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Ask anyone who watched the Arizona Cardinals last season -- heck, ask anyone who talked to anyone who watched the Arizona Cardinals last season -- and chances are they'll tell you about how bad the offensive line was.

An NFL-worst 58 sacks allowed. An NFL-worst 1,204 rushing yards.

Injuries ravaged the group and ineffectiveness hurt the team, and while there are many reasons the team decided to make a coaching change, the failures up front undoubtedly helped lead to the move.

The Cardinals hired Bruce Arians as head coach, and shortly after Arians tabbed Harold Goodwin as his offensive coordinator.

"What he brings in that area, his expertise there and now stepping in front of the offense as the coordinator and dealing with those things," Arians said. "Yeah, I will be calling the plays, but in all offensive coordinator duties, Harold will take those."

As Goodwin said, the hope is he'll be able to spend much of his time working with the offensive line.

"That's my passion," he said of the offensive line. "Coaching offense is my passion as well.

"I've been watching the guys here recently and kind of like what I see. Obviously there's a long way to go because everybody can get better -- including myself -- but I assure you we're going to do a good job."

By all accounts, Goodwin has his work cut out for him, but he views Arizona's line a bit differently.

"I think there's talent there," he said. "Just coming out of Indy, all you need is guys who are willing to work and you can have success."

Goodwin said his experience with the Colts leads him to believe that the Cardinals can succeed up front, and while his line in Indianapolis allowed 41 sacks last season and paved the way for the NFL's 22nd-best rushing attack, they did win 11 games and reach the postseason.

And if financial commitment is any indication, the Cardinals have invested more into their line than the Colts did theirs.

"I think there's enough talent here to win games," Goodwin said.

Arians said one of the benefits to the injury barrage up front last season was that some of the team's younger players got a chance to play, which in turn gives the coaching staff a better idea of what kind of players are on the roster.

"You can evaluate nine or 10 guys, just like what happened with us in Indianapolis," he said. "It was a revolving door; Harold did an unbelievable job with those guys."

Arians, who joked the offense "has nowhere to go but up", guaranteed the Cardinals won't rank near the bottom in offense under his watch.

"I'm excited with the group of guys, the teachers that we have," Arians said. "And then with Harold's leadership in front, there's going to be a high intensity level."

Adam Green, Web Content Editor - ArizonaSports.com

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  • Abuse
    the cooker wrote...
    Yea, Yea!
    Everybody says the same thing in the off season. How can anyone really believe that losing Levi Brown to injury hurt to OL.?
  • Abuse
    Sillysoft wrote...
    Hmmm...
    So if they are saying there is talent on the oline and in another article they mentioned they dont think oline is as bad as people think, then would that be considered a shot at Grimm? I mean if they feel they had the talent and the oline wasnt all that bad as people thought last season, then wouldnt it be on the oline coach because he didnt get that out of them?
  • Abuse
    Tom S. wrote...
    Yes that's a shot at Grimm
    Grimm probably had more to do with Whiz being fired than the QB position. And that's the problem with coaches hiring their buddies. When it's clear the guy's not cutting it, he doesn't get fired. HOF players don't always make good coaches- see Gretzky.
  • Abuse
    CardsObserver wrote...
    Optimistic
    The Cards offense was too predictable: 1) Beanie Wells was NEVER used to pass block. If he was in the game, they could hit him in the backfield; 2) Kolb's strength is in a 3-step, quick read/release, not deep ball; 3) No screen passes; 4) Housler was only used on seam routes (timing never perfected); 5) QB's never changed plays at line in response to defense. The failure was in the scheme, not the offensive line/quarterbacks.
  • Abuse
    crusaders wrote...
    O-Line
    Yes Grimm didn't do a good job coaching, and to hear he coached all those guys by himself didn't help. Throw rookies or less talented guys out there and give them no tight end help with blocking? I'm sorry all you Whiz lovers but overall he wasn't a good coach.
  • Abuse
    DjjacksonAzcardsfan wrote...
    Lets be real
    Levi went down forced rookie Massie in starter role. Snyder never lived up to what a guard should be for the money. Potter what's not thought to be starter ready as rookie. Look at Massies and Potters number last 8-9 games much better.
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