The Arizona Cardinals weren’t just on the clock Thursday, April 23, shortly after the start of the 2026 NFL Draft.
They were under the gun, and that giant spotlight blinding them square in the face was the rest of the NFL and football-loving fans across America ready to give them the third degree about what they were about to do with the third overall pick.
We can all put the interrogation to rest now. The Cardinals absolutely did the right thing.
They couldn’t find a worthy enough trade to move down, the prospect that would have made the most sense from a positional value standpoint, edge rusher David Bailey from Texas Tech, was drafted right ahead of them at No. 2, and they took the best option available to them by selecting former Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.
They just landed their next Larry Fitzgerald. Read that again, because it’s true.
Maybe it was the ghosts still haunting the franchise for passing on Adrian Peterson in 2007. Team owner Michael Bidwill, general manager Monti Ossenfort and new coach Mike LaFleur knew they couldn’t afford to leave a dynamic, do-everything playmaker like Love hanging around for someone else to snatch.
It was a pick that not only can provide some real juice to a team that’s been swimming in irrelevance but will create some legitimate new and improved options for LaFleur’s offense in Arizona. The 6-foot, 212-pound talent with grit, breakaway speed and electrifying pass-catching abilities was the prospect I’ve wanted the Cardinals to take for months.
I wrote about how LaFleur should “pound the table” to convince his bosses that Love was the right choice for Arizona. A few hours before the start of Round 1, I ran into LaFleur in the parking lot of the team’s Tempe training facility.
Dave McGinnis was head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2000 through 2003. He compiled a record of 17-40 (0.298 winning %) during his tenure.Dave McGinnis dies: Former Cardinals coach dead at 74
Former Arizona Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis died at 74.
Head coach Dave McGinnis of the Arizona Cardinals looks on as his team takes on the Cincinnati Bengals on November 2, 2003, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the Bengals 17-14.
Head coach Jeff Fischer (left) and assistant head coach Dave McGinnis, both of the St. Louis Rams, talk during rookie mini camp at the ContinuityX Training Center on May 12, 2012, in St. Louis, Missouri.
Los Angeles Rams assistant head coach Dave McGinnis at training camp at UC Irvine.
1 / 8Former Arizona Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis dies at 74. Look backDave McGinnis was head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2000 through 2003. He compiled a record of 17-40 (0.298 winning %) during his tenure.Dave McGinnis dies: Former Cardinals coach dead at 74
Dave McGinnis was head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2000 through 2003. He compiled a record of 17-40 (0.298 winning %) during his tenure.Dave McGinnis dies: Former Cardinals coach dead at 74
Former Arizona Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis died at 74.
Head coach Dave McGinnis of the Arizona Cardinals looks on as his team takes on the Cincinnati Bengals on November 2, 2003, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the Bengals 17-14.
Head coach Jeff Fischer (left) and assistant head coach Dave McGinnis, both of the St. Louis Rams, talk during rookie mini camp at the ContinuityX Training Center on May 12, 2012, in St. Louis, Missouri.
Los Angeles Rams assistant head coach Dave McGinnis at training camp at UC Irvine.
He waved hello and shouted with a smile, “I’m going to pound that table today!”