Cardinals stick to value on draft board over positional needs

One look at the Arizona Cardinals draft class and it’s safe to say that concerns on offense were addressed by general manager Steve Keim and first-year head coach Steve Wilks.

Five of the six picks the Cardinals made in the 2018 NFL Draft were on offensive players.

“In a perfect world, coach and I would have been thrilled to have balance and to fill some positions defensively if those guys warranted those picks. We had such high grades on those offensive players, we didn’t want to stray away from the board, which was important to us,” Keim told the media after the draft.

With the retirements of offensive-minded head coach Bruce Arians and starting quarterback Carson Palmer, there were questions on offense that many hoped the front office would answer on draft day.

But with the departure of safety Tyrann Mathieu, linebacker Karlos Dansby and a transition from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense, to only grab one new player on that side of the ball was somewhat of a surprise.

“We wanted to stay strict to high character guys, guys with coach’s DNA and I think we did that today,” Keim said.

The only defensive player drafted over the three day extravaganza was cornerback Chris Campbell of Penn State.

Campbell was selected on Day 3 in the sixth round with the 182nd overall pick. The other two Day 3 selections included fourth-rounder Chase Edmunds, a running back from Fordham, and seventh-rounder Korey Cunningham, a tackle from Cincinnati.

“I think we came through with a pretty good draft,” Wilks said.

Follow @GrandpaKeebs