Cardinals Undergoing Massive Culture Change

The Arizona Cardinals made it a point of emphasis to undergo a massive culture change during the 2023 NFL Draft.

The goal for any team entering the NFL Draft is to build a better roster. Each year, thousands of college players try to make the leap to the next level. 

For the Arizona Cardinals - a team clearly going through their own rebuild after a 4-13 season saw them tear the organization down to the foundation - adding talented players isn't a goal, it's a must. 

Yet as the weekend panned out and the Cardinals maneuvered through a draft class that saw them acquire a handful of potential Day 1 starters with strong draft ammo, one theme stuck out: Character. 

That's an obvious box to tick, especially in an era where everything and anything players do will be scrutinized thanks to social media.

That began on Day 1, when the Cardinals drafted Paris Johnson Jr. after moving up from No. 12 to 6 (after trading down from No. 3).

"I spent a lot of time with Paris between the combine and the 30 visit, he’s an impressive young man and you guys will get a chance to meet him tomorrow," said Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort shortly after picking him. 

"He comes from a good program at Ohio State, (Head) Coach (Ryan) Day runs a great program there - they’ve won a lot of games. They've won a lot of games - Paris has played guard, he's played tackle. Opportunity to add a high character individual who's also got a lot of ability on the field. The opportunity presented itself and we went ahead and made the move.”

That theme continued on Day 2:

"Taking BJ Ojulari out of LSU - outside linebacker. A guy who, it's going to be a theme tonight, football character. BJ wearing the prestigious number 18 jersey at LSU. Given to the player that represents the values and of what LSU's program is about, it's awarded by coaches and staff members to one player each year and that was BJ this year. So again, a talented football player and an even better person that we're anxious to add to the program," Ossenfort said before continuing on about Garrett Williams. 

"Garrett, a guy that we met with at the combine. An impressive, impressive individual. Again, football character through the roof. Mature, tough, dependable. Garrett played really well in the ‘21 season and then the ‘22 season suffered a torn ACL there in October, knee injury. Working his way back. We feel good about where he is and where he will be. He'll come in here and keep rolling with his rehab and we'll get him out there as soon as we can. But again, excited to add another player with high football character like Garrett."

The last pick of Day 2 - Stanford WR Michael Wilson - was a two-time captain for the Cardinal. 

After the draft concluded, Ossenfort again touched on character as a main direction of their efforts.

“I keep talking about the high-character players that we're adding, but I think the high character coaches that we've added and I think that shows, and I think we heard that about with 30 visits, the guys that came in on 30 visits about, how the staff connected with them and how they felt the energy. 

"Our current players have commented on the overall energy and the building and the way things are going. So I think, I think it's all tied together. I think this is what we're trying to build here as a football program and all facets of it. We're excited about the work the coaches have done and we're excited about the players we've added to help push that culture along.”

Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon expanded on why getting those high character guys was so important:

"I think the thing that stands out that I’m most pleased with is the character of the guys. That was important to me and Monti, our entire staff of making sure we get high character guys in here because we know that high character guys typically hit their ceiling and help you win games as a team," said Gannon.

"It was neat talking to those guys after the weekend and just hear that reiterated. ‘Coach, I can’t wait to get here and do whatever we can do to help the team win.’ So, I’m excited about those guys and we’ll get them here I think a week from Thursday for a mini camp, and we’ll go from there.”

The Cardinals have often found themselves in headlines over the last 12 months, mostly for negative reasons on and off the field.

With a new front office, coaching staff and crop of incoming players, there's hope that a culture change will invade Arizona. 

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