2012 NFL Draft Grades: Arizona Cardinals

Round 1, Pick 13 (13)                                      Michael Floyd             WR                  Notre Dame: Grade B+

-Wide receiver was not their biggest need, but adding a talent like Floyd to Larry Fitzgerald could be a nightmare for opposing defenses. Floyd was definitely worth the 13th overall pick, and could have an early impact given the presence of Fitzgerald drawing the majority of the coverage. Given how the board was and their needs particularly along the offensive line and impact pass rushers, Arizona could have maybe gotten more out of this pick. Overall though it was still a strong selection that should have early impact.

Round 3, Pick 17 (80)                                      Jamell Fleming                        CB                    Oklahoma: Grade B

-Fleming is a nice value pick at this spot. He should offer early production as at least a nickel corner. He’s got nice upside to develop into a starter down the road, and really bolster’s their secondary. After the loss of Richard Marshall in free agency this was a target area for Arizona and they did well here.

Round 4, Pick 17 (112)                                    Bobbie Massie                        T                      Mississippi: Grade A+

– What a steal, Massie was a bit raw as a prospect, but has very good upside, and would have been an excellent late 2nd round to early 3rd round option. Instead the Cards land him in the 4th round, and take advantage of a lot of other teams passing over him. He could quickly develop into a starter on this line, and should give Arizona great value.

Round 5, Pick 16 (151)                                    Senio Kelemente         T                      Washington: Grade A

-The Cards offensive line has been a major weakness in recent years and Arizona did a nice job grabbing another offensive lineman who fell a little bit. I like him more as a guard prospect going forward, but it is possible he could workout as a RT. Excellent value here that fills a big need.

Round 6, Pick 7 (177) (From Redskins)               Justin Bethel                CB                    Presbyterian: Grade B-

-A nice small-school late round pick-up here for the Cards. Bethel is a bigger CB who could transition to FS as well. He’s a bit raw, but has nice potential, and this is exactly the area teams should look to pick-up players like this.

Round 6, Pick 15 (185)                                    Ryan Lindley                QB                   San Diego St. : Grade B-

-Really nice developmental QB here, and nice late round value. Arizona had already gave up their 2nd rounder for Kevin Kolb so they weren’t going to invest much in the position, but they did well to get a guy with nice upside and tools, who just needs time to develop. There is some bust factor here, as he may never even be a decent back-up QB, but worth the risk here.

Round 7, Pick 14 (221)                                    Nate Potter                 T                      Boise St.: Grade A

-Really nice late round value. Potter was a highly productive starter and played against some really good competition  (though not on a weekly basis). He needs to get stronger, and develop some, but a fantastic value pick, at a major need.

Overall Grade: B+

I thought the Cardinals had a very strong and deep draft overall, despite lacking a 2nd round pick. While I like the Floyd pick, and the Cards did address their offensive line needs later, given the dire needs along the line a pick of either David DeCastro or Riley Reiff, (and consequently grabbing a receiver in the 4th round) might have made a bigger short and long term impact. Also not getting a pass rusher is a bit of a concern, especially with a elite prospect like Melvin Ingram still on the board. Overall though the Cards still did well on all of their draft picks and significantly increased the talent and depth at WR, CB and along the offensive line