The Arizona Cardinals are coming off of a good season and the only reason that they didn’t make the playoffs is because they play in the hardest division in football and ten wins isn’t enough. They excelled in defense and were a force to be reckoned with. They were just a few pieces away from being in the top-five defenses in the entire league. They did lose some pieces but nothing too major to have the team stray away from a winning record. The off season actually has gave the team the chance to increase upon one of the best rosters they have had in the past few years. The Cardinals have just six picks in this draft and will use this to find a couple of stars so they can plug in and win. They are not going to be looking for “the future” kind of players much, they want people to help them win immediately. The Cardinals have not been to the playoffs since 2009 and if they dont pick up the pace with the 49ers and the Seahawks, they will most likely stay that way for a while. The offense has picked up a couple of pieces to spark some momentum with John Carlson, Jonathan Dwyer, and Ted Ginn Jr. (who will also help the special teams). The defenses biggest free agent grab was Antonio Cromartie, who will be excellent on the other side of Patrick Peterson. The draft will only help the Cardinals get that much better, so they are most likely going to able to get the best player out of the board and won’t have to reach for much.
Needs: QB, WR, OL, OLB, S
Quarterback: While Carson Palmer has the job now, this is a great opportunity to bring in a young guy to be mentored by someone in the league who has found success everywhere he goes. This is the only pick they will be drafting for the future and since no position is a complete crisis, the Cardinals may have an opportunity to take someone earlier in this draft and have him wait in the wings to be their starter for the next ten years. Also, Palmer would be okay with it so they should take advantage because it’s not often in this league that your starting quarterback will look at a drafted quarterback and not get defensive.
Wide Receiver: This pick will be purely depth since this draft class is rich with wideouts. The Cardinals can take a shot with one in the mid to late rounds. They have their starting three receivers but after that, they have no competition so someone to come in and fill in in case of injury or to make this pass offense that much more dangerous. They could go either way since their receivers are so diverse, they can get a speedier guy like Ginn or get a bigger guy that teams would not be able to match up with since they have Micheal Floyd and Larry Fitzgerald.
Offensive Lineman: Palmer was sacked 41 times, which for someone of his age is a no-no and if they don’t leave this draft with a quarterback they will need to keep his jersey as clean as possible to be able to just repeat what they did last year. Though the Cardinals do seem to like their offensive line they could always try and get a versatile backup who can come in at guard or tackle. This pick really depends on how they feel, if they use the pick earlier they will are looking to replace someone who they don’t think is play up to snuff. The later the pick, the more it is to backup or even just giving competition to the other player.
Outside Linebacker: In a 3-4 defense, this is one of the most important positions to have a dominating force. The Cardinals don’t seem to have someone who really pops out of their roster. While John Abraham’s 11.5 sacks is great he doesn’t have someone else to help him get to the quarterback in the linebacker position. The only linebacker who had more than three sacks was Karlos Dansby who was an inside linebacker and is not longer with the team. This in my opinion has to be one of their priorities in the draft and may even use their first round draft pick if they feel they have found someone who will be their starter indefinitely for a while. Even when it comes to Abraham he is getting older and is more of a beast you release to attack the quarterback he isn’t an all round kind of guy. On draft day if they see someone they want and he isnt taken look for the Cardinals to get a starting OLB.
Safety: Tyrann Mathieu was a blessing in the third round last year but now have to look at someone who will be his partner in the back. At 20 they will be in the perfect spot to get a safety and feel that they are not reaching for one but they really have to get someone who is faster because Mathieu is more of a thumper safety than a roamer in the back. With the Cardinals having a great set of corners getting this piece may be the key ingredient to breaking into the top 5 defenses in the league. While they do have a couple of possibilities in the first round if one of the top 3 safeties is available in the first round the Cardinals will have to push all their possibilites to the side and take a hard look if that player is ready to be part of their playmaking defense.
