1 - I wrote a column about Jeremyiah Love, so I think I will just post a link to that instead of mentioning more about it here. (https://www.arizonasportsfans.com/forum/threads/10-thoughts-first-round.1265801/)
2 – I expect Carson Beck to start week one.
3 – In my mind, Bisontis completes the offensive line. Sure, it would have been great with a better right tackle, but the good options ran out very quickly. There were probably only two or three viable options after day one, and as I mentioned after day two, when Caleb Tiernan got drafted, it was over. I think Wilkinson was okay in Atlanta last year, so I am not that scared.
4 – The pick of Kaleb Proctor is very interesting to me. In a lot of ways, he plays like Darius Robinson was supposed to, but remember that Robinson went from being a projected mid-round pick before his senior season to skyrocketing into the first round after being moved to an edge role at Missouri. For whatever reason, Cards thought it was a great idea to move him away from his best position (Haason Reddick-style), and he has obviously been a bust on the interior. With Proctor on the roster, do they move Robinson outside? Do they try to salvage their investment by utilizing him to his strengths?
5 – About Beck, I will just copy my text from the mock draft. I know it is cheating since it is not one thought but then let’s say that the decision to copy-paste is the thought:
“With the 64. pick the Arizona Cardinals select
Carson Beck, quarterback, Miami
If we believe that LaFleur will take a lot from McVay’s and Shanahan’s offenses, Beck could be a great scheme fit. Some of the stables of those offenses are play-action, throwing a lot of intermediate distance passes, getting the ball out quickly and playing within structure and in rhythm. Well, last season, Beck had the fastest release among all 67 qualifying P4 quarterbacks, had a nearly 80% completion percentage on play-action passes and were clearly most comfortable making intermediate distance throws. And you can easily see that he is at his best when he plays in rhythm as a game manager. Stylistically, outside of Ty Simpson, Beck is the best QB fit for LaFleur’s expected offense (and that includes Mendoza).
Furthermore, I have seen multiple respectable analysts compare Carson Beck to Matt Schaub. Well, who would be his QB coach with the Cards?
And I get it – we all want to punch Beck. He is arrogant, smug and looks like he could not care any less about anything else than himself. He hangs his teammates out to dry in the media and has body language like everything is against him. However, they loved him in Miami. I don’t know why, but they did. The Cardinals just hired Miami’s runningback coach last season, so they have very close insider knowledge about who Beck is and how to treat him. And if you gave me the option of assembling the perfect quarterback room (and I could choose among any active quarterback in the world) for Carson Beck to come into, it would be him with Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew.
I highly doubt that Beck is a long-term solution. I actually think that the upside with him is zero. He either plays to the same level as last season, or it gets worse. But what’s the alternative if they don’t get Simpson? And even then, Simpson will almost undoubtedly take some time to acclimate to the NFL, whereas Beck could likely step in and execute the offense the day after he was drafted. He is pro ready and he is a proven winner. He could probably get them through next season at around 0.500 or so (I know that is not the actual number, but you get my point), and then they can re-evaluate the QB position again next offseason or the year after. I simply don’t see better options in this situation - if you want to win something this season, that is.”
6 – I was not thrilled about day three. Does it matter? Well, ESPN showed a graphic that 63% of all players last season were drafted on day three or went undrafted, so I would say yes, it does matter.
7 – I am not sure what I think about focusing that much on the offense. On one hand, the defense sucked last season. On the other, you should help your new offensive coach.
8 – Drafting an offensive lineman is rarely a bad idea. I doubt that Jayden Williams has any chance of surpassing the developmental projects already on the roster, but why not give it a shot? Especially when there were only a few other good options.
9 – Reggie Virgil when Joshua Josephs, Keith Abney and Riley Nowakowski were still on the board? Really?!
10 – Karson Sharar is basically 1:1 the same pick as Owen Pappoe (though Pappoe was in the fifth round). Super-athletic special teamer.
11 – Okay, one additional thought on Beck: if you don’t have a franchise quarterback, you are looking for one. That’s just the reality. We all knew that it was not a strong line-up of QB options in this class, but if you want to be somewhat competitive this year, you just need to figure it out. LaFleur has had around four months to come up with a solution, and his evaluation led to Beck. For that reason alone, I have no problem giving Beck a chance.
12 – At least the Rams and Niners did not get better these days.
13 – I thought the last three picks were average at best. I would have used one or two of them to trade up to get a player that is more likely to compete before the talent-well dried out completely (it was a bad draft year, so around the end of round five). Preferably a pass rusher.
14 – Any draft class always open up for teams cutting other players on their roster. Will be very interesting to see who.
15 – Some of you are high on UDFA C Ka’ena Decambra. I know nothing about him, but even though I doubt he has a realistic shot, your optimism is exciting. Thank you for that.
2 – I expect Carson Beck to start week one.
3 – In my mind, Bisontis completes the offensive line. Sure, it would have been great with a better right tackle, but the good options ran out very quickly. There were probably only two or three viable options after day one, and as I mentioned after day two, when Caleb Tiernan got drafted, it was over. I think Wilkinson was okay in Atlanta last year, so I am not that scared.
4 – The pick of Kaleb Proctor is very interesting to me. In a lot of ways, he plays like Darius Robinson was supposed to, but remember that Robinson went from being a projected mid-round pick before his senior season to skyrocketing into the first round after being moved to an edge role at Missouri. For whatever reason, Cards thought it was a great idea to move him away from his best position (Haason Reddick-style), and he has obviously been a bust on the interior. With Proctor on the roster, do they move Robinson outside? Do they try to salvage their investment by utilizing him to his strengths?
5 – About Beck, I will just copy my text from the mock draft. I know it is cheating since it is not one thought but then let’s say that the decision to copy-paste is the thought:
“With the 64. pick the Arizona Cardinals select
Carson Beck, quarterback, Miami
If we believe that LaFleur will take a lot from McVay’s and Shanahan’s offenses, Beck could be a great scheme fit. Some of the stables of those offenses are play-action, throwing a lot of intermediate distance passes, getting the ball out quickly and playing within structure and in rhythm. Well, last season, Beck had the fastest release among all 67 qualifying P4 quarterbacks, had a nearly 80% completion percentage on play-action passes and were clearly most comfortable making intermediate distance throws. And you can easily see that he is at his best when he plays in rhythm as a game manager. Stylistically, outside of Ty Simpson, Beck is the best QB fit for LaFleur’s expected offense (and that includes Mendoza).
Furthermore, I have seen multiple respectable analysts compare Carson Beck to Matt Schaub. Well, who would be his QB coach with the Cards?
And I get it – we all want to punch Beck. He is arrogant, smug and looks like he could not care any less about anything else than himself. He hangs his teammates out to dry in the media and has body language like everything is against him. However, they loved him in Miami. I don’t know why, but they did. The Cardinals just hired Miami’s runningback coach last season, so they have very close insider knowledge about who Beck is and how to treat him. And if you gave me the option of assembling the perfect quarterback room (and I could choose among any active quarterback in the world) for Carson Beck to come into, it would be him with Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew.
I highly doubt that Beck is a long-term solution. I actually think that the upside with him is zero. He either plays to the same level as last season, or it gets worse. But what’s the alternative if they don’t get Simpson? And even then, Simpson will almost undoubtedly take some time to acclimate to the NFL, whereas Beck could likely step in and execute the offense the day after he was drafted. He is pro ready and he is a proven winner. He could probably get them through next season at around 0.500 or so (I know that is not the actual number, but you get my point), and then they can re-evaluate the QB position again next offseason or the year after. I simply don’t see better options in this situation - if you want to win something this season, that is.”
6 – I was not thrilled about day three. Does it matter? Well, ESPN showed a graphic that 63% of all players last season were drafted on day three or went undrafted, so I would say yes, it does matter.
7 – I am not sure what I think about focusing that much on the offense. On one hand, the defense sucked last season. On the other, you should help your new offensive coach.
8 – Drafting an offensive lineman is rarely a bad idea. I doubt that Jayden Williams has any chance of surpassing the developmental projects already on the roster, but why not give it a shot? Especially when there were only a few other good options.
9 – Reggie Virgil when Joshua Josephs, Keith Abney and Riley Nowakowski were still on the board? Really?!
10 – Karson Sharar is basically 1:1 the same pick as Owen Pappoe (though Pappoe was in the fifth round). Super-athletic special teamer.
11 – Okay, one additional thought on Beck: if you don’t have a franchise quarterback, you are looking for one. That’s just the reality. We all knew that it was not a strong line-up of QB options in this class, but if you want to be somewhat competitive this year, you just need to figure it out. LaFleur has had around four months to come up with a solution, and his evaluation led to Beck. For that reason alone, I have no problem giving Beck a chance.
12 – At least the Rams and Niners did not get better these days.
13 – I thought the last three picks were average at best. I would have used one or two of them to trade up to get a player that is more likely to compete before the talent-well dried out completely (it was a bad draft year, so around the end of round five). Preferably a pass rusher.
14 – Any draft class always open up for teams cutting other players on their roster. Will be very interesting to see who.
15 – Some of you are high on UDFA C Ka’ena Decambra. I know nothing about him, but even though I doubt he has a realistic shot, your optimism is exciting. Thank you for that.
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