Reaching too far? With offensive focus, Cardinals' draft leaves holes

At No. 3 overall, they drafted Jeremiyah Love, the unanimous All-American running back widely seen as the most talented offensive weapon in the draft. Then, 62 picks later, they again bolstered their skill-position group, drafting Miami quarterback Carson Beck.

This time, the selection was greeted with less acclaim; Beck was widely perceived as a low-ceiling, late-round quarterback. The nuances of those two picks, though, are almost beside the point. Both moves represented a clear philosophy: The Cardinals believe they can accelerate a return to contention, rather than building through the spine of their roster.

Their most significant moves of the offseason have largely seemed to operate under that philosophy.

Running backs are at their best early in their career and are most successful when dropped into an offense that is otherwise ready for contention — think Ezekiel Elliott with the 2016 Dallas Cowboys or Jahmyr Gibbs with the 2023 Detroit Lions. Drafting Love is a statement that the Cardinals believe they are ready to follow in the steps of those organizations, rather than the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers, who failed to build around Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey. Plus, they already had serviceable options at the position, with James Conner and Tyler Allgeier.

Beck, too, is a win-now selection. If the Cardinals were anticipating a rebuilding season, they could have simply waited to draft a quarterback until next year’s draft.

Forecasting the quality of quarterback classes a year out is inherently a risky game, but that group is widely expected to be much stronger than this year’s — and the Cardinals could be in line for another high pick. Instead, they reached on Beck, whose 43 starts of in college could make him ready to compete for a starting job.

“It's not gonna be a deer in the headlights,” general manager Monti Ossenfort said. “These guys that have played at these high levels. … these stadiums are rocking and they go into hostile environments. So I think that's always good. The NFL, there's no bigger stage. I think the transition is a little bit smoother for them.”

It’s not just through the draft that the Cardinals have signaled a win-now mindset. Their most significant free agent signing, Isaac Seumalo, is a 32-year-old left guard with a lengthy injury history. That’s a move that a team makes when it is expecting to contend.

And yet, elsewhere, the Cardinals have not acted like a contender. Seumalo may be their only free agent signing who starts in Week 1. Their defense — which finished 29th in scoring last season — has remained almost entirely untouched, including with the return of defensive coordinator Nick Rallis.

“It's a balance of depending on young player development, depending on players getting healthy,” Ossenfort said.

That approach holds water, given that the Cardinals were the most injury-prone team in the NFL last year. They’ve also overhauled their training staff this offseason, promoting Kyle Sammons to head of strength and conditioning in place of Evan Marcus.

But by making luxury selections in the first and third rounds of the draft — sandwiched around guard Chase Bisontis in the second round — the Cardinals have left a roster full of question marks.

They do not, of course, have a clear starting quarterback. They have a glaring hole at right tackle, even as they have made key additions at guard. Their defensive line is Walter Nolen and a collection of role players. None of their edge rushers beyond Josh Sweat has recorded five sacks in a season. And the second inside linebacker spot is uncertain, alongside Mack Wilson Sr.

Perhaps, as Ossenfort hopes, player development will fill the void. The Cardinals fired Jonathan Gannon in part for that reason: to get more production out of their young players.

Now, because of his draft day focus on skill positions, Ossenfort will need that bet to come good.