It looks like the Cardinals made good picks in the top three rounds of the draft, but they didn’t get much help on the second day of the draft.   Here’s the breakdown:

In the first round the Cardinals drafted their starting QB for the forseeable future.  Matt Leinart got thrown to the wolves and he played pretty decent.  He played in 12 games (11 starts) and completed 214 of 377 passes (56.8%) for 2,547 yards with 11 TD passes and 12 interceptions for a QB Rating of 74.0.  He also ran the ball 22 times for 49 yards (2.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Leinart has the look of a future star in the NFL.

In the second round the Cardinals chose OG Taitusi “Deuce” Lutui.  He played in 15 games and started 9 of them and he played well in those games.  He has the look of a starting lineman for a long time for the Cardinals.

TE Leonard Pope was the Cardinals third round pick.  He played in 16 games (6 starts) and caught 16 passes for 161 yards (10.1 avg).  He looks like the starter for the Cardinals starting next season.

DT Gabe Watson was the 4th round pick for the Cards.  He played in 12 games and made 16 tackles, had 1 sack and recovered a fumble.

5th round pick Brandon Johnson (OLB) didn’t do much in his rookie season.  He played in 3 games and made 2 tackles.

6th round pick Jonathan Lewis (DT) didn’t do too much better as he played in 4 games and made 4 tackles.

7th round pick WR Todd Watkins didn’t even make the team.

It has to hurt Edgerrin James to see the Colts in the Super Bowl in their first season without him, but he has no one to blame for that by himself.  He decided to follow the money to the desert but the offensive line that blocked so well for him stayed in Indianapolis and made a star out of rookie Joseph Addai.  All was not lost in the desert as Edgerrin James topped 1,100 yards rushing in a season for the 6th time in his NFL career, but those were all hard earned yards as nothing was easy for Cardinals running backs this season.  James started all 16 games and carried the ball 337 times for 1,159 yards (3.4 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He also caught 38 passes for 217 yards (5.7 avg).  For his career, James has played in 112 games (all starts) and has carried the ball 2,525 times for 10,385 yards (4.1 ypc) with 70 TD runs.  He also has caught 394 passes for 3,056 yards (7.8 avg) with 11 TD grabs.

Marcel Shipp played in 15 games, but wasn’t used much.  He only carried the ball 17 times for 41 yards (2.4 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  He also caught 6 passes for 60 yards (10.0 avg).  For his career, Shipp has played in 72 games (28 starts) and has carried the ball 590 times for 2,156 yards (3.7 ypc) with 10 TD runs.  He also has caught 109 passes for 912 yards (8.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs.

J.J. Arrington played in all 16 games but didn’t do much.  He carried the ball 14 times for 19 yards (1.4 ypc).  He also caught 8 passes for 58 yards (7.3 avg).  For his career, Arrington has played in 31 games (5 starts) and has carried the ball 126 times for 389 yards (3.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also has caught 33 passes for 197 yards (6.0 avg).

Fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo’s main job was blocking for James.  He only carried the ball 9 times for 37 yards (4.1 ypc).  He also caught 17 passes for 139 yards (8.2 avg).  For his career, Ayanbadejo has played in 101 games (18 starts) and has carried the ball 123 times for 413 yards (3.4 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  He also has caught 130 passes for 885 yards (6.8 avg) with 3 TD grabs.

Rookie back-up fullback A.J. Schable carried the ball 1 time for 5 yards.

The Cardinals were impressed by the way Ken Whisenhunt developed Ben Roethlisberger and the offense of the Pittsburgh Steelers so they gave him the head coaching gig.  He will also be the one calling plays for the Cards, so the hope is that Matt Leinart will improve quickly under his direction.  Also, look for the Cardinals to use Edgerrin James alot more in the offense as the Steelers preferred to run the football.  The odds are stacked against Whisenhunt due to the teams’ history as the Cardinals have only made the playoffs 1 time in 19 seasons in Arizona.  The thing that will help Whisenhunt is that the NFC West might be the worst division in football, so the Cards may be closer to a breakthrough season than anyone expects.

Young Matt Leinart had a decent start to his career this season as a rookie.  He played in 12 games (11 starts) and completed 214 of 377 passes (56.8%) for 2,547 yards with 11 TD passes and 12 interceptions (74.0 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 22 times for 49 yards (2.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs.

Kurt Warner played in 7 games this season (5 starts) and he completed 108 of 168 passes (64.3%) for 1,377 yards with 6 TD passes and 5 interceptions (89.3 QB Rating).  He also ran the ball 13 times for 3 yards (0.2 ypc).  For his career, Warner has played in 80 games (74 starts) and he has completed 1,645 of 2,508 passes (65.6%) for 20,591 yards with 125 TD passes and 83 interceptions (93.8 QB Rating).  He also has run the ball 117 times for 263 yards (2.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs.

Dennis Green was fired by the Arizona Cardinals after a disappointing 5-11 season in which the Cardinals had high hopes going into the year.  Green compiled a three year record for the Cardinals of 16-32.  For Green’s career, he coached 13 seasons and had compiled a 113-94 record during the regular season.  He also has a career playoff record of 4-8 in his career.