Looking At Arizona Drafts Over the Last 20 Years - Round 6

Nearing the end of the line.

Round 6: (25) - Terry Samuels, Anthony Bridges, Mike Foley, Rod Brown, Tony McCombs, Zack Walz, Coby Rhineheart, Melvin Bradley, Dennis McKinley, Jabari Issa, Bobby Newcombe, Josh Scobey, Reggie Wells, Tony Gilbert, Nick Leckey, Jonathan Lewis, Chris Harrington, Will Davis, Jorrick Calvin, Quan Sturdivant, David Carter, Justin Bethel, Ryan Lindley, Ryan Swope, Andre Ellington

Best: Reggie Wells. Honorable mention: Leckey, Ellington, Bethel

Worst: Ryan Lindley. Dishonorable mention: Dennis McKinley

Six of these guys - Bridges, Foley, Brown, Newcombe, Sturdivant, Swope - haven't played a game in the NFL. Four - Bradley, Lewis, Harrington, Lindley - played fewer than 10 games. That does not preclude Lindley from getting worst, because god damn it, watching him play QB was fucking painful. How do you throw over 170 passes, with Larry freakin' Fitzgerald on your team, and not manage to throw a single TD pass? He is the only guy the Cardinals have drafted in the last 20 years with a negative AV. That's how terrible he was. As for McKinley, can't believe Arizona felt it necessary to draft two fullbacks that year, and McKinley couldn't even beat out Makovicka.

I'm pretty impressed with the 2004 draft. Nick Leckey played in 65 games, and recorded an AV of 15, and that only makes him the 5th best pick they made in that draft, behind Fitzgerald, Dockett, Dansby, and Antonio Smith. And he's just about even with Stepanovich. Even so, I wouldn't give the nod to Leckey. Also, as much as I like Lindley's 2012 6th round draft cohort, I can't give it to Justin Bethel. He's a very useful special teams player. Incredibly useful. But that just merits an honorable mention. So it goes to Reggie Wells. He was a starting o-lineman for 6 years, with an AV of 43 over that span, which is pretty solid. I think he has the highest AV of any Cardinals' offensive lineman they've signed in the last 20 years. Admittedly, that ain't saying much, he ranks around 65th all-time. But for a 6th round pick, that's not a bad career.

I have hopes Andre Ellington will eventually take this from Wells, assuming his stays healthy and Arians actually gives him more opportunities. But for the moment, that's all potential.