Cardinals Speak on Potentially Drafting Will Anderson, Jalen Carter
The Arizona Cardinals have some decisions to make.
There's some top talent available to them with the No. 3 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, especially on the defensive side of the ball. After losing players such as Byron Murphy, Zach Allen and J.J. Watt, adding a young potential cornerstone could pay dividends down the road for Arizona's attempt to rebuild quickly.
On the other hand, the Cardinals are looking to cash in on their lottery ticket for another team's franchise quarterback, as there appears to be a number of teams looking to trade up with Arizona.
Stay at three or drop down? That's the dilemma Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon and the rest of the organization face.
One coveted target at No. 3 would be Alabama's Will Anderson, who is considered to be the top edge prospect in the class. His ability to get after the quarterback and cause chaos in the backfield for the Crimson Tide has essentially guaranteed he will be selected in the top five.
"Yeah, he's a good player. There's a lot of good players out there. I don't really look at guys value as far as 'when would you pick them? When would you want them?' I look at, 'hey, do we want this guy? Can he help us win? Does he have the right type of character? ... That's kind of the buckets I put them in and then Monti [Ossenfort] handles the rest," Gannon said when asked about Anderson.
Another option is Georgia DL Jalen Carter, a mammoth along the interior that dominated opposing offensive lines for the Bulldogs in route to back-to-back national championships.
However, major character concerns have potentially impacted his draft stock. Other teams in the top ten have reportedly dropped him off their draft boards all together, and Gannon wouldn't comment when asked about his opinion of Carter' character.
"We evaluate everyone's character and then make decisions based upon what we say as a collective group of what we're gonna do. I'll keep that one in-house but I feel good where everybody that's on that board, where they're at right now and adding those guys to be Cardinals," Gannon answered.
If the Cardinals stay within the top ten, Carter could still potentially be there. However, it sounds as if Gannon wasn't exactly glowing about Carter's character in his press conference.
Time will tell what the Cardinals do, but with Anderson likely going in the top five and Carter not doing himself any favors, Arizona may not leave Day 1 with either player.
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