Cardinals Draft Pick Landed With 'Perfect' Team

The Arizona Cardinals were the perfect team for second-round pick Max Melton.

Rookie CB Max Melton, an Arizona Cardinals second round pick, speaks to the media at Cardinals / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY

ARIZONA -- Max Melton is sure glad to be with the Arizona Cardinals.

"I’m just so happy, I’m just so proud of finally being in the NFL. It’s something I worked for my whole life. I had a 30 visit with the Cardinals. It was a great visit. Ten out of ten. Great people," Melton said immediately after being drafted in the second round by Arizona.

"They have great fields out there, a great scheme and a great head coach. I just met everybody, and it really felt like home. I got the feeling that it was vice versa and sure enough, I’m here.”

The Cardinals needed a corner - and they landed with the versatile Melton - who can function on the inside or outside just as cleanly.

It's rare a "perfect fit" happens for teams outside of Day 1 of the draft, but that's exactly what Melton is for the Cardinals according to ESPN's Matt Bowen.

"Melton has the length and top-end speed (4.39) to lock in as a man coverage defender, either in press or off-man. But I also like the fit in Arizona under coach Jonathan Gannon because of Melton's ability to play with backfield vision as a zone defender. The Cardinals played a mix of split-safety and single-high zone last season on 63.8% of opponent dropbacks, the 11th most in the league. And Melton can stay on top of routes, read through to the quarterback and get a jump on the ball," he said.

"Melton had eight interceptions over the past three seasons at Rutgers, and he should get early playing time as a potential starter opposite veteran Sean Murphy-Bunting."

Gannon's a fan of the rookie already.

#AZCardinals rookie mini-camp is today and CB Max Melton told us yesterday he’s ready to put on the pads already.

JG says can wait 😂 pic.twitter.com/R5vRuM1r40

— Donnie Druin (@DonnieDruin) May 10, 2024

Arizona will likely see Melton evolve into a starting corner this season, and he's very much everything Gannon looks for in a player - as coach told us during the draft.

“I had about 20 [minutes] with him. Just his seriousness and intensity, honestly. 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," Gannon said.

"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.”

It sure does seem like a perfect fit all around.