Cardinals Draft, Part 1: Arizona Bulks Up With Levi Brown, Alan Branch

The Cardinals made a big splash in Saturday's draft by selecting behemoth offensive tackle Levi Brown.  Here, Jeff Gollin from a Cardinals blog breaks down the draft for the Bleacher Report.

 

In part one of his analysis, Gollin fleshes out the sticky details of the Cardinals drafting strategy.

The Cardinals entered the draft with a glaring need at offensive tackle and a roster hole at weakside linebacker. Stated objectives of coach Ken Whisenhunt were to increase physical presence at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, pick up a blocking tight end and possibly a fullback, and add more depth at linebacker and in the secondary.

 

There was also speculation that the Cards were on the prowl for a speedster who could return kicks, run crisp routes (to complement and free up Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin), and terrify deep secondaries.

According to both coach Whisenhunt and VP Player Personnel Rod Graves, the Cardinals stack two boards: a "big board" ranking roughly 500 players in order of their perceived ability as players and a "120 player" working board which factors position need and fit within the Cardinal system into the valuation of each player.

The Cards draft the "player who can best help our team" until they run out of their 120 players, at which point they revert to the big board. An idea of how the system works: Top rated QB's JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn could be ranked atop the Cardinals' big board but significantly farther down their "120 Board," given the Cards' strength under center. 

There was some speculation about whom the Cardinals would select with their number five pick in the first round. Of course, our choice would ultimately depend on the four picks ahead of us.

Conventional wisdom was that the top of the Cardinals' board included OT Joe Thomas, OT Levi Brown, and RB Adrian Peterson. There had been buzz coming out of Cardinal Country that the Cardinals actually felt Brown might be better fit for Whisenhunt's power running offense than would Thomas (who was considered the better pass blocker of the two). Late reports (which actually seemed credible for a change) suggested that Peterson's broken collarbone had not healed on schedule and that he might need to have a plate inserted.

The options, therefore, seemed to be narrowed down to either Thomas or Brown—either at number five or by trading down a few notches to where Brown would be considered a better value. According to Graves, things were very silent on the trade front, so the Cardinals were stood pat and drafted Brown, whom they felt was a solid value at five.

When most teams draft high in the second round, they adopt a "Catcher in the Rye" approach (i.e. standing at the edge of the first round cliff waiting to see which players fall over). I don't think the Cardinal front office ever imagined that they'd have to be ready to catch a 330-pound space-eating defensive tackle.

Graves confided that the Cardinals had behemoth DT Alan Branch rated "very high" on their 120 Board. When it became evident around pick 25 that Branch could drop all the way out of the first round, the Cardinal front office began to consider strategies for securing the Michigan lineman. They were ultimately able to swing a trade with Oakland to move from 38 to 33 (in exchange for a fourth-round draft choice) to draft Branch.

In drafting Levi Brown and Alan Branch, Coach Whisenhunt and the Cardinals took two significant steps toward becoming tougher and more physical at the line of scrimmage on both offense and defense.

In the third round (at number 69), the Cardinals addressed a position need at inside linebacker by picking Florida State's Buster Davis, who might have been a first-round talent if he'd been a few inches taller.

Clancy Pendergast is transforming the Cardinal defense into a hybrid entity involving various fronts, disguised coverages, and a multiplicity of position responsibilities for each player. Although the Cardinals had a need at weakside linebacker, most if not all of their current linebackers can play more than one position—so the addition of someone in the middle can free up another linebacker to move outside.

After the Oakland trade, the Cardinals had to wait until number 141 in the 5th round for their next pick—when they found slender Michigan wide receiver and return man Steve Breaston still on their board. The initial reaction was that the Big Red had drafted Breaston purely for his home-run ability on punts and kicks, but Coach Whisenhunt says the Cardinals are fascinated by Breaston's talent as a wideout.

Near the top of the Cardinal board (and mine, incidentally) as they bade farewell to pick 141 was tight end Ben Patrick, who had shot up the charts after a terrific Senior Bowl week and Combine workout. For some reason, Patrick fell right down most boards as fast as he had risen. The Cardinals sweated out their missing sixth-round pick before finally nabbing Patrick at number 215 in the seventh round.