Cardinals in 'set-your-franchise-up situation' in NFL draft, says analyst Daniel Jeremiah
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah posted an interesting comment on X about the Arizona Cardinals and the 2024 draft, which begins next Thursday.
“This draft will determine the next 5-7 years for the Arizona Cardinals,” he wrote on Sunday. “They have an opportunity to set themselves up for a really nice run.”
On Wednesday, The Arizona Republic asked Jeremiah to elaborate on that thought during a video conference call with NFL reporters and he was eager to dive right into it. The Cardinals’ 11 picks are tied for the most in this draft. They have two first-rounders, six selections in the top 90 overall and seven in the top 104.
“Yeah, I can’t wait to see what he does,” Jeremiah said of Cardinals General Manager Monti Ossenfort. “I think there’s some things you want to get accomplished here. Number one, you still need some blue-chip players. You can’t always trade back and just keep getting more and more and more picks. Eventually, you’ve got to add more. They need blue chip-talent players here.
“I think there’s a way they can get creative, a way where they can serve all these masters. In other words, they get some impact players, they can still move around the board a little bit. Hopefully, they continue to add picks into the future, keep that alive. I love it when you’ve got all this capital and it’s ‘Hey, let’s not spend it all this year. Let’s try to keep accumulating things for next year.’ ”
In his first draft in charge of the Cardinals last season, Ossenfort swung a series of trades, including two in the first round that resulted in extra picks and a move back up in the first round to select former Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr.
With the No. 4 overall pick this year, he’s in prime position to do some wheeling and dealing again, specifically with a potential trade partner willing to trade up for a rookie quarterback. The Giants, Vikings, Broncos and Raiders are among the teams that might be interested in doing that.
Arizona, however, is in dire need of a new No. 1 wide receiver and Ossenfort could miss out on the top three prospects there – Marvin Harrison Jr. (Ohio State), Malik Nabers (LSU) and Rome Odunze (Washington) – if he moves out of the Top 10 spots.
But armed with the No. 27 overall pick, the third selection in the second round, No. 35, plus three third-rounders, Jeremiah said the Cardinals could easily trade down and move back up to snare one of the Big Three.
“I think they can get one of those guys, which is a Top 5 player, while also collecting a little something extra and it’s a way for them to add impact guys at positions of need while also continuing to add some more firepower here,” Jeremiah said. “But yeah, this is a set-your-franchise-up situation here for the Arizona Cardinals.
“The Houston Texans did it last year. If you go back and look at a lot of the Super Bowl teams, you can identify the one- or two-year period where their draft set that run up. Seattle’s one that comes right to mind. … The Chargers had gone on a really good run. They had two drafts where they hit on about five guys each and it set them up to be a really competitive team for a decade.”
Considering how well the Cardinals seemingly did with their 2023 draft haul, which also included wide receiver Michael Wilson, cornerback Garrett Williams, edge rusher BJ Ojulari and Houston’s pick in the first round this year (No.27), this draft represents a huge opportunity, Jeremiah said.
“This is their moment here,” he said. “They need to get some guys who really make a difference for them.”
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah on Cardinals: 'It's their moment'
