On Saturday, the Arizona Cardinals hired Dave Sears from the Detroit Lions to be the club’s assistant general manager to Monti Ossenfort.
It’s not often that I get excited over a position like assistant general manager. Though if most sports fans were offered the opportunity, they’d probably be more ecstatic than George Costanza was on that episode of Seinfeld about a thousand years ago. What sports fan wouldn’t?
But when you hire a guy like Dave Sears, who previously served as the Detroit Lions director of college scouting, then it’s going to turn some heads. Sears served in the role since 2019, and a few solid draft picks later, spearheaded the Detroit Lions into enjoying their first winning season since 2017, when Jim Caldwell accomplished the feat in three of his four seasons with the team.
Sears brings a strong track record to the Arizona Cardinals
Since Sears took over as the director of college scouting in the Motor City, the Lions have had some solid drafts. Check out the list of former first round picks drafted under Sears’ watch:
- 2019 – T.J. Hockenson
- 2020 – Jeff Okudah
- 2021 – Penei Sewell
- 2022 – Aiden Hutchinson
Hockenson has emerged into one of the league’s upper-echelon of tight ends while Okudah got it together and had the best season of his career in 2022. Sewell was a Pro Bowl alternate this past season, and Hutchinson logged 9.5 sacks, 15 quarterback hits, nine tackles for loss, and an astounding three interceptions.
But Sears also had success beyond the first round. Also during his time as director, the Lions drafted one of the league’s best receivers, Amon-Ra St. Brown, in the fourth round in 2021. He also found other diamonds in the rough like Kerby Joseph and Malcolm Rodriguez.
Of course, Sears never had the final say in the Motor City, but he most likely had a lot of influence in the Lions selecting most if not all of the above draft picks. Therefore, it’s likely the Cardinals snagged a ringer with Sears as a remarkable supplement to Ossenfort.
Article Source: Detroit Lions’ Dave Sears lands role as Arizona Cardinals assistant GM by Dave Birkett
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