are tyrannical and just want to make a point to their players about who is in control instead of having a level head.  One of the worst offenses I see from coaches is that they are biased and better players ride the bench behind players who are less talented.

One of the best examples is another guy out of the University of Northern Iowa by the name of Kurt Warner.  How does a QB with Drew Brees level of pin-point accuracy on deep balls go undrafted?  Scouts are biased against small school players.  Why was Warner second string behind a mediocre Trent Green until he blew out his knee?  Simple, the coaches were biased because they just gave Green a new contract and they thought they could coach him up instead of going with the real talent.  After Green's injury the St Louis dispatch has this quote in an article: "We're cursed," a Rams official told the St. Louis Dispatch a few minutes later. "We're [expletive] cursed."

Vermeil went on to give an interview where he expressed confidence in Warner with his words, but you could see in his face that he pretty much thought the season was over.  Warner went on to lead the league in completion percentage, yards per attempt, TDs, and QB rating in that year putting on the "Greatest Show on Turf".  Coaches DO NOT always make good decisions.  Coaches can be biased because one player has more experience or because he has a large contract.  GMs want to see the players they drafted high succeed, which can lead to more talented players drafted in late rounds to ride the bench.

Is there anyone on this forum willing to say that Trent Green ever had a chance to be what Kurt Warner is?  There are almost too many examples to cite, but who believes the Dolphins made the right move by forcing throws with Tannehill instead of handing the ball off to Lamar Miller the last 3 years?

I have been on this board for enough years to know that the common misconception is that coaches get to see the players on the field every day so they are in position to make the right decisions.  In reality, coaches are arrogant, biased and some even tyrannical like WheelsUp said.  Coaches are human, they make many mistakes just like the rest of us. 

 
WheelsUp has a point here although Arians is a good coach.  Some coaches are tyrannical and just want to make a point to their players about who is in control instead of having a level head.  One of the worst offenses I see from coaches is that they are biased and better players ride the bench behind players who are less talented.

One of the best examples is another guy out of the University of Northern Iowa by the name of Kurt Warner.  How does a QB with Drew Brees level of pin-point accuracy on deep balls go undrafted?  Scouts are biased against small school players.  Why was Warner second string behind a mediocre Trent Green until he blew out his knee?  Simple, the coaches were biased because they just gave Green a new contract and they thought they could coach him up instead of going with the real talent.  After Green's injury the St Louis dispatch has this quote in an article: "We're cursed," a Rams official told the St. Louis Dispatch a few minutes later. "We're [expletive] cursed."

Vermeil went on to give an interview where he expressed confidence in Warner with his words, but you could see in his face that he pretty much thought the season was over.  Warner went on to lead the league in completion percentage, yards per attempt, TDs, and QB rating in that year putting on the "Greatest Show on Turf".  Coaches DO NOT always make good decisions.  Coaches can be biased because one player has more experience or because he has a large contract.  GMs want to see the players they drafted high succeed, which can lead to more talented players drafted in late rounds to ride the bench.

Is there anyone on this forum willing to say that Trent Green ever had a chance to be what Kurt Warner is?  There are almost too many examples to cite, but who believes the Dolphins made the right move by forcing throws with Tannehill instead of handing the ball off to Lamar Miller the last 3 years?

I have been on this board for enough years to know that the common misconception is that coaches get to see the players on the field every day so they are in position to make the right decisions.  In reality, coaches are arrogant, biased and some even tyrannical like WheelsUp said.  Coaches are human, they make many mistakes just like the rest of us. 
very true.

I will say, when Vermeil gave the "we will rally around Kurt Warner" speech, I honestly believed him. I thought he was probably the only person in the world who agreed with himself but I though he honestly thought they would be competitive. 

In my earlier football years when big time "what were they ever thinking" moment came to be noticed, I usually assumed they went the way they did due to contract pressures, pressure from higher ups or even owners, etc. But I have definitely come to see in recent years that coaches we think of as being solid and smart, etc, still can't get out of their own way sometimes. I think that was VERY evident in Green Bay last year. I think there were a handful of occurrences where some players were misused extensively. I think there were 2 games they lost directly due to it and one they should have lost.  So even coaches and organizations we generally think of as being very good, to me, make some bonehead moves.

 
Agree on Green Bay.  Just one man's opinion, but Jeff Janis should have immediately been slotted into Jordy's role after his injury.  Adam's got the snaps because he was a second round pick.  Coaching mistake.

 
The head shake of denial from an Adams owner? We will all think we are right and none will know for sure but I agree with Touchdown There.  Janis was the guy they should have replaced Jordy will. A lot of it is based on intangibles and continuity and little things like the "type" and "size" of player that Rodgers was used to and could have gotten back into a groove easier with.  Just one guy's opinion but I think they missed the boat on that one.

 
IIRC, DJ had a bit of fumbilitis and miss a few pass protection assignments in camp and in the early part of the season, which put him in Arians' doghouse for a time. It took injuries to CJ and Ellington to give DJ a shot, but he obviously took off from there.
This is not accurate. He was put in Arians doghouse because he got hurt and wasn't healing fast enough for Arians. 

 
I wonder if they win two more games if they used DJ heavily early on..........I don't get it but Arians is a solid coach so I guess he felt he was doing what's best for the team. 
I am watching "All or Nothing" and early on Arians mentions something to the effect that DJo was going to be the starter but Arians didn't want to rush him. Maybe BA was concerned about his pass blocking or playbook comprehension. I can't say for sure. What really strikes me is that BA has a wholistic pov of the games as a head coah, meaning he doesn't seem to favor any one unit or player. 

 
IIRC, DJ had a bit of fumbilitis and miss a few pass protection assignments in camp and in the early part of the season, which put him in Arians' doghouse for a time. It took injuries to CJ and Ellington to give DJ a shot, but he obviously took off from there.


This is not accurate. He was put in Arians doghouse because he got hurt and wasn't healing fast enough for Arians. 
DJo did fumble an opening kickoff in wk4 vs the Rams that led to a TD. I can't say whether that led to less playing time. At minimum it may have given BA pause about throwing DJo in full time. 

 
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The head shake of denial from an Adams owner? We will all think we are right and none will know for sure but I agree with Touchdown There.  Janis was the guy they should have replaced Jordy will. A lot of it is based on intangibles and continuity and little things like the "type" and "size" of player that Rodgers was used to and could have gotten back into a groove easier with.  Just one guy's opinion but I think they missed the boat on that one.
Say what, now?

 
32 Counter Pass said:
DJo did fumble an opening kickoff in wk4 vs the Rams that led to a TD. I can't say whether that led to less playing time. At minimum it may have given BA pause about throwing DJo in full time. 
There was a lot of talk about DJ getting an increased role before this fumble occurred and Arians had been talking him up, I also remember after this game Arians laid into him in the post game talking about how he played like a rookie.

Here they are:

Coach Bruce Arians told the Cardinals' website he hopes to get rookie David Johnson "10-15 touches" in Week 3 against the 49ers.
Last week's Special Teams Player of the Week in the NFC, Johnson only touched the ball six times on offense in Week 2. Arians has promised Johnson's role will grow, and he hopes to use David and Chris Johnson on about near-equal footing against San Francisco. When Andre Ellington (knee) returns, expect him to be just another member of the Cardinals' emerging committee backfield.
Sun, Sep 27, 2015
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said after Sunday's Week 4 loss that David Johnson "played like a rookie today."
Johnson totaled 81 yards and scored a 23-yard receiving touchdown, but Arians wasn't happy with the third-round pick's performance. "He dropped a touchdown pass, he fumbled a ball, and he played like a rookie today," Arians said. Johnson operated as the Cardinals' passing-down back behind Chris Johnson. It's possible that role will go back to Andre Ellington next week.

Sun, Oct 4, 2015
Coach Bruce Arians indicated David Johnson will be the odd man out in the Cardinals' running back corps moving forward.
Chris Johnson has been anointed Arizona's lead back, while a now-healthy Andre Ellington is likely to take over David Johnson's old "nickel back" role. "It’s not hard, because the young guy sits," Arians said, referring to David. We wouldn't bet against David Johnson making noise later this season, but for now he's on the fringe of roster worthy and droppable in 12-team leagues. At least, until Ellington gets injured again.

Wed, Oct 7, 2015

 
Touchdown There said:
Agree on Green Bay.  Just one man's opinion, but Jeff Janis should have immediately been slotted into Jordy's role after his injury.  Adam's got the snaps because he was a second round pick.  Coaching mistake.
I think you guys are making the ole correlation versus causation error on this issue.

Are coaches wrong? Sure. They make mistakes all the time.

But Adams didn't get those looks because he was a 2nd round pick, he got those looks because of the things that made him the 2nd round pick of the same guys that waited until the 7th round to pick Janis.

I see the same comment made on player salaries. While it may be true that at the time of the contract signing the team has a certain perception of the value of that player, that doesn't mean that that perception is static or that they somehow derive a greater benefit than winning games by sticking with him.  The coaches are going to play the guys they think give them the best chance to win because those coaches get fired if they lose games.

 
I'm speaking about the preseason. Arizona signed Chris Johnson because DJ was healing slow from a hamstring injury and Arians spoke out about how rookies can't miss valuable preseason time. If he doesn't get hurt there he might have forced Arians hand in playing him because he was doing so well. 

 
I think a lot of the time fantasy football owners think they know more than the coaches do. There may be times where they are right as well.

However a FF owner does not have all of the information that the coaching staff has. They see these players in practice all the time, we don't.

It isn't rational to blame the coaches for irrational coaching just because they don't do what you want them to do. There are reasons why coaches do what they do and those reasons are not always known to us.

That isn't to say that coaches are not flawed. They are human beings and make mistakes just like the rest of us. I am just saying that what you think the coaches are doing wrong might make sense if you had all of the information the coaches have.

As far as why Jeff Janis wasn't starting over Adams, I don't think Aaron Rodgers or the coaches were comfortable with how Janis runs routes and Adams must have played better in practice or I think they would have made this move more quickly.

 
I think a lot of the time fantasy football owners think they know more than the coaches do. There may be times where they are right as well.

However a FF owner does not have all of the information that the coaching staff has. They see these players in practice all the time, we don't.

It isn't rational to blame the coaches for irrational coaching just because they don't do what you want them to do. There are reasons why coaches do what they do and those reasons are not always known to us.

That isn't to say that coaches are not flawed. They are human beings and make mistakes just like the rest of us. I am just saying that what you think the coaches are doing wrong might make sense if you had all of the information the coaches have.

As far as why Jeff Janis wasn't starting over Adams, I don't think Aaron Rodgers or the coaches were comfortable with how Janis runs routes and Adams must have played better in practice or I think they would have made this move more quickly.
I think you have to give a coach like BA the benefit of the doubt but that first episode of All or nothing doesn't instill a lot of confidence in that FO or Arians for that matter.

 
I think you guys are making the ole correlation versus causation error on this issue.

Are coaches wrong? Sure. They make mistakes all the time.

But Adams didn't get those looks because he was a 2nd round pick, he got those looks because of the things that made him the 2nd round pick of the same guys that waited until the 7th round to pick Janis.

I see the same comment made on player salaries. While it may be true that at the time of the contract signing the team has a certain perception of the value of that player, that doesn't mean that that perception is static or that they somehow derive a greater benefit than winning games by sticking with him.  The coaches are going to play the guys they think give them the best chance to win because those coaches get fired if they lose games.
Or...he got those looks because their #1 WR was out for the year, their #2 Wr was hurt a lot during the year, their TE was hurt, and their rb weighed 275 and Adams was simply "the guy available" and the coaches couldn't get past playing a better option (Janis) because Adams was a 2nd rounder. 

I'm not a Seattle fan but this is what teams like the Hawks and Patriots do so exceptionally well that many of the other top teams simply fail to do.  With football being a game of attrition, one of the most important roles for coaches and front office is to provide that "next man up" and to be able to assess that talent.  Far too often teams approach it like a "You are next" service depending on what your number was (where you were drafted). Seattle is terrific at saying forget that.  You practice. I observe and teach. Whomever is THE BETTER PLAYER will play...awesome concept.  Janis got about 20% of the time on the field as Adams did last year and he looked every bit the part.  Adams looked like a guy who didn't study the playbook at times. 

We can label it any theory or give it any title we want but the eyeball test shows that the Packers made the wrong choice. People who are invested in Adams in FF made the wrong choice.  Janis is the better fit.

 
Sure he can call plays, but the guy cut a player over a parking spot. How is that a leader of men?
I will be down on any coach who cuts someone over a parking spot, that is tyrannical.
 
He cut him because he can't follow simple instructions.  You don't know nearly enough about it to make further judgements.  How many times was he warned?  How many other ####### moments did he have?  How many other simple things was he tasked with that he failed?  Was it a handicap spot that caused legal/liability concerns?  Was a coach late to a meeting because dude took his spot and Coach had to go hunt another one down?

Dude's a grown-### man trying to get a job in the NFL, he SHOULD be held accountable for his actions.

 
WheelsUp has a point here although Arians is a good coach.  Some coaches are tyrannical and just want to make a point to their players about who is in control instead of having a level head.  One of the worst offenses I see from coaches is that they are biased and better players ride the bench behind players who are less talented.

One of the best examples is another guy out of the University of Northern Iowa by the name of Kurt Warner.  How does a QB with Drew Brees level of pin-point accuracy on deep balls go undrafted?  Scouts are biased against small school players.  Why was Warner second string behind a mediocre Trent Green until he blew out his knee?  Simple, the coaches were biased because they just gave Green a new contract and they thought they could coach him up instead of going with the real talent.  After Green's injury the St Louis dispatch has this quote in an article: "We're cursed," a Rams official told the St. Louis Dispatch a few minutes later. "We're [expletive] cursed."
What a clueless post.  It couldn't possibly be that Warner improved between the time he was drafted and the time he played, right?  He was already a HOF talent at age 22, and his three more years of practice and coaching, followed by a year in NFL Europe being coached up, had nothing to do with it.  He didn't get bigger, stronger, more accurate, more experience reading defenses, better knowledge of NFL offensive concepts and terminology after college, he had the whole package coming out of Northern Iowa.

 
32 Counter Pass said:
IIRC, DJ had a bit of fumbilitis and miss a few pass protection assignments in camp and in the early part of the season, which put him in Arians' doghouse for a time. It took injuries to CJ and Ellington to give DJ a shot, but he obviously took off from there.


This is not accurate. He was put in Arians doghouse because he got hurt and wasn't healing fast enough for Arians. 
DJo did fumble an opening kickoff in wk4 vs the Rams that led to a TD. I can't say whether that led to less playing time. At minimum it may have given BA pause about throwing DJo in full time. 
I don't know if it was in this post or another source, I'll see if I can source it, but there was a good point made during an author's discussions with Jen Weller, who was an interim assistance with the Cardinals discussing David vs. Chris Johnson.  Weller made the very insightful point that Chris, as a veteran, was much more consistent on early downs and made fewer mistakes running that resulted in short gains, thus 2nd and long, thus the offense is not "on schedule".  They want to have 2nd-and-5 or 2nd-and-4, not a bunch of 2nd-and-longs.  So while David was more dynamic and capable of bigger plays, he also put them behind schedule too often and that's one reason the staff trusts Chris Johnson so much.  It was really good insight into how coaches think vs. how FF donkeys on message boards think.

 
I don't know if it was in this post or another source, I'll see if I can source it, but there was a good point made during an author's discussions with Jen Weller, who was an interim assistance with the Cardinals discussing David vs. Chris Johnson.  Weller made the very insightful point that Chris, as a veteran, was much more consistent on early downs and made fewer mistakes running that resulted in short gains, thus 2nd and long, thus the offense is not "on schedule".  They want to have 2nd-and-5 or 2nd-and-4, not a bunch of 2nd-and-longs.  So while David was more dynamic and capable of bigger plays, he also put them behind schedule too often and that's one reason the staff trusts Chris Johnson so much.  It was really good insight into how coaches think vs. how FF donkeys on message boards think.
Chris Johnson hadn't played for Arizona before they signed him. 

 
There was a lot of talk about DJ getting an increased role before this fumble occurred and Arians had been talking him up, I also remember after this game Arians laid into him in the post game talking about how he played like a rookie.

Here they are:
Yes, that is what I was thinking of when I posted the fumbilitis concern.

 
I don't know if it was in this post or another source, I'll see if I can source it, but there was a good point made during an author's discussions with Jen Weller, who was an interim assistance with the Cardinals discussing David vs. Chris Johnson.  Weller made the very insightful point that Chris, as a veteran, was much more consistent on early downs and made fewer mistakes running that resulted in short gains, thus 2nd and long, thus the offense is not "on schedule".  They want to have 2nd-and-5 or 2nd-and-4, not a bunch of 2nd-and-longs.  So while David was more dynamic and capable of bigger plays, he also put them behind schedule too often and that's one reason the staff trusts Chris Johnson so much.  It was really good insight into how coaches think vs. how FF donkeys on message boards think.
Chris Johnson hadn't played for Arizona before they signed him. 
Correct.  And David Johnson hadn't played for Arizona before they drafted him.  What's your point?

 
What a clueless post.
I have been on this board for enough years to know that the common misconception is that coaches get to see the players on the field every day so they are in position to make the right decisions.  In reality, coaches are arrogant, biased and some even tyrannical like WheelsUp said.  Coaches are human, they make many mistakes just like the rest of us. 
#1. Your choice of words is lacking both class and understanding that others can have a different opinion than yours.  There are no provable facts here, just opinions, so tone it down a few notches.
#2. You cut out the bottom part of my quote, which is directed to everyone holding the bolded misconception (you).
#3. Arena ball is a very small field and Warner's main talent is pin-point deep accuracy.  This is a natural gift, not one that is developed and he had this gift in high school and college.  Everyone makes mistakes, even coaches and you Mr. Moody.
 

 
I don't know if it was in this post or another source, I'll see if I can source it, but there was a good point made during an author's discussions with Jen Weller, who was an interim assistance with the Cardinals discussing David vs. Chris Johnson.  Weller made the very insightful point that Chris, as a veteran, was much more consistent on early downs and made fewer mistakes running that resulted in short gains, thus 2nd and long, thus the offense is not "on schedule".  They want to have 2nd-and-5 or 2nd-and-4, not a bunch of 2nd-and-longs.  So while David was more dynamic and capable of bigger plays, he also put them behind schedule too often and that's one reason the staff trusts Chris Johnson so much.  It was really good insight into how coaches think vs. how FF donkeys on message boards think.
This is a good "info" post and I get the thought behind it and how it would be credible but each year is different and what was then a fresh Chris Johnson and a rookie David who had to earn his way so to speak from Arians' point of view is now a 30+ Chris and a young David who demonstrated nothing but big play after big play.

So, in essence, if we accept everything at face value and true (which we can do), we still have to answer the question: Does a Bruce Arians offense want to be a dink and dunk, 3 yards at a time offense at the price of being "on schedule" or do they want to feature a healthy Michael Floyd and Brown with Fitz with a Rb who has shown he can rip off a big play and essentially have an offense capable of scoring on every play?   

 
This is a good "info" post and I get the thought behind it and how it would be credible but each year is different and what was then a fresh Chris Johnson and a rookie David who had to earn his way so to speak from Arians' point of view is now a 30+ Chris and a young David who demonstrated nothing but big play after big play.

So, in essence, if we accept everything at face value and true (which we can do), we still have to answer the question: Does a Bruce Arians offense want to be a dink and dunk, 3 yards at a time offense at the price of being "on schedule" or do they want to feature a healthy Michael Floyd and Brown with Fitz with a Rb who has shown he can rip off a big play and essentially have an offense capable of scoring on every play?   
No question.  I wasn't suggesting that Chris was a better play going forward, but to bring to light a big reason why Arians went slowly with David Johnson last year.  I'm a pretty big pro-David Johnson owner.  I guess it can be looked at as a cautionary tale though.  Arians may be a coach that would rather have the steady-eddie consistent guy that keeps them on schedule over the flashy guy that frequently puts them out of their comfort zone.  Toss in an occasional turnover and all of a sudden the guy may have trouble getting heavy workload.  There are a lot of steady-eddie veteran RB's they could bring in if necessary.

 
Coaches value consistency from players. They want to be in control of as much as they can. So providing consistent play in practice and on the field that a coach can count on is very valuable to them.

It takes time to establish a track record of consistency.

 
Correct.  And David Johnson hadn't played for Arizona before they drafted him.  What's your point?
My point is Arians brought Chris Johnson in because DJ got hurt. That was before the fumble on the kick off. It's quite possible that even though Arians suggests in the show that he didn't want DJ getting a big head so he was going to hold him back that if DJ doesn't pull a hamstring in the preseason he would have forced Arians to play him. Chris Johnson probably never gets signed without that injury. 

 
Coaches value consistency from players. They want to be in control of as much as they can. So providing consistent play in practice and on the field that a coach can count on is very valuable to them.

It takes time to establish a track record of consistency.
Yeah I agree but they value chunk plays too. Which is more difficult to perform? 50 yard house runs with 3-4 broken tackles or running for 4 yards on 1st down? DJ will learn to grind better.......

 
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My point is Arians brought Chris Johnson in because DJ got hurt. That was before the fumble on the kick off. It's quite possible that even though Arians suggests in the show that he didn't want DJ getting a big head so he was going to hold him back that if DJ doesn't pull a hamstring in the preseason he would have forced Arians to play him. Chris Johnson probably never gets signed without that injury. 
Arians brought CJ in because all of their RB's were hurt and/or stunk in camp, that was widely reported.  It doesn't really matter why they signed him though.  Bottom line is that once the games got going he was more effective for what the Cardinals wanted from their early-down RB.  If they didn't sign CJ they were gonna sign someone else, and if that someone else were more effective keeping the O on schedule he would have played over DJ who wasn't giving the coaches what they wanted.

 
Arians brought CJ in because all of their RB's were hurt and/or stunk in camp, that was widely reported.  It doesn't really matter why they signed him though.  Bottom line is that once the games got going he was more effective for what the Cardinals wanted from their early-down RB.  If they didn't sign CJ they were gonna sign someone else, and if that someone else were more effective keeping the O on schedule he would have played over DJ who wasn't giving the coaches what they wanted.
Yeah I never read DJ was bad in camp just that he had gotten hurt and was healing slower than Arians wanted. 

 
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Yeah I agree but they value chunk plays too. Which is more difficult to perform? 50 yard house runs with 3-4 broken tackles or running for 4 yards on 1st down? DJ will learn to grind better.......
To hear a lot of coaches talk, every play should produce a 50-yard chunk if only those stupid @#$% players would execute the @$#^# play correctly.

 
Hankmoody said:
Arians brought CJ in because all of their RB's were hurt and/or stunk in camp, that was widely reported.  It doesn't really matter why they signed him though.  Bottom line is that once the games got going he was more effective for what the Cardinals wanted from their early-down RB.  If they didn't sign CJ they were gonna sign someone else, and if that someone else were more effective keeping the O on schedule he would have played over DJ who wasn't giving the coaches what they wanted.
IIRC, CJ was indeed brought in for depth when DJ was hurt, with Ellington slated as the feature back. And Ellington indeed got off to a hot start in game one, but as usual got hurt during the game and that was it for him.

At least that's what I remember...

 
 

Darren Urban of Cardinals.com reiterated that David Johnson is the unquestioned feature running back.
"I don't know how anyone would suggest otherwise at this point," said Urban. Urban referred to Chris Johnson's return to Arizona in free agency as "an upset" after he took less money to stay, and called "David Johnson the guy this organization absolutely loves." Urban did say he expects Chris and Andre Ellington to be involved, with the former as a back who will "get the carries David Johnson doesn't get," and the latter likely to be used "split out" more at receiver, as opposed to lined up in the backfield.

 
 
Source: azcardinals.com 
Jul 18 - 3:53 PM

 
3 3/4 seasons, 34-14 record, four starting QBs, three defensive coordinators, two offensive coordinators, two different franchises.

Only a very small handful of teams would confidentially take their HC over Arians.
4 starting QBs? Really? Palmer for 38 of the 48. Stanton started 8 and Lindley 2. You make it seem like he's had a new QB each year. Palmer got hurt in 2014 and the Cardinals were 5-5 without him and 6-0 with him, so the results show the drop off from Palmer. Funny thing is 2012 Palmer in Oakland was almost identical in stats to 2013 Palmer in Arizona with Denarius Moore as his #1.

Oh, I get it, you are adding in his Colts gig with Andrew Luck. 34-14 is only the Cardinals. Trying to make "four starting QBs" sound like he's had to work with a lot of QBs pretty much ignores that he had Roethlisberger as an OC (his stats were below his average with Arians), Luck as an interim head coach and Palmer as head coach. He's been pretty lucky QB wise in his career.

Although, I have to say, poor Bruce Arians has had to work with so many WRs. I mean, he had Ward, Antonio Brown, Wallace and Sanders in Pittsburgh, Hilton and Wayne with the Colts and Fitzgerald, Floyd and Brown in Arizona. Poor guy has just made so much with the crappy QBs/WRs hands he's been dealt.

I am not going to say Arians isn't a good coach, but he inherited a very talented team and lucked into being able to get Palmer because the Raiders are the Raiders. Kind of like Randy Moss, pay a lot for him, let him go for nothing, although Palmer played better in Oakland than Randy. I think Arians is a bit overrated because he's always had a lot of talent around him.

 
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Cardinals coach Bruce Arians says he intends to determine his backfield touches "game to game."
"That'll go game to game," Arians claimed when asked how often David Johnson would be getting the ball. "If he's hot, he's staying in there. But there's no script right now." They're alarming comments on their face, but almost certainly just coachspeak. The Cardinals' website considers Johnson a shoo-in bell cow. Perhaps a "hot" Chris Johnson or Andre Ellington could occasionally steal a series, but we're confident in David's ability to dominate touches to the degree that he'll be an elite RB1.

 
Source: Kyle Odegard on Twitter

 
I think Arians is a great coach and is way too smart to back himself into a corner by declaring RB use. He's got a lockerroom to worry about. Nobody's job should be a fore gone conclusion in the NFL. I won't read into this or allow it to affect DJ's value.

 
The Cardinals' official website still expects David Johnson to get the "bulk" of the carries.
Reporter Darren Urban adds that Johnson has looked "excellent" running routes from the slot this summer. "The mismatches he’s going to create in the passing game?," GM Steve Keim asked rhetorically. "It’s scary. It’s early, but I haven’t seen many like him." Coach Bruce Arians has been trying to stir up trouble by acting like his backfield could be more of a committee than expected, but that jibes with neither Arians' history nor 2015 performance. Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington are bit players who will be treated as such.

 
 
Source: azcardinals.com 
Aug 4 - 4:48 PM

 
Or...he got those looks because their #1 WR was out for the year, their #2 Wr was hurt a lot during the year, their TE was hurt, and their rb weighed 275 and Adams was simply "the guy available" and the coaches couldn't get past playing a better option (Janis) because Adams was a 2nd rounder. 

I'm not a Seattle fan but this is what teams like the Hawks and Patriots do so exceptionally well that many of the other top teams simply fail to do.  With football being a game of attrition, one of the most important roles for coaches and front office is to provide that "next man up" and to be able to assess that talent.  Far too often teams approach it like a "You are next" service depending on what your number was (where you were drafted). Seattle is terrific at saying forget that.  You practice. I observe and teach. Whomever is THE BETTER PLAYER will play...awesome concept.  Janis got about 20% of the time on the field as Adams did last year and he looked every bit the part.  Adams looked like a guy who didn't study the playbook at times. 

We can label it any theory or give it any title we want but the eyeball test shows that the Packers made the wrong choice. People who are invested in Adams in FF made the wrong choice.  Janis is the better fit.
Aaron Rodgers said Jeff Janis is still trying to master the mental side of the game.
"When he can stop thinking so much and react more, you see the athletic ability," Rodgers said. "He's obviously gifted very well with his athleticism, his jumping ability and his speed. He just needs to get to a level where he's not thinking as much and his instincts take over." Janis almost single-handedly saved the Packers' postseason run with two Hail Mary catches in the dying minutes of the Divisional Round loss, but he has yet to carve out a consistent role in the offense. These comments could help explain why. With Davante Adams' future in question, Janis has a real opportunity to seize a role, but he needs to show a better grasp of the offense.
According to ESPN Packers reporter Rob Demovsky, third-year WR Jeff Janis "is still a raw guy," and it "seems he's just not there yet."
Janis is running as a starter with Jordy Nelson (ACL) on active/PUP, but was reported to have had several miscommunications with Aaron Rodgers on the first day of camp. Demovsky considers Davante Adams the favorite to return as Green Bay's No. 3 receiver. Janis made waves for his monster game in the Divisional Round against Arizona, but he has just two career catches in the regular season.
 
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Michael Cohen and Bob McGinn agreed on their Packers Podcast that third-year WR Jeff Janis has had a "disappointing" training camp so far.

It's been the consensus among beat writers from other Packers media outlets, as well. McGinn did suggest Janis may be more of a "gamer" than practice player, and that Janis' performance in Green Bay's preseason games carries more weight than his play on the practice field. By all accounts, Janis has dropped too many passes and still struggles to get on the same page as Aaron Rodgers.
 
Aaron Rodgers said Jeff Janis is still trying to master the mental side of the game.
"When he can stop thinking so much and react more, you see the athletic ability," Rodgers said. "He's obviously gifted very well with his athleticism, his jumping ability and his speed. He just needs to get to a level where he's not thinking as much and his instincts take over." Janis almost single-handedly saved the Packers' postseason run with two Hail Mary catches in the dying minutes of the Divisional Round loss, but he has yet to carve out a consistent role in the offense. These comments could help explain why. With Davante Adams' future in question, Janis has a real opportunity to seize a role, but he needs to show a better grasp of the offense.
According to ESPN Packers reporter Rob Demovsky, third-year WR Jeff Janis "is still a raw guy," and it "seems he's just not there yet."
Janis is running as a starter with Jordy Nelson (ACL) on active/PUP, but was reported to have had several miscommunications with Aaron Rodgers on the first day of camp. Demovsky considers Davante Adams the favorite to return as Green Bay's No. 3 receiver. Janis made waves for his monster game in the Divisional Round against Arizona, but he has just two career catches in the regular season.
 
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Michael Cohen and Bob McGinn agreed on their Packers Podcast that third-year WR Jeff Janis has had a "disappointing" training camp so far.

It's been the consensus among beat writers from other Packers media outlets, as well. McGinn did suggest Janis may be more of a "gamer" than practice player, and that Janis' performance in Green Bay's preseason games carries more weight than his play on the practice field. By all accounts, Janis has dropped too many passes and still struggles to get on the same page as Aaron Rodgers.
:sadbanana:

 
Aaron Rodgers said Jeff Janis is still trying to master the mental side of the game.
"When he can stop thinking so much and react more, you see the athletic ability," Rodgers said. "He's obviously gifted very well with his athleticism, his jumping ability and his speed. He just needs to get to a level where he's not thinking as much and his instincts take over." Janis almost single-handedly saved the Packers' postseason run with two Hail Mary catches in the dying minutes of the Divisional Round loss, but he has yet to carve out a consistent role in the offense. These comments could help explain why. With Davante Adams' future in question, Janis has a real opportunity to seize a role, but he needs to show a better grasp of the offense.
According to ESPN Packers reporter Rob Demovsky, third-year WR Jeff Janis "is still a raw guy," and it "seems he's just not there yet."
Janis is running as a starter with Jordy Nelson (ACL) on active/PUP, but was reported to have had several miscommunications with Aaron Rodgers on the first day of camp. Demovsky considers Davante Adams the favorite to return as Green Bay's No. 3 receiver. Janis made waves for his monster game in the Divisional Round against Arizona, but he has just two career catches in the regular season.
 
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Michael Cohen and Bob McGinn agreed on their Packers Podcast that third-year WR Jeff Janis has had a "disappointing" training camp so far.

It's been the consensus among beat writers from other Packers media outlets, as well. McGinn did suggest Janis may be more of a "gamer" than practice player, and that Janis' performance in Green Bay's preseason games carries more weight than his play on the practice field. By all accounts, Janis has dropped too many passes and still struggles to get on the same page as Aaron Rodgers.
Seems like this is in the wrong thread. 

 
Speaking about David Johnson, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said he doesn't "want to run him in the ground early," but hinted he'll be in for big workloads.
"I'm afraid to talk about him because I might get him hurt," Arians quipped. "But he can run it 25 times and he can catch it 15 times. The sky is the limit for his ability. ... I don't want to run him in the ground early, because we have (depth). We have a great group of running backs, so one guy doesn't have to get all the carries early in the season." All Arians' comments reveal are a desire to be reasonable. Perhaps Johnson won't be getting the rock 25 times per game in September, but he's not going to be a committee back. He's the man, one Arians clearly has an abundance of faith in. Johnson is an elite RB1 in fantasy leagues.

 
 
Source: NFL.com 
Aug 11 - 3:13 PM

 

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