Apparently, ESPN thinks we're one of the "losers" in the first-round

[Cardiac]

It's funny how all the experts say trust your board and don't reach for need and then grade teams on if they filled needs or not.

I want a PQBOTF but not if we reach for one.

 

[Southpaw]

I didn't catch the shock. I definitely didn't notice any same old cardinals smirks like I have seen in the past. I found it telling that Harbaugh and Shanahan passed on him.

Shanahan's ego gets in the way of him drafting an elite QB. Harbaugh and 49ers still believe in Alex Smith ( I think ).

 

[Mulli]

Shanahan's ego gets in the way of him drafting an elite QB. Harbaugh and 49ers still believe in Alex Smith ( I think ).

Cutler? Oh, wait.

 

[chickenhead]

I'm sure if we had drafted Gabbert, some would say we were drafting out of desperation and this was going to be Woodon, Suggs, AP all over again. I'm happy with the pick because no one has anything questionable to say about the PLAYER we got.

 

[DutchmanAZ]

Desperate. Cards are mirroring the Dolphins, picking up QBs off of the junk pile and wishing for a miracle. Even when they took Leinart, he was so full of warts he could have been a poster boy for Compound W.

Your compount W comment made me LOL.

 

[joeshmo]

I watched NFLN and they had some issue with them us taking Gabbert too. They were shocked that we didn't, even though we got a great player.

Did we watch the same show? They were shocked? Mayock didnt even have us taking Gabbert in his Mock Draft. The only one who was shocked was Rick Eisen who kept saying Gabberts got to be the pick over and over again.

Gabbert may have gone to the absolute best place for him to go to. Doesnt have to start right away and is playing for an OC who wants badly to try and institute his own brand of the spread offense to the NFL.

 

[WildBB]

Did we watch the same show? They were shocked? Mayock didnt even have us taking Gabbert in his Mock Draft. The only one who was shocked was Rick Eisen who kept saying Gabberts got to be the pick over and over again.

Gabbert may have gone to the absolute best place for him to go to. Doesnt have to start right away and is playing for an OC who wants badly to try and institute his own brand of the spread offense to the NFL.

I got to agree. He has the luxury of learning for a least a yr. too.

At this point, here was not a great fit for him. Apparently the 9ers felt the same way. I'm surprised they didn't go him or Locker though.

 

[splitsecond]

once again, john clayton is a moron. stick with sando if you want any real intelligent analysis on espn.

 

[football karma]

interesting, but consider this:

Buffalo, Cincy (arguably), and SF all need QBs and passed on Gabbert. Titans went Locker instead of Gabbert. Wash who needs a QB traded down, essentially saying " I don't want Gabbert".

Say what you want about the front offices of those teams and Arizona, but its not like as soon as Arizona passed on Gabbert somebody snapped him up.

 

[azsportsfan01]

Kipper is pissed we passed on his boy Gabbert. That and ESPN typically knows very little about teams' roster needs. Despite what all the pundits say the Cards were thin at CB, especially play makers. This was a terrific move and the fact ESPN doesn't like it tells me it was the right move even more.

Do you even read or listen? I know hating on ESPN is the cool thing to do but at least have a little knowledge. Here is what Kiper had to say.

Arizona Cardinals
The picks: Patrick Peterson (5)
Summary: Arizona feels it can be a contender in 2011 if it has a quarterback. And the Cardinals knew that a rookie quarterback isn't the answer when you're talking about a team with playoff aspirations. So at No. 5 they took the best football player in the draft, and didn't get pulled into the run on quarterbacks. What does that mean? Well, clearly they can grab an arm later, but it also means they are going to look to the free-agent and trade markets for a quarterback. If you want to connect dots, remember that Philly really needs a cornerback, and has a quarterback the Cardinals might want to acquire in Kevin Kolb. Bottom line: In Peterson you have a gifted football player who makes you better immediately, and have made yourself an appealing destination for a quarterback who wants to move.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft2011/insider/news/story?id=6444926

We were in his 3 he liked.

 

[NJCardFan]

Everyone in the world knows QB is our biggest position of need. A guy worthy of the #5 pick was there for us to pick and we passed. What else did you expect ESPN to think?

Here's the thing. Not Gabbert nor Ponder nor Mallet nor Locker are going to be ready to start this season. Peterson, however, will. And he'll be a difference maker. Not only is he a defensive monster, he returns kicks as well, and PR is a position we were sorely lacking last season. KR we're fine in LSH(as long as he stays healthy) but DB was a position of need as well. The thing is, the Cards have so many holes that taking the very BPA at #5 was the only way to go. We need a QB, yes, but we also need OL, LB, TE. Besides, there are still a number of QB left to pick and we pick #6 in round 2 and of the 5 teams ahead of us, only Buffalo and Cincinnati are in need of a QB. This is a pretty deep draft and IMO, in the 1st round, you take BPA. In the 2nd and subsequent rounds you draft for need.

 

[NJCardFan]

Successful Cardinal QBs since the merger:

Kurt Warner Free Agent Originally UDFA
Jim Hart UDFA
Neil Lomax 2nd Round
Jake Plummer 2nd Round

Cardinal first round QBs since the AFL/NFL merger:

Steve Pisarkiewicz
Kelly Stouffer
Matt Leinart

100% failure rate

So I wouldn't be too concerned if the Cards took Dalton or Special K in the second round. Though like many others I prefer the pass rusher there.

Says something about Hart doesn't it? In an era where there weren't as many teams in the NFL and AFL respectively(separate leagues at the time) and the draft being 20 rounds and he still became a very good pro QB. I think Whiz does go QB here and still signs Bulger. I see our 2011 QB looking like this:

Bulger
Skelton
Dalton
Practice Squad-an UDFA

Don't be surprised to see us cut ties with both Hall and Anderson.

 

[BurqueCardFan]

1st round QBs have hit at nearly a 50% rate this past decade, so yes.

Please don't compare Levi/Peterson to this draft, it's not even close to being the same.

It's exactly the same thing. You don't pass on a franchise stud player to reach for a need. Which is exactly what we did with Levi and the same would have been true for Gabbert.

 

[BurqueCardFan]

interesting, but consider this:

Buffalo, Cincy (arguably), and SF all need QBs and passed on Gabbert. Titans went Locker instead of Gabbert. Wash who needs a QB traded down, essentially saying " I don't want Gabbert".

Say what you want about the front offices of those teams and Arizona, but its not like as soon as Arizona passed on Gabbert somebody snapped him up.

Exactly!

 

[conraddobler]

Kipper is pissed we passed on his boy Gabbert. That and ESPN typically knows very little about teams' roster needs. Despite what all the pundits say the Cards were thin at CB, especially play makers. This was a terrific move and the fact ESPN doesn't like it tells me it was the right move even more.

Kiper thought Gabbert was overrated.

We get bagged on no matter what we do, we got a great player, all this draft grading stuff is useless.

What kind of grade did everyone in the NFL get for passing on Brady for 6 rounds some 7?

 

[Mulli]

Kiper thought Gabbert was overrated.

We get bagged on no matter what we do, we got a great player, all this draft grading stuff is useless.

What kind of grade did everyone in the NFL get for passing on Brady for 6 rounds some 7?

Ya, they still went to a commercial when Cards were on clock, even when they had draft cam. Just couldn't help themselves.

 

[lobo]

That's gonna hurt.

What is REALLY going to hurt is the fact that SF will make a major leage run at Kolb (whom I hoped Cards would go after) and we will try to catch lightning in a bottle again with a guy who needs an industrial sized can of WD-40 to shake 3/4 years of inactivity off...not a good thing

 

[lobo]

Ya, they still went to a commercial when Cards were on clock, even when they had draft cam. Just couldn't help themselves.

More than coincidence it somehow happens every year.

 

[JeffGollin]

If the Cards, 49ers and Seahawks had drafted a QB Sam Bradford would still be the only legit starter in the division....

Point well taken.

The only really questionable pick in our division might be Carpenter to Seattle.

Peterson was the BPA and can help us immediately (because you need more than 2 CB's these days to match up with multi-receiver sets.

I know some people have been hollering "Aldon Who?", but the kid was said to be rocketing up many draft board, and - if you watch the standard highlight reel on Smith, you'll see him streaking up the middle with unreal speed to put a hit on the QB. So I don't have a problem with that pick (although I did think SF would grab Gabbert).

Quinn to StL at best could be a steal. Certainly not a bad pick at #14.

A couple of other points about ESPN:

1. There is no single ESPN monolith - it's comprised of a lot of dudes with varying points of view.

2. I finally figured out that one way Kiper and McShay can keep looking smart is to present so many different mocks that they have to be right some of the time. Anyone else notice how Aldon Smith was suddenly made the Cardinals' pick at #5 at the last minute?

Especially this season, the only way to evaluate a team's draft is within the context of all seven rounds plus filling needs in free agency. To single out round one only is kind of simplistic.

 

[conraddobler]

I'm happy for Gabbert too BTW he ended up in a good spot for him.

Thought it was cool Aldon Smith got drafted ahead of him, two Mizzou Tigers going in the top 10?

Times they are a changing.

Mizzou has been making some noise lately in the draft with Maclin, Hood, Smith and Gabbert all going in the first round, this is nothing special for some teams but for Mizzou it's unheard of.

 

[AZCARDSFANATIC]

Everyone in the world knows QB is our biggest position of need. A guy worthy of the #5 pick was there for us to pick and we passed. What else did you expect ESPN to think?

Who??? Who was better than Peterson? in the top 10 you draft BPA, unless that player is a glaring need. Gabbert wasn't in the top 10 of this draft. Oh yeah when they say Charles Woodson we passed on him ten years ago to pick ......Andre Wadsworthless, that is exactly what we didn't do yesterday.

 

[conraddobler]

I think a thing to keep in mind about the QB thing too is that Whiz is hyper demanding, I mean he yelled at Kurt Warner quite a bit in practice and I don't think most coaches would of.

Whatever he wants as a QB could be odd and that's not bad but it is what it is and NONE of us want to go through a Matt experience ever again.

I want this coach to like his QB and then I want that QB to be able to throw in the wind....

 

[Seandonic]

I'm happy for Gabbert too BTW he ended up in a good spot for him.

I'm very glad he ended up on my second favorite team; the Jaguars. He will be able to sit and learn for a year behind Gerrard and then become the solid QB I feel he will become in year two.

The only reason I feel it was an OK move to pass on him is because in Arizona he would of had to start right away and without any off-season to get prepared.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Then either you're a seer with 100 percent accurate knowledge of the future or you are acting like an arrogant know-it-all who didn't get his way with our #5 pick. I'll go with the latter

Arrogant know-it-all? Debate the topic, don't throw around insults.

I actually like the Peterson pick. I just feel CB is much lower on the need scale compared to the gaping hole we have at QB.

To say things like Bulger is better than all of the QB's in the draft combined is asinine. (not you)

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Who??? Who was better than Peterson? in the top 10 you draft BPA, unless that player is a glaring need. Gabbert wasn't in the top 10 of this draft. Oh yeah when they say Charles Woodson we passed on him ten years ago to pick ......Andre Wadsworthless, that is exactly what we didn't do yesterday.

QB, meet glaring need.

I don't want to hear the BPA line when this same organization passed on Adrian Peterson for Levi.

BTW, Blaine was a top 10 pick.