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Leonard Davis
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When the Cardinals took OT Leonard Davis with the second pick overall in this
year’s first round, they did more than add the cornerstone piece to this year’s
draft. They just may have saved the day for critical pieces of a couple of other past
drafts.
RB Thomas Jones was the Cardinals first-round pick last year and was something of a
bust.
QB Jake Plummer was a second-round pick for Arizona in 1997. After showing early
promise as a pro, Plummer has regressed his last two seasons.
Davis is a guy that can help both of them. Any time that you add a potentially premier
offensive tackle to a team, the quarterback and running back have to benefit.
Jones should especially benefit since Davis looks like he can be a dominating run
blocker. Jones, of course, first has to win the starting job outright. Michael Pittman
gained more yards on the ground last year than Jones did, but the guess here is that Jones
will eventually be given a chance to carry a bigger share of the load.
How much Davis helps Plummer could tie in to where Davis is played since some scouts
feel he could struggle with pass protection if he is put at left tackle. If Davis becomes
a student of the game, works hard, has his weight under control and builds his stamina the
sky will be the limit.
Will this happen? We’ll have to wait and see. What there is no question about is
the fact that Davis is big. In fact, "Big" is his nickname given his 6-6, 365
pound size.
"He’s an impressive person," Cardinals head coach Dave McGinnis said.
"He’ll play in this league, in my humble opinion, for a long, long time, unless
he gets hit by a truck, and it’s going to have to be a damned big truck."
What Davis doesn’t do is improve the Cardinals’ defense. A defense
desperately in need of help. The Cardinals’ defense finished 30th in the
league last season. Ouch! Worse, Davis is not a Band-Aid for that ouch. He’s big
enough, but defensive line is not his position.
Oh, well. One guy can’t cure every area of pain on a team that struggled as much
as the Cardinals did last season. If he makes Plummer and Jones better, Davis will have
cured more than enough of what ails the Cardinals. Someone else will have to fix the
defense.
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