There felt a kind of kismet during the draft, when first former cornerback Patrick Peterson was the one to announce the Cardinals' choice of cornerback Will Johnson in the second round, and then the next day when the Cards' first Saturday choice, inside linebacker Cody Simon, was announced in the fourth round by inside linebacker Mack Wilson Sr.

The alignment was just perfect.

It was coincidence, of course. The board falls how it falls. Yes, the Cardinals came into the draft with potential hope of adding an offensive lineman and/or a wide receiver, but it was odd to see those upset with Monti Ossenfort with the run on defensive players. Before the draft, could one see the team taking a defensive lineman? Yes. An Edge? Yes. A cornerback? Yes. An inside linebacker? Yes.

Another cornerback? OK … well.

If this offseason tells anyone anything about what Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon wanted to do, the heavy defensive bent of these past two months underscores that. There were piecemeal efforts to improve the offense, but defense got the mega-boost.

"We're trying to upgrade our team everywhere," Ossenfort said after it was over. "You are at the mercy at what the supply is. We set our free agency board much like we set our draft board, and you try to pick spots where we will expend our resources.

"It just so happens we had more opportunities to do that defensively this cycle."

-- The last time the Cardinals took five defensive players in a draft with their first five picks came in 1991 – perhaps you remember, since the team nabbed Hall of Fame cornerback Aeneas Williams in the third round that day. Their first two picks were defensive linemen Eric Swann and Mike Jones, and they took defensive back Dexter Davis in the fourth round. In the fifth round they took defensive lineman Vance Hammond (who never played in an NFL game). It should be noted that the draft was 12 rounds in those days.

-- The Cardinals ultimately didn't add much to the offensive line, spending their newly acquired sixth-round pick on guard Hayden Conner (a huge man at 6-foot-6 and 322 pounds to put in the interior of the line.) They signed Royce Newman and Jake Curhan as depth in the offseason. If the right offensive linemen had been there, the Cards would've considered. But it has to be remembered the Cardinals drafted Jon Gaines II in 2023 and Isaiah Adams and Christian Jones in 2024, and those guys are supposed to be the backbone of the depth. (Adams is in line to start at guard right now too.)

-- Ossenfort did say the Cardinals would sign "a couple" of undrafted rookie offensive linemen. And he did not rule out signing (or maybe re-signing?) a veteran.

-- There has been a lot of talk about the renovation at both edge and the defensive line, but inside linebacker has had an overhaul too, with draftee Cody Simon joining free agents Akeem Davis-Gaither and Mykal Walker to play with Mack Wilson Sr. and Owen Pappoe.

-- Simon sure sounds like someone the Cardinals can see replacing Kyzir White as the playcaller. Assistant GM Dave Sears noted how Simon was that guy at Ohio State, "who could really run the show."

-- I said this a couple of times before the draft, and still believe it when it comes to wide receiver: It would've been fine if the Cardinals added someone in the draft (and they could still sign an undrafted free agent) but to me, the most important thing for the wide receiver room was never an addition but that Marvin Harrison Jr. makes that second year leap everyone is expecting. If that happens, I think the benefit will trickle down.

-- After the Walter Nolen III pick, it was easy to think how much competition there will be in the defensive line room. But with cornerback now, the Cardinals have significantly raised that bar. They draft Johnson (Rd. 2) and Denzel Burke (Rd. 5) to go with veteran Sean Murphy-Bunting, Starling Thomas V (22 starts in two years), Garrett Williams (Rd. 3 2023), Max Melton (Rd. 2 2024), Elijah Jones (Rd. 3 2024) and Kei'Trel Clark (Rd. 6 2023.)

-- Burke, by the way, can help on special teams and, at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds could eventually play safety. They're gonna have the best players on this roster and figure out how to work with them.

-- I know there was a lot of fingers crossed the Cardinals might take Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo, but that was never going to happen (and couldn't after the third round, once the Giants took him Saturday in the fourth round before the Cards were on the clock.) Was a fun thought. Totally unrealistic given the Cardinals' RB room.

-- Burke, the Ohio State cornerback who is from the Valley, was as shutdown as could be during the Buckeyes' run to the National Championship. In the playoffs, Burke played 116 coverage snaps and allowed just four receptions for 43 yards.

-- There was yet another DB that came late, Nevada's Kitan Crawford, the cousin of Patrick Mahomes and the four-year Texas Longhorn who played his fifth season at Nevada to expand his game. He was always a great special teamer though.

Ossenfort said as soon as the Cardinals picked Crawford, he heard from three special teams coaches he knew in the league praising Crawford as one of their top special teamers available.

-- And one final thing on the team's top pick. Former safety Adrian Wilson made a comparison between Nolen III and Wilson's former teammate, the great Darnell Dockett. You know who else made a similar comparison? Darnell Dockett.

On a Cardinals' Instagram post about Nolen, Dockett left a comment. "This pick actually made me smile and the last time I smiled like this is when we drafted Patrick Peterson and Ty the Honey Badger! No shade to the other players at all but it's something about certain players u sense, dog. I'm usually 99.99999999 right!"

The Cardinals hope to have the same percentage with their seven picks. Probably won't be that high, but we will see.