CARDINALS MOCK DRAFT GRADE B+

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Cardinals 2/1 B+

URL cardinals-21-5953

Letter grade with a four-component score, written analysis, and a pick-by-pick breakdown for every selection in this saved mock.

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B+

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals won the night they stopped Thrash from sliding. Grade: B+.

by BG23 · 2024 NFL Draft · 15 picks · 12 steals · 1 reaches
Value B
Need B
Trades A+
Future B

Call it larceny. Jamari Thrash sat on the board until the Round 4 slot, and the Cardinals did not need to be asked twice. More right than wrong, and a B+ to match.

The cost of the Taylor III reach is exactly the players who went right after him. Every deal seemed to tilt their way, which is not luck. With tight end and linebacker unsolved, spending premium capital on cornerback is the choice that costs them.

For all the activity, tight end went untouched, which is hard to explain.

Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Pick-by-Pick

R1.5 · Pick 5 · Laiatu Latu · DL-EDGE · rank 7
In No. 5 they get a problem off the edge. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
R1.27 · Pick 27 · Amarius Mims · OT · rank 21
In the Round 1 slot they get a cornerstone up front at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
R2.3 · Pick 35 · Kool-Aid McKinstry · CB · rank 19
Kool-Aid McKinstry slid further than he should have, and slot 35 is lovely value for the cornerback. A minor need, but a need all the same.
R3.8 · Pick 72 · Kingsley Suamataia · OT · rank 54
Steal is underselling it; Kingsley Suamataia at the 72nd pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
R3.12 · Pick 76 · Leonard Taylor III · DL · rank 112
Leonard Taylor III at the 76th overall pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. A need, and now a little less of one.
R3.27 · Pick 90 · Jalen McMillan · WR · rank 81
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Jalen McMillan at pick 90. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
R4.4 · Pick 104 · Mike Sainristil · CB · rank 82
They zigged when the board said zag, taking Mike Sainristil at cornerback with tight end and linebacker open.
R4.11 · Pick 111 · Michael Pratt · QB · rank 102
Value with a capital V on Michael Pratt in Round 4, Pick 11, a genuine coup. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
R4.13 · Pick 113 · Khyree Jackson · CB · rank 105
A curious use of pick 113. Tight end and linebacker needed the pick; a cornerback in Khyree Jackson did not.
R4.33 · Pick 133 · Jamari Thrash · WR · rank 92
Jamari Thrash in the 133rd overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
R5.4 · Pick 140 · MarShawn Lloyd · RB · rank 130
A quiet steal in the Round 5 slot: MarShawn Lloyd for less than the market said. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
R6.13 · Pick 188 · Nathan Thomas · OT · rank 176
Nathan Thomas at the 188th pick is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
R7.5 · Pick 225 · Christian Jones · OT · rank 197
You do not let an offensive lineman like Christian Jones reach pick No. 225 and blink. They did not. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
R7.7 · Pick 227 · Rasheen Ali · RB · rank 196
They barely believed it either: Rasheen Ali still on the board at Round 7, Pick 7. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
R7.9 · Pick 229 · De'Corian Clark · WR · rank 200
A wide receiver of that caliber at No. 229 is the definition of value, full stop. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
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