Red Rain Blog for Arizona Cardinals Fans

 How Good Are Monti's Draft Picks? credit: azcardinals.com By Walter Mitchell I thought it would be interesting to go back and take a look at Lance Zierlein's (nfl.com) and NextGenStats' draft grades and projections for the players in each of Monti's four draft classes.  Zierlein's Grades: 6.83 - Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio St - R1/24 6.73 - Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame - R1/26 6.50 - Walter Nolen, DT, Mississippi - R1/25 6.50 - Will Johnson, CB, Michigan - R2/25 6.39 - Paris Johnson Jr., T, Ohio St. - R1/23 6.37 - Darius Robinson, DE, Missouri - R1/24 6.35 - B.J. Ojulari, ED, LSU - R2/23 6.34 - Chase Bisontis, G, Texas A&M - R2/26 6.28 - Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, S, Texas Tech - R4/24 6.27 - Jordan Burch, ED, Oregon - R3/25 6.24 - Max Melton, CB, Rutgers - R2/24 6.23 - Elijah Jones, CB, Boston College - R3/24 6.23 - Trey Benson, RB, Florida St. - R3/24 6.22 - Cody Simon, LB, Ohio St. - R4/25 6.19 -Garrett Williams, S/CB, Syracuse - R3/24 6.16 - Denzel Burke,...

The Misconceptions about Jonathan Gannon's and Nick Rallis' Defense (Felisa Cardenas/Arizona Sports) By Walter Mitchell The main questions about Jonathan Gannon's and Nikc Rallis' defense right from the start are: 1. What good are creative schemes if they don't work? 2. What kind of a chance does a "caution and cushion" defensive philosophy and scheme that employs a heavy use of passive zone coverages have to succeed in today's NFL? 3. What kind of a chance does an NFL defense have when the defensive coaches show game after game little ability to make adjustments --- both during the week in game preps --- and. most importantly, during games when the opposing offense is exploiting their defense left and right, all game long? 4. What good is it for the Cardinals' defense to be #1 in coverage disguises when opposing WRs, TEs and RBs are left consistently wide open?  Have a close read of Cody Alexander's analysis of the Cardinals' 2025 defense....