The 2024 offseason was the start of the turnaround for the Arizona Cardinals. They went into free agency with one of the most cap spaces and a great amount of draft picks. Monti Ossenfort capitalized on the opportunity and delivered the best offseason possible. Starting in free agency, he and the front office addressed the defense for the most part, bringing in veteran defensive tackles, a new number one cornerback in Sean Murphy-Bunting and a versatile linebacker in Mack Wilson. When it came to the offense, the biggest signing that the Cardinals made was offensive tackle Jonah Williams to plug into the offensive line and protect Kyler Murray.
When the NFL Draft arrived, the Cardinals made the most obvious and best choice of selecting wide receiver Marvin Harrsion Jr. at the 4th overall pick. Arizona would then draft 11 more players (balancing both sides of the ball) and addressing positions of need.
With the free agency frenzy being over as well as the NFL Draft, the Cardinals look a lot better than they did a year ago. While they look better in the eyes of most Cardinals fans, Arizona may have a weakness that they will need to address before training camp.
John Kosko from Pro Football Focus made a list of the strongest and weakest position groups post free agency and draft. Kosko listed the Cardinals as having the weakest cornerback room in the NFL which is surprising seeing as how the Cardinals went heavy with drafting cornerbacks in the draft. After signing Murphy-Bunting in free agency, the Cardinals drafted Max Melton in the second round, Elijah Jones in the third round, and Jaden Davis in the seventh round.
By looking at this, Murphy-Bunting should be the obvious number one corner and then both Melton and Jones were drafted in rounds where it is considered starter level. Whether it is immediate or in the future, Melton and Jones have pressure on them to live up to their draft status.
On paper, the Cardinals look young but there is a reason why they went heavy with this position in the draft. As OTAs and training camp approach, it will be important for Cardinals fans to watch this position group and see if Kosko is right or not.