A painful memory: Pack and Saints offered entire draft for Wadsworth.

[Lomax to Green 84]

I was just going through some old draft stuff from 1998 and stumbled upon an article that mentioned that both the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints offered their entire drafts (Picks #1 through #7) to the Cardinals for a shot at landing Andre Wadsworth with the #3 selection. The St. Louis Rams also offered their first rounder (#6 overall), their 2nd rounder, and Isaac Bruce.

Why am I bringing this up? What could have been.

 

[Mr.Dibbs]

Until you invent a time machine, all posts like this do are get under peoples' skin. I'm glad we drafted Wadsworth. At the time it was the perfect choice. EVERYONE thought he was going to be Bruce Smith reincarnated. Nobody could have guessed that he'd be such a let-down. Remember: he was susposed to be the final peice of our "Cactus Curtain: Swann, Rice, Smith, and Wads." That had all the potential in the world. Again, he was the perfect pick for that year.

 

[NeverSayDieFan]

Excellent point!!

I know things didn't work out BUT we weren't the ONLY ones high on him. I've read some pretty negative posts about his play. Seemed a little unfair.

 

[kerouac9]

Holy crap! Grant Winstrom was a #6 overall pick?! Cripes.

We should have drafted Fred Taylor. He's really good.

 

[Jim O]

Link?

 

[Mr.Dibbs]

Holy crap! Grant Winstrom was a #6 overall pick?! Cripes.

We should have drafted Fred Taylor. He's really good.

Or Ryan Leaf. The media thought he'll be the next Elway!

Here's the 1998 draft:

1 Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning QB Tennessee
2 San Diego Chargers
(from Arizona) Ryan Leaf QB Washington State
3 Arizona Cardinals
(from San Diego) Andre Wadsworth DE Florida State
4 Oakland Raiders Charles Woodson DB Michigan
5 Chicago Bears Curtis Enis RB Penn State
6 St. Louis Rams Grant Wistrom DE Nebraska
7 New Orleans Saints Kyle Turley OT San Diego St.
8 Dallas Cowboys Greg Ellis DE North Carolina
9 Jacksonville Jaguars
(from Buffalo) Fred Taylor RB Florida
10 Baltimore Ravens Duane Starks DE Miami (Fla.)
11 Philadelphia Eagles Tra Thomas OT Florida State
12 Atlanta Falcons Keith Brooking LB Georgia Tech
13 Cincinnati Bengals Takeo Spikes LB Auburn
14 Carolina Panthers Jason Peter DT Nebraska
15 Seattle Seahawks Anthony Simmons LB Clemson
16 Tennessee Oilers Kevin Dyson WR Utah
17 Cincinnati Bengals
(from Washington) Brian Simmons LB North Carolina
18 New England Patriots
(from NY Jets) Robert Edwards RB Georgia
19 Green Bay Packers
(from Miami) Vonnie Holliday DT North Carolina
20 Detroit Lions Terry Fair DB Tennessee
21 Minnesota Vikings Randy Moss WR Marshall
22 New England Patriots Tebucky Jones DB Syracuse
23 Oakland Raiders
(from Tampa Bay) Mo Collins OT Florida
24 New York Giants Shaun Williams DB UCLA
25 Jacksonville Jaguars Donovin Darius DB Syracuse
26 Pittsburgh Steelers Alan Faneca OG LSU
27 Kansas City Chiefs Victor Riley OT Auburn
28 San Francisco 49ers R.W. McQuarters DB Oklahoma State
29 Miami Dolphins
(from Green Bay) John Avery RB Mississippi
30 Denver Broncos Marcus Nash WR Tennessee
31 Oakland Raiders * Leon Bender DT Washington State

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/events/1998/nfldraft/rounds/round.1.html

 

[dopleganger]

I was just going through some old draft stuff from 1998 and stumbled upon an article that mentioned that both the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints offered their entire drafts (Picks #1 through #7) to the Cardinals for a shot at landing Andre Wadsworth with the #3 selection. The St. Louis Rams also offered their first rounder (#6 overall), their 2nd rounder, and Isaac Bruce.

Why am I bringing this up? What could have been.

Hind sight - 20 20.

If they knew how it would turn out they would not have offered it.

Move on.

 

[Goldfield]

 

[Pariah]

Here's the 1998 draft:

Damn! That was a good draft class!

 

[Mr.Dibbs]

1998 first round busts:

Wadsworth
Leaf
Enis
Fred Taylor
Tra Thomas
Jason Peter
Robert Edwards
Terry Fair
John Avery
Marcus Nash
Leon Bender
and a lot more never lived up to their billing potential.

 

[Pariah]

1998 first round busts:

Wadsworth INJURY
Leaf BUST
Enis BUST
Fred Taylor PRETTY GOOD PLAYER, HURT OFTEN
Tra Thomas, PRETTY GOOD
Jason Peter, OKAY, I THINK
Robert Edwards FREAK INJURY
Terry Fair BUST
John Avery BUST
Marcus Nash BUST
Leon Bender WHAT A GREAT NAME, BUST
and a lot more never lived up to their billing potential.

I don't like calling players that get injured a "bust." Anyone can get hurt. And, I simply disagree with some of your "bust" picks. Plus, look at some of the homeruns in that class, starting with manning. It was a durn good crop.

 

[Mr.Dibbs]

I don't like calling players that get injured a "bust." Anyone can get hurt. And, I simply disagree with some of your "bust" picks. Plus, look at some of the homeruns in that class, starting with manning. It was a durn good crop.

Good points. I should replace "Busts" with "Let-downs." Fred Taylor, if I recall, has only had one or two good seasons. Tra Thomas has been floating around due to his injury problems, so I'd consider him a "let-down."

 

[kerouac9]

Fred Taylor, if I recall, has only had one or two good seasons.

Um... okay. Taylor's rushed over 1200 yards four out of his six seasons in the league. He's averaged under 4.5 yards per carry one season. He scored 10 plus rushing TDs twice in his career.

He's been slowed by injuries, but he's a top 10 back in this league.

 

[mdamien13]

1998 first round busts:

Robert Edwards

Didn't he have a great rookie season, then injure himself during the Pro Bowl rookie game or something? That's a horrible way to ruin one's career.

 

[Pariah]

Didn't he have a great rookie season, then injure himself during the Pro Bowl rookie game or something? That's a horrible way to ruin one's career.

It was in a flag football game on the beach. He want to the pro-bowl that rookie, year, I think. That's why he was in HI.

 

[Mr.Dibbs]

Um... okay. Taylor's rushed over 1200 yards four out of his six seasons in the league. He's averaged under 4.5 yards per carry one season. He scored 10 plus rushing TDs twice in his career.

He's been slowed by injuries, but he's a top 10 back in this league.

Okay. Never really followed Jax too much, but you're right. I forgot about JAX play-off runs a few years ago.

 

[Skkorpion]

1. Nobody offered their entire drafts for Wadswoth. This is complete misinformation. link please?

2. Wadsworth was a complete bust from day 1, and I don't care what excuse makers spew about him. I was there for his first training camp, after his joke of a holdout and lousy rookie season. He was smaller and slower than advertized and showed nothing special.

3. And, some of us did not like the pick anyway and said so often on the old azprosports board.

 

[sundevilscott]

3. And, some of us did not like the pick anyway and said so often on the old azprosports board.

I completely agree!! I did not want Wadsworth that year...I wanted Leaf.

 

[Skkorpion]

I completely agree!! I did not want Wadsworth that year...I wanted Leaf.

Scott, I confess I liked Leaf over Peyton Manning. Dumb, dumb, dumb!

 

[Lomax to Green 84]

Sorry for stirring up the pot guys.

I apologize for stirring up the pot on this one. This "article" was a post that I got off of another Cardinals Fanpage from about 6 years ago. However, I do recall hearing on both ESPN and reading in the Sporting News this same rumor.

Sorry but I do not have the link nor the date of when the article was in the Sporting News.

 

[Lomax to Green 84]

Again I can't give a link here because there isn't one. This is from a scrapbook of articles (I printed a post from a Cards fan) I cut out 6 years ago and had stashed in my basement. I can't give you dates/times/the minute the "real article" was published.

From memory, I can tell you that this rumor was out there. The St. Louis Rams rumor was very prevalent leading up to the draft.

 

[Mr.Dibbs]

Again I can't give a link here because there isn't one. This is from a scrapbook of articles (I printed a post from a Cards fan) I cut out 6 years ago and had stashed in my basement. I can't give you dates/times/the minute the "real article" was published.

From memory, I can tell you that this rumor was out there. The St. Louis Rams rumor was very prevalent leading up to the draft.

This is the closest thing I could find:

"The Cardinals love Wadsworth and his ability (he is probably the best football player in this draft), but they will have alot of options available to them. There is no question that a front 4 of Wadsworth, Eric Swann, Mark Smith & Simeon Rice would be formiddable and would go a long ways towards making this defense respectable. They already have three picks in the first two rounds and they must figure out a way to fill needs at OT and DS, although a DE like Wadsworth is certainly a nice bonus. The guess here is that although the Cardinals WILL BE OFFERED A TON for this pick that they will stay here and draft Wadsworth. Players with his ability don't come along very often and he could easily be a Pro Bowl type player."

-http://media.cnnsi.com/football/nfl/warroom/1997/mock_draft/mock1.html

 

[Reddog]

1998 first round busts:

Wadsworth
Leaf
Enis
Fred Taylor
Tra Thomas
Jason Peter
Robert Edwards
Terry Fair
John Avery
Marcus Nash
Leon Bender
and a lot more never lived up to their billing potential.

This first round thing is risky. Maybe we should trade our #3 for multiple 5th, 6th & 7th rounders.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Tra Thomas has been floating around due to his injury problems, so I'd consider him a "let-down."

A two-time Pro Bowl selection (2002 and 2003), was a first-time starter on the '03 NFC squad. He, RT Jon Runyan, and RG Jermane Mayberry were the first trio of Eagles offensive linemen to ever go to the Pro Bowl in one season

So now we're calling Pro Bowlers busts?

 

[Ryanwb]

So now we're calling Pro Bowlers busts?

yeah, we're Cardinals fans and we're bitter okay?