Doug & Wolf choose 2018 Cardinals midseason awards

Limping to a 2-6 start to the 2018 season, there is a lot to analyze negatively from the first half of the Arizona Cardinals season. That doesn’t mean it’s without positives.

From changes at quarterback and offensive coordinator, trade requests from captains to Larry Fitzgerald extending his consecutive games with a catch streak, wins have been harder to come by than drama.

The guys from the Doug & Wolf Show on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station (Doug Franz, Ron Wolfley, Paul Calvisi, Max Starks) analyzed a few of the highs and lows in dramatic, Academy Awards-style fashion from the Cardinals’ first half of the season.

Doug was ineligible to vote as the host of the awards program. He was an impartial (yeah, right) representative of “The Academy.”

These were their results:

Best offensive player

Winner: WR Christian Kirk

Nominee No. 1 – WR Christian Kirk, leads the team with 410 receiving yards

Nominee No. 2 – QB Josh Rosen, first among all rookie quarterbacks in total QBR

Nominee No. 3 – WR Larry Fitzgerald, leads team with 34 receptions

Best defensive player

Winner: DE Chandler Jones

Nominee No. 1 – LB Josh Bynes, third on the team in tackles, fourth on the defense in percentage of snaps played

Nominee No. 2 – DE Chandler Jones, leads team with 6.5 sacks, tied for fourth in the NFC

Nominee No. 3 – DL Corey Peters, ninth on defense in total snaps played despite missing Week 8 against the 49ers

Nominee No. 4 – CB Patrick Peterson, two interceptions, one recovered fumble and one sack to start 2018

Josh Rosen’s best play

Winner: Nominee No. 2

Nominee No. 1 – 75-yard touchdown pass to Christian Kirk Week 5 against the 49ers on the first play of the game

Nominee No. 2 – 9-yard go-ahead touchdown pass to Christian Kirk Week 8 against the 49ers

Nominee No. 3 – Speech in the huddle before the game-winning drive in Week 8 against the 49ers

Josh Rosen’s worst play

Winner: Nominee No. 1

Nominee No. 1 – Pick-six to Eddie Jackson that was called back due to an offsides against the Chicago Bears in Week 3

Nominee No. 2 – Interception to Jaquiski Tartt in Week 8 against the 49ers

Nominee No. 3 – Second pick-six in the first quarter by the Denver Broncos in Week 7 becoming the first rookie in NFL history to throw two pick-sixes in the first quarter of a game

Nominee No. 4 – Intentional grounding in the end zone for a safety against the 49ers in Week 8

Nominee No. 5 – Taking a sack to end the game coming in relief of Sam Bradford in Week 3 against the Bears

Best supporting player

Winner: DL Corey Peters

Nominee No. 1 – DL Corey Peters, tied for second on the team in sacks

Nominee No. 2 – S Budda Baker, leads the team in tackles and tackles for loss

Nominee No. 3 – OL Justin Pugh, played an important role in the development of rookie center Mason Cole

Nominee No. 4 – P Andy Lee, second in the NFL in punt yards and yards per punt

Write-in candidate – S Antoine Bethea, leads the team in percentage of snaps played on defense, according to Pro Football Reference

Most disappointing player

Winner: QB Sam Bradford

Nominee No. 1 – RB David Johnson, ranks No. 18 in the NFL in rushing yards despite having the sixth most rushing attempts

Nominee No. 2 – QB Sam Bradford, was benched in Week 3 against the Bears and averaged just 122.3 yards passing per game

Nominee No. 3 – WR J.J. Nelson, has just four catches for 21 yards on the season despite playing in all eight games for the Cardinals

Nominee No. 4 – LB/S Deone Bucannon, has only appeared in 35 percent of the snaps on defense, according to Pro Football Reference

Write-in candidate – DL Robert Nkemdiche, missed Week 5 win against the 49ers, struggled to stay healthy (Ron Wolfley’s pick, also)

Most disappointing storyline

Winner: Nominee No. 3

Nominee No. 1 – The lack of production from RB David Johnson

Nominee No. 2 – The firing of offensive coordinator Mike McCoy

Nominee No. 3 – Patrick Peterson wanted to be traded

Nominee No. 4 – Sam Bradford’s performance

Best quote

Winner: Nominee No. 5

Nominee No. 1 – GM Steve Keim on Robert Nkemdiche: “Ability doesn’t matter if you don’t have availability”

Nominee No. 2 – head coach Steve Wilks: “All of our jobs are in jeopardy, including mine if we don’t win”

Nominee No. 3 – head coach Steve Wilks: “We’re not trading Patrick, that’s out of the question”

Nominee No. 4 – former head coach Bruce Arians: “You do what’s best for the room, you don’t put square pegs in round holes”

Nominee No. 5 – Corey Peters: “It’s fairly simple to figure out who’s making mistakes when we’re watching the tape”

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