Cardinals still searching for return threat

Long looking for a threat in the return game, the Cardinals were set to select Devin Hester with the 72nd pick of the 2006 draft, an early third-round choice.

Hester didn’t have a set position. He wasn’t a cornerback. He wasn’t a receiver. He was a return man. Still, the Cards were willing to take that risk.

Then they watched Chicago, with the 57th pick, take Hester in the second round.

Hester returned six kicks for touchdowns last season — one against the Cardinals — plus another in the Super Bowl.

The Cardinals got one score from kickoff return man J.J. Arrington and weren’t going to get breakaway production from punt returner Troy Walters.

There were reasons the Cards were looking to upgrade. Those reasons haven’t changed.

“Chicago has opened up the door to say, 'Well, it is not a silly move to take a guy like that in the second round,’ ” Cardinals vice president of football operations Rod Graves said. “You will see teams more conscious about those selections earlier in the draft.”

The Rams used a draft pick Wednesday — a fifth-rounder — to boost their return game in a trade for Dante Hall. Hall once was as explosive as Hester, although his best years are behind him.

It’ll take more than a fifth-rounder to nab this year’s draft equivalent of Hester, Ohio State’s Ted Ginn. Unlike Hester, Ginn has a defined position: wide receiver.

That dual role will get Ginn drafted in the first round, although Ginn is raw at wideout and may take time to develop.

“It is the reward thing,” Cardinals special teams coach Kevin Spencer said. “You may be losing something as a position player but when a guy puts up points for you like that, you kind of disregard that.

“You have to do your homework and make sure he is an elite returner. (Hester) is an elite returner.”

Ginn believes he is also on the elite level.

“I’m not trying to be cocky, but we do have the same abilities and same type of speed,” Ginn said. “I believe if (Hester) can go out and do it, I can do it, too.”

Some other players who could have an impact on the return game include Michigan receiver Steve Breaston, Kansas State receiver Yamon Figurs and Texas cornerback Aaron Ross.

The last time the Cardinals drafted a player purely for his return abilities was in 2001, when they spent a sixth-round pick on Nebraska’s Bobby Newcombe. Newcombe struggled and didn’t make the team.

One of the Cards’ candidates to return kicks this season is newcomer Rod Hood, the cornerback who signed as a free agent. But that may hinge on whether Hood earns a starting job.

“Coaches know the importance of field position,” Hood said. “I think there will be more emphasis in the draft as well as on each team.”

After the Cardinals lost out on Hester last year, the team didn’t give up the search. In the fourth round, 10 picks in, the team was going to select Florida State receiver Willie Reid.

Instead, the Pittsburgh Steelers nabbed Reid with the next-to-last pick of the third round.

The Cardinals’ search continues.

“It may not be a Devin Hester/Ted Ginn type of guy, but can you have success changing field position?” said Spencer of the team’s philosophy. “If you don’t have the ability to draft or find an elite guy, you have to find somebody.”

NFL draft

When: 9 a.m. Saturday (rounds 1-3); 8 a.m. Sunday (rounds 4-7)

Where: Radio City Music Hall, New York

TV: ESPN, ESPN2, NFL Network

Cardinals picks: Round 1 (5), Round 2 (38), Round 3 (69), Round 4 (105), Round 5 (142), Round 7 (215)

Draft party: At University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, inside Insight Club East, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. Prizes will be given away and players and cheerleaders will be there to sign autographs.

Tribune coverage

Today: Finding a return threat on draft day

Friday: The importance of Day Two; Tribune mock draft

Saturday: Who might the Cards select at No. 5?