Patrick Peterson: Destined for stardom

When the Arizona Cardinals selected LSU’s Patrick Peterson with the number five overall selection in the 2011 NFL Draft, they got themselves a player with as much potential as anyone in the draft.

At 6 feet and 219 pounds, Peterson has the size to match up with the best WRs in the game. And with the ability to run a 4.3 forty-yard dash, he clearly has the speed to run with anyone. Combine those factors with a work ethic and a desire to be great, and what do you get?

“This is somebody who, when he speaks, he just doesn’t want to be a good player, a Pro Bowl player,” ESPN’s Pedro Gomez said on Sports 620 KTAR’s Doug and Wolf show. “He wants to be a Hall of Fame player. He’s already taking Hall of Fame; he’s never even put on the pads in an NFL uniform yet and he’s talking about being Hall of Fame.

“You have to like the confidence.”

As Cardinals fans know, confidence and potential don’t always lead to stardom. Then again, if you subscribe to the theory that it takes greatness to know greatness, you have to like Peterson’s chances.

“When Larry Fitzgerald tells me ‘this guy is the real thing, we have a superstar in the making,’ which is what Larry told me,” Gomez said, “I absolutely am going to buy with what Larry’s going to tell me.”

Raw ability, potential to improve, a strong work ethic and praise from the best WR in the game?

Sounds like a player the Cardinals can build a defense around.

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