Arizona Cardinals fire Rod Graves

This is news that doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone. The Arizona Cardinals have finally parted ways with subpar General Manager Rod Graves, and head coach Ken Whisenhunt could be the next one to go after an awful 2012 season for this franchise. Graves is the main man at fault for the Cards struggles, because he has done a poor job assembling this offense. He has failed to support his move to sign Kevin Kolb to a big contract, and it has nothing to do with Kolb himself. It’s  the fact that the supporting cast is only suitable for an elite quarterback to succeed with.

The Cardinals offensive line is a mess, especially at both tackle positions. They have the worst pass blocking offensive line in the league, and Graves has also made plenty of mistakes as far as talent evaluation goes at the running back position. Whisenhunt should also be at fault for mis-managing carries as well, but most of the blame must be shouldered by the GM for inadequate talent at Whisenhunt’s disposal. Now I am no fan of Whisenhunt as a coach and believe he is overrated by some, so his firing his also warranted. However, it isn’t imminent nor is it completely deserved on his fault.

Reports have swirled that both head coach and GM could go, and that usually happens. I think there is a more of a chance that we see Whisenhunt out on the market again instead of back with the Cardinals, but anything can happen. The Cards have already made their decision on Rod Graves, and now it’s time to see if they deem Whisenhunt worthy of another chance.

This is what happens when you fail to sign a franchise quarterback or have an adequate backup plan in place. The best move for Arizona is to get rid of Whisenhunt as well, because he overvalued John Skelton by naming him the starter over Kolb. Now Kolb may not be the best QB around, but he’s hardly terrible and actually did a good job leading this team to wins  early in the season. The main problems for this team are on the O-line and in the running back (aside from the questions at QB), and those problems were caused by Graves.

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