This article is part of a series that looks at each NFL team’s recent draft history, with the hope of extracting information about the way they think and the players they value. The analysis is limited to the past five drafts in the interest of relevance, and the first three rounds because that’s where the most impact players are taken.
This entry will focus on the Arizona Cardinals.
Draft History
In the past five years, the Cardinals have taken the following players in the early rounds. Their positions and the rounds in which they were drafted are listed next to their names.
2006: Matt Leinart, QB (1)
Deuce Lutui, G (2)
Leonard Pope, TE (3)
2007: Levi Brown, OT (1)
Alan Branch, DT (2)
Buster Davis, LB (3)
2008: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB (1)
Calais Campbell, DE (2)
Early Doucet, WR (3)
2009: Chris “Beanie” Wells, RB (1)
Cody Brown, DE (2)
Rashad Johnson, S (3)
2010: Dan Williams, DT (1)
Daryl Washington, LB (2)
Andre Roberts, WR (3)
Breakdown by Position
Here is the number of players the Cardinals have drafted for each position:
Defensive end: 2
Defensive tackle: 2
Linebacker: 2
Wide receiver: 2
Cornerback: 1
Guard: 1
Offensive tackle: 1
Quarterback: 1
Running back: 1
Safety: 1
Tight end: 1
Impact
Deuce Lutui is a serviceable interior lineman. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is a talented but inconsistent young corner. Calais Campbell is a solid defensive end. Early Doucet is a good third receiver. Beanie Wells showed signs of being a good power runner, but has yet to consistently put it together.
The team did make a surprise Super Bowl run in 2008, so credit must be given there.
Trends
Over the 15 rounds covered in this series, the Cardinals are the only team to pick exactly one player in each of them. While that seems like a random observation, it is worth noting that Arizona’s front office does not like to part with draft picks or move around.
Their position distribution also makes it hard to draw any conclusions, as they’ve picked up no more than two players at any one position. However, they do seem to favor the front seven, as three of the four positions where they’ve taken multiple players are DE, DT and LB.
The other such position is receiver, which is curious considering that Arizona has been stacked at that spot with Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Breaston and the now departed Anquan Boldin. Clearly, the organization values this position enough to keep the reservoir full.
One last thing to note is that the team hasn’t taken a quarterback since Matt Leinart in 2006. Considering how badly Leinart busted, and that the team instead found its savior in veteran castoff Kurt Warner, the team may now have reservations on expending early picks on the position and trusting youth.
2011 Outlook
The team badly needs an answer at quarterback after the retirement of Warner. Leinart was let go, and Derek Anderson and Max Hall did not play well in his stead. John Skelton was better, but not spectacular by any means, and it remains to be seen if coach Ken Whisenhunt has faith in him going forward.
As noted above, the team may be averse to drafting a quarterback, at least early on. Thus, they could look at a plenty of options in free agency and trades, such as Kevin Kolb, Marc Bulger or Matt Flynn, when they become available.
Outside linebacker is also in need of an infusion of talent. The Cardinals must be hoping for Von Miller (Texas A&M), widely agreed to be the best pure pass rusher in this class, to drop to them at the fifth pick. If he is gone, they have to decide if Robert Quinn (North Carolina) is worth the high pick or if they should go with the best player available. It will be very hard to trade down from that pick.
Offensive line is the another major area of need. They won’t look to fix it in the first round, but in the second, tackle Ben Ijalana (Villanova) could be a great value.
The third round could be used to find a tight end or possibly pick up another talented receiver to groom. For a team with the fifth worst record and a dubious draft history, their roster is actually fairly solid.
Right now, it all seems to rest on the quarterback position.
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