Arizona Sports Face-Off: Arizona Cardinals draft style

Best late-round pick? Adam makes a great point with Larry
Centers. Hard to argue his contributions, but I went with
Pat Tillman, a 7th-round PR pick out of ASU, who went on
to start for four seasons before joining the U.S. Army.
No disrespect to Larry Centers, but I don’t see his statue
in front of UOP Stadium.

For the bust, I gotta go with Andre Wadsworth (he was a
number three pick too, Adam). A can’t-miss who missed
badly, mostly due to knee injuries, but swinging and
whiffing on that high of a pick was a blow to the
Cardinals in the late 90s.

Sadly, when it comes to trying to pick
the “best” AZ Cardinals draft pick of all-time, the
pickings are rather slim. However, when doing some
research, the answer became clear: Aeneas Williams.

To get a 6-time Pro Bowler (8 in total) who picked off 46
passes for the team and was generally considered one of
the best corners in the game in the third round of the
1991 draft was brilliant. Vince chose Larry Fitzgerald,
and he’s great. But he was taken with the 3rd pick — he
better be good.

As for the best late-round value, how can you not go with
Larry Centers? Led the team in receiving multiple times
and was a bright spot on some really bad teams.

Then again, it’s not all rosy, and the biggest bust has to
be none other than Matt Leinart. He wasn’t the worst
player they’ve ever taken, but missing on the QB has set
this franchise back at least a couple of years now to the
point where they are STILL looking for a quarterback.