There are plenty of draft picks that Arizona Cardinals fans would like to forget. In the Steve Keim era, the team leaned into drafting versatile athletes with undefined NFL roles. While a few of Keim's picks have worked out well, many ended in disaster.
The Cardinals' 2021 draft class was one of their worst in decades. A recent article from Bleacher Report just opened up that old wound.
Analyst reminds Cardinals fans of past draft mistake
Any NFL team can be made to look foolish through hindsight. In reality, the NFL Draft is much more of a gamble than teams and experts would like to admit. That doesn't make it hurt any less when your team drafts a bust when they could have had a star.
Bleacher Report writer Damian Parson recently listed the biggest steals of the 2021 NFL Draft. Spoiler alert: there were no Arizona Cardinals players on the star-studded list.
The Cardinals' 2021 draft class was headlined by first-round selection Zaven Collins. Collins, the former Tulsa linebacker, was one of those versatile defenders that Steve Keim had a habit of taking. Collins has been a quality starter for Arizona, but he hasn't lived up to his first-round billing.
One of the Cardinals' worst selections of that draft came in the fourth round, when they selected cornerback Marco Wilson out of Florida. Four years later, Wilson is no longer on Arizona's roster.
To make matters worse, Marco Wilson has recently spoken out against the Cardinals, saying that playing for the team was a mistake.
But the pick wouldn't be so painful if it weren't for the player the Cardinals could have had instead.
In the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers selected cornerback Deommodore Lenoir. Lenoir has become a key member of the 49ers' defense, and he recently signed a five-year contract extension with the team.
As Parson says in his article, "Lenoir started two games in his rookie season and has started in 45 of his 49 games since. His versatility allows the Niners defense to match up well against different offensive personnel groupings. "
Lenoir typically lines up in the slot for the 49ers, but he can play on the outside as well. Thankfully, the Cardinals drafted star cornerback Garrett Williams to play in the slot just two years later.
If the Cardinals drafted Deommodore Lenoir instead of Marco Wilson back in 2021, they could have a starting cornerback group of Lenoir, Garrett Williams, and Will Johnson. Instead, they're stuck wondering what could have been.