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 Help Wanted: Sticky and Fast Man-to-Man Slot Defenders By Walter Mitchell The biggest question that I have regarding Monti's decision to retain Nick Rallis as DC is ---> when are the Cardinals ever going to place NFL 21st century emphasis on playing sticky man coverage versus the likes of Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Puka Nacua and Christian McCaffrey? Over the past 4 years, with each draft, I have been imploring the Cardinals to take the best possible man-to-man slot defender in the draft: 2022 - Trent McDuffie 2023 - Brian Branch 2024 - Cooper DeJean 2025 - Jahdae Barron Yet, year after year, not only do the Cardinals ignore the slot CB need, absurdly doing so while drafting 7 CBs in the last 3 years, you would be hard pressed to find Cardinals' pundits and the vast majority of fans even listing slot CB as a team need. Pundits and fans argue that the Cardinals solved the need by drafting Garrett Williams in the 3rd round of the 2023 NFL Draft. While Williams is a brilliant zone d...
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 Cardinals Draft Go-To-The-U?                                                                                        photo: courtesy of PFF By Walter Mitchell Was it by sheer coincidence that two of the first coaching staff hires the Cardinals made after hiring Mike LaFleur as head coach were two assistant coaches from the University of Miami in RB coach Matt Merritt and CB coach Zac Etheridge? Methinks not. During the Hurricane's march to the National Championship, it was impossible to ignore their dominant rushing attack, spearheaded by a highly physical offense line and the hardnose running of RB Mark Fletcher Jr., who in wins over Texas A&M, Ohio St. and Mississippi rushed for a combined 58 carries for 395 yards at 6.8 yards per clip. The Canes' running game...
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 Red Rain Podcast 208: Offensive Personnel Analysis, Ty Simpson or Carson Beck? By Walter, "L'il Rock and Sam YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soX_v8WgR8A Spotify: Red Rain Episode 208: Ty Simpson or Carson Beck for Cardinals?? Here's Where the Cardinals Offense Stands Post-Free-Agency - Red Rain Podcast with Walter Mitchell | Podcast on Spotify Apple: Red Rain Episode 208: Ty Simps… - Red Rain Podcast with Walter Mitchell - Apple Podcasts 2026 NFL Draft: "To QB or not to QB" for Cardinals? What is your take?
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Four Leaf Clovers for Cardinals in 2026?     By Walter Mitchell One of the great arts for GMs of the NFL Draft is the prep that goes into making selections at the start of Day 3 in the 4th round. On the morning of Day 3, GMs are able to pare their draft boards of the first 100+ players who were selected in rounds 1, 2 and 3.  It is my ardent belief that Monti Ossenfort has done a fabulous job of identifying premium talents in the 4th round of each of his 3 drafts.  2023 - Jon Gaines II, G, UCLA --- pick #122. Gaines became a full-time starter in 2021, and started games at each of the three  line  positions (tackle,  guard ,  center ). [ 2 ] [ 6 ]  He played a major role in  Zach Charbonnet 's 1000-yard season that year, as well as the school's leading of the  Pac-12 Conference  in rushing yards-per-game. [ 6 ]  As a  senior  in 2022, he was key in Charbonnet's second 1000-yard season and helped UCLA lead the conf...
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