Plan of Attack for the 2012 NFL Draft: Arizona Cardinals

Free agency is waning down and the Draft is just a handful of days away.  It’s time to sit down and go over every teams free agent acquisitions and losses, along with their team needs.   Using that information  we will figure out a Plan of Attack for the 2012 Draft for each team.  We’ll start with the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants and work our way down one day at a time, to the Indianapolis Colts and the first overall pick.

ARIZONA CARDINALS                                                                                        

Team Needs:  OT, G, OLB, WR, DE

Free Agent Additions: OT D’Anthony Batiste (resigned), OT Levi Brown (resigned), WR Early Doucet (resigned), K Jay Feely (resigned), CB William Gay, LS Mike Leach (resigned), S James Sanders, G Adam Snyder, CB Greg Toler (resigned), LB Reggie Walker (resigned), WR Stephen Williams (resigned), P Dave Zastudil (resigned),

Free Agent Losses: S Sean Considine, G Duce Lutui, CB Richard Marshall

Round 1:
Potential Targets:
DE/OLB Melvin Ingram, OLB Courtney Upshaw, G David DeCastro, WR Michael Floyd, OT Riley Reiff

Round 2:
Potential Targets: 
Pick wasted on Kevin Kolb

Round 3:
Potential Targets:
OLB Bruce Irvin, G Brandon Brooks, G James Brown, G Joe Looney, G Tony Bergstrom, OT Donald Stephenson, OT Andrew Datko, OT Nate Potter, WR Marvin McNutt, WR Keshawn Martin, WR Juron Criner, WR Ryan Broyles, WR Joe “The Jet” Adams, DE/OLB Jonathan Massaquoi, DE Derek Wolfe, DE Billy Winn

Plan of Attack:  The Cardinals have some huge needs on their offensive line at both guard and offensive tackle.  If they ever want to get value for their trade for Kevin Kolb, they’ll need to protect him and will likely invest their first round pick in doing so.  They guy they really like has to be Stanford G David DeCastro.  DeCastro is a tough, nasty blocker who can pull and block downfield and also pass protect with the best of them.  He’s a likely ten year starter and multiple Pro Bowl player.  If DeCastro is gone they could go with an offensive tackle, and would shoot for Iowa’s Riley Reiff if he slides.  If Reiff and DeCastro are gone the team could go with a pass rusher like Melvin Ingram if he falls or Alabama’s Courtney Upshaw.  The other route they could go and this would be a luxury pick, would be to take WR Michael Floyd fron Notre Dame.  He gives the Cardinals a big target opposite Larry Fitzgerald, which will free him up a bit and improve this offense all around.

The Cardinals don’t pick again until round three and assuming they get an offensive lineman with their first pick, should be looking for a pass rusher here.  West Virginia’s Bruce Irvin would be a nice find if he’s still around.  Irvin’s stock was shooting up towards the second round until he got busted for a D.U.I.  Irvin is extremelty quick and explosive off the ball and has a knack for getting to quarterbacks.  He’d be a nice fit opposite last year’d fourth rounder Sam Acho.  If Irvin is gone, the team could double up on offensive lineman and take a guard like Joe Looney or Tony Bergstrom, if they got a tackle in the first round. They could go with a tackle like Oklahoma’s Donald Stephenson if they got a guard in the first.  They could also look at WR and get a bigger receiver like Iowa’s Marvin McNutt or Arizona’s Juron Criner.  One other option would be to look at a defensive end.  They are very thin at the position and need to add depth.  They could look at Cincy’s Derek Wolfe or Boise St.’s Billy Winn, both could be available in the middle of round 3.

 

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