Huge Mistake All Along for Cardinals to involve Kyler Murray in Draft Considerations
By Walter Mitchell
Yesterday, the word came out from ESPN's Josh Weinfuss that this year the Cardinals front office decided not to give Kyler Murray a key to the team's draft room.
About freaking time.
Three years too late.
The timing of Weinfuss' latest intel could not have been keener.
On Sunday, the Cardinals will have to cope with trying to block the Texans' superstar edge rusher Will Anderson Jr, (92.1, 76 QB pressures, 10.5 sacks) who should have been a slam dunk pick for Arizona with pick #3 in the 2023 NFL Draft.
That pick did not happen because Monti Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon felt it was a priority to serve Kyler Murray his choice for offensive tackle, Paris Johnson Jr., on a silver platter.
Problem was ---> the team's #1 glaring need and top priority was to acquire a prolific edge rusher, the likes of which they hadn't had since Chandler Jones and Hassan Reddick had left town years ago.
Every top draft panel had the Cardinals taking Will Anderson Jr.
Every panel --- except the Cardinals.
In 2023, the Cardinals still had their top three offensive tackles on the roster, all of whom had graded in the 70s in 2022. But Kyler has other plans. He wanted D.J. Humphries (72.3) to jump back in at left tackle, even though Cardinals' 2020 3rd round pick Josh Jones (75.8) in 9 starts had outplayed Humphries, who had been placed on the IR with a knee injury at mid-season.
Then, perhaps in retaliation for Kelvin Beachum (70.6) going on Arizona Sports Radio to air his (and his teammates') concerns about Kyler Murray's immaturity as a leader, Kyler recruited Paris Johnson Jr., billed as the best left tackle in the draft, to come replace Beachum at right tackle.
At the costly expense of passing on Will Anderson Jr.
Listen to what Jonathan Gannon had to say yesterday about the former Alabama Two-Time Unanimous All-American:
https://x.com/i/status/1998805052006555923
One can say, but Paris Johnson Jr. was a great pick for the Cardinals.
Sure.
But was PJJ the best possible pick for a team without a pass rush and such a lousy defense?
And who is the more dominant and durable football player?
Also, the Cardinals had to give up picks #12, #34 and #168 to trade back up for Johnson Jr. and pick #81.
The dreadful result was that after Monti Ossenfort elected to release his privileged draft trade conversation with Texans' GM Nick Caserio, which had the likes of PHNX exclaiming "Cardinals Dominate Texans in Round One of 2023 NFL Draft --- the ripple effects since that so-called domination have been:
1. Will Anderson Jr. won the 2023 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award under new defensive-minded head coach DeMeco Ryans who clearly wanted Anderson much more than Monti Ossenfort, Jonathan Gannon and Kyler Murray did.
2. The lowly Texans who had the temerity to try to win games right from the get-go, with a rookie QB, go and win the AFC South with a 10-7 record and win their first game in the playoffs by a resounding score of 45-14 over the Cleveland Browns.
3. Meanwhile the Cardinals go 4-13 with the NFL's youngest, most inexperienced and underqualified coaching staff --- all in an effort to what the Cardinals' fans relentlessly chanted as: "Tank for Marv."
4. Apparently per reports, Marv was also Kyler Murray's top choice. And yet how has the Kyler to Marv connection worked out?
5. As for PJJ at right tackle in 2023, he struggled, as one may expect for a rookie tackle switching away from his more dominant side. The irony is Kelvin Beachum would have graded many point higher, as he did while starting in the place of Jonah Williams last year, earning a 64.1 overall score with a 74.5 pass blocking grade.
6. Another costly ripple effect of pass in on Will Anderson Jr. was the decision to convert Zaven Collins to OLB and reach in Round 2 for LSU OLB B.J. Ojulari who was rehabbing a knee injury --- again at the expense of passing on another Alabama phenom in S/NCB Brian Branch.
7. As a result of Monti Ossenfort's breach of standard GM decorum, Ossenfort has not been up to make a 1st round trade since, despite numerous attempts.
8. Thus far three years into their tenures, Nick Caserio and DeMeco Ryans have a regular record of 28-19 (.596) and playoffs record of 202 (.500) --- think about that, the Texans have more playoff wins the past two seasons than the Cardinals have had since the days of Kurt Warner. While Monti Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon have a record of 15-32 (.320) and 3-14 (.180) in the NFC West.
9. The other harrowing irony is that the Cardinals who were so eager and willing to tank games in 2023 have not been able win games when they wanted and needed to --- because from the get-go under Ossenfort and Gannon the players have not been taught how to finish games.
10. Now in 2025 they are still right back where they started in 2023 --- in what, for all intents and purposes, appears to be another tank mode.
Regretful Decision Making
Monti Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon's willingness to cater their drafts to try to make Kyler Murray comfortable was always going to be a mistake. Not only did it empower Kyler in believing he was the smartest man in the draft room, but it was also bound to frustrate and infuriate the Cardinals' scouting department led by assistant GM Dave Sears. After all, doing the exhaustive research and film work on the top prospects in the draft is their singular purpose and mission. Being trumped by the team's mercurial QB had to be humiliating. Murray's involvement also handcuffed the scouting staff by making them wait a year or two to address the glaring needs on the Cardinals' underperforming defense.
All the while, Jonathan Gannon has been acting like a Reno gambler playing with house money. He's been acting like he has all the time in the world to try to fix things, when in fact, he has no clue as to how fix things. Nor does his protégé Nick Rallis, who this week openly confessed in the aftermath of the team's 45-17 loss to the Rams that "I didn't like the game plan" that surrendered 45 points, 530 total yards at a whopping clip of 7.9 yards per play, while leaving a blooper highlight reel of one-armed, grass-grabbing series of missed tackles --- that sank the Cardinals' woeful team tackling grade to an NFL worst 29.1.
perfect example of why they all gotta go.
ReplyDeleteJust read the entire Weinfuss piece. What legacy will Kyler leave? One showing the under-skirts of this owner. Murray was given his contract extension along with Keim & Kingsbury. Keim & Kingsbury were out the very next year due to Kylers tantrums and Bidwill giving into his choice to back Kyler. Kyler given the keys to the draft room is just another example of how Bidwill gave too much emphasis to a single player on a team. Next Bidwill saddles his new regime (Ossenfort & Gannon) to Kyler to spite Kylers numerous showings of immaturity and lack of development to master his position. It makes you wonder if the positive aspects of Kylers game 'athleticism' were over-blown and his bad decisions covered up. The national media never believed in Kyler. The sycophants believed in Kyler with blinders over their entire head (and remain so to this day).
ReplyDeleteWe need a leader of football operations, not a spoiled trust fund baby playing with his toys. We are the joke of the NFL...a perennial loser from inception to date.
Bravo, Redrun!
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