How the Arizona Cardinals got themselves a whole new secondary in the 2024 NFL Draft

Last season, the Arizona Cardinals ranked dead last in Defensive DVOA, and only the Washington Commanders “led” by Jack Del Rio (until Del Rio was fired) and Ron Rivera were worse in DVOA against the pass. Head coach Jonathan Gannon didn’t have a lot to work with in the secondary — safety Jalen Thompson was the only Arizona defensive back in 2023 who allowed an opponent passer rating of less than 80.0, and only Thompson had more than one interception with his four.

So, general manager Monti Ossenfort, assistant GM Dave Sears, and Gannon had a lot they needed to accomplish in the draft. Certainly in terms of draft currency, they did all they could to improve things with the selections of Rutgers cornerback Max Melton with the 43rd overall pick in the second round, Boston College cornerback Elijah Jones with the 90th overall pick in the third round, and Texas Tech safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson with the 104th overall pick in the fourth round.

Both Melton and Jones are true outside stopper cornerbacks, and Taylor-Demerson has the range to play the deep third, leaving Jalen Thompson to do his thing closer to the line of scrimmage. If all these guys pan out early, the Cardinals could have one of the NFL’s most obviously-transformed secondaries in the 2024 season.

“I had about 20 [minutes] with him,” Gannon said of Max Melton in the pre-draft process. “Just his seriousness and intensity, honestly. This guy’s a very serious person. The mentality that we’re looking for fits the price of admission and [after] having him talk through some things, I could tell he was very well-schooled, well-trained, well-coached, and he understood what they were trying to get done there. I really fell in love with his mindset, his attitude and his demeanor. He walked down and I was like that’s a serious person and I liked that.”.

Last season, Melton allowed 24 catches on 44 targets for 252 yards, 72 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, three interceptions, three pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 65.7.

As for Elijah Jones, he was one of the NCAA’s better true island cornerbacks in this class — he allowed 13 catches on 40 targets for 194 yards, 58 yards after the catch, one touchdown, five interceptions, six pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 18.1 — which means that opposing quarterbacks were better off throwing the ball into the stands than they were trying to get it past Jones.

Taylor-Demerson was one of my favorite defensive backs in this draft, and my favorite deep-third safety. I was happy to see that the Cardinals see him in a similar fashion.

“Absolutely, he’s played safety down there for them,” Ossenfort said of Taylor-Demerson as a deep-third defender. “Really his best attributes I’d say are his range and his ball skills. He really has a nose for the football. I think he’s going to be able to play the deep half of the field and then we’ll see what else he can do. Versatility will come after that, but we think he brings a versatile element and range to the back half of the defense.”

My scouting report agrees.

Story originally appeared on Touchdown Wire