What if Ameer Abdullah Became a Cardinal?

All or Nothing is an amazing show.

And I hope it doesn't appear I'm saying that because I'm a Cardinals fan.

We've learned many things on the show, and gotten a great look inside what appears to be at the very least an up and coming organization.

One of the big takeaways from Episode 1 was that the Cardinals really wanted Ameer Abdullah. I knew that going into last year's draft (one of the writers let it slip I believe during the second round), but many of you found out during that first episode. And many went, "Who?" when you heard about all this. After all, Abdullah didn't take the league by storm the way that David Johnson did at times.

While there are many repercussions of finding this out about the Cardinals draft process, it creates an interesting topic for debate: What would have happened if the Cardinals had drafted Ameer Abdullah?

Well let's start with the assumption they did, and look at their theoretical draft as a result (I'm not changing Round 1 or 4-7 because, well, that's way too hard):

1. DJ Humphries OT Florida

2. Ameer Abdullah RB Nebraska

3.

4. Rodney Gunter DT Delaware St.

5. Shaq Riddick OLB WV

5. JJ Nelson WR UAB

7. Gerald Christian TE Louisville

Aside from re-assessing that draft class (which would be another fun article), let's suppose this is how the draft went.

So now, we merely have to guess at what the Cardinals would have done with their third round pick. There's lots of players on their board that we don't know about, but let's assume they draft a pass rusher, since Markus Golden is no longer the 2nd round pick.

The next three defensive ends (which is actually what some sites had Golden listed at since he played a 4-3 in college) drafted were Danielle Hunter, Henry Anderson, and Geneo Grissom. Danielle Hunter would've been a nice pickup, as he had 6 sacks for the Vikings, but the other two only had 1 sack each (I know this doesn't tell the whole story, but I don't have the time to put into their analytics). Golden, despite not starting the whole season, had 4 in 6 starts.

So unless Hunter (who had 1 official start) was drafted, it definitely looks like the Cardinals got the better of that situation.

As for having Abdullah, he finished with 143 carries for 597 yards and 2 TDs in 9 starts, along with 25 catches for another TD. Granted, the Lions offensive line isn't quite as good as the Cardinals, and they threw the ball a lot. David Johnson had 125 carries for 581 yards and 8 TDs, not to mention 36 catches and another 4 TDs. Oh, and a kick return TD.

It's probably not a fair comparison, given that both enjoyed some success in their first NFL season, and Johnson was put into a much better situation. Who is to say Abdullah couldn't have put those kinds of numbers up in Arizona's offense?

The big difference, in my opinion, is that Johnson appears better equipped to handle the beating an NFL running back takes going forward. He is 6'1" and 225-230 depending on who you ask, and Abdullah is 5'8" and around 200-205 lbs.

It seemed to work out better for the Cardinals in the long run, given the late season success of both Golden and Johnson, but it was interesting to wonder what would have happened.

What do you guys think? What would have happened if Ameer Abdullah became an Arizona Cardinal?