It's easy to list the best draft picks of a year or from a particular team, because you are simply lining up the best players, right? But ESPN.com [put together an interesting article/thought process recently](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/45597769/picking-best-nfl-draft-picks-ever-every-slot-common-era-1967-2024), choosing the best draft picks at every slot in the draft. (The timeline being since the common draft started in 1967, after the AFL and NFL agreed to merge for the 1970 season, through 2024.)
The list only goes through 262, which is the seven rounds (plus 32 comp picks) that is norm for today. (Surprise! Brock Purdy is the best No. 262.)
Eight Cardinals draft picks made the list. Generally, the idea is that the player was supposed to make his biggest impact with the team that drafted him, although the Cards get credit for tight end Jay Novacek -- who was good with the Cardinals, but next level once he went to the Cowboys -- and offensive lineman Ray Brown -- who played forever and didn't take off until after his initial three years with the Cards.
It should be noted that because of expansion, this is about overall slot. Rounds changed for some slots over the years as more teams entered the league.
* **No. 43** **OL Dan Dierdorf** (1971 draft): The man is in the Hall of Fame, a six-time All-Pro and a member of those 1970s offensive lines that kept QB Jim Hart clean.
* **No. 54** **WR Anquan Boldin** (2003): To think, the Cardinals passed on Terrell Suggs and traded down for two first-round picks who were OK but certainly didn't live up to their draft status -- pass rusher Calvin Pace and wide receiver Bryant Johnson -- only to come up with the gem of Boldin in the second round. So good, in fact, he's considered the best at that particular slot in all these years.
* **No. 59** **CB Aeneas Williams** (1991): Williams was in the third round, although No. 59 is the end of the second round these days. Hall of Famer, eight Pro Bowls, and 55 career interceptions.
* **No. 115** **FB Larry Centers** (1990): Was so popular locally, had a 100-catch season for the Cardinals, and had one of the best self-marketing ideas ever, waving over reporter Kent Somers to tell him the slogan: "Larry runs, Larry blocks, Larry catches, Larry Centers."
* **No. 147** **WR Mel Gray** (1971): Was one of the dynamic playmakers of that mid-1970s Don Coryell run for the Cardinals that was their big heyday in St. Louis.
* **No. 158** **TE Jay Novacek** (1985): He played his first five seasons with the Cardinals (including the first two years the franchise was in Arizona) but it was his Dallas years that got him on this list. He averaged 27 catches his last three Cardinals season, he averaged 58 in six seasons with Dallas.
* **No. 189** **C Tom Banks** (1970): Played alongside Dierdorf on those great offensive lines, with a couple of All-Pro nods and four Pro Bowls. (How times have changed; he was a dominant center at 6-foot-1, 245 pounds.)
* **No. 201** **G Ray Brown** (1986): He only played 33 games with the Cardinals his first three seasons, but he played all the way through 2005 and compiled 205 career starts.