Art Monk never displayed the behavior that we’ve come to expect from receivers. Monk wasn’t brash, he wasn’t loud, and he didn’t draw attention to himself. Instead, he did his job, did it well, and waited for the next opportunity to do it again. His reward for humility? Until last year, he got lost in the shuffle when it came to qualifying for Canton. One guy who is destined to get to Canton on the first try is Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald. He is, without question, the best receiver in the NFL, on track to become one of the best ever. And so he’s the recipient of the 2008 Art Monk Award. Fitzgerald’s regular season numbers were stellar, but on par with his performance in 2007. In the postseason, however, Fitzgerald took his game to a higher level. In four playoff games, he established postseason records in catches, yards, and touchdowns -- 30, 546, and 7. That projects to a full season with 120 receptions, 2,184 yards, and 28 scores. He would have been the Super Bowl MVP if the Cardinals defense hadn’t collapsed down the stretch, and he easily won the MVP award in the meaningless Pro Bowl game. So, yeah, Fitzgerald is the guy. PFT Planet agrees with our assessment of Fitzgerald. Despite five other finalists, more than two thirds of the vote went to Fitzgerald. So even as the Cardinals find themselve in the midst of an awkward transition, with assistant coaches gone and several key free agents hitting the market and Anquan Boldin wanting out and Kurt Warner playing the Brett Favre will-he-or-won’t-he game, Arizona will have a chance to contend if Fitzgerald continues to perform like he has in 2009.
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