Oh. Hello there. I wasn’t expecting company. Welcome to my humble abode.
/camera cuts around cluttered shed.
//a raccoon chitters from the corner

As you may recall, I started doing mock drafts here in 2017. Or maybe you don’t recall: I didn’t, and had to look through the archives to find out. Holy shit there’s some stuff back there! Anyhoo, the average NFL career, across all positions, is 3.3 years. Some positions, kickers and coddled QBs last much longer, running backs get hammered into dust in 2+ years. Somewhere Derrick Henry has a covered portrait that is taking a fucking beating.

The point being that it’s fun and pointless to mock a draft, and it’s fun, (and even more pointless), to rate a draft immediately afterwards. What were about to find out is how much fun it is to look back after roughly twice the time an average NFL player lasts, and see who did what and how well.

Also we’ve had some recent, uh, openings in the time slot and that #contentmonster isn’t going anywhere. So I’ll be introducing a new feature here where, once a week(ish), I look back at a team and see how they did.

This week it’s every…well, surely someone’s…favorite team, the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals had 7 picks, one each in rounds 1-4, two in the 5th, and a final pick in round 6. The first round was Hassan Reddick, a LB out of Temple. Second round was Budda Baker, S out of Washington. 3rd we have Chad Williams, a WR out of Grambling State, (shout out to George Plimpton!), followed by the 4th round and Dorian Johnson, a G out of Pittsburgh. Taking the 5th round, (as opposed to the 5th amendment when asked if you’re a filthy traitor), we see Will Holden a tackle out of Vanderbilt with an unfortunate name for a tackle, then TJ Logan, a RB out of North Carolina. The Cardinals finished with Rudy Ford, a S out of Auburn.

What did that haul result in?

Hassan Reddick got off to a slow start, then put up a 12.5 sack season in 2020, followed by 11 sacks in 2021. Unfortunately for Arizona, Reddick got those sacks for Philadelphia, having left Arizona for a one-year, $8 million contract. So Arizona’s first pick gave them four years of semi-decent production, one of which was really good, and then bailed. He did play ever single game during his time with Arizona, so they were obviously getting something out of him. B/B-

Budda Baker has played in the Pro Bowl, (or at least been named to it; no one really “plays” in the Pro Bowl), and been named an All-Pro three times. I understand that the latter is a bigger deal. Baker is generally regarded as one of the better Safetys in the game, and until last year. He’d played at least 14 games every year. In 2021 he played 17. See what I did there? This pick is a solid A.

Chad Williams signed a 4-year contract with Arizona for $3.17 million, including a signing bonus of more than $700,000. So good for Chad. Chad scored one TD through the 2018 season, then was waived by the Cardinals. So bad for Arizona. Williams has since been on the practice squad for the Colts and Chiefs, and when last seen playing football was being waived by the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL, but not before winning Special Teams Player of the Week! Hopefully Chad got a good education at Grambling, and invested his signing bonus in something other than crypto, (or at least got out of crypto before going to New Orleans), because I suspect his football career has gone as far as it’s going to. As for the grade, I’d say $3 million plus and a 3rd round pick, in return for 1 TD in two years earns you a D.

Dorian Johnson got a $650,000+ signing bonus out of Arizona, and then never played a day of football in the NFL. He did get a three week run with the DC Defenders of the XFL in 2020, which is three weeks longer than I was aware the XFL lasted. As for the Cardinals, or really anyone, a 4th round pick who never plays a game for you, or any NFL team, gets you an F.

Will Holden gets around. He started fine games, (playing in seven), for the Cardinals in 2017, then was waived. Since then he’s been with the Colts, Saints, Cardinals Part Deux, Dolphins, Seahawks, 49ers, Ravens, Colts Part Deux, and Lions. He seems to have largely confined to the practice squad on each, with a brief exception with the Ravens, before being elevated to the active roster with the Lions. Holden started one game for the Lions, playing in 14, but doesn’t seem to be on their current active roster. The Cardinals used a 5th round pick on what appears to be an NFL journeyman who gave them 7 starts and 11 games over 2 seasons. Bad production, relatively low draft position, C-.

TJ Logan dislocated his wrist in the preseason and was eventually placed on injured reserve. He doesn’t appear to have played a game for Arizona, but did get some decent specials teams time with Tampa Bay in 2019. He was with the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL in 2022 before being releases after another in a string of seasons. Running backs do not last long in football. Logan’s Wiki page gives him career totals of 12 yards on 5 rushes and 50 receiving yards. He scored no TDs. The Cardinals didn’t get much out of him, but didn’t invest much either. C-.

Rudy Ford is still in the league! That’s good hustle for a 6th round pick. He doesn’t appear to have been much more than a back-up throughout his career, but he’s played at least 8 games each year, and usually 10 or more, including 15 last year, (with 4 starts), for the Jaguars. He signed for 2 years and $4.2 million with Jacksonville, (I know, but it’s still the NFL), in 2021, so Logan is doing very well for a 6th round pick. He just didn’t do it for Arizona. Give Arizona a B for finding a decent if not spectacular NFL player at 208, but a D for letting him show that somewhere else. Overall grade is a C for this pick.

Overall, the Cardinals got a good LB in the first round, but he didn’t really show how good he was before his last year in Arizona, an All-Pro in the second round, and then really didn’t do much of anything the rest of the way. B, A, D, F, C-, C-, and a C. Overall I’d give them a C-.