The Arizona Cardinals selected receiver Larry Fitzgerald with the third overall pick in the 2004 draft. With the career he has had, no one regrets making that selection. However, some lament how the Cardinals ended up with the third overall pick instead of the first overall pick and wonder what might have happened differently.
With a last-second win in Week 17 over the Minnesota Vikings, the Cardinals did not get the No. 1 overall pick. The No. 1 pick ended up being quarterback Eli Manning.
Many have wondered how things would have been different had they had the top pick. Would they have had their franchise quarterback already?
It would appear nothing would have changed.
On the latest episode of Cardinals Flight Plan, general manager Steve Keim reflected on the 2004 draft class that landed them Fitzgerald, Karlos Dansby and Darnell Dockett. He compared it to the team’s current draft class because they landed three players in the top 25 of their board.
The revelation was about Fitz. He was “of course” their No. 1 player in that draft class.
If they were to hold true to their board and had they possessed the No. 1 pick, Fitzgerald would simply have been the top pick in the draft instead of the third pick.
He has joked in the past about how that touchdown pass from Josh McCown to Nate Poole kept him from being the top pick.
So the win didn’t change anything. They still would have had their quarterback struggles and they still would have enjoyed the Hall of Fame career of one of the best to ever play the game and arguably the greatest Cardinal ever.
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