Posts tagged DominiqueRodgers cromartie at FanHouse

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: Matt Leinart enters his third year and he finally seems to understand that football is actually more important than bonging beers with Nick Lachey. If he struggles early, though, head coach Ken Whisenhunt won't hesitate to go with 37-year-old Kurt Warner. Heat Index: 5

Running backs: Edgerrin James' best days are (way) behind him, and Marcel Shipp, J.J. Arrington and rookie Tim Hightower are all "just guys." Which is to say: defenses will continue to play the pass until the running game proves otherwise. Heat Index: 3

Receivers: Larry Fitzgerald is extremely happy; Anquan Boldin, not so much. Still, they are two of the best wideouts in the league. No one will miss Bryant Johnson, and rookie Early Doucet will get every chance to win the slot receiver job. Assuming Leinart doesn't regress in '08, both Fitzgerald and Boldin should have 1,000-yard receiving seasons. Heat Index: 8

Arizona Cardinals 2008 Draft Picks:

Round 1 (16): Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB, Tennessee State
Round 2 (50): Calais Campbell, DE, Miami
Round 3 (81): Early Doucet, WR, LSU
Round 4 (116): Kenny Iwebema, DE, Iowa
Round 5 (149): Tim Hightower, RB, Richmond
Round 6 (185): Chris Harrington, DE, Texas A&M
Round 7 (225): Brandon Keith, OT, Northern Iowa

The Good: Going into the draft, Arizona had quite a few needs to fill. There were several defensive positions that needed someone who could come in and start immediately, while others were lacking quality depth. And with the first two selections, coupled with the late-round pick of Chris Harrington (rotational pass rusher), they were able to fill all of those needs.

The Bad: The Cardinals weren't able to secure the big time running back most analysts believed they needed, but they were able to lock down Tim Hightower in round five. And while he may not be a Darren McFadden or even a Ray Rice, he's a Marion Barber-like running back who could give Arizona exactly what they need anyway. In addition to their failure to land a game-breaking back, Arizona missed out on a solid safety and additional depth at linebacker.

The Grade: B+. People may not be very high on Tim Hightower right now, nor very high on the 2007 version of Calais Campbell, but both of those players have a tremendous upside. I'm not a scout by any means, but I fully expect Campbell to return to his 2006 form, with Hightower providing all the help Arizona could possibly need behind Edgerrin James.

Click here to read other draft grades.

Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie might have the highest upside of any player in this draft. He's an amazing athlete who dominated at the I-AA level and will be a very good player for the Cardinals.

The cousin of the Chargers' Antonio Cromartie, Dominique plays a lot like him: He's a ballhawk, he's got great straight line speed, and when you watch them run, their gaits are even similar.

The only doubt about Rodgers-Cromartie is how quickly he'll be able to contribute to an NFL defense, especially against the run, as he didn't do that very well at Tennessee State and there's an awfully large step up in quality from the running backs he faced at Tennessee State to the ones he'll face in the NFL. The best guess is that it'll take a year before he's a starter, but that he'll be a very good special teams contributor from Day 1.

Previously on FanHouse:
FanHouse Mock Draft: Arizona Cardinals Select RB Rashard Mendenhall No. 16

And so the gossip keeps flying. Adam Schefter reported last night that the Saints have inquired about what it would take to move from their spot at 10 to the Rams' at two.

Schefter believes the Saints are eyeing Glenn Dorsey or Vernon Gholston. A trade involving Dorsey would seem more likely -- they love him, and if it only takes their second-rounder or perhaps their third and right tackle Jon Stinchcomb, who Rams defensive coordinator Jim Haslett drafted, it'd be worth it. But Gholston makes no sense. That rumor is based on defensive end Will Smith's hold out, but the Saints would have to pay Gholston comparable money to what Smith is seeking, and those slight savings aren't worth risking a Pro Bowler for an unproven rookie.

As far as the Rams are concerned, the deal makes more sense. If they're hell-bent on getting a tackle and Jake Long is gone, the Rams could save money and get Jeff Otah, Branden Albert, or Ryan Clady (or Stinchcomb). They could also grab Leodis McKelvin or Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie with rumors that Fakhir Brown will be suspended for the season, or even Devin Thomas to replenish their receiving corps.

All in all, I don't buy it. For one, if the Saints are positioning themselves to grab Dorsey ahead of division rival Atlanta, what would stop Atlanta from offering less and assuring the Rams a smaller drop? Secondly, Jim Haslett left New Orleans on very bad terms, and though he doesn't call the shots I'd be surprised if he'd hand the Saints a player he also covets, one that could help his own unit tremendously. File this as unlikely.

With each pick of the FanHouse mock draft, we get into the head of an NFL general manager and let you know who he'll pick and why.



The Saints are in a tough spot at this point. They covet Glenn Dorsey and Sedrick Ellis most of all, but both are gone. Weakside linebacker Keith Rivers would be the final piece in a suddenly very good group of linebackers, but he's gone as well. The only other place where need and value come close at this spot is cornerback, and the Saints have their pick of all.

Though this is an odd draft in which four or so corners are considered the best of the bunch depending on who you ask, most believe it's either Leodis McKelvin or Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. In fact, both are similar players. Both are big and fast (although Rodgers-Cromartie is slightly bigger and faster). Both are excellent athletes, very solid natural man corners, and playmakers. Both are also great return men and neither had to really play top competition in college.

With each pick of the FanHouse mock draft, we get into the head of an NFL general manager and let you know who he'll pick and why.

Thanks to some 2007 draft-day wheeling and dealing, the Patriots have the seventh-overall pick in 2008. The most glaring needs on the roster reside on the defensive side of the ball, specifically in the secondary (which is why the team, in typically unpredictable fashion, could look to fill any number of positions).

Asante Samuel, one of the top-5 cornerbacks in the NFL, signed with the Eagles early in free agency, and backup Randall Gay is now with the Saints. New England has signed four warm bodies but are without a legitimate big-play cornerback. Which is why it seems logical that they would take Leodis McKelvin or Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

Except that the Patriots also have concerns at linebacker. In FanHouse's mock draft, if the Jets hadn't selected Vernon Gholston with the sixth pick, he'd be coming to New England. Even with Gholston off the board, the Patriots could still take a linebacker, and one that's more versatile than Gholston.

USC's Keith Rivers can play either inside or outside linebacker, and with Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel on the downside of solid careers, and Rosevelt Colvin no longer with the team, New England could use an athletic playmaker. And more than the athleticism, Rivers offers flexibility, something head coach Bill Belichick values.

For all the talk about giving big-money contracts to players like DeAngelo Hall and Asante Samuel this off-season, and Nate Clements a year ago, Colts head coach Tony Dungy makes a pretty good point for why dropping a non-trivial chunk of the salary cap on defensive backs is a dumb idea (my words, not his).

Colts coach Tony Dungy played defensive back in the NFL, but he would put his money on pass-rushers over cornerbacks every time. "Bill [Polian] and I talk about that," Dungy said from the league meetings in West Palm Beach, Fla. "If you had that choice, you've got to go with the front people because they are harder to find and they have more of an impact on the game."

As ESPN.com's Mike Sando notes, the Colts typically aren't big spenders in free agency, but when they do drop some coin, it's never on cornerbacks. In general, Indianapolis plays a Cover-2 scheme, which requires the front four to generate a pass rush without much help from blitzing linebackers, safeties and corners. And that explains why Dwight Freeney is one of the highest paid defensive ends in the league.

It also might shed some light on why another very successful franchise, New England, doesn't throw money at cornerbacks. The Pats run a completely different defense but through their actions, apparently think the front seven is more important than the secondary.

Last Friday, NFL Network's Mike Mayock unveiled the first 10 picks of his mock draft (because if there's one thing the internets need, it's another mock draft*), and some of his selections were eye-openers.

To build the suspense, Mayock's picks, in reverse order:

10. New Orleans Saints: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
9. Bengals: Sedrick Ellis
8. Ravens: Leodis McKelvin
7. Patriots: Derrick Harvey
6. Jets: Chris Long
5. Chiefs: Jeff Otah
4. Raiders: Vernon Gholston
3. Falcons: Glenn Dorsey
2. Rams: Jake Long
1. Dolphins: Matt Ryan

A couple of thoughts:

While the Ryan-to-the-Dolphins selection is kinda surprising (particularly since John Beck was the team's second-round pick last year), it pales next to Patriots taking Harvey. Yes, New England could stand to get a little younger at linebacker, but unless Harvey can also play in the secondary, he seems like a stretch at No. 7. (Hopefully, Scott Pioli, like Matt Millen, patronizes mock drafts before making personnel decisions.)

Second-most shocking: Chiefs grabbing Otah. The Cardinals took Levi Brown with their fifth-overall pick last year (and that seemed a tad high to my untrained eye), but I don't think anybody would argue that Otah and Brown are equal talents. Apparently, make-believe Herm Edwards and Carl Peterson don't subscribe to the Best Player Available draft strategy.

Whether you agree or not, Mayock is very good at what he does, basically rendering Mel Kiper and his wig obsolete. But it's obvious Mayock mailed this one in because he doesn't have Jerry Jones trading up to take Darren McFadden. Duh.

* Look for the FanHouse mock draft in the coming weeks. It's sure to be nowhere near as accurate as Mayock's, but will certainly offend many more people.

Yesterday I mentioned that Tennessee State cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie could make a big move if he had a big day at the Combine. Here's a look at how Rodgers-Cromartie compares to other defensive backs in the draft:

Today Rodgers-Cromartie had that big day, turning in a 40-yard dash that was unofficially clocked at 4.28 seconds, which would make him the fastest defensive back in this year's draft. Rodgers-Cromartie also has great size for a cornerback, measuring at six feet, one and a half inches, and there is now little doubt that he'll be a first-round draft pick.

The only doubt about Rodgers-Cromartie is how quickly he'll be able to contribute to an NFL defense, as there's an awfully large step up in quality from Tennessee State to the NFL. The best guess is that it'll take a year before he's a starter, but that he'll be a very good special teams contributor from Day 1.

UPDATE: The NFL has now released the official times, and Rodgers-Cromartie's time was changed to 4.33. Penn State's Justin King and Connecticut's Tyvon Branch tied as the fastest defensive backs with 4.31-second 40s.

Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis will be devoted to defensive backs, and no one has a better chance to turn himself into a first-round pick than this guy:

That was Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, a 6-foot-2 cornerback from Tennessee State who is a phenomenal athlete (he won the Ohio Valley Conference indoor track title in the 60-meter dash, long jump and high jump) who is expected to put on a show during Combine workouts. If he does, he could be a surprise first-round draft pick, much like his cousin, Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie, was two years ago.

Rodgers-Cromartie, possibly more than any other player, can improve his stock with a good Combine because NFL coaches and scouts aren't sure exactly what to think of him. Although a lot of people like to deride the Combine as a pointless exercise because there's so much tape available, that's only partially true.

Yes, a player who was a four-year starter in a pro-style system on a BCS conference team already has a body of work that NFL teams can judge, irrespective of the Combine. But a player like Rodgers-Cromartie can make a big move at the Combine, and I think he will tomorrow.