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What if Cardinals listened to ESPN's Mel Kiper and Todd McShay for last 7 Drafts?

How much different would the Arizona Cardinals look with the last seven years of first round draft picks.

By Seth Cox
NFL: 2015 NFL Draft Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

What ifs are fun, especially when it comes to the NFL Draft.

For this version of the what ifs game, we go back, the last seven seasons and take a look at what Mel Kiper and Todd McShay have done in choosing players for the Arizona Cardinals.

Now, compare that to who the Arizona Cardinals have actually taken and you have quite the difference.

Arizona Cardinals 2010-2016 Draft Picks

Year Player Position All Pro Pro Bowl Games Started
Year Player Position All Pro Pro Bowl Games Started
2010 Dan Williams DT 0 0 66
2011 Patrick Peterson CB 3 6 96
2012 Michael Floyd WR 0 0 47
2013 Jonathan Cooper OG 0 0 14
2014 Deone Bucannon S 0 0 38
2015 D.J. Humphries OT 0 0 13
2016 Robert Nkemdiche DT 0 0 0

Let’s be honest, the Arizona Cardinals haven’t done that well in the draft outside of Patrick Peterson and... Dan Williams. Obviously it is early for Deone Bucannon, D.J. Humphries, and Robert Nkemdiche but so far, not so good.

Only Peterson has been to a Pro Bowl or been voted an All Pro, now, let’s compare what Kiper and McShay would have done.

Mel Kiper’s Final Picks for the Cardinals from 2010-2016

Year Player Position All Pro Pro Bowl Games Started
Year Player Position All Pro Pro Bowl Games Started
2010 Dan Williams DT 0 0 66
2011 Patrick Peterson CB 3 6 96
2012 Riley Reiff OT 0 0 69
2013 Dion Jordan OLB 0 0 1
2014 Blake Bortles QB 0 0 45
2015 Arik Armstead DE 0 0 4
2016 Eli Apple CB 0 0 0

Obviously the first two picks are the same and would have worked out the same, but from there it gets interesting.

Reiff likely means no Jared Veldheer in 2014, so do the Arizona Cardinals move that money elsewhere?

Dion Jordan has been a colossal bust... Because of off the field issues. This would have been as effective as the Cooper pick, except with a change at the end.

Bortles could still happen in Arizona one day, but that changes 2015 and 2016. Where are the Cardinals at that point?

Arik Armstead has not lived up to the hype yet, but he would be the person that would make Calais Campbell available at this point, right?

Finally, Eli Apple, would have been a nice pick.

The problem, outside of Reiff, none of these guys were available. None have turned into great players either, but the Reiff and Apple picks would have been interesting.

Todd McShay’s Final Picks for the Arizona Cardinals 2010-2016

Year Player Position All Pro Pro Bowl Games Started
Year Player Position All Pro Pro Bowl Games Started
2010 Sergio Kindle OLB 0 0 66
2011 Aldon Smith OLB 1 1 37
2012 Riley Reiff OT 0 0 69
2013 Jonathan Cooper OG 0 0 14
2014 Ryan Shazier LB 0 1 29
2015 D.J. Humprhies OT 0 0 13
2016 Jonathan Bullard DE 0 0 1

McShay nailed the Jonathan Cooper and D.J. Humphries pick, which is impressive, but the rest, bleh.

Sergio Kindle never started a game and was out of the league in two seasons.

Aldon Smith is a great player but never able to stay out of trouble.

Reiff we have discussed.

Ryan Shazier would have been a nice pick, but the Steelers wanted him more and Bullard was available until the middle of the third round, so maybe he works out, but as of now, not a good pick.

Honestly, I think Kiper’s work is the best of the bunch, but that is with 20/20 hindsight.

What do you think?

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