Anonymity is the lifelong plight of anyone involved with the Arizona Cardinals. It's a small-market team with small-market impact. Even national NFL analysts often fail to see the intricacies of Arizona's situation because, well, not many people care.
I'm hoping that ignorance is the reason for Cardinals' general manager Monti Ossenfort's spot on NBC Sports' recent NFL GM rankings.
Monti Ossenfort ranked 20th by NBC Sports
In a recent article, NBC Sports analyst Patrick Daugherty ranked every general manager in the NFL. He had Monti Ossenfort ranked 20th.
If you looked at the Cardinals' record — and only their record — during Ossenfort's time in charge, you could justify ranking him solidly below league average. In Ossenfort's two full seasons at the helm, Arizona has won a combined 12 games. That's not good.
But context must be considered when evaluating the job that Monti Ossenfort has done. When he arrived in 2023, Ossenfort inherited what was arguably the worst roster in the NFL. Outside of Kyler Murray and Budda Baker, the team had no clear building blocks. To make matters worse, the Cardinals were stuck in a division with two of the best coaches in the sport, Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. To say that Ossenfort was fighting an uphill battle would be an understatement.
And fight, he has. Ossenfort has used expert draft maneuvering and savvy free-agent signings to transform what was once an incompetent roster into a competitive one. As Daugherty points out, "The Cardinals have made 28 picks in three years on Ossenfort’s watch, trading down for extra capital six times in three springs, including five times between 2023-24."
Those 28 picks have produced budding stars like Pari Johnson Jr., Garrett Williams, and Marvin Harrison Jr. They've brought promising rookies like Walter Nolen and Will Johnson. By building through the draft, Ossenfort has established a young core of talent that he can build around for years to come.
Yet, he fails to receive the recognition he deserves.
Daugherty has seemingly incompetent general managers like Cincinnati's Duke Tobin and Dallas's Jerry Jones ranked multiple spots ahead of Ossenfort. Many of the general managers ranked below Ossenfort are either on the hot seat or in their first year on the job.
Ossenfort has built this team with patience. Some may misconstrue that patience as passivity. According to Daugherty, "his lack of action could result in his 2026 firing."