Your Arizona Cardinals now hold the 16th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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One would think.

However the definitive difference between an amateur and a professional has nothing to do with ability. It is simply that a professional gets paid to do it while an amateur does not.
Well the professional gets paid to, and has the time and resources to, conduct research into the players. And is also afforded access we do not possess. So the difference isn’t just that one gets paid and the other does not. In addition, the professional has had to convince an owner that their opinion has value. Whereas no one has vetted slan’s knowledge and opinion. He hasn’t had to prove his worth.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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I get that. Every team misses more picks ( stars) that they hit. Rams draft was epic. It was also better than 31 other teams. Also players success over the years are tied to the team, situation, organization and opportunity.
Can you clearly say what kind of year MHJ would have had if was drafted by the Chiefs or Rams or Lions? Odds are it would have been better and we’d be screaming why didn’t we pick him, but we will never know. Would PJ benefited by playing next to an all pro guard?

I’m not questioning that we have to draft better but I will argue it’s a little too early for a final grade. We’ve turned over 85% of the roster in 2 years and went from 4 wins to 8 wins.

It appears this team is trending upward even with the early grade on the “ bums” we’ve drafted.
As has been argued ad nauseum, no one is arguing these grades are final. I’d be surprised if even sanders wouldn’t admit these grades are incomplete. But what we can do is judge the quality based on the evidence in possession today. They are, of course, open to interpretation and evolution as facts change. As with all analysis. I don’t think anyone is projecting grades into the future. Just grading what’s been seen to date. And that’s a reasonable course of action.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Completely agree. And what I have been preaching. Monti should be questioned for his draft. That is his job. But the baseline should be based on this (providing 3 starters) and not compared to an outlier draft like the Rams.

Criticizing Monti for not being on par with the 2024 Rams draft would be like praising him because he is doing better than Keim's 2021 draft, that produced a solid starting 2 down OLB and the 6th OLB on the Depth Chart. Both are equally unfair.
I think judging based on starters is faulty reasoning. If you’re the worst team in the league but your entire team consists of drafted starters your drafts were only good enough to be yhe worst team. The fact they start is immaterial. Bad is bad. Just because your team couldn’t identify and acquire bettter talent than your draftees doesn’t make your draftees good. The only valid comparison is to other players league-wide, not just the subset of your team roster.

Now the Cardinals are not the worst team in the league. I used that as an extreme example to make my point blatantly obvious.
 

BACH

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I think judging based on starters is faulty reasoning. If you’re the worst team in the league but your entire team consists of drafted starters your drafts were only good enough to be yhe worst team. The fact they start is immaterial. Bad is bad. Just because your team couldn’t identify and acquire bettter talent than your draftees doesn’t make your draftees good. The only valid comparison is to other players league-wide, not just the subset of your team roster.

Now the Cardinals are not the worst team in the league. I used that as an extreme example to make my point blatantly obvious.
Sure! Fair. Implied that it has to be quality starters. Starters where there are no questions about the starting status and not just starters because the team is horrible. Not necessary pro-bowlers, but quality play. Your Froholdt, Wilson x2, Thompson, White of the world
 

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Man, you and cheese are salty. I read it. And the main reason why is because Cheese is being annoying AF, condescending, and borderline ban worthy with his ALL CAPS childishness.

Now that its the off season, this is what I have to root for. Who wins armchair QB wars. Whether Bach and Slandriac are right or not is no longer the point. I just want to see how loud Cheese will yell in order to win an internet argument.

It's kind of embarrassing, actually.
 
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DVontel

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16. Arizona Cardinals: Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon​

The Cardinals will continue to build up in the trenches this draft. No interior lineman in the FBS created more pressures than Harmon did this season. He has the strength, quickness and play violence to win in different ways, and from different alignments.

47. Arizona Cardinals: Princely Umanmielen, Edge, Ole Miss​

Mock draft by Dane Brugler.
 

Chopper0080

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My bone here is you can't compare MHJ to guys like Collins or Tee Higgins because they weren't the 4th overall pick 1st WR off the board. He may wind up similar to them as players, and they're both really good, and I think he WILL be better next year for sure, but when you're picked that high, you have to be better than he was IMO.

his issues are very clear, has to be tougher, has to win more 50/50 balls, has to get more separation, stop wearing sunglasses indoors.
You can judge him compared to Nico and Tee. Draft status just sets expectations and the player has zero control over it. Just like they have zero control over their team and the scheme. If your floor expectation for MHJ is a top 10 WR in the NFL because he was drafted #4 overall...he may never meet that expectation. Especially if there inconsistency at the QB position. The real question is, if MHJ is a top 20 NFL WR, is that ok?
 

Chopper0080

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No. Drafted #4, you expect at minimum a top 10 WR. Anything less is a failure.
Here is where I differ in this scenario. I blame the GM and not the player. I am happy to have a top 20 WR. MHJ didn't choose to be a top 10 pick. Monti did. I am disappointed the GM didn't get better value with the #4 overall pick. I am happy MHJ is a top 20 WR.

There are levels to this as well.

A - Top 10 pick - Larry Fitzgerald
C - Top 10 pick - Top 20 MHJ
F - Top 10 pick - Isaiah Simmons

So, underperforming based upon your draft position can look several different ways.
 

Cheesebeef

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Here is where I differ in this scenario. I blame the GM and not the player. I am happy to have a top 20 WR. MHJ didn't choose to be a top 10 pick. Monti did. I am disappointed the GM didn't get better value with the #4 overall pick. I am happy MHJ is a top 20 WR.

There are levels to this as well.

A - Top 10 pick - Larry Fitzgerald
C - Top 10 pick - Top 20 MHJ
F - Top 10 pick - Isaiah Simmons

So, underperforming based upon your draft position can look several different ways.
Chopper… you already calling MHJ a top 20 WR, right now? Or is this based on a long term view where you think he’ll eventually at least be a top 20 WR?
 

ASUCHRIS

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Here is where I differ in this scenario. I blame the GM and not the player. I am happy to have a top 20 WR. MHJ didn't choose to be a top 10 pick. Monti did. I am disappointed the GM didn't get better value with the #4 overall pick. I am happy MHJ is a top 20 WR.

There are levels to this as well.

A - Top 10 pick - Larry Fitzgerald
C - Top 10 pick - Top 20 MHJ
F - Top 10 pick - Isaiah Simmons

So, underperforming based upon your draft position can look several different ways.
That is all fair. I just feel that if you have a top 5 pick (as we did in consecutive drafts), you're expecting cornerstone top 10 guys at their positions. These are guys that are critical to making sure you're not drafting top 5 again. So far, PJJ is a fine player, but doesn't appear to be a dominant force. (Vs. the guy we passed up for him). Marv had an underwhelming year, but still has shown flashes of greatness.

I actually have more belief that Marv will live up to his draft status vs. PJJ proving more valuable than Will Anderson.
 

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That is all fair. I just feel that if you have a top 5 pick (as we did in consecutive drafts), you're expecting cornerstone top 10 guys at their positions. These are guys that are critical to making sure you're not drafting top 5 again. So far, PJJ is a fine player, but doesn't appear to be a dominant force. (Vs. the guy we passed up for him). Marv had an underwhelming year, but still has shown flashes of greatness.

I actually have more belief that Marv will live up to his draft status vs. PJJ proving more valuable than Will Anderson.
Same.
 

Chopper0080

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Chopper… you already calling MHJ a top 20 WR, right now? Or is this based on a long term view where you think he’ll eventually at least be a top 20 WR?
I was using top 20 WR as a comparable to a top 10 WR. Just for arguments sake, not because I think MHJ is currently a top 20 WR. (I do think it is reasonable to think he will progress to a top 20 WR next year but a lot can happen)
 

football karma

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No. Drafted #4, you expect at minimum a top 10 WR. Anything less is a failure.
#10 WR was Smith-Nijigba 137/1130/6

#20 WR was Mike Evans 110/1004/11

if MHJ produces #20 numbers with a TD total between the two, i would call that "acceptable" -- especially if the catch to target ratio improves materially
 

Chopper0080

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That is all fair. I just feel that if you have a top 5 pick (as we did in consecutive drafts), you're expecting cornerstone top 10 guys at their positions. These are guys that are critical to making sure you're not drafting top 5 again. So far, PJJ is a fine player, but doesn't appear to be a dominant force. (Vs. the guy we passed up for him). Marv had an underwhelming year, but still has shown flashes of greatness.

I actually have more belief that Marv will live up to his draft status vs. PJJ proving more valuable than Will Anderson.
Agreed.

Here is Monti's resume to date.

He has drafted one Pro Bowler (Paris Johnson is an alternate this year)
He has signed two Pro Bowlers in FA (Ryland and Dallas are also alternates this year)
He has drafted or signed zero All Pro players

No offensive or defensive rookies of the year.

So, he has struggled to add top NFL talent to the Cardinals rosters after two seasons. Two season where he had top 10 draft picks, and cap space.
 

ASUCHRIS

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Agreed.

Here is Monti's resume to date.

He has drafted one Pro Bowler (Paris Johnson is an alternate this year)
He has signed two Pro Bowlers in FA (Ryland and Dallas are also alternates this year)
He has drafted or signed zero All Pro players

No offensive or defensive rookies of the year.

So, he has struggled to add top NFL talent to the Cardinals rosters after two seasons. Two season where he had top 10 draft picks, and cap space.
Yeah, two FA pro bowlers in a vacuum sound great, until you take into consideration they're your returner and punter.

Monti has acquired a bunch of guys, but almost none of them qualify as above average starters, which almost all successful teams have. Short of a bunch of the draft picks making big leaps, I'm not sure exactly where these guys are coming from.
 

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