It is somewhat absurd, but it is commonplace. We grade the drafts of NFL teams immediately after the selections are made, long before any suits up and plays a game.
That said, draft grades are a mix of value, talent, fit and perhaps more.
So what do the Arizona Cardinals deserve for their 2023 draft?
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Overall draft
Grade: A
The Cardinals don’t necessarily get an A for the player selections, although they did get some talent.
No matter how good the draft class is, it won’t matter much for the coming season.
Arizona isn’t expected to be good. They are projected to be one of the worst teams in the league.
What was more impressive was how they maneuvered the draft and leveraged picks for the future.
The Cardinals acquired four additional selections in the 2024 draft, including a first-round pick that potentially could be at or near the top of the draft and two other selections in the top 100.
The way things look now, the Cardinals could have two picks in the top five (their own and the Houston Texans’ selection). Assuming Kyler Murray comes back from injury and shows he can be the player he was on pace to become before 2022, they will be able to leverage those picks for even more.
Best pick: OL Paris Johnson
Johnson should be their best player. He was the sixth overall pick in the draft.
He is the one player in the draft class who should be in the starting lineup at the beginning.
Head-scratching picks: CB Garrett Williams, QB Clayton Tune
Williams:
Williams is coming off a torn ACL and will not be able to participate in offseason work. He might be able to practice in training camp. But he is coming off the injury and, before tearing the ACL, he was average athletically, at best.
He does have the football character that Jonathan Gannon wants on his roster but there were more athletic corners to bet on.
Tune:
There is value to getting a potential backup quarterback, but with a roster full of wholes and talent on the board like running back Israel Abanikanda or safety Daniel Scott (who should be a stud special teams player), getting a quarterback in the fifth round seems a bit rich.
Most intriguing picks - LB Owen Pappoe
The Cardinals’ other fifth-round selection, Pappoe, is an exceptional athlete.
With his athletic profile and determination, in Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis’ system, he could be a playmaker on defense sooner rather than later.
