We all wish we could go back in time to use hindsight as the means of making better judgement. We don't have that luxury in our life. However, when it comes to looking at past NFL Draft classes, we have Mel Kiper. Something that Kiper does is go back to old draft classes and does a re-draft in which the players are ordered based on their NFL production and impact rather than their potential. The latest focuses on the year 2006.
For the Cardinals, you might remember that it was the year in which Matt Leinart fell to the Cardinals at number 10 and they took him. Then head coach Denny Green called him "a gift from heaven."
Kiper's redo makes it a different story.
Leinart did not get drafted in the first round at all and, instead of the guy who was supposed to be the team's QB of the future, they would select LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson at number 10.
Says Kiper:
Drafted at No. 4 overall, Ferguson was expected to be very good, and he has been. A Pro Bowl regular, he may be overshadowed by the excellence of Mangold, but plenty of teams would love to get what he provides the Jets. Previous draft spot: No. 4
In hindsight, Ferguson would have been a great pick. With him already protecting the left side of the line, they never would have drafted Levi Brown with the fifth pick overall the next year. They could have instead taken Adrian Peterson.
Of course, without Leinart here, Kurt Warner doesn't have to step up his game to win the starting job, meaning he likely never has that career resurrection.
In the end, it is impossible to imagine what really would have happened had Ferguson been the guy Arizona drafted in 2006.
What do you think? I imagine everyone would say that they would rather have drafted him than Leinart, but in what way do you think it would have been different?
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