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1ST
ROUND (#16)
Dominique Rodgers Cromartie CB Tennessee State
It was touch & go as the first round unfolded. First break was when
New England traded out of #7 to New Orleans (who many gurus
projected to take McKelvin). They opted instead to grab DT Sedric
Ellis. Later on, NE, now at #10 and needing corners, came up with
the first surprise of the draft when they went for a MLB (Mayo)
instead. The Bills at #11 (as many predicted) grabbed a corner (McKelvin)
but after that, it was clear sailing, with the four teams in front
of the Cards all projected to draft offensive linemen or RB's. They
stayed true to form, taking Clady, Stewart, C Williams and Albert
off the board.
The Cards
were left with an abundance of riches. Still on our board was
Rodgers-Cromartie, Mendenhall, Mike Jones and (a long shot) Otah.
The pundits on NFL Network and ESPN were debating Mendenhall vs.
Rodgers-Cromartie. (Truthfully, we were pulling for Rodgers-Cromartie
because we felt that our need at CB was more urgent and (b) feared a
greater run at corner between #17 and #50 than we felt would occur
at RB. No doubt there will be continued debate over whether we
should have drafted Mendenhall instead. We think there will be
better RB talent at #50 (perhaps Kevin Smith, Ray Rice or Chris
Johnson) than there would have been at corner (with guys like Cason
or Brandon Flowers likely to be off the board). Woulda coulda - no
one can be sure. All we know is we're happy we got Rodgers-Cromartie.
We get a tall (6-1) corner who ran a 4.33 at the Combine.
But all numbers are - are numbers. What impressed us was his ability
to close explosively on the ball and his athleticism for leaping
high or changing direction sharply to make big plays - which we saw
him do in the Senior Bowl. There were several comments on the teevee
about "Pro Bowl potential. We agree. He's a playmaker and will look
good opposite Eric Green or Rod Hood. We loved the pick (we had him
at the top of our board when we picked). Fantastic!
2ND
ROUND (#50)
Calais Campbell, DE Miami
We left our first pick at #16 behind us and (having passed on
Mendenhall) looked toward a RB at #50. Thus began the "death watch"
for 4 RB's with the size and (sub 4.5) speed that would fill Coach
Whisenhunt's wish list order for a RB "with home run speed" who
could spell and eventually replace Edgerrin James. Kevin Smith,
Jamaal Charles, Ray Rice and Matt Forte were on the list. By the
time we were within spitting distance of the Cardinal pick at #50,
Forte fell off the board, but as we drew nearer and nearer to #50,
the other three RB's were still there and, in fact, all three
remained available for us to choose at #50. (Of course, we'll admit
that we cheated by emphasizing the RB's - situated on our
board above Kevin Smith were DE/LB's Cliff Avril and Xavier Adibi
and right after Smith on our board were DE's Quentin Groves and
Calais Campbell).
The Cards
passed on Kevin Smith, Ray Rice and Jamaal Charles and selected
Campbell.
Physically, Campbell is a freak of nature - 6-8 283 with (as one
scout put it) "vines for arms." (You want long arms to keep
offensive tackles off your bod when you come around the edge). NFL
Draft Scouts.com says they'd like to see him become stronger and
more consistent. Pro Football Weekly mentions problems with the new
defensive coaching staff at The "U" (and had mentioned this with
regard to other Hurricane players). Surefire Scouting refers to
Campbell as a "solid student" whose size gives him unique
versatility to play in a variety of fronts. The Sporting News War
Room says that he'll probably start off inconsistent but "the light
should go" on by Year 3." NFL Draft Scouts.com compares him to
Juliius Peppers and refers to: "sudden burst off the edge...Strong
run defender...Willing to do the little extras to get better and has
no problem taking plays from the chalkboard to the playing
field...Shows impressive football instincts and plays with a high
motor. Cards were in the market for more help outside on their front
seven. What they got was a big defender who can play DE in a 3-4 or
either DE or (with his size) possibly UT in a 4-3. We can't wait to
see him disrupt opposing screen plays by using his long arms to block
passing lanes. We still need to add a quality RB (and there are only
3 decent ones we know of left - over the next 31 picks). Nail biting
time. But we liked this pick - some had Campbell projected as a
Round One value.
3RD
ROUND (#81)
Early Doucet, WR LSU
We understand why the pick was made, but aren't thrilled with
it. After passing on a RB with our first two picks, we entered Day 2
with two home run RB's (K Smith and J Charles) at the top of our
board. Not for long. They were snapped up earlier round three. OK.
On to Plan B: At the top of our remaining board, we had Avril,
Schuening, Rubin, DeCoud, Branch and Adibi and eight others (in that
order) before we got to Doucet.
What we
had hoped for earlier in the round was that we would do what the
Lions did; namely sacrifice a 6th round pick in order to move up
a few places to nail down Kevin Smith. We could have done the
same thing with Charles the only remaining RB on our board. Instead,
we stood pat and wound up with Doucet - a good need/system fit but
not as impactful as a Smith or Charles.
In all
fairness, we did have Doucet listed as our #2 rated receiver (in
terms of his fit with the Cardinal system). We needed to replace
Bryant Johnson with a solid slot receiver, and in Doucet, we get a
6-footer out of a championship program with enough polish to
contribute right away. Some of the comments on Doucet - "Didn't play
in Senior Bowl (hammy)...impressed because he didn't
hesitate when making catches with defenders around him. ..very
good hands and consistently showed the ability to reach out and pluck
the ball away from his body and made tough catches on off-target
throws....
big time prospect with unique
size, strength, quickness, speed and hands...will make an impact
on the NFL if healthy....not an explosive deep threat but he will
carve his niche as a solid underneath receiver....Good sized strong
possession receiver...would fit ideally as a complimentary Z
receiver in west coast offense where he has lots of room to work
underneath coverage."
An OK and
good value pick at #81 but didn't knock our socks off.
4TH
ROUND (#116)
Ken Iwebema DE Iowa
Moving forward from our 3rd round pick at 117, Schuening, Rubin,
Adibi, Kehl, Okam were at the top of our the board and remained so.
Instead, the Cards opted to select their second DE of their draft.
This pick is puzzling - and not just in terms of need-priorities.
The profile on Iwebema is that he has nice size for a
DE, and can anchor the run over on the left side. But he has head
and motor problems. Here are some of the comments about him:
NFL
Draft Scouts - His best asset is his strength at the point of
attack....Not a relentless high-effort type...Will coast or shut down when
not involved in the play...Competes hard at the snap and in
pursuit of the quarterback, but will pull up while chasing the
ballcarrier at times, especially when long pursuit is
required...Will do what is asked in the weight room, but is not
a self-starter...Does not take well to hard coaching...l...Very
lazy in the classroom and has a suspect work ethic...Lacks good
field instincts...Sporting News - "Must become more
aggressive. PFW - A very big strong base end who would be
best on the left side in a 4-3 scheme. Looked like a man among boys
in the East West Shrine game and has the strength, leverage and
natural power to defeat blockers and defend the run."
Our guess
is that he impressed Cardinal scouts by his East - West Game
performances, and we'd all be well advised to rewatch the E W tape.
The draft
is probably all tapped out at RB. We hope we don't lose a
road-grader guard like a Schuening. Josh Johnson is at the draftable
point in the draft. We could use some depth at safety (Silva is an
overacheiver/leader type who's still available). I'm sure the
Cardinal scouts and coaches have their reasons for picking Iwebema
(Our D-line coach Aiken, recruited and coached Iwebema at Iowa). Nevertheless, this pick
flat out puzzles me because it didn't fill an apparent need nor did
Iwebema (to us) represent the best available player at #116.
5TH
ROUND (#149)
Tim Hightower RB Richmond
Who?
Didn't see
this one coming - knew nothing about him except that he's 6-0 217. A
quick research effort tells us he's more of a Baylark/Shipp type RB
who ran a 4.62 and is considered tough between the tackles, but not
the home run threat Wiz and Rod indicated they were seeking.
Schuening,
Rubin, Okam and Josh Johnson were still available at this pick. On
face value, we don't like it - it seems as though we failed to land
a running back with breakaway capability earlier and now "reached
for reaching sake" for a UDFA-caliber RB prospect at #149 when
there was still much better value still on the board.
To be
far., there were some comments on ASFN observing that, if you Google
the kid, you will find highlight reel and other material that will
help make you understand what made the Cardinal coaches regard
Hightower so highly - he plays with a chip on his shoulder, because
he's been underrated throughout his football career.
Perhaps
this is so - but within the inexact science of scoping out the
draft, all we fans have to work with is the information available to
us, and by and large, that base of information suggests that the
Cards seemed to have had other more promising options.
It will be
up to the kid to prove us wrong.
6TH
ROUND (#185)
Chris Harrington DE Texas A & M
Late in round 5, we began to see our favorite remaining
prospects start to tumble off the draft board - Schuening, Okam,
Schmitt, Johnson, Nicks. Still sitting there near the top of round
six (with roughly 14 picks to go) are Rubin (our favorite),
Henderson, Leman, Sullivan, Booker, Butler and Silva.
We ignored
those guys and selected our third DE of the draft instead. The kid
represents good value at #185 (We had him rated #106 on our big
board) but we had those 14 other guys rated a head of him on our
#150 - #185 mini-board.
Harrington's write-ups suggest a "steady Eddie" type of DE -
stronger against the run than coming after the passer off the edge -
at 6-4, 264 more of a 4 - 3 strong side end than a 3-4 tree trunk
and relying more on his instincts, motor, technique and smarts than
pure athleticism (although he did have an impressive 37.5 inch
vertical jump to go with his less spectacular 4.86 forty).
Try this
theory on for size: The Cardinal bean counters must be looking at
the salaries they're paying to aging guys like Okeafor and B-Train
who typically wind up being sidelined and only playing for a
half-season. There must be a movement afoot to eventually make our
defensive perimeter players younger and less expensive without
having much of a talent fall-off. And to do that, you need to
stockpile young talent first and then develop it. (Just guessing).
7TH
ROUND (#225)
Brandon Keith, OT No. Iowa
In a word: Po-tential (see paragraphs at bottom).
This is
the point in the draft when undrafted prospects are crossing their
fingers and praying: "Please don't take me!" As undrafted free
agents, they can pick and choose among the teams who are bidding for
their services ( and even bargain for an extra dollero or two)
instead of being forced to settle for the team that drafted them.
The past 3
rounds have been difficult for Cardinal fans. We didn't get the
"home run running back we wanted. We got no help on the O-line.
(Other than Rolle's position change and his replacement at corner by
Cromartie) we didn't bolster the safety position. And we didn't
bolster ourselves at linebacker. But we did draft three
defensive ends (although we did learn that Harrington slated to get
a close look at LB).
Last year,
TE Ben Patrick dropped into our laps in the 7th round. You just
never know. But, frankly - based on the three previous picks - our
expectations are low. (Note - We don't mean to convey the false
impression that our rounds 4, 5 and 6 picks are slated to be busts -
just that we didn't accomplish what we set out to do, and that's
a disappointment). With 11 picks still to go, our board is loaded
with plenty of talent; including Henderson, Leman, Booker, Butler,
Castille, Silva, Hefney, Doggett, Dunbar, V Hall and McClain - to
name our top 11.
All those
guys were still on the board when the Cardinals selected Keith. He's
another guy who was not on our radar screen. Here's what we've
learned about him.
He's a
monster at 6-5 345.
Playing
in the shadows of All-American offensive tackle Chad Rinehart,
Keith actually developed into a better athlete than his more
heralded teammate. The massive drive blocker with an incredibly
long wing span and hands the size of baseball mitts has excellent
quickness for a player his size.
Needing to dispel concerns about his character and work ethic, it
was commonplace to see Keith be the first player at the team
facilities in the mornings, working on a cardio program that kept
his weight in check and helped improve his overall flexibility.
Blessed with natural strength, he produced one of the better
performances in the weight room at the NFL Combine, putting up 225
pounds 31 times. In a recent workout for NFL teams on campus, he
clocked 4.98 seconds in the 40-yard dash and produced a 32-inch
vertical jump with a 9'5" broad jump. That is impressive for any
athlete, much less one of his size.
In HS
Keith was credited with more than 7 pancake blocks.
Sounds
like a nice pickup in round seven where a team can afford to take a
flier on a big, physical freak of nature who's finally trying to put
his life together. If things work out, we've got a steal. If they
don't, we blew a #225. Those are good odds.
THE MOCK CONTESTS
ASFN/BRS MOCK DRAFT CHALLENGE
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Gollin and Garthshort tied
for most "direct hits" (player to team at the right spot).
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Gollin picked up Albert
(who went to KC at another slot due to a trade) to win "player to
team in 1st round regardless of spot."
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Cardsfanmd walked away
with bragging rights for the most players predicted to be drafted in
the first round.
BRS MEDIA MOCK CHALLENGE
-
AZR (McManaman) and the NY
Post wound up with the most Direct Hits (7).
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McManaman won "Most
Players Matched to Team in 1st Round regardless of where they
were picked" (9).
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Gary Myers (NY Daily News)
and Bob Glauber (NY Newsday) tied in predicting the most
players actually drafted in the first round (26)
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