The young defensive coordinator is excited about the competition in the Arizona Cardinals cornerback room.

The Arizona Cardinals cornerback room was mostly bad in 2023. Much of that was due to injuries, inexperience and unfortunately players just not taking the next step.

Look at the day one starters last year: Marco Wilson, the veteran, and Kei’Trel Clark the sixth round rookie who by the end of the season was just playing special teams.

So, this offseason a priority was placed on getting two more competent players next to 2023 third round pick Garrett Williams, who finished on a strong note last season.

They did that by bringing in Sean Murphy-Bunting and drafting Max Melton, but it is an open competition per Nick Rallis.

“I think it’s pretty simple. It’s highly competitive and it’s up for grabs for guys to go take and earn spots, which is a great problem to have. I’m excited, it’s going to be really good competition,” Rallis said.

This is obviously coach speak, but the reality is, outside of Murphy-Bunting and probably Garrett Williams, the Cardinals desperately want to see someone grab the next spot, and ideally it would be Melton.

We talked about the cornerback room a couple of weeks ago, but we also need to understand that someone needs to take the next step in this competition or they will need to be surfing the waiver wire to start the season.