The Arizona Cardinals seemed to love what they did to begin Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft, moving down from pick 35 to 43 in exchange for an extra third-round pick.
It was a move many were curious to see what direction Arizona went with – as the team supplemented needs at WR and DL with their two first-round picks. CB was a position of need, and the Cardinals had their choice of top prospects in either Cooper DeJean or Kool-Aid McKinstry before ultimately moving back.
As fate would have it, they loved Rutgers corner Max Melton, a versatile corner who can run with the best of the best.
“I had about 20 [minutes] with him. Just his seriousness and intensity, honestly,” said Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon on Melton. “This guy’s a very serious person. The mentality that we’re looking for fits the price of admission and (after) having him talk through some things I could tell he was very well schooled, well-trained, well coached and he understood what they were trying to get done there. I really fell in love with his mindset, his attitude and his demeanor. He walked down and I was like that’s a serious person and I liked that.”
Not everybody loved the pick, however.
CBS Sports dubbed Melton as Arizona’s most questionable pick:
“The position that most drastically differed from my personal rankings was cornerback and Melton was an example of that truth. He went one pick after Georgia cornerback Kamari Lassiter, who is a much cleaner prospect. Melton, the younger brother of Packers wide receiver Bo Melton, is incredibly athletic but still growing as a player,” wrote Josh Edwards.
Melton offered some words on why he was the right guy for the Cardinals:
“I’m a lockdown corner. I can lock down anybody. I ran a 4.39 (40-yard dash). I can jump out of the gym. I can jump far and I’m a real athlete. I can play inside and outside—versatility. I’m on special teams. I’m a willing special teams player. I don’t just go out there and just play for the sake of playing,” he told reporters.
“It’s another (opportunity to) play football for me. I like to look at it like it’s 33% of the games so I’m going to treat it like 33% of the game. I can’t wait to help my team win in any type of form or fashion.”
Click here for our player grades from the 2024 NFL Draft.
