TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona's selection of running back Ryan Williams in the second round of the NFL draft came as a surprise to a lot of people.
Williams was not among them.
The 5-foot-9, 207-pound running back insists that when he came to Arizona for workouts and meetings, Cardinals coaches told him that if he was still around when they made their second-round pick, the 38th overall, he would be the selection. That's exactly what happened on Friday.
"They were men of their word," Williams said, "and I really, really respect that."
General manager Rod Graves and coach Ken Whisenhunt lightheartedly disputed that version of events.
"I can tell I'm not sure that anyone said that," Graves said. "That would be highly risky I would think, but we're glad we made an impression on him when he came to visit."
The Cardinals kept their emphasis on offense with their third-round selection, picking 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end Rob Housler of Florida Atlantic.
Yet to be addressed is the quarterback situation, and Graves was stronger than ever in promising the team will be in hot pursuit of a veteran once the NFL labor situation allows it.
"We've decided as an organization that we're going to be aggressive," he said. "We are expecting at some point that we will have a free agency period or we'll have an opportunity to discuss trades. We're looking at those avenues. When those opportunities arise we'll take them, but we did not want to allow our needs to overshadow the opportunity to take outstanding players — we hope to be outstanding players — at least that's our projection on these guys."
Running back was not near the top of the perceived needs for Arizona. But after a 5-11 season, the Cardinals are looking for help virtually everywhere and would not pass up a player they say they had rated highly.
"To be quite honest with you, we're looking at pick No. 38 and we've got the 15th-ranked player on our board staring us back in the face," Whisenhunt said.
The Cardinals already had Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower on their roster, but Wells has never blossomed and has been prone to injury, while the hard-running Hightower was plagued by fumbles last season.
Whisenhunt said this "wasn't done with the idea of sending one of those guys a message."
"Let's face it guys, we were 5-11 last year," the coach said, "and when you take the best players that are available in your opinion, we put a lot of work into this, we feel like it makes us a better football team and that's really what it's all about."
Whisenhunt said the addition of a fast, big tight end gives the Cardinals something that other teams in the league have used effectively.
"As much as we run three-wide receiver sets, when you add a combination of a guy that has that kind of speed and receiving ability, it can make you a very dynamic offense," Whisenhunt said.
He said Housler needs to work on his blocking, but the coaches believe he will improve and can be "a pretty good package at that position."
Williams left school with two years of eligibility remaining.
"The passion that I play with separates myself from a lot of people on the job," he said.
Williams rushed for 1,655 yards and 21 touchdowns, averaging 5.6 yards per carry, as a freshman in 2009 but was limited by a hamstring injury last season, running for 477 yards and nine touchdowns. Still, he averaged 4.3 yards per carry.
"I just felt like I had a great opportunity," Williams said, "and I really felt like the injury shouldn't determine what type of the player that I am or what I'm capable of doing."
He was eligible to be drafted because he sat out his first season at Virginia Tech as a redshirt.
Asked why he thought the Cardinals liked him so much, Williams said, "I really don't know."
"I would just hope that they believe in me as much as I believe in myself," he said, "and that they see how much football is important to me, and that I'm willing to do anything to be the best on my field to help my team win."
Williams is known for his hard running style.
"That's the most physical position on the field, I believe, so you have to go hard every play," he said, "and if you're not going hard every play you shouldn't be playing running back."
The selection comes just two years after Arizona used its first-round pick to select Wells as the 31st pick overall out of Ohio State.
Arizona selected cornerback Patrick Peterson in the first round on Thursday, the fifth pick overall.