B-
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals bet the future on McCarthy. The board says B-.
by 49ersfan2024 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 1 steals
· 4 reaches
The search is over. The Cardinals handed the keys to J.J. McCarthy, and the whole operation now runs on his development. A dependable weekend that grades out a B-.
The Orhorhoro pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. That running back hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall. That James pick is the receipt they will wave around later.
Add it up and it is a good, unfussy class.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 4 they get a matchup problem out wide at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In the 27th overall pick they get a franchise quarterback. The biggest hole, addressed.
Ruke Orhorhoro at the Round 2 slot is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Austin Booker at slot 66 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
No drama and no debate, Kingsley Suamataia went about where he belonged in the 71st pick. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Brandon Coleman at pick No. 90 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing DJ James in pick 104. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
By-the-book stuff, Beaux Limmer at Round 5, Pick 2 squarely in line with his ranking. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Gabe Hall at the 162nd overall pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Jha'Quan Jackson. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They paid up for Michael Barrett at pick No. 226 when waiting would have done the job. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.