Arizona Cardinals 2014 NFL Draft class ‘not sexy but solid’

TEMPE, Ariz. – Their names may not jump off the page, but then name value has never been a really good reason to draft a player, at least it shouldn’t be.

The Arizona Cardinals made seven selections over the three-day 2014 NFL Draft, taking four offensive and three defensive players:

Player	Pos	Rnd	Overall	School
Deone Bucannon	S	1	27	Washington State
Troy Niklas	TE	2	52	Notre Dame
Kareem Martin	DE	3	84	North Carolina
John Brown	WR	3	91	Pittsburg State
Logan Thomas	QB	4	120	Virginia Tech
Ed Stinson	DL	5	160	Alabama
Walt Powell	WR	6	196	Murray State

“You know what I love about it is I look at all those names,” general manager Steve Keim said, “and I see guys who are big-time competitors, who love the game and bring an element of toughness to our locker room, which I don’t think you can ever have enough of.”

While it’s a bit premature to make a final judgment on Keim’s second draft class, one early review is quite favorable.

“The Cardinals have had a solid draft so far, not sexy but solid,” NFL Network draft expert Mike Mayock said during the broadcast on Saturday.

Keim stayed true to his board, drafting the best available player with a nod toward filling a need.

The Cardinals may not have had any immediate needs, but they did need to add depth at various positions, which will continue now with the signing of undrafted rookie free agents, specifically running back and along the offensive line.

“I’ve walked out of this building for many years when we got As and Bs (on our draft) and those players didn’t turn out to be good players,” Keim said. “So you have to just trust what you’re doing and trust your board. And I trust the people in our room. And again, you have to avoid the noise sometimes and avoid what people are saying and you can’t get caught up in some of the hype.

“Again, I’ve always trusted what I see on tape, and I think that we came away with a pretty good class.”

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