And The Failures Of 1st Round Picks Marches On

[NJCardFan]

For me, one of the most incredible follies of Cardinaldom is the fact that for some strange reason, 1st round draft picks taken by this team rarely end up helping this team. They either end up being outright busts or if they end up being any kind of player, they usually end up elsewhere in short order. Let's just take a look at 1st round picks during the Cards' stay in Arizona:

1988:Ken Harvey, LB-Decent career, not great. Ended his career and had his best season as a Redskin.

1989: Eric Hill, LB-Bust

1989B-Joe Wolf, OT-Not a bust but not a pro bowler. Decent lineman.

1990: No pick(took Tim Rosenbach in Supplemental Draft in 1989...he too was a bust)

1991: Eric Swann,DT-Good when healthy, key word is when. Left in the purge of 1999.

1992: No pick

1993: Garrison Hearst, RB-Decent when healthy. Gets cut, has great career as a 49er.

1993B: Earnest Dye, OL-OK lineman. Career cut short due to auto accident.

1994: Jamir Miller, LB-Solid LB. Pivotal in the Cards' 1998 run. Left in the purge of 1999.

1995: No pick

1996: Simeon Rice, DE-Hall of fame career. Very pivotal in the 1998 run. Left in a cloud of bitterness because the ownership didn't want to pay him. Had best years in Tampa where he helped the Bucs win a SB.

1997: Tom Knight, DB-Bust

1998: Andre Wadsworthless, DE-Bust

1999: David Boston, WR-Showed great promise, turned out to be a roided out knucklehead.

1999B: LJ Shelton, OL-Not bad but not good. Better than we have now anyway.

2000: Thomas Jones, RB-Complete and utter bust here. Turned out to be a good back elsewhere.

2001: Leonard Davis, OT-Human turnstile here. Goes to Dallas, made a guard, ends up becoming a pro bowler.

2002: Wendell Bryant, DT-Total bust

2003: Bryant Johnson, WR-Stone hands WR. Bust

2003B-Calvin Pace, DE-Not completely horrible but let's face it, he's no Terrell Suggs who we should have had in the first place. Imagine that draft, Suggs in the 1st round, Q in the 2nd. Ironically both win a SB in Baltimore.

2004: Fitz, WR-Best draft pick of all time IMO hands down. Sadly, I have a feeling his days are numbered here.

2005: Antrell Rolle, DB-Terrible CB turned into a good return guy and an even better safety. Of course goes on to win a SB as a Giant.

2006: Matt Leinart, QB-Total bust even though he showed promise his rookie year.

2007: Levi Brown, OT-Another human turnstile and yet he's still here. Of course there was a certain RB who would have been a better pick.

2008: DRC, DB-Above average DB. Traded for a QB who's made of glass.

2009: Beanie Wells, RB-Couldn't stay healthy enough to even judge. Cut.

2010: Dan Williams, DT-Jury still out although i'm leaning bust.

2011: PP21, DB-So far, so good. Fell off a bit in his sophomore season so we'll see this year.

2012: Michael Floyd, WR-Showed promise last season. If we keep Fitz and get a serviceable QB and hopefully a QBOTF we could have another 1-2 punch like when Q was here.

Well, there you have it. Aside from Rice, Fitz, and PP, nearly all 1st rounders end up being marginal at best. Sure most teams go through this but I can go back further to the days of Clyde Duncan, Steve Little(K no less), Anthony Bell, etc.

 

[Jetstream Green]

Marches on would imply that the current picks are worthless as well, I do not see Peterson or Floyd (the WR people love to hate, though his progression for a 1st WR is the norm with also considering our QB situation) as busts. I think your evaluation of our 1st round picks as a whole is accurate but doing so to carry it to the present does not wash with me.

 

[Mulli]

1) You have to keep in mind how a lot of these guys had to play with crappy teammates. This had to affect their performance/success at least a little.

2) I am not sure how Eric Hill is a bust. He definitely struggled from playing behind garbage DL's. At least that is what I remember. At the very least, he was less of a bust than Joe Wolf was.

3) I am not sure Joe Wolf is depicted as better than Leonard Davis.

4) Leonard Davis, although iffy, was better than Joe Wolf, Ernest Dye, and LJ Shelton.

5) And why didn't Wadsworth get a "couldn't stay healthy enough?"



Don't get mad, not personal. Just discussion.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Little harsh on Dumpster Dan Williams who played pretty well last year while coming back from an injury.

 

[DevonCardsFan]

1989: Eric Hill, LB-Bust

.

Eric Hill was a good MLB on a bad team, Far from a Bust he contributed, got lots of Tackles, a Million times better then Joe Wolf

 

[wa52lz]

Eric Hill was a good MLB on a bad team, Far from a Bust he contributed, got lots of Tackles, a Million times better then Joe Wolf

Started at least 10 games a year for 10 years in the NFL, not a bust.

 

[Shane]

Peterson did not fall off last year he was even better at the position hes needed and was truly drafted for CB.... the PR stuff in 2011 was just gravy.

 

[Mainstreet]

Well, there you have it. Aside from Rice, Fitz, and PP, nearly all 1st rounders end up being marginal at best.

For the most part you build a good argument for trading down in the draft for more picks except 2003 when the Cardinals should have drafted Suggs.

 

[Duckjake]

More importantly only 3 of the 1st round picks the last 10 years are full time starters for Arizona. 4 this fall if Floyd moves to #2 wr.

 

[vince56]

Eric Hill was no bust and Fitzgerald was not the best draft pick of all time. You could argue Fitz was actually a bad pick from a certain point of view. Roethlisberger and Rivers were still on the board. You draft Big Ben, we might have some super bowl trophies. I love Larry as much as the next guy and he is an awesome and great Cardinal, but that was a set-up pick by Denny Green. We should have gone QB.

 

[52brandon]

Peterson was a great pick. We never got a chance to see what Floyd can do IMO. As a rookie, his WR coach was new to the job, having been a QB coach before. And he never got to see good QB play after like the first 3 games

 

[vince56]

Peterson was a great pick. We never got a chance to see what Floyd can do IMO. As a rookie, his WR coach was new to the job, having been a QB coach before. And he never got to see good QB play after like the first 3 games

I agree. Our WRs all had an awful year because there was nobody throwing the ball.

 

[DoTheDew]

As bad as it sounds, most teams in the NFL look similar when you look just at 1st round picks over time. When teams get on a hot streak of draft success, they end up in contention (SF is a perfect example). Makes fans of other teams feel like they are failures at the draft when they may just be average at it.

 

[52brandon]

I agree. Our WRs all had an awful year because there was nobody throwing the ball.

that's just part of the reason. Poor coaching, poor play-calling. It was a poorly executed year for our offense, in it's entirety. From play-calling to personnel choices, performance, everything. Our D was the only reason to watch a game after week 3

 

[RedViper]

Eric Hill as a bust is absurd. I had to stop reading at that point.

 

[SECTION 11]

And to remedy this we... promoted Steve Keim to GM. Weeeeeee.

 

[Jetstream Green]

Eric Hill was a good MLB on a bad team, Far from a Bust he contributed, got lots of Tackles, a Million times better then Joe Wolf

The dude also signed a one day contract with the Cards when he retired so he could retire a Cardinal after he had played out his career I believe with the Chargers. He was a good draft pick and loyal to this franchise.

 

[Phrazbit]

Peterson fell off a bit last year? Maybe as a return man... He was downright elite in coverage. Already a top 10 corner in the league, pro bowler last year, 4th in the league in INTs, 7th in deflections.

 

[Jetstream Green]

Peterson fell off a bit last year? Maybe as a return man... He was downright elite in coverage. Already a top 10 corner in the league, pro bowler last year, 4th in the league in INTs, 7th in deflections.

Agreed, by the limitations of the rules favoring the WR in this league, he did a great job. Floyd when we had just a semi worthy QB in Hoyer at the end, was able to show what he was capable of... and sure looked like a 1st round pick to me.

 

[NJCardFan]

Peterson did not fall off last year he was even better at the position hes needed and was truly drafted for CB.... the PR stuff in 2011 was just gravy.

I should have clarified that that's what I meant. As a CB is played pretty well.

 

[NJCardFan]

Marches on would imply that the current picks are worthless as well, I do not see Peterson or Floyd (the WR people love to hate, though his progression for a 1st WR is the norm with also considering our QB situation) as busts. I think your evaluation of our 1st round picks as a whole is accurate but doing so to carry it to the present does not wash with me.

Please quote my OP and highlight where I said floyd and PP were busts. I'll wait.

 

[NJCardFan]

Eric Hill was no bust and Fitzgerald was not the best draft pick of all time. You could argue Fitz was actually a bad pick from a certain point of view. Roethlisberger and Rivers were still on the board. You draft Big Ben, we might have some super bowl trophies. I love Larry as much as the next guy and he is an awesome and great Cardinal, but that was a set-up pick by Denny Green. We should have gone QB.

*sigh* I'm getting really tired of people gleaning what they want from my posts but alas, one can hope. That said, name me a better first round draft pick by the Cards since Ottis Anderson(and before) who is/was better than Fitz.