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The Cards moved to Arizona for the 1988 season. That's 23 seasons counting this one and 23 drafts. To say our first round picks, for the most part, have been less than stellar is an understatement. So, let's have a look at our first round picks over the years:
1988: Ken Harvey, LB-Harvey was a decent to good linebacker. He racked up 47 1/2 sacks in his 6 seasons with us. Judging by players taken after Harvey, we did pretty good here. Only Randall McDaniel's name stands out.
1989: Eric Hill, LB-Although he played a lot of years, he really didn't amount to what you'd expect of a 1st round selection. Notable players taken after him were Andre Rison and Steve Atwater.
1989(Supplemental): Timm Rosenbach, QB-Rosenbach was taken in the supplemental draft in '89 due to the fact that we needed someone to replace the now retired Neil Lomax. Timm's 1st year as a starter, he played OK putting up Jake Plummer like numbers(3,000+ yards, 16TD, 17INT). He also gained over 400 yards rushing and had a fire in his belly to go with it. Had he stayed healthy and not gotten hurt, which severely damaged his psyche, our past might have been vastly different than what it turned out to be.
1990: No Draft Pick due to taking Rosenbach in the '89 supplemental draft.
1991: Eric Swann, DT-The big gamble. Drafting Swann, who was a beast of a man, at #6 even though he never went to college, was a huge risk and when healthy, he paid dividends. He was a big part of that 1998 run. No one of note taken after him that would make me regret taking Swann. Again, if he was healthy, he could have been great.
1992: No First Round Pick-Anyone remember why?
1993: Garrison Hearst, RB-A good running back, Bugel took Hearst, who was injury prone even in college, over the likes of Marvin Jones, Willie Roaf, Lincoln Kennedy, but Hearst showed flashes of brilliance when healthy but he got injured his rookie season. Had he been healthy, we might not have had a losing season and might have had to endure the Buddy Ryan years.
1993#2: Ernest Dye, OT-Dye was a big body. Not a horrible tackle. Left after the 96 season and played 1 season in STL but we re-signed him for 1998 but he was in a major car accident which cost him the use of his right arm.
1994: Jamir Miller, LB-Buddy's first draft pick and he takes a near Seth Joyner clone in Miller. But Miller was a good linebacker and played a big part in the 1998 run. Sadly, he was the first to go when the Bidwills decided to break that team up.
1995: No pick again-Anybody remember why?
1996: Simeon Rice, DE-Ah, probably the best 1st round pick we had until Fitz. 51 1/2 sacks in his 5 years as a Cardinal including 12.5 his rookie season. Rice was a beast. As much a beast as someone like Strahan or Freeny or Mario Williams. The guy was a flat out monster...and the Bidwills ran him out of town. Some didn't like his line about Phoenix being the armpit of the NFL but was he really wrong?
1997: Tommy Knight, DB-Tommy Knight. Even though he is a homeboy of mine(he grew up in a town not too far from me), but the guy couldn't cover a book. Think Antrell Rolle as a CB only worse. Of course, we take him when Tony Gonzalez is sitting there as well as Rae Carruth...J/K on the Carruth thing.
1998: Andre Wadsworth, DE-I did not think this was a bad pick. Yes Tra Thomas, Fred Taylor, Randy Moss, Alan Faneca, and Greg Ellis were sitting there but Wadsworth was a stud coming out of FSU. But he held out, and became made of glass and even though he showed promise, never panned out. The biggest draft bust in AZ probably Levi Brown.
1999: David Boston, WR-A stud. A Straight out stud. A roided out stud as we came to find out but there is no mistake that David Boston, while here, became the best WR this team ever saw since Roy Green and until Anquan Boldin and Fitz to follow. Looking at that draft, and this includes those who went before him, there is no one I would have rather had than Boston that year. Edge maybe but not entirely. If Thomas Jones could have been half the back he was in Chicago and NY and with Boston, with Plummer we could have had a great team for years.
2000: Thomas Jones, RB-He had 1 decent game with us his entire 3 years here but we cut him loose and he becomes a 1,000 yard rusher. Go figure. The sad thing is, we needed a linebacker and Urlacher was there but we draft a 200lb scat back.
2001: Leonard Davis, OL-Oy. Where to begin here. We had the #2 pick in the entire draft. We had anyone in the world we wanted to draft except Michael Vick and we waste it on big D. We could have traded down for him easily but nooooo. We hold fast and draft him instead of Tomlinson. Big D was the original Human Turnstile here but of course, we cut him loose and he becomes a pro bowl guard in Dallas.
2002: Wendell Bryant, DT-Another stellar pick in the McGinnis era. This guy couldn't tackle me sitting in my lounger right now. Terrible, terrible pick with Shockey, Haynesworth, Donte Stallworth, Javon Walker, Ed Reed, my cats, anyone but this stiff.
2003: Bryant Johnson, WR & Calvin Pace, DE-It's our turn to pick and there sits a stud of a LB/DE in Suggs so what does McGinnis do? Trades down and takes 2 stiffs while Baltimore scarfs up Suggs in a hurry. Johnson never amounted to anything but a sometime deep threat while Pace was OK, he wasn't worthy of a 1st rounder. And no, stealing Boldin in the middle of the 2nd round doesn't make up for this debacle.
2004: Larry Fitzgerald, WR-Bar none the best 1st round pick in my lifetime as a Card fan. In fact, the 2004 draft was the deepest draft in Cardinals history because we got Dansby, Dockett, & Antonio Smith.
2005: Antrell Rolle, CB-Terrible as a CB but became a pro bowler as a safety. Of course, he left for NY now.
2006: Matt Leinart, QB-Do I really need to dwell on this?
2007: Levi Brown, OL-The Human Turnstile. Need I say more? He'll probably become a pro bowl lineman like Big D.
2008: DRC, DB-Shows flashes but right now, he couldn't cover a book either.
2009: Beanie Wells, RB-Jury still out.
2010: Dan Williams, DT-Jury is still out.
This team has always been cursed in the 1st round and I know the draft is dicey at best but come on, with all of the high picks over the years, you'd think we'd have had more than 3 winning seasons.
1988: Ken Harvey, LB-Harvey was a decent to good linebacker. He racked up 47 1/2 sacks in his 6 seasons with us. Judging by players taken after Harvey, we did pretty good here. Only Randall McDaniel's name stands out.
1989: Eric Hill, LB-Although he played a lot of years, he really didn't amount to what you'd expect of a 1st round selection. Notable players taken after him were Andre Rison and Steve Atwater.
1989(Supplemental): Timm Rosenbach, QB-Rosenbach was taken in the supplemental draft in '89 due to the fact that we needed someone to replace the now retired Neil Lomax. Timm's 1st year as a starter, he played OK putting up Jake Plummer like numbers(3,000+ yards, 16TD, 17INT). He also gained over 400 yards rushing and had a fire in his belly to go with it. Had he stayed healthy and not gotten hurt, which severely damaged his psyche, our past might have been vastly different than what it turned out to be.
1990: No Draft Pick due to taking Rosenbach in the '89 supplemental draft.
1991: Eric Swann, DT-The big gamble. Drafting Swann, who was a beast of a man, at #6 even though he never went to college, was a huge risk and when healthy, he paid dividends. He was a big part of that 1998 run. No one of note taken after him that would make me regret taking Swann. Again, if he was healthy, he could have been great.
1992: No First Round Pick-Anyone remember why?
1993: Garrison Hearst, RB-A good running back, Bugel took Hearst, who was injury prone even in college, over the likes of Marvin Jones, Willie Roaf, Lincoln Kennedy, but Hearst showed flashes of brilliance when healthy but he got injured his rookie season. Had he been healthy, we might not have had a losing season and might have had to endure the Buddy Ryan years.
1993#2: Ernest Dye, OT-Dye was a big body. Not a horrible tackle. Left after the 96 season and played 1 season in STL but we re-signed him for 1998 but he was in a major car accident which cost him the use of his right arm.
1994: Jamir Miller, LB-Buddy's first draft pick and he takes a near Seth Joyner clone in Miller. But Miller was a good linebacker and played a big part in the 1998 run. Sadly, he was the first to go when the Bidwills decided to break that team up.
1995: No pick again-Anybody remember why?
1996: Simeon Rice, DE-Ah, probably the best 1st round pick we had until Fitz. 51 1/2 sacks in his 5 years as a Cardinal including 12.5 his rookie season. Rice was a beast. As much a beast as someone like Strahan or Freeny or Mario Williams. The guy was a flat out monster...and the Bidwills ran him out of town. Some didn't like his line about Phoenix being the armpit of the NFL but was he really wrong?
1997: Tommy Knight, DB-Tommy Knight. Even though he is a homeboy of mine(he grew up in a town not too far from me), but the guy couldn't cover a book. Think Antrell Rolle as a CB only worse. Of course, we take him when Tony Gonzalez is sitting there as well as Rae Carruth...J/K on the Carruth thing.
1998: Andre Wadsworth, DE-I did not think this was a bad pick. Yes Tra Thomas, Fred Taylor, Randy Moss, Alan Faneca, and Greg Ellis were sitting there but Wadsworth was a stud coming out of FSU. But he held out, and became made of glass and even though he showed promise, never panned out. The biggest draft bust in AZ probably Levi Brown.
1999: David Boston, WR-A stud. A Straight out stud. A roided out stud as we came to find out but there is no mistake that David Boston, while here, became the best WR this team ever saw since Roy Green and until Anquan Boldin and Fitz to follow. Looking at that draft, and this includes those who went before him, there is no one I would have rather had than Boston that year. Edge maybe but not entirely. If Thomas Jones could have been half the back he was in Chicago and NY and with Boston, with Plummer we could have had a great team for years.
2000: Thomas Jones, RB-He had 1 decent game with us his entire 3 years here but we cut him loose and he becomes a 1,000 yard rusher. Go figure. The sad thing is, we needed a linebacker and Urlacher was there but we draft a 200lb scat back.
2001: Leonard Davis, OL-Oy. Where to begin here. We had the #2 pick in the entire draft. We had anyone in the world we wanted to draft except Michael Vick and we waste it on big D. We could have traded down for him easily but nooooo. We hold fast and draft him instead of Tomlinson. Big D was the original Human Turnstile here but of course, we cut him loose and he becomes a pro bowl guard in Dallas.
2002: Wendell Bryant, DT-Another stellar pick in the McGinnis era. This guy couldn't tackle me sitting in my lounger right now. Terrible, terrible pick with Shockey, Haynesworth, Donte Stallworth, Javon Walker, Ed Reed, my cats, anyone but this stiff.
2003: Bryant Johnson, WR & Calvin Pace, DE-It's our turn to pick and there sits a stud of a LB/DE in Suggs so what does McGinnis do? Trades down and takes 2 stiffs while Baltimore scarfs up Suggs in a hurry. Johnson never amounted to anything but a sometime deep threat while Pace was OK, he wasn't worthy of a 1st rounder. And no, stealing Boldin in the middle of the 2nd round doesn't make up for this debacle.
2004: Larry Fitzgerald, WR-Bar none the best 1st round pick in my lifetime as a Card fan. In fact, the 2004 draft was the deepest draft in Cardinals history because we got Dansby, Dockett, & Antonio Smith.
2005: Antrell Rolle, CB-Terrible as a CB but became a pro bowler as a safety. Of course, he left for NY now.
2006: Matt Leinart, QB-Do I really need to dwell on this?
2007: Levi Brown, OL-The Human Turnstile. Need I say more? He'll probably become a pro bowl lineman like Big D.
2008: DRC, DB-Shows flashes but right now, he couldn't cover a book either.
2009: Beanie Wells, RB-Jury still out.
2010: Dan Williams, DT-Jury is still out.
This team has always been cursed in the 1st round and I know the draft is dicey at best but come on, with all of the high picks over the years, you'd think we'd have had more than 3 winning seasons.
