TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona Cardinals think they filled one need completely and another partially during the first round of the NFL Draft.
General manager Steve Keim was so excited Thursday, he forgot about being politically correct in his zeal to describe the team’s first pick.
Strong safety Deone Bucannon will start immediately if the Cardinals used good judgment in taking him with the 27th overall pick.
Yeremiah Bell, last year’s starter, is unsigned, and it appears he will retire. Bucannon should step right into the spot and give the Cardinals more size and more athleticism.
“Not only do we feel like we filled a specific need,” Keim said, “we filled it with a player we targeted for quite some time.
“The guy’s a headhunter,” Keim added, obviously not in lock step with, or sensitive to, the NFL’s emphasis on safety. “He’s physical. I don’t want to mention him in the same breath as Adrian Wilson, but there are some physical similarities and same type of mentality we were looking for.”
The Cardinals traded down seven spots to No. 27, receiving the New Orleans Saints’ third-round pick (91st overall) in return.
Adding draft picks was one of Keim’s goals this year. The Cardinals entered the draft with only six, missing a seventh-rounder that was sent to the Raiders last year in a trade for quarterback Carson Palmer.
The additional third-rounder gives the Cardinals some flexibility heading into the second day of the draft. In his first draft as general manager last year, Keim traded down twice, adding two picks. He used one on running back Andre Ellington, who was dynamic as a rookie.
“You can get a potential impact player in the third round,” coach Bruce Arians said. “Now there is the potential to maybe package something and get two second-rounders. It just gives you a lot of ammunition.”
The Cardinals thought many draft experts undervalued Bucannon, and they wondered why he wasn’t rated as highly as other safeties such as Louisville’s Calvin Pryor and Alabama’s Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
“You look at his resume, his stats, his height, weight and speed versus any other safety in this draft … and we wondered all along why he wasn’t talked about along with some of those other top players,” Keim said.
Tight ends enjoyed big receiving games against the Cardinals all last season, partially because Arizona didn’t have a safety with enough size and speed. Bucannon might be able to help that.
He is 6-foot-1, 211 pounds, and he ran the 40 in 4.49 seconds at the scouting combine in February.
“In our division, you’d better like to hit,” Arians said. “He plays with a lot of passion. He’s going to be a great fit in our locker room. We’ve got some good guys here to help him and teach and give him opportunities to knock the crap out of people in our division.
“He’s got the length and the speed so he can match up on slot receivers and tight ends. He’s an excellent blitzer and tackler.”
With Bucannon, the Cardinals should have a tall, physical secondary. Cornerbacks Patrick Peterson and Antonio Cromartie also are taller than 6 feet and weigh more than 200 pounds.
“We qualify as one of the better, deeper secondaries already,” Arians said. “When you add (Bucannon) in, with his ability to play in the box, half field, back end and tackle, it makes us pretty doggone good.”