Revisiting 21st Century Cardinal R1 Drafts

[SissyBoyFloyd]

It appears we get 1 out of 5 correct. Not sure how that correlates with the other 31 teams.

Makes you really wonder about the whole process. With the Cards, one wonders if they were drafting on need too often, or simply subject to the luck of the draft or a bit of poor judgement and inaccuracy within the whole organization.

21st Century Cardinal "Could Have Been" Drafts

2014 - Deone Bucannon, SS, Washington State *
2013 - Sheldon Richardson DE, Missouri
2012 - Michael Brockers, DT, LSU
2011 - Patrick Peterson, DB, LSU *
2010 - Rob Gronkowski, TE, Arizona
2009 - LeSean McCoy, RB, Pittsburgh
2008 - Joe Flacco. QB, Delaware
2007 - Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma
2006 - Haloti Ngata, DT, Oregon
2005 - DeMarcus Ware, OLB, Troy State
2004 - Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Pittsburgh *
2003 - Dallas Clark, TE, Iowa
2002 - Ed Reed, SS, Miami (Fla.)
2001 - LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, Texas Christian
2000 - Brian Urlacher, MLB, New Mexico

We are still looking for a franchise RB after not taking 3 of the greatest when we could have.

Of all the years, Flacco's draft would have been the most obvious time to pick up that QB we keep missing out on.

It is amazing to think of what an impact any of these players would have had on the success of the team, like Fitz and Peterson did for us. Anyone of these drafted players really turned their team around, shaping it for many years to come. Sort of says how much it hurts when you miss in the first round of any draft and how much it can keep you from being the team you hope to be.

 

[Finito]

This is dumb you can play the would of could of should of game with every single franchise in the NFL

 

[CardNots]

Well let's just put those damn blinders on and cure world hunger already, geeez a waste of perfectly good white space.

Ps you are better than this

 

[Darkside]

People oversimplify the draft. Much of it is predicated on where you pick. That being said, expecting us to draft well even during our lean years ignores the fact that we sucked to be picking that high--and football is a team game, so when you suck totally like we did, it's virtually top to bottom, including the **** doing the drafting.

I would even argue it's almost more important to draft mid-tier guys who are functional and occasionally explosive, than a bunch of superstars. You have to build a football team and you can only pay 3, maybe 4, guys to huge contacts. The issue then isn't about spending your 1s on superstars but HOFers like Manning, Brady, Rodgers etc. And that is really difficult to do when the percentage of them is so low.

 

[Jetstream Green]

This is dumb you can play the would of could of should of game with every single franchise in the NFL

This

 

[gmabel830]

I still can't get over why we didn't draft Tom Brady in the first round... everyone saw that coming!

 

[cardpa]

I still can't get over why we didn't draft Tom Brady in the first round... everyone saw that coming!

Stop it! don't get CT going here in this thread too!

 

[SissyBoyFloyd]

This is dumb you can play the would of could of should of game with every single franchise in the NFL

But being a Cardinal fan, why would I. I don't care who other teams missed out on. It is only fun to imagine what the Cards lineup might have looked like over the years.

 

[speedy]

AP is the only one that I am missing. One could easily make the case JJ Watt would have been a better pickup than PP21.

 

[unseenaz]

But being a Cardinal fan, why would I. I don't care who other teams missed out on. It is only fun to imagine what the Cards lineup might have looked like over the years.

Exactly! Lighten up people, it's just fun to look at who we could have had. He wasn't calling out the front office for NOT taking these players.

 

[juza76]

Wish i could change just 2 picks
Levi brown - ap
Johnson pace -suggs

 

[vince56]

I remember wanting Urlacher over Tom Jones pretty bad. Along with that, Suggs or Leftwich would have been a lot better than Johnson and Pace, though I never saw Boldin's greatness coming. Thought Larry is great, where would this team have been if we drafted Roethlisberger instead? The draft is a crapshoot most of the time, but many on this board had these players pegged above those actually drafted by the team. So maybe those on here actually know something, and sometimes GMs make the wrong choice. It happens all the time.

 

[Jetstream Green]

Exactly! Lighten up people, it's just fun to look at who we could have had. He wasn't calling out the front office for NOT taking these players.

Actually, Sissy cannot help but imply he was after the series of threads he has posted since the draft questioning the picks lol

 

[kerouac9]

I'd rather have Michael Floyd than Michael Brockers. The Rams drafted a first round DT and signed Nick Fairley in the last 12 months.

This isn't a great exercise the way it's executed. It's an interesting idea, but basically you need to look at the other top teams in the NFL and how their first rounders have worked out for a true comparison--we're talking about the ability to fit player to scheme and get value. Here's Green Bay in the last 15 years:

1 2015 30 30 Damarious Randall DB Arizona State - TBD
2014 21 21 Ha Ha Clinton-Dix DB Alabama - Below average
2013 26 26 Datone Jones DE UCLA - Below average
2012 28 28 Nick Perry DE USC - Below average
2011 32 32 Derek Sherrod T Mississippi State - Bust
2010 23 23 Bryan Bulaga T Iowa - Solid (Injury)
2009 9 9 B.J. Raji DT Boston College - Solid
2009 26 26 Clay Matthews LB USC - Superstar
2007 16 16 Justin Harrell DT Tennessee - Bust
2006 5 5 A.J. Hawk LB Ohio State - Solid
2005 24 24 Aaron Rodgers QB California - Superstar
2004 25 25 Ahmad Carroll DB Arkansas - Below Average
2003 29 29 Nick Barnett LB Oregon State - Solid
2002 20 20 Javon Walker WR Florida State - Solid
2001 10 10 Jamal Reynolds DE Florida State - Bust

Green Bay is one of the best drafting teams in the NFL. 7 solid players in the last 15 years, and they've been able to hold on to a number of those developed guys.

Here's New England:

1 2015 32 32 Malcom Brown DT Texas - TBD
2014 29 29 Dominique Easley DT Florida - TBD (Injury)
2012 21 21 Chandler Jones DE Syracuse - Above average
2012 25 25 Dont'a Hightower LB Alabama - Solid
2011 17 17 Nate Solder T Colorado - Solid
2010 27 27 Devin McCourty DB Rutgers - Solid
2008 10 10 Jerod Mayo LB Tennessee - Super star
2007 24 24 Brandon Meriweather DB Miami (FL) - Solid
2006 21 21 Laurence Maroney RB Minnesota - Below average
2005 32 32 Logan Mankins G Fresno State - Super star
2004 21 21 Vince Wilfork DT Miami (FL) - Super star
2004 32 32 Ben Watson TE Georgia - Below average
2003 13 13 Ty Warren DT Texas A&M - Super star
2002 21 21 Dan Graham TE Colorado - Below average
2001 6 6 Richard Seymour DT Georgia - Super star

The Patriots Dynasty was set up by some incredible defensive drafts and an unexpected bounty at the QB position. They've managed to keep that core group together for a long time, and then drafted solid players around them.

The concern I have about the Cards is that they seem to be drafting the solid players without having the foundation of superstars. I love Calais and Patrick Peterson, but I think the Cards thing more highly of Daryl Washington than I do. I'm just not sure that group is enough.

 

[Finito]

Wish i could change just 2 picks
Levi brown - ap
Johnson pace -suggs

Those are really the only two I look at and just shake my head. It's not like at the time you could of even made a case for Brown, Johnson and Pace being better value than AP or Suggs