A-
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals won the night they stopped Mustapha from sliding. Grade: A-.
by Goku122 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 7 steals
· 0 reaches
The rest of the league will want that one back. Malik Mustapha tumbling to the Cardinals in the 188th pick is a gift they did not have to think twice about. This is how you run a draft, and the A- reflects it.
They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. They punted on quarterback, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
In the end it comes back to Byron Murphy II, and a haul good enough to build on right away.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 6th overall pick they get a weapon on the perimeter. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 29th pick they get an anchor for the defensive front, outstanding value to boot. A real need, handled.
A tidy little value on Patrick Paul in No. 55, a step better than break-even. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Zach Frazier. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They read the board right and Christian Haynes was the payoff at Round 3, Pick 27. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Circle this one: Marist Liufau at pick 104 is a fall that decides a draft. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A slide stopped in slot 111, with Blake Fisher worth more than the price. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Steal is underselling it; Max Melton at the Round 4 slot is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A minor need, but a need all the same.
They did well to land Cedric Gray in the Round 5 slot, just ahead of his grade. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Malik Mustapha in Round 6, Pick 13 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They barely believed it either: Jalen Berger still on the board at slot 225. A need, and now a little less of one.