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The 2026 NFL Draft has concluded, raising questions about the Arizona Cardinals' strategy, particularly regarding Kyler Murray's future. The team's unusual picks, including a running back at third overall, have sparked debate among fans and analysts.

The 2026 NFL Draft is in the books. We graded the first-round picks, the Day 2 picks and each teamâs draft class as a whole. Now this edition of the Four Verts column takes a look at some of the biggest stories in the fallout.
Apologies to any Cardinals fans out there, this comes from a fan of a fellow dysfunctional team that resides in Atlanta, Georgia. However, that Cardinals draft class was a bit of an unusual way for a team to start a new rebuild under a new regime.
Jeremiyah Love will form a nice duo with newly signed Tyler Allgeier, but taking a running back third overall with so many needs in a brutally tough division doesnât seem like the best use of that pick. Chase Bisontis was a solid choice at the top of the second round, but picking Carson Beck at 65 only added confusion.
The Cardinals' draft choices suggest a potential shift in focus that could impact Kyler Murray's role and future with the team.
Selecting a running back third overall has raised eyebrows, as many believe the team has more pressing needs to address in a competitive division.
The Cardinals drafted running back Jeremiyah Love third overall and quarterback Carson Beck in the second round, among other picks.
The Cardinals' draft decisions indicate a unique approach to rebuilding, which may affect their competitiveness in the upcoming season.

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Dysfunction or overzealous hubris is easy to spot when your own team is guilty of it, and the Cardinals have a blinking beacon over theirs. In fact, their process this offseason puts Kyler Murrayâs run in Arizona, which bafflingly ended in an outright release, into somewhat of a new light. Considering how poorly the organization has been run recently, perhaps this move to the Vikings can provide the competence Murray has been missing.
This isnât to say the Vikings have been perfect because they clearly have not. Between the complete failure of the J.J. McCarthy selection and the timing of firing former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, theyâve shown some warts of their own. However, theyâre not in the same stratosphere as a franchise where Arizona has resided. This is a team that was still sturdy enough to post a winning season last year with some of the worst quarterback play in the league, particularly in the late season between McCarthy and undrafted rookie Max Brosmer. Hell, they beat Detroit with three (3) passing yards on Christmas. That suggests the rest of the team combined with the coaching staff can provide a fairly substantial baseline level of competence that hasnât consistently existed in Arizona since Bruce Arians left nearly a decade ago. Theyâve had flashes, but overall theyâve continued to be lapped by their NFC West rivals.
From eating dead money on Murrayâs contract without receiving any draft pick compensation to their head-scratching moves during the draft, itâs been a reminder that the Cardinalsâ struggles over the past few seasons are not all the fault of Murray. Like the team heâs joining, Murray certainly has not been perfect either. There are constant rumbles about his likability within the building and his smaller stature as a quarterback puts an inescapable, natural ceiling on some of the issues within his game. Last year was a poor season from Murray, but taking in the totality of his career, it was an outlier. Murray ranked ninth in ESPNâs QBR metric in 2024 and has largely been an effective quarterback throughout his career.
Thatâs really all the Vikings are looking for right now, and they were able to get it on the cheap due to Murrayâs release. There will be bumpy moments along the way because neither of these entities are without their flaws, but the Cardinals donât seem to be moving in a coherent manner right now. Perhaps this is an overanalysis of a new era, but Murrayâs move to the Vikings will give an interesting, semi-controlled study on just how bad this Cardinals ownership group really is.
This is not meant to rehash the Ramsâ pick of Ty Simpson. Agree with it, disagree with it (cough), itâs done. This is the direction they chose to go, and thereâs no going back. But the full-on assault from the Rams and the reporters that theyâre close to in defense of the pick was just way, way too much. Of course, this all started with Sean McVay notably looking unhappy on draft night, but proceeded to go way over the top because the primary forces of negativity here was ⊠the Rams.
They did eventually put their faces on pro-Ty Simpson statements during the third day of the draft when McVay hijacked ESPNâs broadcast to set the record straight that he did actually like the Simpson pick and was in favor of it from the jump. This caused the broadcast to miss several picks while McVay and Peter Schrager ensured the masses that the Rams were in fact in alignment on the Simpson pick. Was this really necessary? The early portions of Day 3 still has plenty of players that fans of the NFL and college are waiting to see drafted and talked about by the broadcast. A wide-smiling McVay talking about a player that was drafted two days prior wasnât a great use of time, and it was where the story really crossed into cringe territory.
However, we werenât done there. A huge piece of the Simpson fallout was the controversy on whether or not McVay had actually met with Simpson prior to the draft. While at first it looked like the answer was no, Simpson recently said he had a secret meeting with the Rams and McVay that he kept quiet in respect of the Ramsâ wishes. This has no bearing on how the Simpson-Rams era will go, but it feels bizarre that so much time has been spent on whether or not the Rams like him to the point McVay needed to interrupt the draft broadcast and Simpson himself spoke on it.
If things go according to the Ramsâ plans, this pick wonât even pay dividends for years to come. They have no plans to move on from MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford and still remain interested in extending his contract. This is discourse for the sake of discourse when there are actually things happening! We must stay strong and reject the gravitational pull of the quarterbacks. This was strung out way too far.
The Vikings have had a strong defense since Brian Flores took over the play-calling duties, posting elite or near elite numbers with a unit that isnât exactly filled with stars. That lack of high-end talent has been a problem for them at times, but Floresâ meticulous level of game-planning has been able to cover up a lot.
Even with Flores pulling the strings, the Vikings clearly needed an infusion of legitimate young talent on their defense, particularly along the defensive line after losing both Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave.
Enter Caleb Banks, who played three games at Florida last year and finished with two solo tackles and one tackle for loss â and it was absolutely the right pick for them to make. Despite the glaring statistical profile, Banks is a reasonable upside risk in the first round, especially in a draft like this year.
Banksâ production is not from a lack of understanding his role within Floridaâs defense or even a lack of skill in terms of engaging offensive linemen and disengaging. He does both of those things at an extremely high level and his elite athleticism at 6-foot-6, 330 pounds routinely shows on the field. The one thing that he just really struggles with is tackling. It borders on funny how often he just canât bring the ballcarrier down after making incredible moves to blow up the offensive line. However, if any defensive staff can figure out how to fix his coordination in that respect, itâs this one in Minnesota. Theyâve turned players a lot less talented than Banks into capable defenders within that defense, so itâs fair for them to think that they can get back to the basics here and get Banks to finish his plays in the backfield.
Whatâs actually risky here is the foot problem that Banks has been dealing with this offseason. He still had an outrageous combine workout on his broken foot, which only confirms the otherworldly athleticism that he possesses. However, big guys with foot problems arenât always guys who can stay on the field. Considering the injury he suffered during the combine was the same broken bone he suffered in August prior to the season, itâs fair to be concerned about how big of a problem this is going to be for Banks moving forward.
Still, the potential payoff here is so high that itâs a logical pick for the Vikings. He can legitimately be one of the best defensive tackles in the league with some good coaching, provided he can stay healthy. The Vikings gave themselves a bit of insurance by taking Iowa State defensive tackle Dominique Orange later in the draft, who also has a chance to be a capable player in the NFL. They understood the risks, and now itâs on a little luck and the tutelage of Floresâ staff to get the most out of him.
There are so few moments in professional sports where family members get to play on the same team and it doesnât feel contrived. People often roll their eyes at instances like Bronny James getting drafted to the Lakers or Giannis Antetokounmpo stocking the Bucksâ bench with his brothers, but every once in a while talent and circumstance creates a moment where a sensible move is to actually reunite the family. Thatâs exactly what happened when the Falcons had cornerback Avieon Terrell, younger brother of their star cornerback A.J., fall into their laps with the 48th pick in last weekâs draft.
The younger Terrell was viewed as a potential first-round pick in this yearâs draft, but a shaky offseason process combined with a smaller frame saw him fall to the second round of the draft. He landed in possibly the coolest spot for him: with a team that has desperately needed a CB2 across from his older brother for several seasons now. It gives the Falcons a reasonable chance to plug a hole that has really hurt the team since Desmond Trufant and Roebrt Alford moved on, and itâs a in incredibly rare, wholesome moment that was immediately felt by everyone.
The dap that the Terrell brothers gave each other after Avieon got off the phone with the Falcons registered on the Richter scale and their visible emotion was palpable. Itâs so rare to get a moment like this that makes logistical sense. It was a very cool first draft pick for the Matt Ryan regime and a for team that hasnât had many cool moments in recent years. Hopefully for them (AND ME!) this works out for the long haul and we get those two playing strong football over the next few seasons.