Why Fitz?

[azdad1978]

No. Roy or Mike belong at the top. If Fitz was not in the draft then Roy or Mike would be considered the top WRs. Fitz pushed them down cause he is BETTER.

No DG prefers Fitz because he is the best WR in the draft. Because he is faster then Mike and more polished then Mike. Because he is more polished then Roy and runs patterns better then Roy. And was more productive then both men.

All that other stuff is BS. DG likes BPAs. I think Fitz is in the BPA of all the WRs and is right there with Eli/Ben (QBs always get a higer BPA), Taylor and Winslow and Gallery. Roy and Mike very very close to this group.

I for one i will not be disappointed if Fitz is off the board. We already have the Fitz on this team and his name is Boldin. Boldin has as good hands as Fitz, He can block as good as Fitz, Runs better patterns than Fitz, has a good character like Fitz. Fitz hasn't proven crap on the field but DG keeps talking him up that he's the best WR we have on the team. Psst Dennis you already have a Pro bowler Wideout fix the defense.

 

[vikesfan]

QUOTE:Green thinks McCown gives best chance to win now. The Cardinals scored the least and allowed the most. I think that has been done only once before in the NFL. That is truly a statement of ineptitude and lack of talent. I seriously question any persons' judgement who thinks he is going to make the Cardinals competitive this year. It is not going to happen. The Big Red has so many serious problems on offense and defense.
RESPONSE: And DG has started addressing these issues. Added a young good, CB added a young quality RDE. Cut some deadwood players. He is changing the mindset, psychology, expectations.
He is doing it the proper way. No unrealistic predictions but realistic goals. And if the goals are not achieved this year the groundwork is set for next year. He will not sell out to get one winning season. And Josh had nothing to do with the Cards losing last year. The reality is you can't get rid of a team you win with what you have. No more excuses!

QUOTE: I want a coach who is realistic with this team and has a long term plan for success. I have had enough of the unrealistic cheer leading that McGinnis was famous for.
RESPONSE: What are you doing now are you comparing DG to McGinnis that is sick. DG is a proven winner. He knows how to win in the NFL.
DG is very realistic you don't compile the 5th best current winning percentage in the NFL by being unrealistic. DG has a long term plan. Sign young quality FAs draft young players who can actually play. Dump players who cannot play. He knows how to create a culture of winning he also knows about the culture of losing. He is not going to put up with that losing culture. You can win in the NFL right away. That should be the goal.

QUOTE: The realistic goal is to plan and work towards being competitive in 2 or 3 years. Trade your way up to a position to get Manning or trade your way down to get numbers.
RESPONSE: Trade down to get players like Pace and B Johnson. Quantity does not win! Quality wins! Oh so if the Cards develop Manning for 3 years (if he develops) and lose for 3 years you are okay with that. And then what if Manning turns out to be another 1st round QB bust. Three years wasted. This is the Bengals plan for the last 10 years - look where it got them. And you won't be calling for DG to be fired - if he has 3 losing seasons while developing Manning.

QUOTE:I stilll believe no WR is worth a #3 pick. Remember Roy Green a #4th round pick, Pat Tilley #4th round pick, Jackie Smith #10th round, Mel Gray #6th round.
RESPONSE: To say no WR is worth a #3 makes no sense. You can do that for any position. Birk is a pro bowl C who was obtained in the 6th round so what does that mean you should draft Cs in the 6th round? You want to look at the amount of QB busts in the first round? Yeah let's WASTE our #1 pick like CLE did on Couch that is great strategy! How about this DG knows how to win in the NFL. DG knows way way more then you do.
Let me repeat: DG KNOWS WAY MORE THEN ANYONE HERE ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO BUILD A CONSISTENT NFL WINNER.

QUOTE: PS It is not just the sacks a DE gets. It is the pressure on every passing down. He effects every single pass attempt by the other team.
RESPONSE: Yeah that is why DG said line play. OL and DL is the key to winning in the NFL. And why his big FA move was to get an 11 sack man.

 

[HookemCards]

How about this DG knows how to win in the NFL. DG knows way way more then you do.
Let me repeat: DG KNOWS WAY MORE THEN ANYONE HERE ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO BUILD A CONSISTENT NFL WINNER.

QUOTE]

I don't know.....in the two FFLs I was in I won the championship in one, and lost the championship game in the other. I built both of those teams from scratch too.

PS I was also 3rd in my FHL this past season.

 

[vikesfan]

How about this DG knows how to win in the NFL. DG knows way way more then you do.
Let me repeat: DG KNOWS WAY MORE THEN ANYONE HERE ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO BUILD A CONSISTENT NFL WINNER.

QUOTE]

I don't know.....in the two FFLs I was in I won the championship in one, and lost the championship game in the other. I built both of those teams from scratch too.

PS I was also 3rd in my FHL this past season.

Holy Smokes I can't believe the Cards missed out on you. When they were interviewing for coaches you should have just showed up like that player who showed up when they were having the mini-camp.

 

[HookemCards]

Holy Smokes I can't believe the Cards missed out on you. When they were interviewing for coaches you should have just showed up like that player who showed up when they were having the mini-camp.

Well I'm in Waco and didn't have the cash to fly into Phoenix.

 

[BigRedMO]

If you believe the Sporting News the safest most likely to succeed pick is Manning. He will not be avalable at #3. The arguement that a QB is riskier than a WR in terms of a wasted pick is just not true. Where is David Boston? How did the WR Bryant ? (cant think of last name) do last year? That is how big an impact he made with me.

This team is beyond fixing this year with draft picks and free agents. Loading up on free agents does not solve problems as can be seen from Washington. If a guy is real good their team is gong to make sure they dont get away. Large numbers of free agents are not good for a team's chemistry either apparently because I can not think of a team that needed complete overhaul and tried to do it with free agents with that succeeding.

A #3 pick had better be used on a guy that impacts 50% or more plays in a game. One WR does not do that. Green won some games in MN but has yet to win a game in AZ. Why all the uncritical cultism to believe everything he says is infalible? I see this in politics too. It is scary people's mindless unthinking idol worship. My guy right or wrong attitude.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Johnson has stone hands. /QUOTE]

Really!

check the tapes of the Green Bay, Minny and Pittsburgh games...

 

[Russ Smith]

No. Roy or Mike belong at the top. If Fitz was not in the draft then Roy or Mike would be considered the top WRs. Fitz pushed them down cause he is BETTER.

No DG prefers Fitz because he is the best WR in the draft. Because he is faster then Mike and more polished then Mike. Because he is more polished then Roy and runs patterns better then Roy. And was more productive then both men.

QUOTE]

we've been over this, lf was NOT more productive than mike, USC won by 25-30 points on average(forget exact figure) so mike spent a lot of games on the sideline the whole 4th quarter while fitz was playing. ask Karl dorrell about it he said on tv last week to paraphrase " 40 times, shoes he wore, i don't care, not one db in this league could check that kid in 2 years. he caught all those balls while sitting out huge chunks of games in blowouts, he would have had 20 td's if not for that."

fitz is more polished and green trusts he knows what he's getting with fitz. fitz is ready now, in time mw might be a better player, that's the call.

 

[john h]

Somebody, besides obviously heavily biased lecturer, please explain rationally why there is such a common preference for Fitzgerald in this heavily loaded Wide Receiver enriched draft year.

I, in my non subjective unemotional state of mind, cannot elevate Fitz to the top of the class. The competition seems too even all the way down through the 1st and 2nd rounds at this position.

I would be extrememly disappointed to find that the Card's brass would select him based on personal loyalty and affection if it would cost them quality need. This #3 pick is aching for trade down if there are any legitimate takers. The value of trading down in this deep draft, seems infinitely wiser for the building of this roster.

As is often stated Green has a close and very good relationship with Fitz. This is not necessarily a good thing as it obviously can create a bias either conciously or unconciously. I would prefer he had never met him except through normal draft channels and meetings.

 

[Russ Smith]

As is often stated Green has a close and very good relationship with Fitz. This is not necessarily a good thing as it obviously can create a bias either conciously or unconciously. I would prefer he had never met him except through normal draft channels and meetings.

mac knew big, overlooked rep as soft and unmotivated because he knew him.

on other hand green may know more about fitz than anbody else AND be right?

 

[LVCARDFREAK]

I guess the answer to the original question should be

1. Because he was the best college WR last year. (Bilenikoff winner)
2. He had the best stats
3. He is rated almost unanimously by draft publicatins/gurus as the best wr in the draft
4. He is by far and away the receiver most likley to 'step in and contribute now'


It may very well be true that MW turns out to be a better WR. But thats all speculation. Fitz at #3 is simply the best of all worlds: If not the best, one of the top 2/3 wr's, most polished, no character issues, hard worker, relationship with Green, etc etc The list goes on.

You may not like Fitz, and thats fine, but how anyone can say he is not THE safest pick in the draft for DG is beyond me. If he is there it is a no-brainer as to who the Cards pick! And it would be the right choice IMO (since manning will be gone)

 

[sportznutt]

Fun to look back upon this.

 

[SuperSpck]

Fitz is, along with Gallery, regarded as the two safest picks in the draft and top 3 talent.

It was true at the time, but man I was convinced Gallery was the safest LT in a long time and Fitz was a pick at a luxury position. With this pick Denny solidly swung me over to the BPA side of the house.
Here's to hoping Ryan Williams comes back healthy for part 2!
Thanks you Raiders for not drafting him and thank you Larry for not running a 4.2

-Because DG needs another WR to run the sets he likes.

I know it was fun to mess with him, but this was a fact. In MN he ran his base offense out of '11' personnel.

He can go over the middle, he can run block, he can provide some threat (though not as big of one as Roy Williams)...
Other than intangibles, I'm not sure what makes Fitz a better prospect than even Charles Rogers or Andre Johnson were last season.

Man when Roy disappeared huh? Makes you forget just how bright his star was for a moment. Speaking of BPA, the Lions just kept going until they got it right. Gotta respect that insanity.

Since the day Denny signed on here, he's been INFERRING that he thinks Fitz is the BPA in the entire draft.

The sender implies, the receiver infers. Either way, Denny spent 2 months telling us if Fitz was there, Fitz would be drafted. That's neither implication or inference, that's just being blunt.

1. Fitz adds another strong weapon to our offense. The offense is much closer to being a strength than the defense.

2. He is a great character guy, and won't embarrass the organization.

3. A big (6'3, 225) strong (20 reps) receiver, who excels at catching the jump ball. He'll be a big time threat in the redzone.

All good points. I'm annoyed it's taken XX years for our defense to have made 8 games worth of impact in a row.

Fun to look back upon this.

I love these bumps.
They remind me of posters I miss (K9 included in that group for awhile) and wish were more active.
They provide much needed distance and reflection as time passes.
Thanks for the bump.

 

[azsportsfan01]

Awesome find. I wasn't on this board way back then but I am sure I would have looked quite foolish in my draft predictions. Always good to laugh at yourself and realize how hard the draft really is.

 

[Capital Card]

Yep, that was me pumping Josh McCown....

 

[Duckjake]

I love these bumps.
They remind me of posters I miss (K9 included in that group for awhile) and wish were more active.
They provide much needed distance and reflection as time passes.
Thanks for the bump.

What is funny is that we had very similar discussions about Fitzgerald each time his contract came up for extension.

 

[Bodha]

Thank-Goodness




That was a close one. This may be the single pick I can look back on and not feel sick.

Looking back, its fun to see some on the analysis' on guys like Gallery and Ubeze (who?)- exactly.

 

[RedRob]

Knocking the Vikings Out of Playoff Contention

Let's not forget the only reason Fitz is on this team to begin with is McCown to Poole in the last second, in the last game of the season prior which pushed us from #1 to #3.

Yes we would have drafted Manning, how would the trade to Rivers unfolded (because you know if San Diego wasn't good enough for the Mannings Arizona sure in the hell wouldn't have been either).Somehow I don't believe Rivers would be on this team right now...

We ended up in the Super Bowl a few years later, pure conjecture on my part but knowing how hard it is to get there I doubt we would have made it there had the draft unfolded differently.

I've always been a big believer you play to win regardless of draft consequences, if we hadn't that year we'd be looking at a different banner at the top of the page...

 

[az1965]

Somebody, besides obviously heavily biased lecturer, please explain rationally why there is such a common preference for Fitzgerald in this heavily loaded Wide Receiver enriched draft year.

I, in my non subjective unemotional state of mind, cannot elevate Fitz to the top of the class. The competition seems too even all the way down through the 1st and 2nd rounds at this position.

I would be extrememly disappointed to find that the Card's brass would select him based on personal loyalty and affection if it would cost them quality need. This #3 pick is aching for trade down if there are any legitimate takers. The value of trading down in this deep draft, seems infinitely wiser for the building of this roster.

LOL!!!!!

 

[Krangodnzr]

As much as I love Fitz (he's probably my favorite player), if we could go back, I'd likely take Philip Rivers instead. My brother and I were touting him long before he was on most people's radar, and he's exceeded the expectations we had for him in college at NC State.

As crazy as it sounds though, Fitzgerald exceeded all out expectations.

 

[Totally_Red]

LOL! Larry is probably the best Cardinal draft pick in the last 20 years. He's has been a god-send. He's rarely injuried-see Andre Johnson. He makes quarterbacks look like Dan Marino even when they throw behind and 2 feet over his head. And now he's developed into a team leader and good blocker. If ever, a player was earning his high salary it's Larry.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Please don't go back and find all the threads of me ripping Phillip Rivers, saying he'll never amount to anything in the NFL, and would be a horrendous mistake to select in round 1, much less the top 5 .

 

[splitsecond]

I moved to Pittsburgh for law school in 2003, and was living on financial aid/not working so I couldn't afford cable. All I could watch on saturdays and sundays was Pitt or the Steelers. Needless to say, I watched a lot of Fitz that year. Had I been a part of this board back then, I would have berated the haters in here, as I saw what a phenomenal athlete and receiver he was going to be in the NFL. I specifically remember one 3 or so TD game he had, and just being floored at all of his catches, and saying to myself "this guy is the next Jerry Rice."

On draft day I was following along, and couldn't believe our luck in landing him. My thought had been he should have gone #1, he was that good. I called my brother and said "Get ready, we are going to score some points." I had also had Anquan on my fantasy team that year, and was dreaming about all those passes in our future.

Needless to say, this thread is pretty entertaining at this point. I think it shows how we ALL base our judgment on fairly minimal knowledge of a player. There is a reason DG was selling Fitz from day 1 - he knew Fitz as well as family. And he was 110% right about him.

 

[NJCardFan]

The amazing thing about Fitz is that, at least in my lifetime, he is the only 1st round pick that ended up a superstar and stayed with the team. All others either ended up busts or left for greener pastures.

 

[john h]

Larry Fitzgerald is the most well prepared player in this draft...mentally and physically. Robert Gallery is a close second.

The other WRs are very talented, but they don't match Fitzgerald's combination of mental and physical toughness. The only one, IMO, who comes close is Michael Clayton of LSU. Mike Williams of USC is a special talent, but he's not going to exploit the middle of defenses very well for a couple of years until he matures. Roy Williams has all the physical gifts...but his head is not always in the game.

As for trading down for Wilfork...that, IMO, would be an egregious mistake. Miami had a real hard time stopping the run the last two years...and Wilfork was not the answer. He's just not a very productive player. He will dazzle you from time to time with his physical prowess, but he takes a lot of plays off and he shows little stamina. Plus, he's not a consistent pass rushing threat...which is disappointing for a player his size.

If the Cardinals were to trade down to #7 and they were thinking defensive line...the standout there is DE Kenechi Udeze of USC. This guy is the real deal. He's a flat-out warrior on the edge and a relentless pass rusher. He lacks ideal height, but actually uses his smaller size to his advantage to slip under, through and around the larger tackles.

DT Tommy Harris is an enigma. He showed up huge against lesser competition and was a non-factor in this year's biggest games...the Big 12 Championship and the Sugar Bowl. Harris is on the small side...but he's got excellent feet and good strength. Seems like a risk as a top ten pick.

This year's DT class is weak. The physical dynamos of the group...Wilfork, Tubbs, Washington, etc....were not consistent players at the college level which makes one wonder if they could possibly be at the pro level. The slighter, more lean DTs like Harris, Starks and Dockett were more productive in college but are they too small or slight to make a consistent impact in the NFL? I think they are all over-rated.

Looking back Walter you seemed to have hit this on the head with Fitz. You had it wrong with Dockett who turned out to be a force.