Arizona Cardinals Question of the Week

by cgolden on Jun 13, 2008 12:03 PM MDT

I'm working a longer, more complete story about our most recent first round pick, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, but for now I've got a question for you. Doing some research on Mr. DRC, I keep seeing one name connected to his when talking about the Arizona Cardinals 2008 draft: Rashard Mendenhall. Most reports describe it as a 'mixed fan reaction' in selecting Rodgers-Cromartie over Mendenhall. So my question to you is, without trying to project the rest of the draft, if you were the front office brass of the Cardinals organization and you had been on the clock with DRC and Mendenhall on the board, who are you taking?

Poll

Who ya got?

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

20 votes

Rashard Mendenhall

12 votes

32 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 11 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

CB was the bigger need

CB and defense in general were a greater needs this draft IMO. I salivated over Mendenhall momentarily, but ultimately was satisfied with this pick.

by AJ BirdWatcher on Jun 13, 2008 12:59 PM MDT reply actions

agreed

I was much more concerned about the defense, than I was about Edge and the run offense.

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Jun 13, 2008 4:15 PM MDT up reply actions

RB’s are a dime a dozen… I liked Mendenhall, but DRC is a shutdown CB! Making him far more valuable than Mendenhall. I was hoping he would make it down to the Packers, but after the SR. Bowl week and combine there was no way it was going to happen! The Cards are lucky to have gotten him…

The Cards personnel finally got one right, too bad they whiffed on every other draft!!! If Mr. Bidwell is reading you should hire me as a scout!!!

by Strohman on Jun 15, 2008 2:00 PM MDT reply actions

Yea, unless you’re guaranteed to get a Adrian Peterson with that pick, I’m more than happy with DRC.

If you get the job, make sure you put in a good work for me :-)

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Jun 15, 2008 5:53 PM MDT up reply actions

LOL Yeah and to think A. Peterson could be wearing a Cards uniform right now, but they thought L. Brown was gonna make more of an impact than AD… Just goes to show that Graves doesn’t know what he is doing! He is a puppet for Bidwell and whoever the coach is… I really seriously think I could run the team better than Graves… If I ever make GM, I will give you an interview! LOL

by Strohman on Jun 15, 2008 8:59 PM MDT reply actions

Not all Graves

I’m not a huge Graves fan, but passing up on AD can’t be entirely blamed on him. I would bet the OT selection was heavily influenced by Whisenhunt & Grimm. Denny most likely would have pushed for Peterson, and I can’t say that I would blame him if that were the case.

It is apparent that the Whisenhunt staff has their priorities strait by trying to establish the trenches on both sides of the ball and pushing for the shutdown defense they need to win. Hell, we already know they can put points on the board!

by AJ BirdWatcher on Jun 16, 2008 8:30 AM MDT up reply actions

good point

Whiz is accustomed to having an above average line to work with and they’re building that here. I have no idea what AP would have done here in his rookie season but he wouldn’t have had the same success by any means. Replace Levi with Elton Brown and think of how little faith we’d have had in that OL. Not to mention a good line can make a mediocre back look really good but I’m not sure the reverse is true.

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Jun 16, 2008 8:49 AM MDT up reply actions

Its a matter of drafting the best player available… Peterson is a true difference maker! A franchise RB that demands the defense plays 8 men in the box… those guys are irreplacable. Think of how good the passing game would look w/ Boldin and Fitz running routes against man coverage! No double teams, not alot of zone… The defense would be in a world of hurt! Run blocking OT are not that hard to find. It was a bad move to pass on Peterson.

I know I said RB are a dime a dozen, but in the case of AD he completely changes the way the defense plays.

by Strohman on Jun 16, 2008 12:07 PM MDT up reply actions

AP

I agree he’s awesome but we have to remember what he was coming out of Oklahoma. Even his biggest fans wouldn’t have predicted he’d averaged 5.6 yards per carry and 14.1 yards per reception. Those are better numbers than he had in college, which is unheard of. I agree that if we could turn back the clock and re-draft the ‘07 draft, I’d take AP, at the time I still think Levi was the right pick.

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Jun 16, 2008 1:26 PM MDT up reply actions

Agreed

Peterson is a freak of nature, no doubt. But remember that four other teams before us passed on him as well. Hindsight is always 20:20 and every year several teams can look back at what they could have drafted. I will hold my stance that at the time with the players they had, OL was a bigger priority. This year, it looks like they had the luxury to go BPA.

by AJ BirdWatcher on Jun 16, 2008 2:14 PM MDT up reply actions

And I wonder how many of them wish they had taken AD… Levi is a good RT, a good run blocking RT, you could have gotten that in the 2nd rd. Drafting for need and passing over a difference maker is not the way to become a playoff team, not to mention a SB contender! All the scouts and GM’s were in agreement… They all said AD was THE best player in the draft!!!

BTW-His initials may be AP, but his nickname is AD… As in… ALL DAY…

by Strohman on Jun 16, 2008 2:59 PM MDT up reply actions