This was a post by Mark on MVN.com

It's tough to tell off two weeks of camp and one pre-season game but a few things are starting to come into focus for the Cardinals and their chances to break a 10 year play off drought. A few thoughts and observations as they enter the third week of camp:

1.  Anquan Boldin is not going to sell out his body in camp for this team until he gets a new contract. Lets face it guys, no one loves this guy more then I do. Q is my favorite Cardinal and the very first guy I would pick if I was starting a team from scratch, that's how much I love his toughness, competitiveness and leadership. However, I don't have blinders on and I've been around long enough to know when a guy is pulling back on the throttle and sending this management a message, " Ok, you don't want to pay me what I'm worth, then I'm only going to give 100% when I feel like 100%. " This guys been a warrior his entire career and we are now treated to a media cone of silence on his hamstring injury, almost two weeks off from hard drills, and everyone tip toeing around pretending every thing is ok. Well it's not and unless the Cardinals use some of the cap money from cutting Shipp and a few other high cap, low production guys ( J.J. Arrington ) or extending Warner in order to make cap room to sign Q, this is going to be an ugly season of " I'm not playing if I'm not 100%" from this former leader. The Cardinals absolutely need to get this done because as good as Steve Breaston and Early Doucet look, they aren't close to Boldin in quality or production. Everyone needs to stop pretending this isn't a huge issue just because the local media is afraid to report it as such for fear of losing access to the locker room or their sources.

2. Gabe Watson better get back on the field and be ready to play by the regular season because Branch and Robinson didn't look good at NT. One of the reasons the Saints starting offense and second string got such production was the inability of the nose tackles to get any penetration or pressure in the back field or to blow up running plays. Robinson is a tough veteran and great depth, but he's not a starting NFL nose tackle, and Alan Branch continued his one play off, one play on style of production that gets you beat in the NFL. Watson is a load and plays the nose exceptionally well, freeing up Dockett and Smith and the OLB's to get after the other teams quarterback. Hurry up and get well Gabe, the team definitely needs you and so does Dockett if he wants that upgraded contract and Pro-Bowl year.

3. DRC is going to become a legend in the next year or two.  Dick "Night Train" Lane, Larry Wilson, Rodger Wehrli, Aeneas Williams and now Dominique Rodgers Cromartie. This guy can absolutely fly, he closes on the ball like a young Lem Barney and as a certain New Orleans Saint tight end can testify this guy isn't afraid to put a guy to sleep when he comes into his zone. He's raw, just learning the basics, but what he has you can't teach. Buy your DRC jerseys early people, he's going to be incredible.

4. Tim Hightower is going to be a good second back but he's not ready for prime time just yet. He's coming out of a smaller college and program, but he looked good in Flagstaff when I saw him and pretty good against the Saints last week. He's a big step up from J.J. and Marcel, so as I said before, look for J.J. Arrington to get a few more games to try and demonstrate he has finally figured out the NFL game, but if he hasn't, expect him to hit the waiver wires and the Cardinals to go shopping for an end of camp replacement. Hightower finally gives them a legitimate second option to Edge which has been badly needed the last two years.

5. Levi Brown is no Tony Ugoh. Look, I'm never going to get over last years draft and the fact this team easily could have had Adrian Peterson and Tony Ugoh and instead now has Levi Brown and Alan Branch instead. ( Fortunately this years draft class looks like it's a winner ) Once again, I wish the local media would get the knee pads off and stop tip toeing around the fact that Levi Brown in both training camp and the Saints game looks at best pretty average. If he was a late first round pick or early second I'd say he's about what we expected. However, this guy has shown no ability to be dominant or All Pro which is what you are looking for when you draft top 5 position in the first round. His massive contract is going to choke this team for several years unless he seriously upgrades his play and turns into the monster he should be. Being decent and not a total bust isn't good enough when your one of the top 5 paid offensive linemen in the NFL.  The right side of the Cardinals line needs to pick it up, and that includes Deuce, because you have a first and second round pick on that side of the ball and they are being badly outplayed by a free agent center from Texas, a sixth round pick in Wells and a journey man LT in Gandy. Look for the Cardinals to make a major effort to draft more OL this next year because the depth and competition currently isn't adequate to get these two up to the level they need to be.

6. Matt Leinart wasn't horrible. As much as I'm hard on Levi Brown, Antrel Rolle and our string of second round busts, I have to be just as hard on Matt. You have to wonder just how low our expectations are when we are happy with the guy simply for staying in the pocket and making some easy check down throws or simple crossing pattern catch and runs to wide open receivers? His one impressive play came when he stepped up to his right under some pressure and threaded a ball into a receiver in between coverage, but the rest of the night was what we should expect from just about any NFL quarterback. Again, it's better then him having a miserable night, because this season pretty much rides on Matt's ability to earn this job and play well, but just making some simple throws and not screwing up isn't why he was a top ten pick. You can find a quarterback to "manage the game" ( also known as not screwing up ) in just about every round of the draft. By contrast, you pick a guy in the top ten so he can WIN you football games. The jury is still out and probably will be until the real bullets start flying in week one.

Ok, more to follow later this week, including a review of the potential 53 man roster. A lot of it will, as usual, depend on who gets injured and who doesn't, but so far so good as there are very few major injuries to the core group so knock on wood. One last thought to Cardinals management before I go though:

Sign Anquan Boldin to an extension now or risk a moderate shut down by the heart and soul of your team as he protects his body to prolong his career. GET IT DONE.

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