Arizona Cardinals' rookie usage raises questions about rebuilding plan

In the early days of Arizona Cardinals ’ training camp, a strange paradox has emerged.

This is a rebuilding team, by any definition of the word. Their over/under for total wins is a meager 3.5, the lowest of any team since the regular season expanded to 17 games in 2021. Look up any other preseason metric and it’ll tell the same story: 2026 is not expected to be the Cardinals’ year.

And yet, their rookie class does not appear ready to contribute significantly, at least not right away.

Let’s go player by player.

Jeremiyah Love has seen fewer carries than Tyler Allgeier, despite being drafted as the No. 3 overall pick. The two have mostly rotated series with the first-team offense, with Allgeier getting the first work on each day of practice.

Chase Bisontis — the No. 34 overall pick — has worked exclusively with the second team at right guard behind Isaiah Adams, who has earned heavy praise from the coaching staff.

“He’s a strong and sturdy dude on the inside,” Mike LaFleur said of Adams, adding that the 2024 third-rounder’s background in Canadian college football meant he required a longer adjustment period to the NFL.

Carson Beck has worked primarily as the third-string quarterback, behind Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew. The third-round pick has also had some struggles when on the field, although practice on Wednesday, July 29 was his best yet.

Further down the draft class, fourth-round defensive tackle Kaleb Proctor is out for the season with a torn meniscus. Fifth-round wide receiver Reggie Virgil and sixth-round linebacker Karson Sharar have worked with the third team. Of the entire class, perhaps only seventh-round tackle Jayden Williams has seen his stock rise in training camp, as he works with the second-team offensive line.

For the latter group, this is the expectation. Immediate production from Day 3 picks is a rarity.

But the roles of the Cardinals’ top three draft picks appear incongruous with their status as a rebuilder. If you’re not going to win games, then the development of young players becomes paramount — as does the process of identifying whether those young players can be relied upon as key contributors going forward.

The Los Angeles Rams could draft Ty Simpson 13th overall to wait in the wings for Matthew Stafford’s retirement, because they don’t yet need their next generation to emerge. The Cardinals do. The emergence of their next generation is, in some ways, the entire point of this season.

To be clear, none of this has to do with the players themselves. It’s far, far too early to make any assumptions about their career arcs.

Take Love. When asked where he should direct his focus, LaFleur pointed to “protection in the pass game” and “the way that some of these guys are gonna defend him” as a receiver. Those are normal growing pains for any rookie running back, even one drafted in the top five.

Rather, the roadblocks for the Cardinals’ rookies are the reflection of an unclear roster-building strategy from general manager Monti Ossenfort.

The Cardinals drafted a running back third overall, where the investment demands that he transform the offense. Yet, they signed Allgeier to a two-year deal and brought back James Conner on a restructured contract — despite knowing months ahead of time that Love would be among their top options at No. 3.

At guard, the assumption all offseason was that Isaac Seumalo signed to be the starting left guard, with Bisontis drafted as the starting right guard.

But if the Cardinals are so confident in Isaiah Adams’ development, then what’s the blueprint? Seumalo is on a three-year deal, with no easy out until after the 2027 season. Adams is under contract for two more years. So did the Cardinals draft a player 34th overall at a non-premium position to be a backup for two years?

Then there’s Beck, who was seen by many draft analysts as a reach at No. 65. But after making that investment, the Cardinals need to learn what they have in him, especially if they’re in position to draft a quarterback early in the first round next year.

Yet, they signed Gardner Minshew in free agency and handed Jacoby Brissett a notable pay raise last week to end his contract holdout. Why draft Beck if the priority is veteran stability?

If the Cardinals viewed themselves as a contender, they needed to use their cap space to acquire more viable solutions at quarterback, right tackle and on the defensive front. If they viewed themselves as a rebuilder, they needed to fully embrace their youth, ideally with high-upside selections at premium positions.

When asked pre-draft which of those pathways he envisioned, Ossenfort declined to pick a lane.

“Every decision that you make has to consider both,” Ossenfort said. “Every decision that's made with the roster, with a draft pick, with a free agent signing, it's got an eye to this year, it's got an eye to … how's this is gonna affect us tomorrow.”

It is, of course, extremely early. The calendar has not yet turned to August. Maybe Love will be the bellcow in Week 1, Bisontis a starter by October and Beck an emergent late-season gem — to say nothing of Virgil, Sharar and Williams.

But if the early indications are accurate, those players face significant hurdles to playing time. It raises the question of whether Ossenfort should have picked a lane, all those months ago.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals' rookie usage raises questions about rebuilding plan

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: Yahoo Sports. Open at source →