Cardinals: A Whole New Draft Plan

Cardinals’ new GM Monti Ossenfort has vowed from day one that the Cardinals are going to upgrade their entire scouting and drafting process. Key factors that MO said the team would prioritize are:

• (1) finding players with great football passion and character
• (2) finding players who want to be Cardinals
• (3) finding players who have been highly productive at the college level
• 4) finding players who embrace the physical and mental aspects of weekly training and preparation

During the interviews, MO, JG and the staff will be trying to garner answers to all 4 of the criteria listed above.

What to anticipate the Cardinals doing in Round 1 is:

Avoid:

• Small school players
• One year wonders.
• Players with injury or disciplinary issues.
• Combine standouts who lack consistent production.

Focus In On:

• Star players from Power conference schools.
• Players who have shown consistent production for 2-3 years.
• Players who have shown steady and consistent improvement.
• Team first, captain types.

Therefore, after doing the research on all of the top 50 prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft, here are the non QB prospects in Round 1 whom I believe fit the “Focus In On” criteria:

RB:

• Bijan Robinson, TEX: 4,215 combined rushing/receiving yards, 6.3 yards per carry, 41 TDs.

PFF RB Grades:( of top 458 RBs)

• 2022: 2nd
• 2021: 21st
• 2020 32nd

TE:

• Michael Mayer, ND: 2,099 receiving yards, 11.7 ave., 18 TDs, PFF run blocking grade: 82.1,

PFF TE Grades (of top 458 TEs):

• 2022: 1st;
• 2021: 29th
• 2020: 115th.

WR:

• Zay Flowers, BC: 3,056 receiving yards, 15.3 ave., 29 TDs; 345 yards rushing.
• Jordan Addison, USC/PITT: 3,139 receiving yards, 14.3 ave. 29 TDs.
• Nathaniel Dell, HOU: 3,155 yards receiving, 13.8 ave., 32 TDs

T

• Peter Skoronski, NW: 2,382 snaps

PFF T Grades (top 610 Ts)

• 2022: 6th
• 2021: 31st
• 2020: 41st

G

• O’Cyrus Torrence, UCLA: 2,206 snaps

PFF G Grades (top 642 Gs)

• 2022: 1st
• 2021: 4th
• 2020: 96th

C

• John Michael Schwartz, MIN: 2,024 snaps

PFF C Grades: (top 642 Cs)

• 2022: 1st
• 2021: 3rd
• 2020: 6th

DT:

• Calijah Kancey, PIT: 91 tackles, 34.5 tackles for loss, 16 sacks

PFF DT Grades: (857 top DTs)

• 2022: 6th
• 2021: 28th
• 2020: 46th

DE:

• Tyree Wilson, TTU: 121 tackles, 32 tackles for loss, 17 sacks. PFF pass rush grade: 79.9

OLB:

• Will Anderson, Jr,, ALA: 204 tackles, 58.5 tackles for loss, 34.5 sacks, PFF Pass rush grade: 85.8

CB:

• Emmanuel Forbes, MISS ST.: 2,337 snaps, 150 tackles, 14 interceptions. PFF pass coverage grade: 89.3

S/Slot CB:

• Brian Branch. ALA: 172 tackles, 4 misses tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss. 3 interceptions, PFF pass coverage grade: 86.4

If a player you like a lot is not on this list, it’s because of one or more of the “Avoid” criteria. If you want to know about specific players, I will tell you the reason why they didn’t quite qualify for this “Focus In On” list.

Your thoughts?