The Cardinals wanted to get physical players to fit it with the kind of team that Ken Whisenhunt wants the Cards to be.  MLB Buster Davis fits right in as he’s an assassin on the field.  He’s short (5′9″) but he weighs 244 pounds and runs a 4.65 40…so the man has skills.  He plays the game like another shorter linebacker named London Fletcher who has been a monster in the middle his whole career.  The one thing the Cardinals will need to watch with Davis is that his weight stays right around where it is now.  In 45 games (37 starts) with Florida State, Davis made 265 tackles, 26.5 tackles for a loss, had 8 sacks, broke up 8 passes and intercepted 1 pass.  Look for Davis to win a starting job as a rookie for the Cardinals as long as he stays focused.

The Cardinals made a great move in trading up to get Branch who was projected to be a Top 10 pick in the Draft.  Branch is a big guy at 6′5″, 330 and his job is to wreak havoc in the middle of the defensive line and occupy a double team to keep the linebackers clean to make plays.  In fact, Branch is the main reason that linebacker David Harris turned into a star for Michigan.  In 37 games (23 starts) at Michigan, Branch made 61 tackles, 18 tackles for a loss, had 9 sacks, batted 2 balls, forced 3 fumbles and recovered 4 fumbles.  Look for the Cardinals linebackers to benefit from having Branch in the middle as long as he plays hard every down.  Branch was a very good pick for the Cardinals.

Many were speculating that the Cardinals were going to select RB Adrian Peterson or Joe Thomas in the first round, but the Cardinals had their eyes on Levi Brown all the way.  The Cardinals want to transform into a power running team like the ones new head coach Ken Whisenhunt and OL coach Russ Grimm ran in Pittsburgh.  Brown played right tackle at Penn State and he was a 4-year starter there.  Right tackle is actually the blind side of QB Matt Leinart so that is the most important position on the Cardinals offensive line.  Brown is a huge man at 6′6″, 323 pounds and he’s a great run blocker that can hit a moving target at the second level of the defense and he’s an above average pass blocker.  He might need a little work on his foot work, but who better to teach him than Russ Grimm.  This was a very smart pick for the Cardinals.