Arizona Cardinals Chase a running back in fourth round
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals, while standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, went running back in the fourth round
Not exactly a pick some expected, but the Arizona Cardinals did stay on offense for their fourth round pick on Saturday. This time they went running back.
The Cardinals went with running back Chase Edmonds from Fordham with their first day three pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. Running back was not necessarily a need.
However, there was some talk the Cardinals did want to add some depth at the position. I just didn’t think it would be this early.
Edmonds is a small guy. He stands at 5’9, 205. This is such a Steve Keim pick, the Cardinals general manager.
Keim loves finding players from small schools. This is going to likely be his small school pick of the draft. There are two selections remaining on the docket in the sixth and seventh rounds for the Cardinals.
His strengths listed per nfl.com, he has good burst and a durable frame. I like that word durable. Durability has been a huge issue for Cardinals running backs over the last few years. See Andre Ellington.
Although he is durable, one of his listed weaknesses listed is he is considered someone who can’t improve his frame much more than he is already at. Another listed weakness is the ability to pick up the blitz. That was something former Cardinals running back Kerwynn Williams had a tough time doing.
Still, the pick could have been much worse. For the Cardinals, it is now four our of four picks on the offensive side of the ball.
It is not much of a surprise the Cardinals kept it on offense. A lot of criticism they received from their recent drafts, is that they seemed to be very defensive heavy and that lead to a drop off in offensive production over the last couple of years.
Next: Arizona Cardinals take aggressive draft approach
I guess it was message heard by the Cardinals. Now, let’s see if they continue that trend with the last two picks or find a player or two on defense.