Is this Deja vu? Drafting another small school linebacker and a short wide receiver. Steve Keim has put the Arizona Cardinals on a very fine tightrope. Keim chose to go with his “best player available” and it’s only made it harder on the team to become a more, well-rounded team.
To say that Zaven Colllins was too high on your board and that nullified the chance of trading down and acquiring capital is not an excuse. The linebacker position was one of the lowest needs on this team. Does this mean you (Keim) don’t trust Isaiah Simmons? Picking “best player available” is a straight up cop out on making your team better. If this is a win-now mode, why isn’t the strategy to fill the biggest holes on the team?
Don’t get me started on how awkward Collins was on his phone call and press conference. Saying that you’re going “to f*&&&ng kill everyone” before you even suit up brings up shades of Josh Rosen’s “nine mistakes” comment. Not to mention he wanted to learn from Patrick Peterson, who isn’t even on the team anymore. I can’t help but shake this feeling that Keim is officially the worst drafting GM in the league. Even Ryan Pace looks lightyears better this year. Ryan Pace!!!
There was still some hope that the team would address their true needs in round two. Instead of going for the bigger and better Terrace Marshall, the team opted for the Christian Kirk-Andy Isabella lovechild, Rondale Moore. Steve Keim sure likes repeating history with himself. This team has lacked a physical wide receiver since Anquan Boldin, and I have a bad feeling Moore is just going to be under-utilized like Simmons was last year.
For every Tyreek Hill and Tyler Lockett’s of the league, there are the A.J. Brown’s, D.K. Metcalf’s, and Tee Higgins’ of the world. Despite this attempted trend towards smaller pass catchers, the bigger ones seem to have a little more longevity on them.
Steve Keim is really going to trust Robert Alford opposite of Malcolm Butler and Byron Murphy. Alford is the 2021 version of Dre Kirkpatrick. On the other side, this means we have to watch two journeymen battle it out for the running back spot.
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I have been on record this year saying I trusted Keim headed into the draft. Little did I know that the decisions would be so out of left field and unexpected that I would have no choice but to revert back to where I’ve been for the past few years.
Unless there is a post-draft trade or something, I do not feel comfortable with where this team is headed.