2025 2nd round pick #47 is Will Johnson CB

[kerouac9]

Who was the team’s best rookie from last season?

Charmin, but he had 865 snaps. Max Melton was next with just 565.

 

[CardNots]

Charmin, but he had 865 snaps. Max Melton was next with just 565.

My thought Nolen and Johnson are expected. I would say the same about MHJ and Melton to some degree last year.

I want to see big production from a few higher picks. It would be welcomed to hit on a couple of draft picks which we didn’t expect.

 

[kerouac9]

My thought Nolen and Johnson are expected. I would say the same about MHJ and Melton to some degree last year.

I want to see big production from a few higher picks. It would be welcomed to hit on a couple of draft picks which we didn’t expect.

Yeah. I know that people are very impressed that Monti has kept so many of his own draft picks while racking up a 12-22 record. Still, our best players on both sides of the ball are either free agents or brought in by the previous regime.

That's not really building through the draft, and we're not going to vault to the top of the NFC West waiting for our opponents to decline below our level.

I don't know whom you'd expect to "surprise" from this draft group. I know Paul Calvisi is pushing Cody Burke extremely hard, but most everyone else seems blocked by someone ahead of them on the depth chart.

 

[football karma]

Yeah. I know that people are very impressed that Monti has kept so many of his own draft picks while racking up a 12-22 record. Still, our best players on both sides of the ball are either free agents or brought in by the previous regime.

I **think** Monti has done a good job

but when you gut the roster - your draft picks after that will all make the team.
They have been promising -- but outside of Garrett Williams-- they have been just promising (maybe too hard on PJJ here)

but very quickly those draft picks will have to show themselves as better than average NFL players if this team is going to 1. make the playoffs, and 2. win some playoff games

 

[CardNots]

I **think** Monti has done a good job

but when you gut the roster - your draft picks after that will all make the team.
They have been promising -- but outside of Garrett Williams-- they have been just promising (maybe too hard on PJJ here)

but very quickly those draft picks will have to show themselves as better than average NFL players if this team is going to 1. make the playoffs, and 2. win some playoff games

Nothing is ever easy, is it?

 

[PACardsFan]

Yeah. I know that people are very impressed that Monti has kept so many of his own draft picks while racking up a 12-22 record. Still, our best players on both sides of the ball are either free agents or brought in by the previous regime.

That's not really building through the draft, and we're not going to vault to the top of the NFC West waiting for our opponents to decline below our level.

I don't know whom you'd expect to "surprise" from this draft group. I know Paul Calvisi is pushing Cody Burke extremely hard, but most everyone else seems blocked by someone ahead of them on the depth chart.

You keep harping on a 12-22 record lol. 8-9 is far more realistic, as year one of a total rebuild meant absolutely nothing. 2023 was all about changing culture & seeing who might be worth keeping going into 2024. I really don’t expect anyone from this past draft to excel in year one, with maybe the exception being CB Johnson. I do expect major improvements from the 2023 & 2024 draft classes.

 

[CardNots]

Yeah. I know that people are very impressed that Monti has kept so many of his own draft picks while racking up a 12-22 record. Still, our best players on both sides of the ball are either free agents or brought in by the previous regime.

That's not really building through the draft, and we're not going to vault to the top of the NFC West waiting for our opponents to decline below our level.

I don't know whom you'd expect to "surprise" from this draft group. I know Paul Calvisi is pushing Cody Burke extremely hard, but most everyone else seems blocked by someone ahead of them on the depth chart.

My point is, if we don’t start hitting on some draft picks past round two we aren’t doing anything other than treading water.

If Johnson ends up being our top performer we aren’t going to move the needle much.

 

[kerouac9]

You keep harping on a 12-22 record lol. 8-9 is far more realistic, as year one of a total rebuild meant absolutely nothing. 2023 was all about changing culture & seeing who might be worth keeping going into 2024. I really don’t expect anyone from this past draft to excel in year one, with maybe the exception being CB Johnson. I do expect major improvements from the 2023 & 2024 draft classes.

The record is the record. As we've seen and discussed many times, going 4-13 in that first season was a choice. We've seen any number of teams have faster and more successful transitions to success.

Gannon and Ossenfort don't get to wipe away the results of their choice because you liked it.

I'm low-key very excited about Melton in his second season.

My point is, if we don’t start hitting on some draft picks past round two we aren’t doing anything other than treading water.

If Johnson ends up being our top performer we aren’t going to move the needle much.

I kind of disagree with this. Teams overwhelmingly get their stars out of the first two rounds. We need MHJ to go from being a top 30 WR to a top 12 one. We need Beej or Darius Robinson or (I guess) Jordan Burch to be better than Josh Sweat. I think if those two things happen, we'll be in good shape.

IMO, it's more important for, like 60% of your round 3-5 draft picks to develop quickly into at least rotational players and maybe solid starters than finding a Riq Woolen every four years.

 

[CardNots]

than finding a Riq Woolen every four years

and we have found one in the last four years?

 

[HairZach]

and we have found one in the last four years?

Garret Williams. Getting a guy like him in the 3rd is really rare.

DTR looks very promising. He could end up being an amazing player to find in the 4th.

Dante Stills is a nice contributor from the 6th.

Jesse Luketa was far more serviceable than any 7th round pick should be. He was PFFs 6th best run defending edge last year.

You gotta realize how rare it is to find actually good players past the 2nd round. No team gets that consistently. A lot of 3rd round picks don't make it through their rookie contract before they're relegated to the practice squad.

 

[kerouac9]

and we have found one in the last four years?

No. I think a problem with where the roster was when Keim was let go was that he was looking constantly for these home runs and the belly of the roster kind of came apart.

Garrett Williams -- I don't know what he has to do to get more snaps, but he's been real good since coming back from injury. Before him Zach Allen and Jalen Thompson were pretty good from the jump.

Even Riq Woolen was supported by a defensive front seven with two guys with 9.5 sacks and Poona Ford.

The NFL is such a contingent league. I would've thought that Cam Thomas would have a career as an NFL player but he's played 69 defensive snaps total since leaving the Cards.

 

[BACH]

The record is the record. As we've seen and discussed many times, going 4-13 in that first season was a choice. We've seen any number of teams have faster and more successful transitions to success.

Gannon and Ossenfort don't get to wipe away the results of their choice because you liked it.

While I agree the transition could have been done differently and perhaps 1-2 better players could have been added under the cap mess Keim left behind, let's not kid ourselves.

You are writing it like MO and JG took away a superbowl run. The team was in a horrible state with no depth players since Keim added minimal talents in the previous years' drafts. There were over the hill/selfish players with no interest of staying on the team. Kyler was still projected to miss 12 games and the back-up solution on the roster had to retire.

Doing it differently would have pushed the record to 5-12 - maybe 6-11. #championship

 

[kerouac9]

Doing it differently would have pushed the record to 5-12 - maybe 6-11. #championship

Master of the multiverse, as always.

Cap mess was created by Ossenfort. All of that was a choice.

 

[BACH]

Master of the multiverse, as always.

Cap mess was created by Ossenfort. All of that was a choice.

Hahaha. No. Cap mess was created by giving huge deals to old players. Monti had to clean up that mistake.

You know, he had to cut all players with over 64 starts.

 

[BACH]

Master of the multiverse, as always.

Cap mess was created by Ossenfort. All of that was a choice.

I cannot take responsibility for your inability to understand that a team without it’s franchise QB is not going anywhere.

When the best Cardinals team in Arizona lost its franchise QB for 9 games they went 8-8.

Is your arguement really that 2023 team decimated of talent would have been better with their QB out for 12 games?

 

[Russ Smith]

You keep harping on a 12-22 record lol. 8-9 is far more realistic, as year one of a total rebuild meant absolutely nothing. 2023 was all about changing culture & seeing who might be worth keeping going into 2024. I really don’t expect anyone from this past draft to excel in year one, with maybe the exception being CB Johnson. I do expect major improvements from the 2023 & 2024 draft classes.

Also the first year was half the year Kyler out starting a QB who is a career backup for a reason.

I wish we'd hit on more draft picks bigtime but I do think we're in the right direction. The glaring issue now is WR, even if MHJ takes a step up and I think he will, we're still not very good in the WR room .

The 2 guys I really want to step up this year are D Rob and Trey Benson. D Rob stepping up could make our front 7 go to another level with Nolen, the FA's and him . Benson picking up where he left off before he got hurt and playing better and more would be huge for the offense since with the WR issue, we're going to have to run the ball and use the RB"s out of the backfield.

Benson's last 6 games, limited carries but 32 carries, 174 yards 5.4 ypc, He was finally figuring it out and hitting the holes and getting upfield, still needed more in the passing game I think he had catches in those 6 games, but he was making the adjustment when he got hurt, which was very disappointing. If he has a big step up so Conner can get less work and stay fresh the run game has a chance to be exceptional

 

[MadCardDisease]

Charmin, but he had 865 snaps. Max Melton was next with just 565.

Whatever dude. Everyone knows that CB Elijah Jones was the best draft pick from last season. He had zero passes completed against him in his rookie season.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Master of the multiverse, as always.

Cap mess was created by Ossenfort. All of that was a choice.

I don't know if there is a poster who is more bipolar than you.

One minute you post very insightful football related information. The next post you go full on troll with garbage like this.

 

[oaken1]

Whatever dude. Everyone knows that CB Elijah Jones was the best draft pick from last season. He had zero passes completed against him in his rookie season.

The facts just are what they are

 

[Chopper0080]

I cannot take responsibility for your inability to understand that a team without it’s franchise QB is not going anywhere.

When the best Cardinals team in Arizona lost its franchise QB for 9 games they went 8-8.

Is your arguement really that 2023 team decimated of talent would have been better with their QB out for 12 games?

I think the argument is that a team like the Steelers values the importance of winning enough to not tank a roster because they have uncertainty or a lack of talent at the QB position.

Monti could have chosen to retain some players that weren't a long term fit, and spend some money to try to be competitive year 1. Would that have been better long term? I have no idea. Instead he chose to eat cap by aggressively cutting players, and eating cap hits in 2023 and 2024. Is that the best long term plan? I have no idea.

The only thing we do know is the path he chose has led to the record the Cardinals have had since he has been there. Until that record changes (and it can), the franchise is what it has shown itself to be.

On a personal note and speaking for myself, I do get triggered when people try to excuse away the 2023 season. Monti made a choice, and that choice was to focus on other things than winning football games. If you believe in him, you shouldn't shy away from from the consequences of that choice. You should have confidence that it was the best path forward even if it created more pressure to win in the subsequent seasons.

 

[oaken1]

I think the argument is that a team like the Steelers values the importance of winning enough to not tank a roster because they have uncertainty or a lack of talent at the QB position.

Monti could have chosen to retain some players that weren't a long term fit, and spend some money to try to be competitive year 1. Would that have been better long term? I have no idea. Instead he chose to eat cap by aggressively cutting players, and eating cap hits in 2023 and 2024. Is that the best long term plan? I have no idea.

The only thing we do know is the path he chose has led to the record the Cardinals have had since he has been there. Until that record changes (and it can), the franchise is what it has shown itself to be.

On a personal note and speaking for myself, I do get triggered when people try to excuse away the 2023 season. Monti made a choice, and that choice was to focus on other things than winning football games. If you believe in him, you shouldn't shy away from from the consequences of that choice. You should have confidence that it was the best path forward even if it created more pressure to win in the subsequent seasons.

Imo, if you have faith in your own abilities you are comfortable making those decisions and putting yourself in those situations.
No risk it no biscuit from a GM perspective.
I'm willing to accept the consequences because they were predictable.
But it remains to be seen if Monti's self confidence was misplaced

 

[BACH]

I think the argument is that a team like the Steelers values the importance of winning enough to not tank a roster because they have uncertainty or a lack of talent at the QB position.

Monti could have chosen to retain some players that weren't a long term fit, and spend some money to try to be competitive year 1. Would that have been better long term? I have no idea. Instead he chose to eat cap by aggressively cutting players, and eating cap hits in 2023 and 2024. Is that the best long term plan? I have no idea.

The only thing we do know is the path he chose has led to the record the Cardinals have had since he has been there. Until that record changes (and it can), the franchise is what it has shown itself to be.

On a personal note and speaking for myself, I do get triggered when people try to excuse away the 2023 season. Monti made a choice, and that choice was to focus on other things than winning football games. If you believe in him, you shouldn't shy away from from the consequences of that choice. You should have confidence that it was the best path forward even if it created more pressure to win in the subsequent seasons.

I do not disagree with any of that. I'm actually stating that as well.

My point is that the season was not going to result in a play-off run anyway with the lack of depth and Kyler out.

Based on that Monti chose to tear down everything. I have no problem criticizing that. But I'm saying that it's not like he took a Superbowl victory away either. It was not a good team that the new regime took over. A 4-13 team with cap issues, No QBs, zero depth and a group of players that had no interest in playing for a buttom team.

Even with more additions, the ceiling IMO would have been 7-10 with the franchise QB out for 2/3s of the season.

 

[BACH]

So @kerouac9. You keep posting laughing emojis without any counterarguments.

Since you do not add anything it would be fair to assume:

1. That you do not have nothing to add
2. You are unable to articulate any response
3. You truly believe the team was on a superbowl run with Kyler out for 12 games.
4. You are just being you usual condecending self and you defer from commenting because the only way you can actually make your argument stick is by making up a false narritive and blatantly lie as usual.

I'm guessing 4

 

[oaken1]

So @kerouac9. You keep posting laughing emojis without any counterarguments.

Since you do not add anything it would be fair to assume:

1. That you do not have nothing to add
2. You are unable to articulate any response
3. You truly believe the team was on a superbowl run with Kyler out for 12 games.
4. You are just being you usual condecending self and you defer from commenting because the only way you can actually make your argument stick is by making up a false narritive and blatantly lie as usual.

I'm guessing 4

5.
50% of K9's posts are intentional trolls to get folks revved up...
Okay,...65%
But I'm holding there.

 

[CardNots]

5.
50% of K9's posts are intentional trolls to get folks revved up...
Okay,...65%
But I'm holding there.

72%