Analyst: Cardinals Draft Star Will Make Big Impact

The Arizona Cardinals needed large-scale reinforcements on the defensive side of the football, and they certainly seem to have gotten just that. Along with sturdy list of veteran free agent signings, Arizona brought in some highly-promising rookies in the NFL Draft.

Perhaps the most promising of all rookies came not in the first round, but the second. CB Will Johnson out of Michigan, noted as one of the most refined prospects in the entire draft, fell all the way to GM Monti Ossenfort at Pick No. 47.

And according to FOX Sports NFL Draft Analyst Bob Rang, Johnson might be the best schematic fit for Arizona in their entire draft class.

Cardinals Rookie CB Will Johnson is Best Fit

"I’m excited about front-seven defenders Walter Nolen III and Jordan Burch, but it is the player selected between them — Johnson — who projects as the Day 1 starter. The 6-foot-2, 194-pounder has the bulk, instincts and big-play chops to star in a secondary already boasting one of the league’s better safety tandems in Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson," Rang wrote.

Johnson has a variety of skillsets. He's anything but a one-dimensional player. But clearly, Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon like what they saw from Johnson.

He profiles best as a zone corner, but has enough size to square up against opposing WR1s and doesn't play an unnecessarily physical brand of football.

It's not to claim that Johnson is a perfect player. There will likely still be a rookie learning curve. But that curve may not be nearly as large as some of the other CB prospects in this class, or even the other players in Arizona's group of picks.

It also helps that the Cardinals took their defensive line quite seriously this offseason. The best way to support a young DB's development is to get him some pressure up front.

There's no guarantee that Arizona's defense will truly shape into one of the NFL's most prolific units, but the talent level is certainly there, and they won't live and die based on the performance of aging veterans only.

The Cardinals have a group of young defensive backs with some promise, and Johnson seems like a likely candidate to immediately slot into a starting outside role.

There is the question of Johnson's health, but it seems as if Arizona is quite comfortable with the state of his knee, and Johnson himself is adamant that it won't be an issue. The Cardinals may have a star in the making on their hands.