Cardinals GM Steve Keim bemoans ‘chickens—‘ call to not take Russell Wilson
The Arizona Cardinals passed on Russell Wilson in the 2012 NFL Draft, and it still bothers general manager Steve Keim to this day.
At the time, Keim was in charge of player personnel, and the Cardinals had traded their second round pick in that draft in exchange for Kevin Kolb a year earlier. Even if they’d had the pick, however, Keim admits that the team wouldn’t have taken Wilson, and it drives him nuts.
“There’s this thing scouts talk about — ‘comps,'” Keim told Peter King and Jenny Vrentas of the MMQB on Sunday. “It’s comparables [to similar NFL players], and for Wilson, who were they? Who at quarterback has had success in the NFL under 6-feet tall? Fran Tarkenton? Maybe Doug Flutie. But like John Schneider said to Pete Carroll before the draft, ‘Aside from his height, what’s wrong with him?’ Nothing.
“Look, I’m from North Carolina State. I study all the guys out of there hard. But I just didn’t think there was a good comp for Russell Wilson, and I was wrong. When I think back now, it was a chickens— call by me. I didn’t have the balls to take Russell Wilson.”
Of course, Keim rectified that a year later when he became GM and brought Carson Palmer in, who has been a success for Arizona. Still, he could have had a leading quarterback for the next decade. Keim might feel better knowing that his was far from the only franchise to underrate Wilson coming out of college.
