Looking At Arizona Drafts Over The Last 20 Years - Round 7

End of the line. How many actual productive players will the Cardinals pull from the final round of the draft?

Round 7: (26) - Frank Harvey, Billy Williams, Wesley Leasy, Chad Eaton, Jarius Hayes, Mark Smith, Phil Savoy, Jomo Cousins, Pat Tillman, Ron Janes, Chris Greisen, Sekou Sanyika, Renaldo Hill, Tevita Ofahengaue, Mike Banks, John Navarre, Leron McCoy, Todd Watkins, Ben Patrick, Brandon Keith, LaRod Stephens-Howling, Trevor Canfield, Jim Dray, Demarco Sampson, Nate Potter, D.C. Jefferson

Best: Renaldo Hill. Honorable mention: laRod Stephens-Howling, Pat Tillman

5 guys - Savoy, Cousins, Janes, Ofahengaue, Canfield - never played in an game. 6 - Harvey, Williams, Greisen, Navarre, McCoy, Jefferson - played 10 or less.

Arizona has drafted 5 tight ends in the 7th round over the last 20 years, versus 6 in the first six rounds combined. I understand tight ends are rarely franchise cornerstones, but this seems relevant to their ongoing difficulty finding even one reliable tight end. Freddie Jones is still the most productive one of the last 20 years.

Chad Eaton would seem like a good choice for best pick, if he'd ever played for Arizona. But like Rich Brahm, he was drafted and cut loose to have some moderately productive years for New England and Seattle.

So as far as best goes, it was down to 4 options: Tillman, Hill, Smith, and the Hyphen. Smith started well, the faltered when injuries felled Eric Swann and left Smith facing double teams. Then he held out for a better contract the first half of 1999, then he got the contract, came back, and promptly hurt himself. He'd be getting selected entirely on the basis of his 1998 season.

Tillman is certainly the most notable pick, and he was a starting safety for 3 years. His AVs are sort of mediocre, he was good for about 1 INT and 1 forced fumble a season. If he'd kept it up for another few seasons, maybe, but he felt he was needed elsewhere.

Hill can make a case for having the best overall career of anyone. His AV is just about even with Eaton's, and he played in more games. Some of them were even for Arizona! Most of his best seasons were as a safety for Miami or Denver, but he had a solid 2003 for the Cardinals, and was starting at cornerback 3 years overall.

Stephens-Howling's issue is lack of playing time. He was on the team for 4 years, but mostly as a special teams player or rarely used change-of-pace back. He never topped even 500 yards combined rushing or receiving, never had more than 4 touchdowns in a season. He lead the NFL in kick return yardage in 2010, but his yards and average fell well off after that.

I'm skipping Worst this round. By this point, I'm not sure what would qualify, unless I wanted to single out some year where they drafted two tight ends, or pick on Arizona for signing Eaton but letting him get away.