SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Emmitt Smith is known for his vision. Since he was born, Smith could see things others couldn't. That vision made him a future Hall of Fame running back.

"It's just being able to see the flow of things," Smith said as he sat in a San Diego resort hotel that piped soft jazz throughout the lobby. "It's just like I'm listening to jazz music. There's a little rhythm, a little flow. The minute I see the run flow, I try to get into it and make something happen."

	Emmitt Smith rushed for 975 yards last season for the Cowboys.

Which brings us to his end run from the Dallas Cowboys to the Arizona Cardinals. He sees something others don't. He sees good things for the Cardinals, a franchise that has had one winning season since 1984, none since 1998.

"I honestly believe that this team has a chance to be a good team," Smith said.

So does Jeff Blake, a quarterback who has survived 12 NFL seasons on sheer tenacity.

But Smith's vision and Blake's tenacity face a tough challenge. The Cardinals have the youngest group of receivers in the league. They play in a division in which their rivals -- the Rams, 49ers and Seahawks -- force you to score 25 points or more a game. And then there's just Arizona's bad luck.

Take Saturday, for example. Defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, whose hustle made him an instant impact player as a rookie in 2001, was just starting to bounce back from a reconstruction of his right knee. His explosiveness was just returning after being moved to left end. But then, in the second quarter against San Diego on Saturday, Vanden Bosch blew out his left knee on an open-field tackle.

From Eric Swann to Andre Wadsworth to Vanden Bosch, the Cardinals can't seem to get long careers out of their young stars. Left tackle L.J. Shelton, a free agent after this season, is the last remaining Cardinals first-round choice from before 2000. Linebacker Raynoch Thompson is the only remaining second-round choice from the 1990s. It's apparently difficult to grow things in the desert.

But Smith sees something about this Cardinals team. He looks at a powerful offensive line that is better than the one he left in Dallas. He looks at an experienced quarterback in Blake who is better than anything he's seen in Dallas since Troy Aikman. He loves Dave McGinnis, a player's coach who can devise aggressive defensive schemes.

"Even when I was with the Cowboys, I listened to the scouting reports, and I could hear Jim Jeffcoat (a Cowboys defensive coach) say how good the Cardinals were on the offensive line," Smith said.

The key, though, is keeping Shelton, right tackle Anthony Clement, guards Leonard Davis and Cameron Spikes and center Pete Kendall healthy, and because they are Cardinals, that won't be easy.

Davis broke a bone in his right hand in a training-camp practice fight with Vanden Bosch. Shelton is coming off ankle surgery. Regardless, Smith came to Arizone to run the football, and that's exactly what he will do.

"When Emmitt became available, I immediately jumped on it," McGinnis said. "I've been with Walter Payton in Chicago. Those guys bring so much to your club. He's in tremendous condition. He's the first guy at work everyday, and he's got plenty left physically. He does everything right every day."

The plan is for Smith to be the workhorse running back at age 34.

Smith's in great shape. He's a trim 216 pounds. In his first two preseason games, Smith has only made a cameo appearance, but he showed the Cardinals he's ready to serve. Against the Cowboys, Smith needed to gain 10 yards on a short pass to the outside. He gained 11.

"He took a 3-yard screen pass and made three guys miss," McGinnis said. "If you need 10, he gets you 11. The players absolutely love him. I've been around this before with Walter (Payton). He and I are on the same wavelength."

But all won't go well unless Blake can get on the same wavelength with a completely revamped receiving corps. The 11 receivers on the roster have only 10 combined years of experience and 18 combined starts.

Developing these receivers will be a wild ride. On his first Sunday in camp, first-round choice Bryant Johnson got dehydrated because he had a few beers the night before. With a group this young, they have to learn everything.

"It's like coach Jerry Sullivan (offensive coordinator) told me -- you live and learn," Johnson said. "From that Sunday, you live and you learn again. I won't make the same mistakes again."

For the moment, Sullivan, one of the league's best receivers coaches in this era, isn't rushing the development of his first-year receivers. For the moment, he's been starting his most experienced receivers -- Kevin Kasper (25), Bryan Gilmore (24) and Larry Foster (26). In the middle of second quarters of exhibition games, rookies Anquan Boldin and Johnson hit the field, and it's easy to see that they are the most talented of the group.

Johnson has the ideal body for a split end. He's 6-2, 214 pounds. But he's still learning. Against the Chargers on Saturday, Blake just missed him on turn-in route after a quick three-step drop. Blake had the ball perfectly placed, but Johnson let the ball slip through his hands.

	“	When Emmitt became available, I immediately jumped on it. I've been with Walter Payton in Chicago. Those guys bring so much to your club. He's in tremendous condition. He's the first guy at work everyday, and he's got plenty left physically. He does everything right every day ”
		— Dave McGinnis, Cardinals coach

Live and learn. Johnson realized immediately what he did wrong. He tried to use his body to make the catch instead of his hands. He doesn't plan to make the same mistake twice.

Of the new receivers, Boldin is the one producing the most excitement. Because he played quarterback in high school and at Florida State, Boldin understands the passing offense so well that he's immediately bonded with Blake. The Cardinals are using Boldin as a slot receiver to work the middle of the field, and it's easy to see that he could end up being one of the team's most productive receivers. The Cardinals hope he is to them what Hines Ward, a former quarterback, is to the Steelers.

"Anquan is a ballplayer," Blake said. "Because he was a quarterback, he understands what a quarterback is looking from a receiver in his pass routes."

"Being a former quarterback helps a lot," Boldin said. "It helps me read defenses when I run the routes. It helps knowing the protections. I know if four guys are coming from the weak side, I have to break off my routes. Jeff and I have kinda a connection. I'll go out on my routes, and we will be looking eye to eye. He's seeing the same thing I'm seeing."

There's that vision thing again. The Cardinals are a hard-working group under McGinnis and his staff. A lot of talent has come and gone in Phoenix, and McGinnis is trying to make the best with what he has left.

Should this group of young players work out, they could be together of a long time. The Cardinals have $14 million of available cap room, and general manager Rod Graves should have the ability to make some moves over the offseason.

"In the last two years, we worked it so we could get our cap under control," McGinnis said. "We've been the youngest team in the league the last two years. This year we got a brand-new group of receivers. We figured we had a couple of young veterans. We'd take a couple of guys in the draft like we did. And then we would develop the young guys who we really like."

It won't be easy, though. The division is tough. The offensive system, a copy of one used by the Rams, is new. The defense is young and doesn't have a lot of proven play-makers.

"There is a lot of talent on this team," Smith said. "Our challenge is to get these guys to understand and believe we truly have a chance to be good. We need them to forget about the past. We need to try to focus our energies toward more positive things."

That's Emmitt Smith's vision.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.