It was reported that heading into this past year’s NFL Draft, amidst early speculation that the Cardinals might be keen on selecting WR CeeDee Lamb or WR Jerry Jeudy with their #8 pick, Jerry Sullivan’s favorite WR in the draft was Justin Jefferson, Joe Burrow’s #1 WR at LSU. He wasn’t the starry-eyed 20 year old who showed up for his first practice with the Cardinals in 2004. By then, Fitz was already well ahead of the game. He worked with Fitz at a time when Fitz needed to take his game to a higher level. Jerry Sullivan has a keen eye for WR talent. Things got so murky behind those two that Steve Keim signed Michael Crabtree in the desperate hope that he could compliment Fitz and Byrd. From the get-go, Kevin White struggled-as did Andy isabella and Hakeem Butler-while KeeSean Johnson was the quickest to gain Sullivan’s favor because of Johnson’s smooth and technically sound route running.īut-in reality-the only Cardinals’ WRs who were passing the rigorous WR tests in training camp were Larry Fitzgerald and Damiere Byrd. When Jerry Sullivan was added to the coaching staff, first as a training camp adviser and then as a full-time assistant, Sullivan went fast to work on trying to improve the Cardinals WRs’ route running and triangle catching techniques.

What Kingsbury did not know at that time was how his offense was gong to be influenced by two key assistant coaches: OLC Sean Kugler and WRC Jerry Sullivan.Īs we know, three weeks into the 2019 season, the Cardinals’ offensive lineman and Kugler pleaded with Kingsbury to make a commitment to using 12 personnel (2 TEs) in order to establish a bona fide rushing attack. When the Cardinals selected Andy isabella with the #62 pick, Kliff Kingsbury was literally jumping for joy. Alas, White would never make it out of training camp with the Cardinals, while Metcalf was poised and ready to hit the NFL by storm. Metcalf remains healthy, he should have been every team's pick in the middle to late 1st and throughout the 2nd round.ĭue to injuries and inconsistencies, White struggled with the Bears-however, Kingsbury had a good reason to believe that White could revert back to his college form by playing in his old college system. Metcalf, whose medical flags (neck) were causing him to slide. Having White already on board may have created less of an urgency to select a tall X WR like D.K. At 6’3” 215 he crushed the 2015 Combine, running a blistering 4.35 40, a 6.92 3 cone while boasting a 36 1/2” vertical. Keim and Kingsbury had already signed a tall, speedy UFA WR in Kevin White, who thrived so well in West Virginia’s Air Raid that he was taken with the #7 pick of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Bears. Kingsbury saw how woefully slow the Cardinals WRs were in 2018. Many are now scoffing at Steve Keim and Michael Bidwill for listening to Kliff Kingsbury push for the selection of Andy Isabella with the #62 pick of the 2019 NFL Draft.Īt the time, Kliff Kingsbury had every intention of designing his Air Raid offense around his affinity for ‘10 personnel”-as in spreading the field with 4 WR sets. “Andy Isabella has no business being on an NFL roster, let alone playing December football in the NFL.”

“Hey man, you’re crazy, the dude was a healthy scratch last week. You might be surprised to hear this-but-Andy Isabella could be and should be the #2 WR in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense.

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - NOVEMBER 29: Andy Isabella #17 of the Arizona Cardinals runs with the ball after catching a pass against the New England Patriots during the first quarter of the game at Gillette Stadium on Novemin Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Andy isabella college