D
Arizona Cardinals
A passer of the future in Daniels, and a D, for the Cardinals.
by fjf ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 1 steals
· 8 reaches
The Tyler Harrell pick is the one that will follow the Cardinals into the fall. They took him 153 spots ahead of his grade, and the board is not shy about saying so.
The whole projection now runs through Jayden Daniels; hit there and everything else looks smarter. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. That interior defensive lineman hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, interior defensive lineman very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 4 they get a true top target. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In pick 6 they get their quarterback of the future at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
In slot 26 they get a double-digit-sack hope, outstanding value to boot. Exactly the need they had to hit.
A reasonable price with a little left over, JT Tuimoloau in the 35th pick. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Good price on Edgerrin Cooper in the 66th overall pick, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. The roster fit checks out.
Christian Haynes at pick No. 70 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Sedrick Van Pran at the 71st overall pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A reach for Matt Goncalves in slot 89; a little patience would have been rewarded. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
The board had cheaper options than Max Melton at No. 104, and it noticed. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Braelon Allen at the Round 4 slot is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A tidy little value on James Williams in the 133rd pick, a step better than break-even. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Theo Wease Jr. at pick 140 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Jaylin Simpson at Round 5, Pick 7 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
They paid sticker price for Trey Knox in pick No. 185, and that is fine. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They liked Roger Rosengarten enough to skip the value, taking him in No. 188. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Eric Gentry at slot 225 is a conviction pick that outran the value. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They reached into another round for Tyler Harrell, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.