Arizona Cardinals' third-day draft pick, first-year starter: Safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson

The Arizona Cardinals have a new starting deep safety with fourth-round pick Dadrion Taylor-Demerson.

(Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports) / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Cardinals went into the 2024 draft with an undefined secondary. General manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon did their level best to change that. They selected Rutgers cornerback Max Melton in the second round and Boston College cornerback Elijah Jones in the third. Jones is an especially good bargain for where he was selected, but the real steal for the Cardinals in this class was Texas Tech safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson with the 104th overall pick in the fourth round.

Last season for the Red Raiders (per Pro Football Focus), Taylor-Demerson allowed 20 catches on 35 targets for 221 yards, 112 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, three interceptions, four pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 65.0. He had 485 snaps as a free safety, with 202 in the slot, and 113 in the box.

Tayor-Demerson will see starting reps on the field not only because of his outstanding athleticism, but also because the Cardinals really didn't have a deep-third safety who could patrol and erase explosive receivers. Arizona has Budda Baker as a roaming hybris safety and the underrated Jalen Thompson as a more traditional strong safety, leaving Taylor-Demerson as a primary deep defender.

Ossenfort expressed great confidence in Taylor-Demerson's deep third abilities right after the pick was made.

“Absolutely, he’s played safety down there for them. Really his best attributes I’d say are his range and his ball skills. He really has a nose for the football. I think he’s going to be able to play the deep half of the field and then we’ll see what else he can do. Versatility will come after that, but we think he brings a versatile element and range to the back half of the defense.”

Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, Safety, Texas Tech

PLUSES

-- Functional field speed is singularly impressive; Taylor-Demerson can get from Point A to Point B as quickly as any defender in this draft class. It's hard for quarterbacks and receivers to get a bead on his positioning in… pic.twitter.com/8g1XKdEDXG

— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 18, 2024