It appears the Arizona Cardinals had another solid draft. Like Beanie Wells at #31 in last year’s draft, they got excellent value with the 26th selection in the first-round when they drafted Dan Williams, NT, from Tennessee. Then, they traded a 3rd round pick (they had two) in order to move up in the second-round and select Daryl Washington from TCU. Washington will immediately move inside and battle free-agent acquisition, Paris Lennon, for Karlos Dansby’s vacated position. Washington is a tackling machine and can play in space.

The Cards were proactive in this draft and made a lot of moves. But Saturday was the coup-de-tat in terms of progressives. Forget about who they picked (we won’t know about any of these guys until we see what we see and know what we know) it was the moves themselves that made me stick the spear in the ground and scream.

The Cards traded the 123rd pick overall (4th round) for the 130th pick and received a sixth round pick in the process (201). They drafted OLB, O’Brien Schofield, from Wisconsin with the 130th pick overall and selected CB, Jorrick Calvin from Troy. Additionally, The Cards acquired a fifth-round pick (155), a round they did not have a pick, by trading one of their sixth-round picks and CB Bryant McFadden – in retrospect, a regrettable free agent acquisition in 2009 – to the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the fifth-round pick (155) from the Steelers they drafted QB, John Skelton, out of Fordham.

Again, forget about the names, positions, colleges and draft numbers. They all were areas the Cards needed to address coming into this year’s draft. Focus your attention on the maneuvering and remember how well the Cards have drafted over the last 3-4-years, especially in the 5th round and higher.

Steve Breaston and Timmy Hightower were 5th round picks. Will Davis, a guy I think will surprise this year, was a 6th round pick. And the 7th round includes Ben Patrick, Brandon Keith and LaRod Stephens-Howling!

The Cards are and have been drafting well. When you talk about the ascension of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC you must acknowledge the draft and how Big Red has built this team around the draft and drafting well.

Dan Williams, Daryl Washington, Andre Roberts, O’Brien Schofield, John Skelton, Jorrick Calvin and Jim Dray are just names with numbers next to them. Only time will tell whether these guys are going to be good football players. What I do know is the Cardinals were progressive, manipulated their picks, filled holes on their roster, dumped a bad contract and added picks they did not have.

There are no guarantees in the draft but the best news of all is clear: these guys have a plan and were convicted enough to act on that plan.

Where is that spear?

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