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It’s no secret that the Arizona Cardinals, under general manager Steve Keim, have been feverishly attempting to draft and develop an impact wide receiver. In the past four drafts alone, Keim has surrendered at least one second-round pick with the hope of finding a Pro Bowl talent at the position.
While his lone venture into the trade market produced glowing results in the form of All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins, his efforts on draft weekend have been underwhelming. Christian Kirk may be basking in his recently secured, $84-million-dollar deal with Jacksonville, but the former Texas A&M Aggie never once eclipsed 1,000-yards receiving while in the desert. Andy Isabella, drafted in 2019 with the second-rounder secured in the Josh Rosen deal, is one of the biggest busts in recent memory; especially when you consider the glut of receiver talent that was drafted around the Senior Bowl standout.
Lastly there’s Rondale Moore, who is undersized, but offers the most promise of the three. It remains to be seen if Moore’s smaller stature can survive a 17-game regular season while living up to lofty year-two expectations.
Even with Hopkins and Moore in house, Keim and the Cardinals find themselves at stage one when it comes to reshaping this somewhat uneasy receiving core. A.J. Green’s return on a meager $3-million dollar deal provides little to no promise for helping the team’s issues on the perimeter. If anything, the lack of financial commitment leads one to believe that the former Bengal is simply keeping the seat warm for a draftee to seamlessly enter the picture in the coming weeks; perhaps someone who possesses the same size and ball skills once seen from Green in his prime, but with youth and more athleticism.
Perhaps the Cardinals are gearing up for a run at Arkansas’s Treylon Burks.
A standout for the Razorbacks, Burks dominated a talent-heavy SEC for the better part of the past two seasons. His style of play is a mashup of Tennessee’s A.J. Brown with a hint of San Francisco’s Deebo Samuel after the catch. At 6-feet-3, 225 pounds, Burks projects as both an inside and outside receiver with an affinity for the big play that would undoubtedly aid his future team immediately as a rookie. In a Kliff Kingsbury offense that is so predicated on yards after catch, Burks would be a home-run selection in every sense. If you need convincing, look no further than his staggering 23.08 rating in avoided tackle percentage after the catch.
Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Cardinals are scheduled to meet with the former All-SEC selection for a private visit here in Arizona. This marks the second time in which Keim and Kingsbury have opted to spend time with Burks. They also met last month during the NFL’s Scouting Combine. The expectation is that Burks will be selected during next Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft, with his DraftKings’ over/under positioned squarely at 23.5.
The Cardinals hold pick 23, and Keim has never selected a wide receiver in the first-round.
If this is Keim just doing his due diligence without genuine interest, it would mark the second time in three drafts that the much maligned GM has passed on drafting a fan favorite at the receiver position. Back in 2020, with the Cardinals picking eighth overall, a large majority of Arizona’s fan base wanted the club to reunite Kyler Murray with his Oklahoma running mate CeeDee Lamb. The Cardinals went with Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons, while the Dallas Cowboys reaped the benefits of Lamb tumbling all the way to pick 17. Through two seasons, while Simmons has been solid, it’s been Lamb who has shown superstar potential with the Cowboys while earning Pro Bowl honors this past season.
This is not to say that the Cardinals should not also consider one of the many other talented pass catchers during next week’s draft. Many analysts believe we will see a record-setting amount of receivers taken in the first round alone. The issue becomes if the Cardinals GM, like he has done so many times, opts to go against the grain in disastrous fashion. Wide receiver is quickly becoming a top-five position in pro football, with the average salary of the elites cashing in only second behind quarterbacks. Securing an uber talent like Burks and paying him under market value for the next five seasons is good business for a team looking to extend its franchise quarterback this summer.
It also shows said quarterback that ownership is behind the idea of improving what quickly became a stagnant offense late in 2021. While Hopkins remains a force, he’ll also turn 30 in June, and Moore is anything but proven. Injecting a lightning rod in the form of Burks would allow the passing game to become less dependent on the unknown. The drafting of Burks would infuse some much needed physicality in an Arizona receiving room that, outside of Hopkins, is known to go down relatively easily.
The Cardinals are often manhandled by the likes of division rival and Super Bowl Champion LA in part because of the style of offense they play, coupled with their personnel. Kingsbury loves the horizontal passing game but he is also seemingly infatuated with undersized skilled players. That’s not a great combination if you’re hoping to manufacture yards. Murray is undersized, and outside of James Conner, there is no real threat of being overpowered if you’re an opposing defender. The drafting of Burks would change all of that. The Arkansas native has a violent running style not seen since peak-Anquan Boldin, circa 2008.
In an offseason that has been met with so much criticism, Keim could change the tone with one selection come April 28. In doing so, he’d be laying the foundation for an offensive reset, fueled by physicality that is desperately needed entering next season.
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