"This is my third year and three strikes and you're out, and I'm definitely not striking out." Beanie Wells uttered these words in an interview back in June and now he has his opportunity. With Tim Hightower being traded and rookie Ryan Williams out for the year, Beanie is coming up to the plate with the bases loaded, a full count in the bottom of the 9th inning in game 7 of the World Series. A strike out here and it could spell disaster for this up and coming team in the 2011-2012 year.
While the Cardinals are expected to bring in someone to replace Ryan Williams, it is clear that anyone they bring in will not have the same number of opportunities that Williams would have been afforded. Some thought that Williams would push and eventually take the starting job from Beanie Wells. Like it or not, Beanie is the guy for the upcoming year and I for one am excited. People underrate his rookie season in which he carried the ball 176 times for 793 yards and 7 touchdowns. A 4.5 average is pretty good for a rookie, especially when he's sharing the load with Tim Hightower in a pass heavy offense with a hall of fame QB in Kurt Warner. Beanie has always said that he is the type of back that gets better as the game goes along, a scenario which he hasn't been given as of yet. After a solid rookie year, Beanie battled an injury he suffered in the 3rd quarter of the 4th preseason game and was never fully able to take off because of it. Compound that with one of the worst QB rotations in history, and it's obvious to see why Beanie and the entire running game struggled.
Here are some reasons why I think Beanie will excel if he is able to stay healthy.
1. The Quarterback
Yes, I understand Kevin Kolb is relatively unknown but let's face it, he can't be any worse than what we had last year. Derek Anderson couldn't hit an open receiver to save his life, Might Max looked like a boy among men and John Skelton just wasn't ready. Assuming Kolb is at least adequate at QB, teams will have to respect our pass game more. A more efficient pass game will also give us more offensive plays as we will be able to sustain drives longer than 3 plays.
2. The Offensive Line
While it may have not been addressed to the level of my liking, it was addressed as we signed Daryn Colledge and guys like Hadnot look to be stepping up their game to try to get into the starting line-up. Also, people have underrated our offensive line's ability to get a push as Beanie averaged 4.5 his rookie year and Hightower averaged 4.8 last year. We don't give this offensive line much credit when it comes to run blocking.
3. The Tight-Ends
King, Housler and Heap have given us weapons we have never had before. Both Housler and Heap are your pure pass catching tight ends, while King can block pretty well and is a decent pass catcher. The problem with Beanie before was he was so poor at pass protection, and our tight ends could ONLY pass protect, opposing teams could tell with relative ease that we were running the ball. Beanie has improved his pass protection, and if you run him out there with King and either Housler or Heap, it won't be as obvious that we are running the ball.
4. The Full Back
This doesn't have so much to do with Sherman's ability, just the mindset of the team. Granted Sherman has made some nice plays so far but I think it's still a little early to say that he will have a huge impact on this team. It's just not that often you see a team draft a fullback, but Whisenhunt feels like Sherman was the best in the draft. If you're going to commit to the run why not get a bruiser to lead the way?
5. Beanie himself
Beanie has not given me a reason to doubt him yet. Despite what people say I still refuse to believe he is as injury prone as people say and I think he's ready to prove it this year. With a little more work and a slightly better technique, I believe Beanie can be the workhorse that he wants to be and will live up to his first round status.
It all comes down to whether or not Beanie can stay healthy. If he can, he will be given every chance in the world to succeed.
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