As the NFC West continues to become more competitive, the Arizona Cardinals will have to perform well during the draft to help keep pace. The 2020 Cardinals began the season as one of the more surprising teams in the league. By Week 10, Arizona was 6-3 and fully in the playoff picture. They were 3-0 against NFC West rivals, Kliff Kingsbury appeared to silence his doubters and the addition of DeAndre Hopkins immediately provided a spark to the team.
Kyler Murray who appeared to be in the MVP conversation at one point, was playing at a high level as well. Following the “Hail Murray” victory against Buffalo, it seemed as though the Cardinals would turn that momentum into more wins to ultimately earn a spot in the playoffs. However, this wasn’t the case.
The Cards ended up finishing 8-8 on the year and collapsed before our eyes as they lost five of their final seven games. The Murray hype train was finished, the defense didn’t do quite enough and teams caught up to them. In the west specifically, the Seahawks won the division at 12-4 and the Rams clinched a Wild Card spot thanks to the Cardinals, led by a banged up Murray, failing to win a must-win Week 17 battle in Los Angeles.
Looking deeper at team needs for Cardinals
Once again in the valley, the Cardinals will go into the offseason without a postseason appearance to speak of. If they look to make it back to contention, or even the playoffs for the first time since the 2015 NFC Championship Game, they will need to execute when it comes to bringing in the right parts this offseason.
Moreover, their division rivals are difficult competition to get through for the NFC West crown since the consensus is that a healthy San Francisco team in 2021, along with Seattle and L.A. are expected to be challenging to represent the conference in Super Bowl LVI. As Arizona tries to improve their mark in 2020, there are certain setbacks that need to be addressed, We’ll see how free agency plays out for them as they sit right in the middle of the league in terms of cap space but for now, here are some issues they can focus on during the 2021 NFL Draft‘s first round.
1. Running back
A ball carrier might be a reach at 16th overall but, one will be selected at some point in the draft by the Cards. Kenyan Drake and Chase Edmunds propelled Arizona to seventh overall in rushing offense in 2020. Even though this was the case last season, the running back room could be different next season since Drake might depart in free agency.
The possibility of Edmunds becoming RB1 is there but, if they are against that or want to give him a sidekick in the backfield, two backs from college football powerhouses will be on their radar. Those being, Alabama’s Najee Harris and Clemson’s Travis Etienne.