D+
Arizona Cardinals
A franchise passer in Maye headlines a D+ weekend for the Cardinals.
by Youth Movement ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 18 picks
· 5 steals
· 3 reaches
The Cardinals lost the trade war and it was not close, handing partners the better end again and again. A weekend that fought the value and lost, hence the D+.
Everything downstream of Drake Maye depends on Drake Maye, and the building knows it. The linebacker spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
The Davis pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. The Cowing pick alone nudges the whole weekend up a notch.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and linebacker is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 4th pick they get a franchise quarterback. The biggest hole, addressed.
In slot 8 they get a long-term starter on the line at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In Round 1, Pick 21 they get a double-digit-sack hope. Exactly the need they had to hit.
They did well to land T'Vondre Sweat in pick 34, just ahead of his grade. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
No drama and no debate, Kamren Kinchens went about where he belonged in the 66th overall pick. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
By-the-book stuff, Blake Corum at pick No. 68 squarely in line with his ranking. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
No edge and no loss on Caelen Carson in No. 70; it is a wash and a sensible one. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Amarius Mims at the Round 3 slot is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Chris Braswell at No. 85 is the proof. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They paid sticker price for Javion Cohen in pick No. 112, and that is fine. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Beaux Limmer in the 133rd pick is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They took Tahj Brooks at par in the Round 5 slot, which is nothing to complain about. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Devontez Walker in pick 155 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They jumped the gun on Brevyn Spann-Ford, taking him earlier than his grade liked. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
De'Corian Clark at the 198th overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jacob Cowing in Round 7, Pick 3 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Nice patience on Willie Roberts, who had no business lasting to pick 226. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
A wild overpay on J.C. Davis in pick No. 239, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.