After finishing the regular season just 4-13 for the second year in a row, the Arizona Cardinals will be missing out on the playoffs and are looking forward to the 2024 NFL Draft. They entered the season with incredibly long odds to win the Super Bowl (+20000) according to AZ sportsbook promotions and with another dismal year, their odds for next year are not likely to be much better.
4-13 last year earned the Cardinals the third-overall pick, which they traded away to move back three spots and add another first this year. With the sixth-overall pick, the Cardinals took Paris Johnson, Jr. out of Ohio State.
This year, they have plenty of holes on the roster yet again and have the fourth-overall pick. Assuming they stay put, they’ll have a wealth of choices. Plus, they’ll get the Texans’ pick whenever Houston’s season ends.
Arizona has three massive needs and they can address at least two in the first round of this year’s draft.
Positions the Arizona Cardinals Must Address in the 2024 NFL Draft
Wide Receiver
The Cardinals hit on their third-round pick from last year, Michael Wilson. They have Ronale Moore, who hasn’t quite played up to expectation and Marquise Brown, a player the Cardinals traded for, has not turned into the WR1 they need. Arizona’s top receiver in 2023 was a second-year tight end.
At fourth-overall, the Cardinals could have any wide receiver they want. That is assuming the first three picks are quarterbacks, which is not unlikely. When it comes to this year’s class, Marvin Harrison, Jr. and Malik Nabers would be worth the pick. Both players have the potential to step right in and make a Ja’Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson-like impact on day one.
If the team wants to go a different route early, they could get a game-changer at the end of the first round with that Texans pick. Nabers’ teammate Brian Thomas, Jr. as well as Adonai Mitchell and Troy Franklin could be great picks. Each player will get first-round hype after all of the combines and scouting events so Arizona would do well to take a swing.
Who knows, they could go receiver for BOTH picks and be set.
EDGE
As of the first week following the regular season, there is not an EDGE rusher worth the fourth-overall pick. However, Dallas Turner, the former Alabama player, could be a target to trade down for.
This Arizona team is not a draft class away. If Harrison goes top three and, say, a tackle goes early, the Cardinals will have many quarterback-needy teams hitting their line to jump up to get their guy. Even if only one non-quarterback is selected, an NFL team could have three quarterbacks atop their boards.
If the Cardinals miss out on Turner or go another route, EDGE is on the table for the later pick. Teams love to take a swing on a high-upside guy at the tail end of the first round/early second round. George Karlaftis, Myles Murphy, Jaelan Phillips are a few names that come to mind from past drafts.
This year, Bralen Trice and Chop Robinson are a couple of names to watch. They’ll miss out on the likes of Jered Verse unless they wanted to trade up.
Corner
Finally, the NFC West has a few stud receivers, if you didn’t know. Arizona needs to be able to keep up. Nate Wiggins and Kool-Aid McKinstry are the currently projected as the top two corners this year’s draft. As was the case for EDGE, fourth-overall may be a bit rich for these players. Trading back and accumulating more draft capital would be best for Arizona.
If they want to wait, Quinyon Mitchell will be there for the taking late in the first. The Toledo star has been one of the top defenders in the MAC over the last two years and is as physical and sticky as any. He will likely be dinged due to where he went to school and the lack of elite competition but Mitchell is the real deal.
Another name could be Kamari Lassiter from Georgia. They’ll be picking after the Philadelphia Eagles and they’ve shown that they love drafting Georgia players, so it’ll be interesting to see if he slips past the recently-eliminated reigning NFC Champs.
All in all, the Cardinals need to hit on this year’s draft class. If they whiff and end up with another top-five pick, the Kyler Murray era could be over and a guy like Shaduer Sanders could be on his way in.