Wilson as GM: Nonsense or Perfect Sense?

Yesterday, in my plea for Michael Bidwill to promote Adrian Wilson to GM, one Cardinals’ fan , TheBros201, wrote:

“What nonsense. Bleeding Cardinal Red, and being a fan favorite are not good reasons. And “because Jacksonville is willing to do it” is hilarious.”

What’s nonsense is you thinking that the only reasons why so many Cardinals’ fans like myself would like to see Adrian Wilson promoted to GM are token and unreasonable.

For one, the person that Cardinals’ fans and players can thank as much as any other for the drafting of Budda Baker and Kyler Murray is Adrian Wilson. Budda and Kyler are the Cardinals most talented players on both sides of the ball and are two of the major reasons why the team made the playoffs this year. We could sure use a little more of that kind of Pro Bowl talent, don’t you think?

For those wondering what Adrian Wilson had to do with the drafting of Kyler Murray, Adrian Wilson was one of the two people that Michael Bidwill thanked and credited for the hiring of Kliff Kingsbury. Former Giants’ GM Ernie “The QB Guy” Accorsi was the other. The dots are easy to connect from there.

For two, Bruce Arians was so impressed with Adrian Wilson and his ubiquitous contributions around the facility that he nicknamed him “VP of Stuff.”

Byron Leftwich wants Adrian Wilson precisely because he saw first-hand the positive impact that A-Dub makes on the entire organization from the scouting department to the daily football operations.

Obviously Byron’s interest in A-Dub was encouraged and fully supported by BA — who also left the Cardinals’ building —- and who was hired by another former Cardinals administrator, Jason Licht, who also left the Cardinals’ building.

Great things seem to happen when significant former Cardinals leave the building, don’t they?

Not only is Wilson an astute evaluator of college and pro players, his aggressive style and understanding of what makes today’s players tick are a combination of qualities that the Cardinals need to manifest in their GM.

The Cardinals need a GM who is a “closer’ at the trading deadline for providing the team with a boost in talent at areas of imminent need. Yes, like Markus Golden the year before, Steve Keim added Zach Ertz and that was a great move which helped the Cardinals win a few games. But, what about the defense that gave up 30 points a game down the stretch?

As with the year before, Keim failed to address the team’s most glaring needs at the trading deadline: CB (in both cases) , WR (in both cases) and DT (this year where the loss of JJ Watt and getting little to nothing out of Jordan Phillips had created an alarming soft spot in the middle of the defense, which opponents were delighted to exploit..

Steve Keim has failed to be a “closer” the past two years. If he had closed just one more deal each year, it is more than likely that the Cardinals would have made the playoffs last year and they would have won the NFC West this year. In both years, all it took was one more win in a number of games where they were favored.

Look at what the additions of Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. have done for the Rams. Would they still be in the playoffs without them? How about if only one them was added?

The Cardinals have always been synonymous with passive aggressive.

That has to stop.

Key adjustments need to be made in a timely fashion — during the off-season —- and during the games. Therefore, the Cardinals need to develop an environment where key adjustments are made on time —- not too late, not way too late, or never.

Now is the time, as much as any in their history, for the Cardinals to operate with a sense of urgency. Urgency off the field, which will carry into urgency on the field. A JJ Watt kind of urgency. An Adrian Wilson kind of urgency.

Adrian Wilson is the right person to be the Cardinals’ GM because nothing about the man has ever been, or ever will be, passive aggressive. Adrian Wilson’s sense of urgency and being in the right place at the right time are what make the man special.

Plus, with Wilson as GM, he is not going to sit there week after week and watch Kyler Murray have to throw into tight windows under pressure all game, while opposing QBs like Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, Carson Wentz and Russell Wilson have the luxury of throwing repeatedly to wide open receivers waltzing through Vance Joseph’s preposterously soft zones — zones which too often including having the likes of Chandler Jones, Markus Golden and Devon Kennard — not pass rushing, mind you — but standing like statues in the flat while receivers behind then are wide open.

The Cardinals need a GM who will step in and set the coaches and players straight.

Whom do you think is better equipped to step in to set coaches and players straight?

What is your vote?

Are you surprised by the results thus far?

Or are they nonsense?