Monti Ossenfort aces his first Draft in Arizona
The Cardinals are definitely among the "winners" of the 2023 NFL Draft
Outside of the mystery of whomever the Houston Texans would take at #2, everyone knew that the first major nexus point of the 2023 NFL Draft was the #3 overall pick, owned (at least originally) by the Arizona Cardinals. And given all the discussion about when and how Arizona could/would trade this pick to one of the number of reported suitors, I think new General Manager Monti Ossenfort isn’t getting nearly enough credit.
When it was all said and done, Ossenfort smartly (and rightfully) capitalized on the incredibly lucrative trade package presented by the Texans: Houston sending #12 overall, their 2nd round pick (#33), as well as a #1 AND #3 next year. With that extra second round pick in their war chest, they used their original second round pick to move up from #12 to #6, to get the guy they wanted—and Kyler Murray in particular really wanted—all along, in offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. from Ohio State1.
But Ossenfort apparently wasn’t done yet. At the start of Day 2, Ossenfort swung a deal with Tennessee to swap second round picks (Arizona moved down to #41 from their original pick at #33)2 and third round picks (Arizona moved up from #81 to #72), and picked up another third round pick in next year’s Draft.
So then, at #41 overall, Ossenfort and company selected edge rusher BJ Ojulari from LSU—a top 35 prospect3 who helps reinforce their rather glaring need for a pass rusher. Remember: prior to the late emergence of the Cardinals’ targeting Johnson with their top pick, the near-consensus thinking was that Arizona, in the unlikely situation that they couldn’t trade down from #3 overall, would take the best available pass rusher (between Will Anderson and Tyree Wilson). In addition to the idea that an edge rusher is considered to be a ‘foundational cornerstone’-type position for NFL teams, Arizona was badly in need4 of pass rushing reinforcements in general5.
Admittedly, there wasn’t much else eyebrow-raising about the rest of Arizona’s draft. Neither of their two third round picks (cornerback Garrett Williams from Syracuse and wide receiver Michael Wilson from Stanford) weren’t on most people’s radar for the top 100 prospects6, and nobody among their Day 3 picks stood out as obvious steals7. But the again, outside of the top 50 to maybe 75 picks, the way teams view players can vary wildly, since it’s almost entirely a function of individual scouting & preferences, team needs/roster building, and individual schemes. In other words: whether or not you saw them on your favorite internet big boards doesn’t really mean a damn thing.
So net-net, Arizona was able to walk out of the first two rounds of the NFL Draft having added to two positions of critical need—having addressed them with two of the top 35 prospects in this Draft—while picking up an additional 1st round pick and two additional 3rd round picks next year8.
That’s outstanding work for a guy completing his first NFL Draft as a General Manager ■.
Johnson had not-so-quietly emerged as the most coveted offensive line prospect in this year’s Draft, seemingly leapfrogging Peter Skoronski from Northwestern.
The Titans, of course, made this move to go get quarterback Will Levis from Kentucky.
I personally had Ojulari ranked as my #35 overall prospect in this Draft, and so did Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network. Dane Brugler of theAthletic had Ojulari at #33 overall.
Outside of JJ Watt (who retired this offseason), nobody on the Cardinals registered more than 5.5 sacks in 2022.
Although it could just be the post-Draft euphoria, or the simple need to choose someone for the purposes of the assigned exercise, the Cardinals beat writers were pretty bullish on what Ojulari brings to Arizona from both a tangibles and intangibles standpoint.
Both of these guys dealt with injuries for much of last year (in college). So the Cardinals evidently really liked these guys, enough to overlook said injuries.
I know some people are going to want to point out that Arizona took QB Clayton Tune from the University of Houston in the 5th round. Yes, he's an athletic, frisky, deceptively accurate quarterback who can do some interesting stuff in the middle part of the field. But there's a reason why Tune lasted that long, particularly in a Draft in which a ton of quarterbacks were taken. His lack of arm strength is evident, and he'll be further limited both by the combination of the Air Raid offense he played in at Houston plus a terrible habit of single-read YOLO throws.
That’s not even mentioning the fact that the Cardinals are expected to receive an additional 4th round compensatory pick next year.