By Zack Cimini
Notjustagame.com

Emmitt Smith will be out indefinitely with a fractured shoulder. The injury is based on a week to week evaluation, and he could be out for a good portion of the season. That means Marcell Shipp will get an opportunity to prove that he is the better running back for the Cardinals. If he does play well, just imagine the situation the Cardinals will be in. Smith still has one year left on his contract and we all know he doesn?t want to sit next season. With all that in mind, it brings up the question; did Emmitt Smith do the right thing in coming to Arizona?

With two Super Bowl rings and many NFL records, it is hard to say why Smith would want to keep playing football. Sure he wanted to prove to the rest of the league that he could still start and play effectively, but it hasn?t happened. In coming to Arizona he thought he would have it easy with a huge offensive line, which was supposed to open up holes for him. Instead the offensive line has been the weakness of this offense, and has Jeff Blake running for his life.

Even when Smith was having solid games he wasn?t getting enough opportunities to carry the football. The Cardinals were down by so many points that Smith was a non factor in second halves.

The main reason the Cardinals brought in Smith was to have a super star player on their team. It didn?t matter what Smith?s age was or if he could still play, the Cardinals just wanted a big name. With the future hall of fame player, more tickets were expected to be sold. It just goes to show if you aren?t producing on the field as a team, fans still won?t show up. A lot of the blame has gone on Arizona fans but Phoenix Coyotes, Diamondbacks, and Suns games all have solid crowd attendance.

This team is the youngest team in the league with a lot of talent. That?s exactly what we all were saying four years ago, but the Cardinals front office let their players get away. They have a young defense, a solid young offensive line, and now solid young receivers. Marcell Shipp was effective on a couple running plays last week, and could end up being their young running back. A team that young at every position should have done that at quarterback as well.

Jeff Blake is an old veteran and in two years will probably need to be replaced. When that time comes the rest of the team will be molded but will have to start all over with a new quarterback. It?s that kind of logic that keeps setting the Cardinals franchise back.