A draft strategy that some here have suggested is to hope that the Cardinals can pick up a Christian Ponder, Ryan Mallett or one of the other quarterbacks not named Cam Newton or Blaine Gabbert in the second round. Mike Sando shared a chart about how quarterbacks drafted in the second round have panned out. It opened my eyes.
Out of 18 QBs taken in the second round since 1995, only one has been truly great. That would be Drew Brees. Of the rest, I would say that only Jake Plummer could be considered above average (and I know that many would argue that even he was not even above average). Kordell Stewart had some moments and Charlie Batch turned out to be a solid journeyman.
What I find interesting is that Kevin Kolb falls into that group. Now he is viewed by many as the next big thing and he was only overtaken in the Eagles starting job because of an injury and a special year put up by Michael Vick.
Of course, there are still a couple of guys that are very young and have not had a chance to really develop yet.
Why does this occur? I have to agree with Sando's thoughts when he says, "teams tend to overvalue quarterbacks in the draft, which means the most promising ones rarely escape the first round."
So the pattern tends to be draft early or draft a guy much later who you think might develop, much like how the Cardinals took John Skelton in the fifth round.
What does this mean? Based on the pattern, if there is a quarterback the Cards like, they should take him in the first round, whether that be trading down or trading back in for a second pick in the first. Otherwise, stick with Skelton. Either way, quarterback early, late or going with Skelton, a veteran will still be needed.
So what should the Cardinals do? History would say not to take a quarterback in the second round, at least unless it is Drew Brees.