Football figure at the forefront of the Cardinals’ thinking on day two of the NFL draft

TEMPE – Friday was another wild day of preparation for the Arizona Cardinals.

After an eventful Round 1 that saw two trades and Ohio State offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr. added with the sixth overall pick, first-year general manager Monti Ossenfort doubled down on Friday night with even more moves and a trio of prospects.

After trading the 33rd overall pick in a deal with the Tennessee Titans that netted the Cardinals 41 and 72 wins this year and a 2024 third-round pick, Arizona used the first of those three picks to grab cornerback BJ Ojular from LSU. .

The 72nd pick in the Titans trade, meanwhile, was used on Syracuse CB Garrett Williams before Arizona added Stanford WR Mike Wilson at No. 94.

During the two-day NFL draft, it’s a clear division between offensive and defensive players.

For Ossenfort, the theme of Friday night was largely focused on one thing: the football figure.

And you don’t have to look to find it, especially when it comes to Ojular and his prized No. 18 jersey, which is awarded to a player who leads by example and who pays close attention to detail and focuses on the task at hand. at LSU.

“Coaches and staff members award it to one player each year. A talented football player and an even better person that we want to add to the program, Ossenfort said Friday night.

Williams showed tremendous football character during his visit with the Cardinals at the NFL Draft Combine.

Ossenfort summed up the cornerback in three words: “Mature, tough, reliable.”

And despite Williams still recovering from a torn ACL he suffered last October, his return month is July.

According to Ossenfort, Wilson brings elite toughness and was a player scouts had targeted as something Arizona needed to add to the program.

All three selected were team captains in 2022 at their schools.

But the cherry on top of day 2? It came from the last move of the night.

Collected with the 96th pick in the third round, but without a draft pick in rounds 4 and 5, Ossenfort decided to take the deal one last time on Friday.

After trading the pick to the Detroit Lions in exchange for Nos. 122, 139 and 168, the Cardinals moved back into the fourth and fifth rounds.

“Just the way things fell, we were just cleaned out there,” Ossenfort said. “It just gives us a chance to be alive in the draft tomorrow and not have to sit around and watch players in their 60s come off the board before we pick again.

“It was more of a motivation at the time rather than pushing one more thing to 2024.”

A look at Arizona’s current Day 3 picks:

– Round 4: No. 122
– Round 5: No. 139
– Round 5: No. 168
– Round 6: No. 180
– Round 6: No. 213

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