There are 31 NFL teams who regret not taking Russell Wilson in the 2012 NFL Draft. The diminutive quarterback has become an NFL star after falling to the third round of the draft. He's the face of the franchise for the Seahawks and a stark reminder about the difficulty of projecting players in the NFL.
One general manager specifically derided his decision not to take Wilson, as Cardinals GM Steve Keim reflected on the call to TheMMQB.com's Peter King, calling it a a "chickens--- call" not to draft Wilson. Keim is an NC State alum, like Wilson, and said not looking past his height was problematic.
"There's this thing scouts talk about--'comps,'" Keim said. "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."
The good news for Keim is he went out and fixed the quarterback situation in Arizona by trading for Carson Palmer, who has also been an MVP-caliber quarterback while playing for the Cards.
"I love Carson Palmer," Keim said. "I am all in on Carson Palmer."
Most people thought Palmer was done, by the way, when Keim and the Cardinals traded for him. The Raiders gave up a lot to acquire him from the Bengals, but he couldn't put them over the top. He was 33 in his final year with Oakland and threw for more than 4,000 passing yards, but he wasn't happy with the team and it didn't feel like he was set to rejuvenate his career and go on an incredible run of helping his team win football games.
Also worth noting: Keim wasn't the guy ultimately pulling the trigger. Rod Graves was the GM at the time, in his final draft, and the Cardinals didn't have a second-round pick because of the Kevin Kolb trade the year before. (That deal worked out ... poorly.)
The Seahawks took Wilson before the Cardinals selected in the third round -- sometimes there's just not anything you can do. Andy Reid and the Eagles reportedly wanted Wilson as well -- and Wilson promised them championships! -- but he was gone before they selected in the third round, meaning they were forced to end up drafting Nick Foles.
Wilson is the ultimate what-if scenario because of his success combined with his unknowns before the draft. It was really hard, even for the staunchest Wilson supporter, to believe he would make an immediate impact at the NFL level.
It probably haunts a lot of NFL GMs, but it's understandable if it bothers Keim even more considering where Wilson came from and how often he has to see the quarterback on the other side of the field.
