Cardinals' 2009 Draft Impressions

Skkorpion

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Mitch, are you now advocating that in round 2, rather than sticking to our board and taking the needs-ranked BPA on that board, we should have suddenly junked our plan and traded up to fill a desperate need?

My impression was every fan on this board has ripped our needs-driven drafting for years. In this thread, several posters including you and ouchie seem to have changed their opinions on this.
 

cardsfanmd

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I wanted to comment on a few things, but I dont feel like telling Mitch he's the best in the world for the sake of his ego first so I'll just refrain.
 

187

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Nice write up Mitch and for the most part I agree with everything you said. I'm not trying to hijack the thread, but instead of responding to every section of your post I through together my thoughts:

I was very happy about the draft. The fact that Everette Brown, a guy that a lot of people thought was a LOCK for the top 15, dropped to #43 overall has got to raise a few red flags. A few teams passed on him, not once, but twice which tells me that they really don't feel good about his size or some other aspect of his game. He relies mainly on his speed and spin move to get to the QB, so once tackles adjust to that he is going to have major issues rushing the QB until he works on other techniques. I would have been very aggravated if the team traded away 2010's 1st rounder to trade up for him in the 2nd. Cody Brown has a lot of potential and like most pass rushers will take some time to develop, so I'm fine with what we did there. My thoughts on the rest of the draft..

Beanie Wells - Hated this pick initially, not because I questioned his skill level but because I'm worried about how he will hold up in the NFL. Obviously our medical staff and coach Whiz were not worried by his foot, so I will trust their decision and look forward to what he can do for us. He is the perfect back for Whiz because not only is he a 235 pound bruiser, but a legitimate threat to break a big run on you as well. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of vicious stiff arms next season!

Cody Brown - Already touched on this guy in my first paragraph

Rashad Johnson - He was an absolute STEAL in the 3rd round, Saban said he is the smartest player he has ever coached and he is also a complete ball hawk. He is a great backup for Rolle if he were to get hurt and also for the future if we can't work out a deal with him. Also, I think he will be able to step in at FS this year from the get go and I believe that in nickel formations we will have Rolle playing the nickel corner/safety slot and we will have RJ move to FS. Then, in dime Toler or Brown will fight to be the #4 corner on the field.

Gregory Toler - I had never heard of him until the draft, but from what I've read after the selection I like the pick. He's got all of the athletic abilities and while I definitely do not expect this small school corner to come around as quickly as DRC did (he is a freak) I think he will definitely be able to start as our #4 corner sometime this season (possibly #3) and eventually we will groom him to be the #3 and #2 guy if McFadden isn't resigned in 2 seasons.

Herman "House" Johnson - Just a complete mammoth of a man, I think there is an outside chance he starts this year but if not I look forward to seeing him opening up holes for Wells, THT, and hopefully LaRod. Like Grimm said, you can't teach size, and this guy was projected as a 2nd or 3rd rounder, so we got great value.

Will Davis - Don't know much about him and heard he had an injury and a crummy year, hopefully he can turn that around and eventually make an impact for us in another season or two.

Trevor Canfield - Another inside lineman with superb value in the 7th round, he was projected to go much higher and I really like the depth and competition we now have at guard with Johnson, Canfield, and possibly Keith (if we move him inside like I believe we will) lighting a fire under Deuce's rear. I'm not a fan of Deuce, so I'm glad we've got three suitable players to take his starting position.

LaRod Stephens-Howling - I loved this guy after I listened to his conference call, he obviously has his heart set on playing in the NFL and I hope we found ourselves a Darren Sproles clone. I'm pulling for him to make the team and I think this guy will quickly be a fan favorite if he does. We needed a change of pace back after JJ departed and I think eventually LSH will fill into that role.

I'm definitely looking forward to this upcoming season! September can't come soon enough!!
 
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Mitch

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Nice write up Mitch and for the most part I agree with everything you said. I'm not trying to hijack the thread, but instead of responding to every section of your post I through together my thoughts:

I was very happy about the draft. The fact that Everette Brown, a guy that a lot of people thought was a LOCK for the top 15, dropped to #43 overall has got to raise a few red flags. A few teams passed on him, not once, but twice which tells me that they really don't feel good about his size or some other aspect of his game. He relies mainly on his speed and spin move to get to the QB, so once tackles adjust to that he is going to have major issues rushing the QB until he works on other techniques. I would have been very aggravated if the team traded away 2010's 1st rounder to trade up for him in the 2nd. Cody Brown has a lot of potential and like most pass rushers will take some time to develop, so I'm fine with what we did there. My thoughts on the rest of the draft..

Beanie Wells - Hated this pick initially, not because I questioned his skill level but because I'm worried about how he will hold up in the NFL. Obviously our medical staff and coach Whiz were not worried by his foot, so I will trust their decision and look forward to what he can do for us. He is the perfect back for Whiz because not only is he a 235 pound bruiser, but a legitimate threat to break a big run on you as well. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of vicious stiff arms next season!

Cody Brown - Already touched on this guy in my first paragraph

Rashad Johnson - He was an absolute STEAL in the 3rd round, Saban said he is the smartest player he has ever coached and he is also a complete ball hawk. He is a great backup for Rolle if he were to get hurt and also for the future if we can't work out a deal with him. Also, I think he will be able to step in at FS this year from the get go and I believe that in nickel formations we will have Rolle playing the nickel corner/safety slot and we will have RJ move to FS. Then, in dime Toler or Brown will fight to be the #4 corner on the field.

Gregory Toler - I had never heard of him until the draft, but from what I've read after the selection I like the pick. He's got all of the athletic abilities and while I definitely do not expect this small school corner to come around as quickly as DRC did (he is a freak) I think he will definitely be able to start as our #4 corner sometime this season (possibly #3) and eventually we will groom him to be the #3 and #2 guy if McFadden isn't resigned in 2 seasons.

Herman "House" Johnson - Just a complete mammoth of a man, I think there is an outside chance he starts this year but if not I look forward to seeing him opening up holes for Wells, THT, and hopefully LaRod. Like Grimm said, you can't teach size, and this guy was projected as a 2nd or 3rd rounder, so we got great value.

Will Davis - Don't know much about him and heard he had an injury and a crummy year, hopefully he can turn that around and eventually make an impact for us in another season or two.

Trevor Canfield - Another inside lineman with superb value in the 7th round, he was projected to go much higher and I really like the depth and competition we now have at guard with Johnson, Canfield, and possibly Keith (if we move him inside like I believe we will) lighting a fire under Deuce's rear. I'm not a fan of Deuce, so I'm glad we've got three suitable players to take his starting position.

LaRod Stephens-Howling - I loved this guy after I listened to his conference call, he obviously has his heart set on playing in the NFL and I hope we found ourselves a Darren Sproles clone. I'm pulling for him to make the team and I think this guy will quickly be a fan favorite if he does. We needed a change of pace back after JJ departed and I think eventually LSH will fill into that role.

I'm definitely looking forward to this upcoming season! September can't come soon enough!!

Great post 187. Excellent thoughts.
 

lauraw

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OH,ok, gotcha Mitch. Thanks for clearing that up for me.... See how good you are? you should go into business! Great write up,187!
 
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Skkorpion

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187, you are a welcome breath of logic on this board. At least until you are wrong about something. Then you are road kill. Buzzard meat.
 

bearcat1

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Forgot to mention earlier that Canfield has more versatility on special teams as a long and short snapper
 

Cards Czar

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The context was...Carolina traded into the 2nd round to take an even better pass rusher in Everette Brown, and gave up their #1 in 2010. With as needy as the Cardinals are in generating a pass rush, that was a move we should have made, IMO...and I would have thought that way even when I still thought LaBoy was on the team. The fact that they were deciding to release him makes that move even more imminent...and the Cardinals disn't add another pass rusher until the 6th round...and the player they took, Will Davis could not generate ANY pass rush at all in the practices and in the game at the Senior Bowl. Not enough. Not nearly enough. Not even close.


Mitch the reason that Davis had a bad Senior Day and Combine was that he was sick and had an operation on his throat and he was not 100%. I have watched this kid and he had a monster 07 season. By playing out of postion all last season it hurt his progress but hopefully he can make it up.
 
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Mitch

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Mitch, are you now advocating that in round 2, rather than sticking to our board and taking the needs-ranked BPA on that board, we should have suddenly junked our plan and traded up to fill a desperate need?

My impression was every fan on this board has ripped our needs-driven drafting for years. In this thread, several posters including you and ouchie seem to have changed their opinions on this.

In our mocks Skkorp seems like everyone was trying to find some way to add a pick in the middle of round two...which was the hot spot in this draft...especially for pass rushers. And what we didn't even know was the one younger pass rusher on the team (LaBoy) was on his way out. Thus, seeing as we needed two pass rushers I would have liked the Cardinals to do what Carolina did...give up a 1st for one of those pass rushers....so that we came out of the second round with both Connor Barwin and Cody Brown.

Next year we will be happy we saved the first rounder...and hopefully we will find a way to rush the passer from the edge this year even though we are relying on three grizzly veterans and a rookie.
 
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Mitch

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Mitch the reason that Davis had a bad Senior Day and Combine was that he was sick and had an operation on his throat and he was not 100%. I have watched this kid and he had a monster 07 season. By playing out of postion all last season it hurt his progress but hopefully he can make it up.

It might have been his bad ankle, Czar, but his illness was at the combine not the Senior Bowl. The Cardinals are hinging their bets on Davis' performance as a junior...because he did have a subpar season and post-season.
 

bearcat1

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Canfield was our back-up LS his Fr and Sophmore years. He did takes snaps at center during that same time period but no game PT
 

187

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187, you are a welcome breath of logic on this board. At least until you are wrong about something. Then you are road kill. Buzzard meat.

Oh don't worry, I'll just stay out of the win/loss prediction threads to play it safe. I'm superstitious about predicting scores as it is, so I keep my thoughts to myself and hope for the best..
 

Doc Cardinal

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Canfield was our back-up LS his Fr and Sophmore years. He did takes snaps at center during that same time period but no game PT
Like I said.....me thinks the kid can play center.

Is he good enough to be a back-up or potential starter?

Stay tuned.
 

lauraw

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Canfield sounds like he will turn out nicely for the Cards, a multi dimensional man!!
 

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