The Arizona Cardinals have, by and large, been given high grades for their 2024 draft class. They had the largest class with 12 picks and seven of them came in the first 90 picks.
Their first four picks were all great.
Their fifth pick and second of four in the third round, the 71st pick in the draft, was their first questionable one. They selected offensive lineman Isaiah Adams out of Illinois.
Adams is 6-foot-4 and 315 pounds with adequate athleticism. He played two years for Illinois, one year at guard and last year mostly at right tackle. He was not great at right tackle. So teams have to look at his 2022 tape at guard.
He was in the Senior Bowl where Arizona’s assistant O-line coach Chris Cook worked directly with him.
Getting a guard in Round 3 was fine. The reviews are mixed on Adams. He was not even in Daniel Jeremiah’s top 150 prospected. But he was given a third-round grade by Dane Brugler.
Two other guards, UConn’s Christian Haynes and Kansas’s Dominick Puni, were ranked more highly than Adams and were still on the board.
Additionally, he will already be 24 when training camp starts.
Most would likely say Haynes would have been a better selection.
However, others see a potential starter in Adams at a position — left guard — that is wide open for the Cardinals.
That said, given there were perceived better guards on the board than him, this is the first pick where you don’t feel as great about.
My initial grade was a C but I could be talked up to a B-minus.
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