Grade the draft 3 years later- 2019 Arizona Cardinals

[Zeno]

All this talk about draft grades makes me think the right time to grade a draft is 3 years later. The below article gave "instant grades" to the draft.​

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Arizona Cardinals draft picks 2019: Round-by-round selections

The Cardinals have the No. 1 overall pick and a new coach in Kliff Kingsbury.

www.tennessean.com

1st Round, No. 1 overall | Kyler Murray, QB, Oklahoma​

Analysis: Murray will be a boom-or-bust selection for GM Steve Keim, coach Kliff Kingsbury and company. He can run around guys and throw past them. Durability will be a concern, but his talent is pretty unquestionable. Will it translate in the pro game? You can ask that about every selection in this draft, to be fair.

Instant Grade: B-plus

2nd Round, No. 33 overall | Byron Murphy, CB, Washington​

Analysis: With Patrick Peterson's future in question, Murphy can add depth. He was thought by many to be the top corner in the draft, but some wonder about his viability on the outside.

Instant Grade: B

2nd Round, No. 63 overall | Andy Isabella, WR, UMass​

Analysis: His speed is unquestionable. All Isabella does is catch passes. Kyler Murray has a reliable target, and it comes via the trade with Miami that sent Josh Rosen packing.

Instant Grade: B-plus

3rd Round, No. 65 overall | Zach Allen, DE, Boston College​

Analysis: Allen had an unproductive senior season, which is curious. He's 20 pounds away from being a three-technique. So where will he play? Not a fan.

Instant Grade: C-minus

4th Round, No. 103 overall | Hakeem Butler, WR Iowa State​

Instant Grade: B-plus

5th Round, No. 139 overall | Deionte Thompson, S, Alabama
Instant Grade: C-plus

6th Round, No. 174 overall | KeeSean Johnson, WR, Fresno State​

Instant Grade: A-minus

6th Round, No. 179 overall (from Tampa Bay) | Lamont Gaillard, OL, Georgia​

Instant Grade: C-plus

7th Round, No. 248 overall (compensatory) | Joshua Miles, T, Morgan State​

Instant Grade: C-minus

7th Round, No. 249 overall (compensatory) | Michael Dogbe, DT, Temple​

Instant Grade: B

7th Round, No. 254 overall (compensatory) | Caleb Wilson, TE, UCLA​

Instant Grade: B

 

[Zeno]

It looks like we did OK overall but had several guys who turned out to be misses that were scored highly on draft day (Isabella, Butler, Johnson).

 

[BritCard]

Any draft that gives you your QB is good. But outside that probably B-.

That might be generous.

 

[Zeno]

3 starters is good...Murray, Murphy and Allen.

Thompson and Dogbe are active on game days--which is good considering where they were drafted. Miles still being on the roster as a 7th rounder is a plus too.

We didn't get any steals but did have some outright busts in Isabella and Butler.

I'd say a B or B- is fair.

 

[kerouac9]

B+ right now. If we re-sign two of Murray, Murphy, and Allen, it'll become an A-. If we re-sign all three it'll accelerate to an A+. Any draft where you can get three legitimate starters out of it is outstanding.

 

[Stout]

Any draft that gives you your QB is good. But outside that probably B-.

That might be generous.

Right about where I am at. Dogbe in the 7th is a great pick, but Isabella in the 2nd lol

 

[kerouac9]

Right about where I am at. Dogbe in the 7th is a great pick, but Isabella in the 2nd lol

Wow. Dogbe was playing over 25% of our defensive snaps last year. We probably need to sign another IDL.

 

[oaken1]

That was a great draft.

I give it an A-

 

[dreamcastrocks]

B. Could have easily been an A if they drafted DK instead of Isabella.

 

[gmabel830]

B to B+. You have to take points away for drafting 3 WRs who all never amounted to anything.

 

[gmabel830]

" All Isabella does is catch passes. Kyler Murray has a reliable target."

College player evaluations in a nutshell.

 

[Chopper0080]

B+ right now. If we re-sign two of Murray, Murphy, and Allen, it'll become an A-. If we re-sign all three it'll accelerate to an A+. Any draft where you can get three legitimate starters out of it is outstanding.

I am a little more critical seeing we had the #1 pick but even with that, I give it a B. A to A+ if we re-sign Murphy/Allen and they continue to progress.

 

[kerouac9]

I am a little more critical seeing we had the #1 pick but even with that, I give it a B. A to A+ if we re-sign Murphy/Allen and they continue to progress.

Plenty of teams screw up the #1 pick. I only give a draft an A+ if it has two Hall of Famers in it like Seattle had a few years ago.

 

[daves]

B+ right now. If we re-sign two of Murray, Murphy, and Allen, it'll become an A-. If we re-sign all three it'll accelerate to an A+.

I give it a B. A to A+ if we re-sign Murphy/Allen and they continue to progress.

I get your points here, and would agree when it comes to "grading the front office"... but i'm not sure how you can grade the draft based on whether or not players are re-signed years later. Seems to me it should depend only on the players' performance.

...dave

 

[Chopper0080]

I get your points here, and would agree when it comes to "grading the front office"... but i'm not sure how you can grade the draft based on whether or not players are re-signed years later. Seems to me it should depend only on the players' performance.

...dave

I would argue that Christian Kirk and Haason Reddick are great examples of why I do this. Both of them were very meh for a majority of their rookie tenure. If you took their best year, and then extended them, their production/contracts after would indicate they were a very successful pick. So which is it?

In my mind, I can reconcile the Cardinals/Player struggling to make an impact if they end up becoming a contributing player and staying. If not, we just ate up all of the developmental years so that another team can reap the benefits and get an impact player.

 

[Chopper0080]

DJ Humphries is an example of a player who was probably a C based upon only his rookie deal, but his extension with the Cardinals elevates his grade to a B or B+.

In my mind we struggle drafting so much that 3 bad to meh years, 1 good year and a roster hole is not a great plan.

 

[kerouac9]

I get your points here, and would agree when it comes to "grading the front office"... but i'm not sure how you can grade the draft based on whether or not players are re-signed years later. Seems to me it should depend only on the players' performance.

...dave

To add to what Chopper said, I think part of the extension question is "did these guys play because they're good, or did they play because the team sucked?"

Fred Wakefield got snaps with this franchise on both sides of the ball. He's not a good UDFA signing because he stuck on a godawful roster.

If the Cards get to year four on these guys and say "Yeah, you're not a priority on us building a successful franchise," that says something about how the people closest to the players evaluate them.

Like, if the Cards cut all three of these dudes, or traded Kyler and Murphy tomorrow, would it tell you something else about this draft class?

 

[Stout]

DJ Humphries is an example of a player who was probably a C based upon only his rookie deal, but his extension with the Cardinals elevates his grade to a B or B+.

In my mind we struggle drafting so much that 3 bad to meh years, 1 good year and a roster hole is not a great plan.

A C at best, considering he was an F for the first two years of his NFL career. And I certainly agree with your last point.

 

[Krangodnzr]

A C at best, considering he was an F for the first two years of his NFL career. And I certainly agree with your last point.

He has made a Pro Bowl though. Granted he was a replacement player, but a pro Bowl is a pro Bowl.

You can say it's meaningless, but I'd wager in Humps situation, he was likely voted in by players and coaches.

This sounds crazy (and sad) but Humphries was on of Keims most successful picks. Markus Golden might be his most successful if you consider draft position and how it was thought of at the time.

 

[Stout]

He has made a Pro Bowl though. Granted he was a replacement player, but a pro Bowl is a pro Bowl.

You can say it's meaningless, but I'd wager in Humps situation, he was likely voted in by players and coaches.

This sounds crazy (and sad) but Humphries was on of Keims most successful picks. Markus Golden might be his most successful if you consider draft position and how it was thought of at the time.

Oh, Chopper was talking about his rookie contract, as was I. Beyond that, he's a B to B+ player.

 

[Snakester]

I give it a B. Still waiting on Murray to get out of his little boy faze. Murphy has turned into a good #2 cb and Allen at least plays getting better with each year.

 

[BritCard]

I always struggle with this. Is the issue Keim's pick or the coaching?

I mean, the coaches can't adequately use an athletic freak like Simmons. Collins sat late in the year despite looking pretty good early on. Rondale was limited by a restricted playbook. Reddick was played out of position by 3 consecutive coaching teams. Kirk wasn't used well outside his rookie season and last year. Drone was a safety that was misused into oblivion. So on and so forth.

Hard to tell which are bad picks and which are ruined by bad coaching.

One of this orgs biggest issues is settling for (or not being able to see) mediocre position coaching (like Bill Davis).

When was the last time we had a position coach rise through the ranks to coordinator or HC positions? Or get hired away by another team?

 

[Zeno]

I always struggle with this. Is the issue Keim's pick or the coaching?

I mean, the coaches can't adequately use an athletic freak like Simmons. Collins sat late in the year despite looking pretty good early on. Rondale was limited by a restricted playbook. Reddick was played out of position by 3 consecutive coaching teams. Kirk wasn't used well outside his rookie season and last year. Drone was a safety that was misused into oblivion. So on and so forth.

Hard to tell which are bad picks and which are ruined by bad coaching.

One of this orgs biggest issues is settling for (or not being able to see) mediocre position coaching (like Bill Davis).

When was the last time we had a position coach rise through the ranks to coordinator or HC positions? Or get hired away by another team?

Frank Reich and Freddie Kitchens are the only ones that come to mind off the top of my head.

 

[kerouac9]

Frank Reich and Freddie Kitchens are the only ones that come to mind off the top of my head.

Teryl Austin worked here for three seasons as a DBs coach. He later was DC for three teams in the NFL.
James Bettcher rose to DC
Mike Caldwell was an ILBs coach here and is now the Jags DC
Byron Leftwich started out as an intern here

Blaming the coaching or the fit is fine for the player, but it's the role of the GM to find players that his coaching staff can use. If it happens over and over with your top prospects, it's probably a problem with your evaluation process.

Too soon to tell with Rondale Moore or Zaven Collins, TBH. It seems like Keim makes the same mistakes again and again with toolsy prospects who don't have a real position in the NFL. Reddick, Bucannon, and Simmons are all essentially efforts to chase the ghost of Daryl Washington.

I think when your mid-round picks consistently fail to earn second contracts, it's an indication that you're doing a bad job evaluating your talent either at the top of the funnel as prospects or at the bottom of the funnel when you decide you can upgrade them with older and more expensive free agents.

 

[BritCard]

Frank Reich and Freddie Kitchens are the only ones that come to mind off the top of my head.

Reich was swept out with the 2012 broom wasn't he? Same with Kitchens I think. I believe his contract ended in 2018 and they didn't bring him back when they hired Wilks.