Jeff: You are cracking me up, man! Too funny! All I can say is, when are you ever going to stop letting your "Johnson" do all the thinking?
The big debate about the draft is drafting for need or drafting for top value. The Cardinals almost always seem to draft for need at the expense of bypassing better players. I believe this has got to change. For example, the Cardinals keep drafting a glut (antonym for dearth!) of DTs. Just in the past three years they have drafted SEVEN DTs: Wendell Bryant (#1), Darwin Walker (#3), Marcus Bell (#4), Nate Dwyer (#4), Mao Tosi (#5), Mario Fatafehi (#5) Jabarri Issa (#6)...yet it's entirely possible that they will draft another DT with the #6 pick this year. NONE of the se players has started more than three games for the Cardinals (two UFAs instead, Russell Davis and Barron Tanner have been the starters). Right now, Marcus Bell, a 4th round pick, might be the best of the batch, although we are all hoping to see a world of difference in Wendell Bryant this year.
The Sporting News has the Cardinals drafting WR Billy McMullen is the 2nd round...purely a NEED pick. Let me ask all of you this. Does McMullen have more value as a second round pick than Willis McGahee? McMullen might develop as a decent #2 WR in his career, but McGahee might very well emerge as one of the elite RBs in the NFL over the next four years. Do the Cardinals need another RB right now? No. But, will the Cardinals be a better team with McGahee three years from now? Emmitt will be gone, Shipp will be in the final year of his contract...what will the Cardinals have to do?...spend another first round pick on a RB? (see Thomas Jones). Not if McGahee is in the fold. The other scenario is what if Shipp continues to blossom into an outstanding RB...McGahee would give the team tremendous trade value in case it needed to make a trade. Would McMullen have the same trade value? This is what I mean about value. The Cardinals have rarely understood this concept...which is why their drafts have been so suspect.
The other aspect about value that is often overlooked is the general parity of the talent pool that enters the draft every year. For example, there is really not much difference talent-wise between first round prospect DE Chris Kelsay and third-fourth round prospect DE Jimmy Wilkerson. In fact Wilkerson may turn out to be the better pro. If the Cardinals can get players of similar talent later in the draft than earlier, it would allow them to draft for value instead of need.
This is why talent scouts often say...after the first five or six picks...it's a crap shoot.
The Cardinals will have a chance to draft an elite player at #6. But, if all of them are future All-Pros, which one would have the greatest value? If a QB with Leftwich's talent is in the mix, unquestionably he would have the greatest value...the same reason why QBs get the biggest contracts. A great QB gives the team the chance to win every game. A mediocre QB doesn't. A great DE is nice, but not as important as a QB. Not nearly. This is why Byron Leftwich is a no brainer selection at #6 if he is on the board. It's tempting to draft for need...and glaring needs at that...but bypassing the rare opportunity to draft a franchise QB in favor of addressing immediate needs is a flat-out mistake.
What are the odds that Jeff Blake or Josh McCown will lead the Cardinals to the Super Bowl? Remote at best. Byron Leftwich throws a better ball than Peyton Manning...and comes into the league with a top five arm.
Another question...if all the players in the NFL were thrown into a new draft...the league was starting over from scratch and the Cardinals had the first pick...who would they take? Mike Vick or Simeon Rice? No brainer. Same holds true in this draft...and should in ANY draft.
The Cardinals have to start eying the Super Bowl...not the playoffs...or a respectful 8-8 season...the Super Bowl. That's the ultimate prize and goal.
Seizing the opportunity to draft Byron Leftwich and Willis McGahee would be a major step forward in bringing a Super Bowl quality team into the new stadium...when the franchise will find itself in the midst of a frenzy. Once the Cardinals play in a dome and get out of the scorching heat, Arizona will become the Tampa Bay Bucs West of the NFL. Free agents will want to flock here. A flock of new Cardinals...with a new purpose...a new sense of identity and new Super Bowl mindset.
