CARDINALS MOCK DRAFT GRADE B

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CARDINALS B

URL cardinals-4700

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 steal of the weekend belongs to the Cardinals and Smith: B.

by swampthing · 2024 NFL Draft · 16 picks · 4 steals · 0 reaches
Value B
Need B
Trades C
Future A

The Cardinals spent the weekend waiting on one name, and it fell: Maason Smith, the No. 78 name on the board, in the 103rd pick.

Spending an early pick on DT-EDGE with quarterback and tight end open is the decision the grade keeps circling back to. For all the activity, quarterback went untouched, which is hard to explain. The dealing tilted against them, just enough to notice.

Wide receiver is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.

A competent weekend that does not make headlines and does not need to.

Pick-by-Pick

R1.8 · Pick 8 · Olumuyiwa Fashanu · OT · rank 11
By-the-book stuff, Olumuyiwa Fashanu at pick 8 squarely in line with his ranking. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
R1.17 · Pick 17 · Rome Odunze · WR · rank 13
In pick No. 17 they get a go-to option on the outside. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
R2.3 · Pick 35 · Emeka Egbuka · WR · rank 25
They let Emeka Egbuka come to them and pounced at the Round 2 slot. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
R2.8 · Pick 40 · Chris Braswell · LB-EDGE · rank 47
Chris Braswell in the 40th overall pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
R3.3 · Pick 67 · Denzel Burke · CB · rank 61
A clean, defensible pick in slot 67 with a little surplus value in Denzel Burke. It adds depth where they could use a little.
R3.9 · Pick 73 · Sedrick Van Pran · C · rank 74
No drama and no debate, Sedrick Van Pran went about where he belonged in Round 3, Pick 9. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
R3.17 · Pick 81 · Mekhi Wingo · DT · rank 72
Mekhi Wingo slipping to the 81st pick is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
R4.3 · Pick 103 · Maason Smith · DT-EDGE · rank 78
A surprising call. With quarterback and tight end still to address, they spent No. 103 on Maason Smith, a DT-EDGE they were not short of.
R4.8 · Pick 108 · Beau Brade · S · rank 114
They paid sticker price for Beau Brade in the Round 4 slot, and that is fine. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
R4.33 · Pick 133 · Khyree Jackson · CB · rank 128
Of all the spots to shop, they chose cornerback. Khyree Jackson in pick 133 leaves quarterback and tight end for later.
R5.4 · Pick 140 · Payton Wilson · LB · rank 144
They took Payton Wilson at par in the 140th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. A need, and now a little less of one.
R5.9 · Pick 145 · Devin Neal · RB · rank 152
Devin Neal at slot 145 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It fills a real need, too.
R5.29 · Pick 165 · Zy Alexander · CB · rank 164
A straight-up fair deal on Zy Alexander at pick No. 165, value and slot in agreement. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
R6.23 · Pick 198 · Jasheen Davis · DL-EDGE · rank 199
Jasheen Davis in No. 198 is fair value, right on his grade. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
R7.4 · Pick 224 · Steve Linton · LB-EDGE · rank 207
A quiet steal in Round 7, Pick 4: Steve Linton for less than the market said. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
R7.7 · Pick 227 · Jahdae Barron · S · rank 234
No edge and no loss on Jahdae Barron in the 227th pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
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