DRAFT REVIEW -- The Cardinals appear to have filled their most pressing need -- cornerback -- with a high-quality prospect, and may have solved their problem at running back despite not having made a trade for Buffalo's Travis Henry.

And along the way, they plucked a few more diamonds from the rough who could become 2005 starters.

The scenario is reminiscent of a year ago, when in their first draft under coach Dennis Green the first four players the Cardinals selected became starters.

There is little doubt that Antrel Rolle, a cornerback from Miami who was chosen eighth overall in the first round on Saturday, will be a starter. The cupboard is bare. Cornerbacks Duane Starks (traded to New England) and Renaldo Hill (free agent to Oakland), who started most of the past two seasons, are gone.

The jobs are open but Rolle likely would have sent one of them to the bench. In the third round the team took another cornerback, Eric Green of Virginia Tech, who will battle veterans David Macklin and Robert Tate for the other starting spot.

Second-round pick J.J. Arrington of California should step into the running back job that opened following the retirement of Emmitt Smith. The Cardinals have a bunch of backs who have played, but all have warts that prevent them from being strong candidates to become the featured back. Marcel Shipp was the team rushing leader in 2002 and 2003 before missing all of 2004 with a seriously fractured leg that required surgery. It is unknown how he will come back, and he was never a speed merchant. He is tough between the tackles, and could be an effective change-of-pace to Arrington. Troy Hambrick is a veteran who has been around but is viewed as nothing more than a fine backup. Josh Scobey has made a mark as a kickoff returner but has yet to transfer his speed into effectiveness in the backfield.

So Arrington's speed is a welcome addition.

Virginia outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock, a later third-round selection, joins a team that is very thin inside and outside at the linebacker spots. With his pass-rushing skills, he'll be a threat to dislodge veteran James Darling.

Guard Elton Brown, a fifth-round pick from Virginia, was rated as high as the low first round on some draft boards. He'll be a strong candidate to nudge aside Jeremy Bridges as the right-side starter.

The Cardinals, did, however, fail to cover one significant shortcoming: tight end. It appeared a week ago that starter Freddie Jones was close to signing as an unrestricted free agent with Carolina. Green never seemed to be a big fan of Jones, largely because Green, like many before him, questioned whether he was getting everything from Jones that Jones has in his talented physical package.

But now wooing him back might become a higher priority if it's not too late. The Cardinals have no other tight end on the roster who significant experience.

All in all, it's another high grade for a franchise that had spent decades whiffing in player-personnel selections. First-day draft blunders since 1999 like defensive end Calvin Pace, defensive tackle Wendell Bryant, cornerback Michael Stone, running back Thomas Jones, receiver David Boston, linebacker Johnny Rutledge and defensive end Thomas Burke come to mind.

Some had talent but no character. Some had character but not as much talent as the team gave them credit for. They were expensive mistakes that set back the rebuilding of a woeful team and only propagated a culture of losing.

Then 2003 second-round pick Anquan Boldin became a Pro Bowler as a rookie, and 2004 picks Larry Fitzgerald, Karlos Dansby, Darnell Dockett and Alex Stepanovich were on the first team shortly after their arrival.

If Rolle, Arrington, Green and Brown duplicate the Class of 2004 and become starters, the team will be well on its way to a reversal of fortune.

A closer look at the Cardinals' picks:

Round 1/8 -- Antrel Rolle, CB, 6-0, 202, Miami

Although he was the second CB drafted, many believed he was the best, and he will be a particularly good fit for the Cardinals with his size and physical play. He can jam and bump, exactly what the Cardinals want, and while not a real speedster he is smart enough and fast enough to run with fleet WRs. His size and strength make him more than adequate in run support. A perfect prospect for the Cover 2 that the Cardinals like to play. He has star potential at a position of critical need. The Cardinals traded starting CB Duane Starks to New England and saw unrestricted free-agent starting CB Renaldo Hill leave for Oakland.

Round 2/44 -- J.J. Arrington, RB, 5-9, 214, California

Emmitt Smith retired and the next-best back, Marcel Shipp, is coming off surgery on a serious leg fracture that cost him all of 2004. While the team coveted the draft's Big 3 running backs - all of whom were off the board after five picks before the Cards got their chance at No. 8 - they also believe the diminutive Arrington has huge upside with his speed and darting ability. The team wants to throw, and needs to have it supported by a rusher who knows how to cut through openings when the field is spread. Arrington gained more than 2,000 yards last year at Cal in precisely that role in that type of offense. His liability will be his blocking, where that smallish frame will not serve him well. It will be an upset if he is not the starter from Day 1.

Round 3/75 -- Eric Green CB, 5-11, 197, Virginia Tech

The team has a dire shortage at corner, and even though it selected a very good one in the first round, Green will find a spot, likely in nickel or dime packages and definitely on special teams, where he was an excellent kick-blocker in college. An exceptional athlete with 4.3-second 40-yard dash speed and a 40-inch vertical leap. But, he might struggle to fit into the Cardinals defensive schemes because he is light and not especially strong. He can be shoved around. He is not a physical player like Antrel Rolle. Green does, however, have the frame to add some muscle, and that's exactly what he will have to do if he is ever to be anything more than a fill-in.

Round 3/95 -- Darryl Blackstone OLB 6-4, 241, Virginia

For years, the Cardinals had the worst pass rush in the NFL. They wasted a first-round pick on DE Calvin Pace in 2003 - 1 sack in 16 starts. They signed DE Bertrand Berry last year and he became a Pro Bowler. The Cardinals added free agent DE Chike Okeafor this winter to play opposite Berry, and now comes Blackstone, an outside backer who is an excellent pass rusher. The face of the Cardinals defense has taken a U-turn for the better. Behind starting OLBs James Darling, whom Blackstone could nudge out of the lineup, and Karlos Dansby, a starter as a rookie last season, the team has only two low-level backups who don't appear to have potential to be anything more than that. In the middle, the Cardinals got more physical by signing unrestricted free agent Orlando Huff to beef up run stopping, for which Blackstone is not known. He needs to become stronger and more physical. But the Cardinals numbers were down at outside backer, and every team always can use an upgrade in talent. Blackstone should be an excellent fit who has a good shot to be in the lineup by midseason - a year ago with four picks in the top 100 all four became starters for the Cardinals. At the very least Blackstone will be an effective situational player in blitzes.

Round 4/111 -- Elton Brown G, 6-5, 329, Virginia

"Look what I found," the Cardinals draft gurus must have been saying when they plucked this guy 111 players deep. He has a massive frame and very strong upper body, but there are varying reports on his footwork. He did not allow a sack as a senior and seems to pick up stunts very well. Some draft experts believe his talent is commensurate with a low first-round selection, but he slid perhaps because of questions regarding his intensity. Many saw him as an underachiever. He will have to be pushed. The team is trying hard to unload two veterans right now that fit that description - L.J. Shelton and Anthony Clement. So that must change if Brown is to make it. If he comes in motivated, the door is open at right guard. The team cut Cameron Spikes, a starter most of the past two seasons. Brown will compete with Jeremy Bridges, who ended the year as the starter.

Round 5/168 -- Lance Mitchell ILB, 6-2, 247, Oklahoma

Mitchell isn't a candidate to shove free-agent acquisition Orlando Huff out of the middle linebacker job, but he does appear to have some upside that is worth exploring and developing. Mitchell has a reputation for being feisty, strong and quick, elements that if properly channeled can swing a game. The only real wart is that he did not come back in 2004 quite the player he'd been in 2002 before a torn ACL cost him 11 games in 2003.

Round 6 - No pick (traded to Oakland in 2004 in deal for RB Troy Hambrick and DE Peppi Zellner).

Round 7/226 -- LeRon McCoy WR, 6-1, 211, Indiana (Pa.)

The young man comes to a position that is loaded with the likes of Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald and Bryant Johnson. But they do need a punt returner, so if he can show any ability in that area he could make it as a fourth or fifth receiver/punt returner. He does, however, have a checkered past on and off the field, and really appears to be nothing more than a name on a very low draft slip. Unlikely to make it.

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