The First-Round Fallout
And just like that, it was done.
Tensions have been high. Despite the recent reports that Monti would indeed be sticking and picking an “offensive weapon” at the top of the draft, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Surely it can’t be this simple. I won’t have been alone. Alone in the idea that in this draft, with four top quarterback prospects, countless quarterback needy teams, and the Cardinals sitting on the fourth pick, the trade-down was inevitable. Despite all the clamouring from fans, the kicking and screaming, the teary-eyed protestations, some desperate team was going to offer everything they could to get up to that fourth pick to select their quarterback of the future. And Monti would accept. And we would miss out on this generational wide-receiver prospect we have so ardently dreamed of.
But he didn’t.
Actually, more like, they didn’t. The ‘super-duper, leverage the future, sell the franchise and mortgage the farm’ offers never materialised. It seems we once again overestimated the NFL’s general grading of the fourth quarterback. We didn’t see a Will Levis like drop to the second round, but in the end, teams were happy to stand pat, and take the QB that ‘fell’ to them. Would the Vikings have traded their own mother to draft Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels? Sure. But in the end, New England and Washington took that out of their hands. In the end, JJ McCarthy fell within their grasp, all the way down to pick ten. And in the end, Monti’s decision was made for him. The man Dane Brugler deemed “one of the best receiving prospects to enter the NFL draft in recent memory”. The best receiver in College Football, the outrageous work ethic, the Hall of Fame pedigree. The man we all wanted.
Welcome to Arizona, Marvin Harrison Jr.
In the end, relief was the overriding emotion. Some joy, sure. Not ecstasy though. Just pure relief. Like getting home to find out you had not in fact left the stove on. Finding your keys in that deepest recess of your bag, having already checked there twice. Relief that it happened. Relief that we no longer need to talk about it. Slightly annoyed you were so stressed about it in the first place.
But we should be ecstatic. The life of an Arizona Cardinals fans has been perennially plagued with misjudgements, misfires and misfortune. This is after all, one of only two franchises to have existed since the inception of the league, and yet has failed to ever win a Super Bowl. Robert Nkemdiche, Jonathon Cooper, Isaiah Simmons, Josh Rosen. Injuries, injustice, heartbreak. We know these things. We are these things. But in this moment, none of that matters. We can’t know what the future holds, but in this moment, this is the correct decision, a glorious decision. Marvin. Harrison. Jr. Is. An. Arizona. Cardinal.
In Marvin, the Cardinals have added one of the best prospects in recent memory, to address one of the most glaring holes on the roster. That’s a dream scenario in any draft, for any team. Big, tall, quick, strong, explosive, silky, smooth, secure, hard-working, determined, disciplined. A perfect blend of incredible prospect and glowing intangibles. Monti and Gannon have long spoken about the need to draft exceptional people being as important as drafting exceptional players. MHJ fits both these descriptors. I can feel the joy coming on now. We’re going to watch Kyler Murray throw the ball to Marvin Harrison Jr in 2024. Add in the established young cabal of Trey McBride, Paris Johnson Jr, Greg Dortch, Michael Wilson and this can be a top-10 offense next year. It’ll need to be, with the lack of quality on the defensive side of the ball. But the Cardinals weren’t finished for the night, we still had pick 27.
Michael Penix to Atlanta aside, the draft unfolded much like we thought it might. Just, well, more. We knew it would be offense heavy at the top, but the first 14 picks being offensive players was a bit of a surprise. We knew that six quarterbacks could be taken in the first round. Well, they all went by pick 12. These are both NFL records. This led to the 15th pick, with the Colts on the clock, and their pick of the defensive talent in the draft.
The Cardinals have enough holes on defense to be considered a golf course. One of those multiple courses on the same resort type things. With so much/all the defensive talent left on the board at that 15th pick, I was pretty confident we would see a trade-up from Arizona from 27. Not to 15 necessarily, but to somewhere in the immediate bunch behind. But they didn’t. We don’t know if it was for lack of trying, or if it was too expensive. But they didn’t. And in the next 10 selections, the top 7 defensive players on most boards were picked off. Seems to have been a wasted opportunity from Monti. The chance to be aggressive and move up to grab a true number one cornerback in Quinyon Mitchell or Terrion Arnold. We all remember Monti’s face watching Dallas Turner at the combine, why not make the move for him? Well, it’s back to the ‘exceptional people’ idea.
Now I’m not saying that Dallas or Quinyon or Terrion aren’t ‘exceptional people’. I’m sure they’re lovely boys. But the current Cardinals front office put so much emphasis on this one facet of a player’s profile, that it doesn’t matter if these supremely talented players get picked just ahead of you. The Cardinals rank someone with the mentality of Darius Robinson just as highly. So they picked him at 27.
Team captain at Missouri. Teammates describe him as a true leader of men. Monti commended his “maturity, accountability, dependability”. Gannon called him a “War Daddy”, whatever that means. This is a man dedicated to the craft of professional football.
But it’s not just his mentality that saw him drafted in the first round. He just so happens to also be a 6’5 monolith of a man, with surprising agility and the wingspan of a very wide albatross. He moved outside from defensive tackle in 2023 to take on the edge position and thrived. Incredible power, using those long arms effectively to dispatch of the offensive linemen in his way. He’s not a perfect prospect, sometimes struggling to shed blocks effectively in the run game and needs a more well-rounded pass rush plan when his sheer power isn’t enough. But he was first team All-SEC for a reason in 2023.
His flexibility allows the Cardinals to have a more cohesive defensive line unit in 2024. Playing as a base end that moves inside on passing downs, whilst being a constant pest in the run game, allowing Dennis Gardeck and Zaven Collins to assume more favourable roles. It’s not the flashy move of a potential shut-down outside corner, or speed demon pass rusher, but in terms of winning football games in this defensive system, the skill-set of this big, strapping young man is just as valuable.
So we move onto Day 2, with some big names still on the board. At least one of Cooper DeJean, Kool-Aid McKinstry or Jonny Newton will be available when the Cardinals are next on the clock at 35. That’s a tremendous position to be in. It’s almost impossible to mess it up from here. Because what mattered most is what happened at pick four. And this time, the Cardinals got it right.
I write about the Cardinals every week, and i’ll be recapping the draft every day over this weekend. If you enjoyed, consider hitting that subscribe button to let me know. Only together can we War Daddy, whatever that means.