Hindsight is always 20/20 when it comes to drafting, which former Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim knows all too well.
If he had chosen Tristan Wirfs or CeeDee Lamb over Isaiah Simmons in 2020, or selected Creed Humphrey over Rondale Moore in 2021, the makeup of the Arizona roster would look much better.
Monti Ossenfort has earned rave reviews for his first draft in Arizona, which includes my analysis, but a former Cardinals quarterback has a quibble.
Drew Stanton, speaking on the Red Sea Report on ESPN 620 AM Tuesday, believes Wisconsin center Joe Tippmann would have been a better pick than LSU edge rusher B.J. Ojulari when the Cardinals chose at No. 41 in the second round on Friday.
“Personally, I would have liked to see them draft a center,” Stanton said. “From my standpoint, when you’re talking about a second-round center, that’s where you see these elite-level centers go, unless you’re some guy blowing everything out of the water and you’re a later first-round pick. Centers that you can plug-and-play – like Creed Humphrey comes to mind from Kansas City.
“You look at offensive linemen from certain schools — Wisconsin has the pedigree of producing fantastic offensive linemen. If he was there, that would have been my pick. It wasn’t.”
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Tippmann, who some projected to go in the first round, was taken by the Jets at No. 43 overall.
The Cardinals had needs at both positions and an edge rusher is commonly seen as a much more valuable spot, but Stanton thinks a center is crucial on offense, and a good one could have become an immediate starter.
“To get that kind of ability out of a rookie, that can go in there and do that, that’s invaluable,” Stanton said. “You’re going to have longevity there if he has the ability to process and do these things.”
The Cardinals seem likely to start D.J. Humphries, Paris Johnson and Will Hernandez at three offensive line spots, with either veteran Kelvin Beachum or Josh Jones at another.
Center is the major question mark.
Potential Cardinals’ offense if D-Hop does stay:
QB – Kyler Murray*
RB – James Conner
WR – DeAndre Hopkins
TE – Zach Ertz*
T – DJ Humphries
G – Josh Jones
C – Some Rookie
G – Will Hernandez
T – Paris Johnson
WR – Rondale Moore
WR – Hollywood Brown*once healthy
— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) April 28, 2023
Hjalte Froholdt was signed in free agency and is in the mix, while fourth-round pick Jon Gaines, who played mostly guard at UCLA, is also expected to get a look at center.
“The pick I’m curious to see, as we look at this, is Jon Gaines,” Stanton said. “That, to me, is a huge need when you miss Rodney Hudson. We saw what happened when Rodney Hudson wasn’t here.
“You would hope — you would hope — that you would see the steps from Kyler Murray to be able to put more of the onus on himself to go out there and control everything. Rodney Hudson did that. Rodney Hudson is no longer here. Who is going to be that guy to put Kyler Murray’s mind at ease? Because that is imperative for this offense to go out and operate at a high level.”
