2012 Pre-Draft Position Needs
Last Updated
April 25, 2012
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Quarterbacks: |
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Position Needs
Kolb and Skelton remain works in process
and, therefore, iffy, but we're going to have to live with that.
Cards have looked at local talent (Osweiler and Foles) and could
take a shot at one of them as a QBOF behind Kolb or Skelton plus
Bartel. |
04 Kevin
Kolb 6-3 218 U of Houston - Philly (trade)
19 John Skelton 6-5½ 243 Fordham (D5)
02 Bartel, Richard QB 6-3 230 27 2
Tarleton State |
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Running Backs: |
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Position Needs
Return of Williams (who was hurt in preseason after impressing the
coaches) will give us 2 all-purpose RB's and add a home run
dimension. Cards could use a thumper but don't expect any draft
action early. |
26 Beanie Wells RB 6-2 229 Ohio State
34 Ryan Williams RB
5-9 212 Virginia Tech
46 Alfonso Smith RB 6-1 208 23 R Kentucky
36 LaRod Stephens-Howling RB PItt (D7a)
37 William Powell 5-9 205 RB K-State UDFA
35 Anthony Sherman FB 5-10 242 UCon |
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Wide Receivers: |
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Position Needs
While Fitz is a fixture (a "Fitzure?"), both Roberts and Doucet
are liked more as #3 slot guys and not reliable #2's. Steven
Williams has not lived up to Year One hype. Others are all
developmental. Look for Cards to draft a #2 receiver they can
trust to get open and hang onto the ball - especially in clutch
situations. They could take a shot at #13. Floyd could drop there.
Or they could reach a bit for Kendall Wright or Stephen Hill. My
sleeper (projected to go in the 7th round or as an UDFA) is Boise
State's Tyler Shoemaker - Moore's go-to guy but thought to be a
possession receiver with so-so speed. He's 6-1½ 216 and ran in the
4.4's on his pro day. That's plenty fast enough. |
11
Larry Fitzgerald, Pitt, 6-3 223 (D1
12 Andre Roberts WR
5-10¾ 195
Citadel (D3)
85 Early Doucet WR (D3) 6-0 211 LSU
18 Stephen Williams
WR 6-5 199 23 R Toledo
80 Isaiah Williams 6-3 200 Maryland
10 DeMarco Sampson WR 6-2 204 San
Diego St.
83 Jaymar Johnson WR 6-0 176 Jackson State
17 Chansi Stuckey 6-0 196 Clemson
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Tight Ends: |
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Position Needs Heap
was a disappointment, but King - supposedly a blocking specialist
- surprised everyone with his hands. Housler is a big, fast, raw
"seam-buster" who is expected to have a break-thru second year. I
don't view this as a high position priority, especially within the
context of a poor draft class for TE's. |
86 Todd Heap 6-5 245 Arizona State (Ravens)
87 Jeff King 6-3 260 Va. Tech (Panthers)
84 Rob
Housler 6-5 250 Florida Atlantic
81 Jim Dray
6-4¾ 251 (D7) Stanford
44 Stephen Skelton
6-5 250 Fordham UDFA
48 Martell Webb 6-3 276 Michigan |
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Offensive Linemen: |
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Position Needs An
unaddressed area of urgent need.
Based on their play-by-play grades, our
three tackles (Keith, L Brown and Bridges) were rated by PFF to be
the three worst pass-blockers in the NFL. Granted, our tackles
played better during the second half of the season, but for most
of the year, our QB's were running for their lives and it's
amazing that Beanie ran for 1,000 yards. At OG, we cut Hadnot and
lost Lutui but signed Snyder (formerly with SF). Keith is 50-50 at
best to come back. The rest of the unit are relatively unknown
backups (with understandably unknown potential). Problem in the
draft is that - after Kalil and Reiff - there aren't any solid
pass blocking LT types representing decent value at #13 on
downward through the second round and into the 3rd. There are
plenty of other talented linemen, but almost all of them project
to play guard (or possibly RT) with a few considered to have the
potential to be developed into a LT. The problem is that the
transition from OG to LT is a risky one - especially at #13. Other
than Kalil and Reiff, the one other intriguing lineman in the Top
15 is OG David DeCastro (said to have Steve Hutchison-type
talent). Quite possibly, we might draft DeCastro as a BPA and then
play musical chairs with the rest of the starters on our offensive
line. But it won't solve our OT problem. |
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75 Levi Brown T 6-5 323 Penn St (D1)
73 Bridges, Jeremy RT.OG 6-4 325 Southern Mississippi
74 D'Anthony Batiste OL 6-4 314
Louisiana-Lafayette
67 DJ Young 6-5 298 T Michigan St. UDFA
72 Brandon Keith OL 6-5 345 No. Iowa(D7)
63 Lyle Sendlein C (6-2, 305)
-Texas (UDFA)
62 Ryan Bartholomew C (6-1 310)
Syracuse
71 Daryl Colledge G 6-4 308 Boise St. FA Pack
68 Adam Snyder G /T 6-6 325 Oregon
61 Chris Stewart 6-4 325 Notre Dame
70 Rex Hadnot G/C
6-2 310 (FA Cleve)
76 Taitusi
"Deuce" Lutui G 6-4 334 USC (D2)
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Defensive Linemen: |
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Position Needs
Given the physically demanding nature of the Front 3
in a 34 front, you'd ideally want to have this unit consist of "6
starters" who'd rotate in and out of the lineup with little or no
drop-off in talent. The starting front 3 of Calais, Dan Williams
and Dockett is as good as you'll find anywhere. And their backups
- Holliday, Eason and Carter provided active, gritty, productive
depth. But none of our backups can be considered equal to the
starting three talent-wise and could use an upgrade. This draft is
deep in DT talent, and some of these guys (like Cox, Martin and
Reyes) are nimble enough to be moved outside to be anchors in a
34. Inside, either Poe or Brockers is considered close-to
#13 value and could, with Dan Williams, bolster our depth inside
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93 Calais Campbell DE 6-8 283 Miami (D2)
79 David Carter DE 6-5 300 UCLA
96 Ronald Talley DE 6-3 286 Delaware
91 Vonnie Holliday
DE/DT 6-5 288 No.
Carolina (Skins)
90 Darnell Dockett DT-DE 6-3 292 Florida St. (D3)
98 Nick Eason
DT 6-3 305 Clemson (Steelers)
92 Dan Williams NT 6-2 327
Tennessee
(D1)
95 Ricky Lumpkin NT 60-4 306 Kentucky |
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Linebackers: |
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Position Needs You
could say we "got lucky" a year ago, when Schofield and Acho
stepped up to provide us with otherwise missing pass rushing
pizazz from our OLB's to go with Campbell's impressive sack totals
from the DE position. But most observers don't feel it's enough.
Although they didn't play poorly, we didn't get enough production
from Haggans or from Joey Porter. Inside, Daryl Washington was a
tackling machine who filled the WILB slot as well as you could
want. But, while - opposite DWash at the other ILB - Paris Lenon
was lauded for his veteran smarts and leadership and coverage
skills, we could have been tougher vs. the run. Rotational backup
Stewart Bradley never got untracked (& continues to offer
potential without the expected results). The rest of the guys here
are unproven backups with the need to prove something. There are
high hopes for Sturdivant (who was drafted last year but injured).
Figuring to be 3rd on our board (behind Kalil and Reiff) figures
to be pass rushing specialist Melvin Ingram. The only inside guy
who might fall to us at #13 would be Luke Keuchly. Behind him, the
top 2 guys who could stiffen us inside figure to be Hightower (who
figures to be gone later in the 1st round) and Mychal Kendrick
(who might be around at #80). Look for the Cards to add at least
one LB in the draft/maybe two. |
53 Clark Haggans LOLB 6-4 243 Colo State (Steelers - FA)
58 Daryl
Washington ILB 6-1¾ 230 (D2) TCU
51
Paris Lenon LB 6-2 345 32 9 Richmond
55 Stewart Bradley 6-4 255 Nebraska
(Eagles)
50 O Brien Schofield 6-2 230 R Wisconsin
94 Sam Acho LB 6-2 257 Texas
56 Reggie Walker, LB 6-0 238 Kansas State
(UDFA)
57 Antonio Coleman 6-1 273 Auburn
59
Brandon Williams 6-3 250 Texas tech
54 Quan Sturdivant LB 6-1
241 North Carolina |
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Defensive Backs: |
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Position Needs
At some point, the Cardinals will need to address "life without
A-Dub", but other than that, this figures to be a deep & talented
group that needs little more than continued solid coaching and
development from Cioffi and Horton. Look for the Cards to consider
a Wilson type in-the-box physical safety later in the draft.
Darren Urban addressed the recent buzz that Mark Barron might be
on Arizona's radar by observing that (a) the Cards are not likely
to draft a safety in the first round and (b) Barron doesn't figure
to be around after that. |
21
Patrick Peterson CB 6-1 219 UNC
20 A.J. Jefferson . CB 6-0 190 22 R Fresno State
28 Greg Toler 5-11 191 St. Paul's College (D4)
30 Marshay Green CB 5-9 175 24 R Mississippi
22 Crezdon
Butler CB 6-0 191 Clemson
32 Korey Lindsey CB 5-10 194 Southern
Illinois
27 Adams, Michael
CB 5-8 181 Louisiana-Lafayette Dallas, TX
24 Adrian Wilson S 6-2¼ 217 North Carolina
(D3)
25 Kerry
Rhodes S 6-3 209 Louisville
49 Rashad Johnson
S 5-11 203 Alabama
23 William Gay CB 5-10 190
Louisville
xx Hamzah Abdullah
S 6-2 215 Washington St
39 James Sanders 5-10 210 Fresno St
(FA7)
40 Pat Tillman, S Arizona State
"Forever" |
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Specialty Teams: |
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Position Needs No,
I don't think we're going to draft a kicker, punter or snapper
(even though Zastudil continues to make me nervous). Punt return
duties are safely in the hands of the explosive Patrick Peterson.
There are always a bunch of speedsters eligible to return kicks,
but I could see us drafting a multi-talented scatback-receiver
with home run potential like Kendall Wright (up high) or Joe Adams
or Jarius Wright (later on). |
04 Jay
Feely K 510 208 Michigan(Jets)
09
Dave Zastudil P 6-3 220 (FA-9) Ohio U
82 Mike Leach,
LS, 6-2 220 William & Mary (FA Broncos) |
