B
Arizona Cardinals
A sensible, unshowy class lands the Cardinals a B.
by mockswag ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 15 picks
· 0 steals
· 9 reaches
If confidence were a draft strategy, the Cardinals would have aced it. Aaron Lewis at the 227th pick is 61 spots clear of where he belonged. A sturdy weekend that grades out a B.
It is a bet on later, and a defensible one for a team playing the long game. Building through the lines is a philosophy, and they stuck to it. John Simpson gives the group a proven body among the projects.
A workmanlike haul that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 17 they get a building block for the line. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In slot 27 they get a double-digit-sack hope, though they paid up to get him. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
The board had cheaper options than Byron Murphy II at the Round 2 slot, and it noticed. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Calen Bullock at the 53rd pick is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the safety. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
No drama and no debate, Payton Wilson went about where he belonged in pick 66. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A reach for Roman Wilson in No. 71; a little patience would have been rewarded. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They took Bucky Irving at par in the Round 3 slot, which is nothing to complain about. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Kamal Hadden in the 114th pick, miles early. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
No edge and no loss on Jaheim Bell in No. 133; it is a wash and a sensible one. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They reached into another round for Delmar Glaze, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They liked Michael Barrett enough to skip the value, taking him in slot 169. A need, and now a little less of one.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on De'Corian Clark. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Sam Hartman at Round 6, Pick 24 is a conviction pick that outran the value. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Dwight McGlothern in the 225th overall pick is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
A wild overpay on Aaron Lewis in pick No. 227, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.