When the Arizona Cardinals waited to draft a cornerback in the 2021 NFL Draft, there were mixed reviews.
Instead of addressing a need, the Arizona Cardinals went and picked Rondale Moore in the second round. Moore played sparingly like all rookies who are not named Kyler Murray do.
Then news out of the final day of the Arizona Cardinals training camp broke that Antonio Hamilton was surpassing Marco Wilson for the second spot on the cornerback depth chart. To say that Wilson would get outplayed by a relatively little-known journeyman cornerback is something that no Cardinals fan would have ever thought.
But is it really that surprising when we consider how much of a risky pick Wilson was? Wilson made waves at Florida by starting as a true freshman, but he never really improved from that point on. Then the shoe incident happened, which cost his Gators a game against LSU.
This is concerning. A 2nd year player should be ascending, not regressing. https://t.co/JYQFvdRw5P
— Chuck Harris (@chuckh3) August 19, 2022
Arizona Cardinals cornerback room is looking like one of the league’s worst.
Who would’ve thought that bypassing Greg Newsome in the draft for a linebacker (Zaven Collins) who won’t even get the green dot to call plays wouldn’t eventually cause problems for this team? Vance Joseph is a very talented defensive coordinator, but he can only get so far if he’s working with subpar talent.
It’s why Steve Keim needs to trade for an experienced NFL veteran at the position. Stephon Gilmore? Spend away. Want to sign Xavier Rhodes? Blank check, here you go. There is no way the Cardinals can improve from last season if the cornerbacks room doesn’t get better.
We haven’t seen Kyler Murray be able to carry a defense that underperforms. It’s almost like we’re seeing the 2008 Cardinals again with the imbalance of talent from offense to defense. But that was a pretty good year until the final 2:37.
So if history repeats itself, I’ll be damned. But the Cardinals need help, and they need it fast.