Totally_Red

Selected excerpts from his piece in the Republic:

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blo...cManaman/22446

No pick in the first round of Saturday's NFL draft drew a louder or more positive response from any of the talking heads on the NFL Network than the selection of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

When the Cardinals took the Tennessee State cornerback at No. 16, all you could hear on the television was someone shouting, "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"

It was Deion Sanders.


........
But if you liked Aeneas Williams when he played here, I have a suspicion you're going to like Rodgers-Cromartie almost as much. In time, maybe even more.

Cardinals General Manager Rod Graves said it's already tempting to compare Rodgers-Cromartie to Williams and others, including Albert Lewis, the former four-time Pro Bowl corner for the Kansas City Chiefs.

"He brings all the tools those players brought to the table," Graves said.

"His opportunity to be a star is just as good as those guys."
.......
"Tremendous upside," Pendergast said, noting how Rodgers-Cromartie separated himself at the Senior Bowl against supposedly stronger competition.

He appears to be the classic big-time corner from a small-school program, just like Green, who attended Texas A&I. Just like Williams, who went to Southern. Just like Lewis, who came out of Grambling State.

Those all were shutdown cornerbacks, and there haven't been many in the NFL. Sanders was, and he thinks Rodgers-Cromartie is going to be a star.

"He liked the pick, huh?" Whisenhunt asked, smiling.

Totally_Red

http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...804270420/1002


The 6-foot-2, 184-pounder had individual workouts with several NFL teams, but the Cardinals were not one of them. He had no communication with the team before Saturday.

"They kept it a complete secret that they were interested in me,'' Rodgers-Cromartie said. "I guess they must have liked what they saw of me at the Senior Bowl."
.....
Cardinals Coach Ken Whisenhunt admitted there were concerns about taking a player from a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) school so early.

"He comes from Tennessee State so there's always a question about the level of competition,'' said Whisenhunt, a former Vanderbilt assistant. "But we felt like he excelled when he went against some better competition, most notably in the Senior Bowl."

Rodgers-Cromartie had an interception, deflected a pass and recorded four tackles in the Senior Bowl, the first big pre-draft showcase.

.....
"What we like about (Rodgers-Cromartie) first of all is he has very good size for his position,'' Whisenhunt said. "He has obviously good speed. The thing that really stands out about him is his ball skills — his ability to go up and get the football. That's something that is unique for a guy his size."


Rodgers-Cromartie had two interceptions last season and returned both for touchdowns. He also made 37 tackles. On special teams he averaged 24.4 yards on 33 kickoff returns scored one TD. He also blocked four kicks.

Mitch

It's funny that DRC said he did not know the Cardinals were interested in him. One of the first reports from the combine was that the Cardinals were showing interest in DRC and were interviewing him. We've known this ever since then.

Mulli

Darell Green? Why didn't I think of that?

Awesome.

Pariah

Comparing DRC to Aeneas? That's ridiculous. Seriously. All the talking heads said DRC isn't much of a tackler and he isn't much in run support. Williams really WAS the whole package. I don't think DRC, no matter how affective in the pass game--will ever be a run-support cb.