5 Teams Who Will Challenge Cardinals For No. 1 Pick
As the 2023 season gets underway, there seems to be one constant and certainty that many believe in heading into the year: the Arizona Cardinals will be the worst team in the NFL and thus will obtain the number one overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
It's really a fantastic consolation prize for a horrid season when you consider some of the elite talent available next year, most notably with USC quarterback Caleb Williams.
If the Cardinals are as bad as we assume they'll be, Williams will be in play, as will other elite talents across various positions. But Arizona is far from the only team in play for the top pick. There are several other teams who look to be in for equally rough seasons and could snipe the Cardinals.
Here, we have five teams that could usurp the Cards of the top pick here. Since the Cardinals own the Texans' pick in 2024, they are omitted from this list:
Los Angeles Rams
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Perhaps the biggest competition for the top pick next year is within the Cardinals' own division.
The Rams were a team built to win now and they successfully did that with a Super Bowl title. However, it's time to pay the piper for the moves they made and a rebuild is on the horizon. Several players are gone from that championship team, leaving them a shell of their former selves.
There are some believers in the Rams out there, but myself and many, many others aren't. The Rams feel destined for a top-five pick and will challenge for the top selection to get Williams as their young franchise quarterback.
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts may have their quarterback of the future in Anthony Richardson, which means they could be out for a quarterback with the top pick. However, that could ruin the Cardinals' chances for one of their other perceived top targets.
Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. may command serious respect as a potential top pick depending on who's picking and if it's the Colts, there's more than a few dots to connect. Obviously, Harrison Jr.'s dad was a Hall of Fame receiver with the Colts, but beyond the legacy factor is a team that has very few weapons on the team and needs to get better across the board
The Colts could be in on Williams if Richardson plays that poorly, but if they managed the top pick I'd imagine they would either sell it for a king's ransom or take MHJ.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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Unlike the Colts, the Buccaneers do not have their quarterback of the future and would be all-in on Williams if they got the top pick. The problem is their division may be so bad that they could win it with a losing record. In fact, that's exactly what they did last season.
In the aforementioned season, the Falcons were in playoff contention for much of the year due to their division being so bad. They ultimately finished fourth and secured a top-10 draft pick because of it. The Bucs are very much in the same situation.
Should the Bucs find a way to lose enough games to not win the division, they could be gunning for the top pick. If they do, fans can immediately start printing their #13 Williams jerseys.
Las Vegas Raiders
What is going on with the Raiders?
This was a team that had playoff aspirations a year ago and now looks like one of the bottom dwellers of the AFC. Josh McDaniels has done a pitiful job as the team's head coach, they are rolling with an oft-injured quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo in place of Derek Carr, and now Chandler Jones is throwing fuel onto the fire. To put it politely, the Raiders are the world's largest dumpster fire.
This will put them in contention for the top pick and Jimmy G will absolutely not deter them from drafting Williams with that selection. The Raiders roster isn't bad enough to have the top pick, but the situation could sink them quickly.
Chicago Bears (via Carolina Panthers)
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In fairness, I don't buy the Bears this year and firmly believe they will be in the running for the top pick by themselves. However, it's the pick they have from the Panthers that I believe will yield the higher draft capital.
The Panthers are a team in the midst of a rebuild with a new quarterback, head coach, and a roster overhaul in progress. This typically leads to high draft picks, but like their division rivals, the Buccaneers, they could also just as easily make the playoffs. Talk about one extreme vs the other.
Regardless of how the Bears wind up with the top pick, they have to have a serious conversation about drafting Williams, who is definitively better than Justin Fields. If they were to pass, you can put them down for a BPA of an offensive or defensive lineman.
