Steve Keim urgently needs to move up in draft

In what could be the final season as general manager for  the Arizona Cardinals, Steve Keim urgently needs to make a deal to get the team to pick earlier in the draft. While it’s only going into the third year of the Kyler Murray-Kliff Kingsbury relationship, Keim and company are running out of time. There’s been unforgivable mistakes made by Keim and to me, this is his last chance.

Think back to 2012, the year before Keim got promoted to his current position after Rod Graves was dismissed. Keim said in an article that he “didn’t have the balls to draft Russell Wilson”. Of course he didn’t have final say, but a product from his alma mater and not speaking up more made this one sting.

“I didn’t have the balls to draft Russell Wilson.”

-Steve Keim

Fast forwarding to his time as a GM, half of his first round picks aren’t on the team anymore, and some were complete busts like Deone Bucannon and Robert Nkemdiche. Now not every pick plays out for a team, but to whiff on half of them is pretty damning. If it wasn’t for D.J. Humphries and Haason Reddick developing late, Keim’s reputation would be even worse.

On top of all of this, is the failure to move up in the 2017 and 2018 drafts. In ’17, Keim let Patrick Mahomes II and Deshaun Watson be nabbed right before their very eyes, with Watson going one spot before drafting Reddick. During this draft (’17), my older brother jokingly asked me if I’d have Watson go before or after the Cardinals had a chance to select him; only for me to answer before and had to deal with the frustration of the Cardinals draft room once again.

We know that the very next year they settled on Josh Rosen who’s only claim to fame was a miraculous comeback, and not taking a shot on the other Josh (Allen) who was a gunslinger-like quarterback who still needed development.

It’s time to put an end to this, Steve Keim urgently needs to move up in the draft.

As fans of this team, there have been a lot of disagreements on what to do on draft day. I see both sides, and you don’t want to end up with no first round picks for years. Yet it’s time to stop being part of the “if only…” crowd and get the player the team needs. Whether that’s Patrick Surtain II, or maybe even Devonta Smith or the next great offensive lineman. Whoever their man is, they’ve got to move up and get him.

With the NFC West most likely getting back to full strength next year (remember ALL the injuries the 49ers had?), this is the year to go for broke. Consider this:

• Seattle just fired their OC and may hire Adam Gase of all people to fill the position (I’m sure Jamal Adams will be thrilled)
• Los Angeles is looking for divorce papers at the quarterback position (hopefully Wolford doesn’t play, right?)
• The 49ers will have to work to get their chemistry back, but also have been mentioned to be a landing spot for Watson, especially after an Instagram picture surfaced with him in a 49ers jersey.

With all of this in mind, it’s okay to send off a franchise favorite in order to win now. Cardinals fans should get ready for this, and maybe more. It would be refreshing to see them move up and bet on themselves. After all, what does Keim really have to lose at this point? Steve Keim urgently needs to make a move to keep pace with the other teams in the division.

We’ll find out come draft day. May the odds ever be in the Cardinals favor.