The Cardinals found a couple of impact players (CB Patrick Peterson and LB Sam Acho) for the defense and special teams last April.  They also found other contributors in the draft.  Here is a look at the 2011 class of rookies for the Cardinals:

21-year old CB/PR Patrick Peterson came to the Cardinals in the first round.  All he did was make the NFC Pro Bowl as a rookie.  Peterson played in all 16 games for the Cardinals last year and he had 64 tackles, 2 interceptions, 13 passes defensed and 1 sack.  He also returned 44 punts for 699 yards (15.9 avg) with 4 TD returns!  The sky is the limit for Peterson.

21-year old RB Ryan Williams came to the Cardinals in the second round.  He blew out his right patellar tendon before the 2011 season even began.  He was going to push Chris Wells for P.T., but he’s way behind him now.  Williams has a nice upside if he can get and stay healthy.

The Cardinals picked 23-year old TE Rob Housler in the 3rd round.  He played in 12 games for the Cardinals last year and he caught 12 passes for 133 yards (11.1 avg) and he also had 2 tackles.  I look for Housler’s role in the passing game to start to expand in 2012.

The Cardinals found a nugget in the 4th round in 23-year old LB Sam Acho.  Acho played in all 16 games for the Cardinals last year and he finished up with 40 tackles, 7 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 2 passes defensed.  Acho has a huge upside as he was outstanding rushing the passer in 2011.

23-year old fullback Anthony Sherman came to the Cards in the 5th round.  He played in 15 games for the Cardinals last year and he carried the ball 1 time for 3 yards.  He also caught 8 passes for 72 yards (9.0 avg) in 2011.  Sherman is also a solid special teams player as he had 8 tackles last year.

23-year old LB Quan Sturdivant came to the Cardinals in the 6th round.  He spent his rookie season on the practice squad.

24-year old DT David Carter was a nice find for the Cardinals in the 6th round.  He played in all 16 games for the Cardinals last year and he had 16 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 2 passes defensed and 3 tackles for a loss.

26-year old WR Demarco Simpson came to the Cardinals in the 7th round.  He played in 12 games for the Cardinals last year and he caught 3 passes for 36 yards (12.0 avg).

GRADE FOR THE 2011 SEASON:  B+

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A

21-year old CB Patrick Peterson has been a true impact player for the Cardinals on both defense and special teams.  Peterson has played in 13 games for the Cardinals so far this year and he has 57 tackles, 2 interceptions, 11 passes defensed and 1 sack.  He continues to improve on defense after having a rough start to the season.  But, on special teams…..Peterson has been a beast.  He has returned 37 punts for 603 yards (16.3 avg) with 4 TD returns so far this year!  The scary thing for the rest of the NFL is that Peterson is only 21 years old, so he’s likely going to get a lot better in the very near future.

The Cardinals will be without rookie RB Ryan Williams for the rest of the 2011 season due to a ruptured right patellar tendon.  This really hurts the depth at RB as the Cardinals dealt Tim Hightower to the Redskins just a couple of weeks ago.  The Cardinals will be depending on Beanie Wells to carry the load in the running game.  He is very injury prone, so LaRod Stephens-Howling could get his big chance to show what he can do in 2011.  At the very least, Stephens-Howling will be the Cardinals’ #2 back in 2011.  Williams’ injury was a huge blow to the Cardinals’ offense.

The Cardinals were pretty much taking the best player available that fit a team need.  The Cardinals didn’t see any value in taking a QB in the first round when CB Patrick Peterson was waiting for them at #5.  Peterson was ranked as the best player in the entire draft by a lot of draftniks, and he will likely start from Day #1 for the Cardinals.  RB Ryan Williams will challenge Tim Hightower and Chris Wells for the starting job in 2011.  I like that pick a lot as Williams has a very nice upside.  The Cardinals have gotten next to nothing out of the TEs the last few years, so the selection of TE Rob Housler should really help the offense.  Linebackers Sam Acho and Quan Sturdivant should be able to help the defense and special teams right away.  Fullback Anthony Sherman could really help out the Cardinals’ running game with his blocking.

PROJECTED GRADE:  A-

The Cardinals picked 25-year old WR DeMarco Sampson out of San Diego State with the 249th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Sampson is a big target at 6’2″, 204 pounds but he lacks speed as he runs a 4.55 40.  Sampson has good hands and he’s a tough guy who isn’t scared of contact.  Sampson did miss the 2006 and 2007 seasons due to a Lisfranc injury to his foot but he rebounded nicely.  Sampson played in 13 games for San Diego State last year and he caught 67 passes for 1,220 yards (18.2 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  Sampson played in 48 games in his time with the Aztecs and he caught 146 passes for 2,242 yards (15.4 avg) with 17 TD grabs.  In the 7th round it’s totally acceptable to take a chance on a guy who was very productive in college, and Sampson was certainly that.

The Arizona Cardinals picked 23-year old DT/DE David Carter out of UCLA with the 184th overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  He is 6’5″, 297 pounds so he has pretty good size.  He didn’t start at UCLA until his senior season and he finished up with 41 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks. Carter had 63 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks and he broke up 2 passes in his four years with the Bruins.  This was a reach pick for the Cardinals as Carter doesn’t appear to have much of an upside.

The Cardinals took  22-year old insider linebacker Quan Sturdivant out of North Carolina with the 171st overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Sturdivant is a tad small at 6’1″, 230 pounds and he runs a 4.7 40.  Sturdivant is a classic middle linebacker as he cleans up on plays between the tackles.  He is one of those tough dudes that appears to be very fired up on gameday.  He played in 8 games (7 starts) at North Carolina last year and he had 61 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks, broke up 2 passes and he had 1 interception.  Sturdivant played in 46 games (38 starts) in his four years with the Tar Heels and he had 309 tackles, 27.5 tackles for a loss, 7 sacks, broke up 9 passes and he had 4 interceptions.  The Cardinals had a big need at inside linebacker and most draft experts had Sturdivant going in the 2nd or 3rd round, so they got great value with this pick.

UPDATE:  (9/5/2011) – The Cardinals have waived Quan Sturdivant.

UPDATE:  (9/6/2011) – The Cardinals have signed Sturdivant to the practice squad.

The Arizona Cardinals picked 22-year old fullback Anthony Sherman out of Connecticut with the 136th overall pick (5th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Sherman is 5’10″, 244 pounds and he runs a 4.66 40.  He didn’t get the ball much in college as his game is blocking and playing on special teams (where he is a standout).  Sherman played in 12 games (8 starts) for Connecticut last year and he carried the ball 4 times for 1 yard (0.3 ypc).  He also caught 11 passes for 127 yards (11.5 avg) with 1 TD grab last year.  Sherman played in 51 games (28 starts) in his four years with the Huskies and he carried the ball 17 times for 61 yards (3.6 ypc).  He also caught 48 passes for 477 yards (9.9 avg) with 1 TD grab in his time with Connecticut.  The Cardinals got great value here with the pick of Sherman as he was the top fullback on a lot of team’s draft boards.

The Cardinals took 22-year old DE Sam Acho out of Texas with the 103rd overall pick (4th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Acho is 6’1″, 257 pounds and he runs a 4.8 40.  Acho is a tweener as he might be a little too small to play DE in the NFL but not fast enough to handle outside linebacker.  I think the Cardinals will try to put a few pounds on Acho and let him play DE.  He played in 12 games (all starts) for Texas last season and he had 59 tackles, 17 tackles for a loss, 9 sacks, 1 batted down ball, he forced 5 fumbles and he recovered 5 fumbles.  Acho played  in 50 games (26 starts) in his four years with the Longhorns and he had 148 tackles, 37 tackles for a loss, 23.5 sacks, 8 batted down balls, forced 8 fumbles and he recovered 9 fumbles.  Acho was a playmaker in college and the Cardinals can certainly use help on the defensive side of the ball, so I really like this pick for them.

23-year old TE Rob Housler out of Florida Atlantic was picked #69 overall (3rd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.  Housler is 6’5″, 238 pounds and he runs a 4.52 40.  So whoever the Cardinals’  QB is, he will have a better TE than QBs of the past have had to throw to.  Housler doesn’t have a lot of moves but he is more than willing to work between the hashmarks to make tough grabs.  Housler played in 12 games (all starts) for Florida Altantic last year and he caught 39 passes for 629 yards (16.1 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He played in 49 games (20 starts) in his four years with the Owls and he caught 78 passes for 1,228 yards (15.7 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  This was a good pick for the Cardinals as they have not had a TE that is a threat to make plays in the passing game in a long, long time.