Prisco has been one of the Cards most ardent supporters in the national media for years, so I doubt he would go out of his way to criticize their draft. I actually kind of agree with him.
I won't argue that BPA is the best philosophy to draft by, especially in the early rounds. There are plenty of teams that use it. But it is odd that the BPA on our board rarely seems to be an O-lineman. We're one of two teams (TN) that hasn't drafted an O-lineman in the first three rounds since 2007. We also seem to constantly be switching guys around on the line and bringing in marginal vets to fill holes. I don't think it's a coincidence. The same goes for pass rushers. We've drafted one in the first three rounds since '04, and he never even played a snap.
Look at the drafts by GB and NE. All of their picks before the 5th round were dedicated to defense. Is it because there were simply no offensive players they graded slightly higher than the players they chose? Possibly, but it's more likely they put an extra-emphasis on defense this year, since that's where they needed the most help. The Steelers are another example. Did they spend three early-round picks in the last two years on O-linemen because they didn't place a similar value to any available skill-position players? Or did they get sick of seeing their franchise QB get killed every week and decide to do something about it?
There's a point where BPA on a team's board goes too far. I'm not convinced the Cards didn't reach that point in this draft. We haven't fielded a 10+ sack player since 2004. The best pass rusher in the draft, who just so happens to project to a 3-4 OLB, was sitting there at #13. Yet we passed on him for a guy who doesn't have a chance to become our #1 receiver while Fitz is around. Calvin Johnson seems to do just fine with Nate Burelson on the other side. Steve Smith fared well with Leganu Nanee across from him. I'm not sure why spending a top 15 pick on Floyd to help free up Fitz was a better move than bringing in Ingram to start opposite of Acho or trading down for DeCastro or Reiff. Floyd and Ingram were rated very similarly everywhere I read. Many had Ingram rated higher. I don't doubt that the Cards had Floyd rated higher on their board, but I'm still not sure they aren't consistently placing more value on certain positions like WR and CB than O-linemen and pass-rushers.
I loved what we did yesterday. Taking O-linemen who excel in pass protection was a much needed change in philosophy. I also like taking a late flier on a QB, given our tenuous QB situation. Fleming seems like a great fit, too, although I do question if he'll turn out that much better than Toler. Floyd, on the other hand, I'm still not sold was the right direction to choose.
Overall, I loved our 4-7 round picks, I liked the 3rd rounder, the first rounder still seems questionable and I feel our 2nd rounder was wasted on a bust of a QB. A C+ grade sounds about right.