D-
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals drew a line under the quarterback search with Nix: D-.
by DutchNugget ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 20 picks
· 0 steals
· 12 reaches
The Cardinals went off the board in a big way for Jeremy Moussa, 257 picks early. Conviction is one thing; this is another. A weekend that fought the value and lost, hence the D-.
Bo Nix gives the offense a face and a plan, and the grade leans heavily on whether he hits. The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close.
The Patrick Queen deal gives the class an established piece to lean on.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 3 they get a cornerstone up front. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the Round 1 slot they get a franchise quarterback at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
In the 22nd pick they get a disruptive interior force, reach and all. A real need, handled.
Terrion Arnold at pick No. 35 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Good price on Edgerrin Cooper in pick 39, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. A need, and now a little less of one.
Trey Benson at No. 43 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It fills a real need, too.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Jackson Powers-Johnson well ahead of where he belonged. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Jack Sawyer at No. 54 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They took Byron Murphy II at par in slot 67, which is nothing to complain about. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
D.J. James at pick No. 75 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Christian Haynes at pick 81 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Kiran Amegadjie at Round 4, Pick 3 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They paid up for Junior Colson at the 111th overall pick when waiting would have done the job. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A big swing on Cade Stover at the 116th pick, well ahead of any board in the building. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Dylan Laube in the Round 4 slot is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. The roster fit checks out.
Ben Sinnott at pick No. 140 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Ainias Smith in the 165th pick is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Value said wait; Hayden Hatten in pick 198 says they were not listening. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Jacob Dobbs in No. 224, miles early. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Jeremy Moussa this early at Round 7, Pick 7. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.