The Arizona Cardinals spent the No. 4 pick in 2024 on Marvin Harrison Jr. Two years later, with neither of his seasons cracking 900 receiving yards, a redraft says they should have spent it on a quarterback. On PFSN’s Football Debate Club, CBS Sports’ Mike Renner and The Ringer’s Austin Gayle agreed Harrison was the wrong call, then split on the fix. Renner wanted Bo Nix. Gayle wanted Joe Alt.
Why the Cardinals Should Have Drafted Bo Nix at No. 4
Renner’s logic starts with the hole Arizona never patched. “They’re going into [2026] with no quarterback,” he said. “They have Carson [Beck]. That is your hope.”
He is right about the void, and the timeline backs him. Arizona released Kyler Murray in March after stashing him on injured reserve late in 2025, and Murray signed a one-year deal with Minnesota. The Cardinals replaced him with veteran Gardner Minshew and third-round rookie Carson Beck, lining up behind projected starter Jacoby Brissett. That is a quarterback room built on hope, not certainty.
Bo Nix, taken eight picks later at No. 12, would have changed the math. “I think Bo Nix has been much better with objectively not a great receiving corps,” Renner said, “probably a worse receiving corps than even Kyler had in Arizona.” In year two, Nix threw for 3,931 yards and 25 touchdowns, went 14-3 as a starter and earned the AFC’s No. 1 seed before a broken ankle in Denver’s divisional-round win ended his postseason.
Renner conceded the alternatives. Arizona could have taken Alt, or grabbed a better receiver like Malik Nabers. “But it wouldn’t have changed your fortune,” he said. “You’d still be a bad team because you have no quarterback.” A receiver, even a good one, does not fix what has defined Arizona for three years.
The Case for Joe Alt, and Why It Falls Short
Gayle went the other way, and his pick is the cleaner one on talent. “I think it’s a no-brainer to go [Alt] there,” he said, describing a tackle who can anchor either edge of the line. “I’m getting a franchise, 15-, 16-year offensive tackle who [can] play left and right.”
The tape supports him. Alt, drafted one spot after Harrison at No. 5, made the All-Rookie team at right tackle in 2024, then slid to left tackle in 2025 to cover for the injured Rashawn Slater. He earned his first Pro Bowl selection even though a Week 9 ankle injury ended his season. He is the franchise cornerstone Gayle described.
Gayle’s other argument was about context. “At that time, they’re still pretty committed to Kyler Murray,” he said, “and I think they’re trying to figure it out with Kyler. That’s why they brought in Marvin Harrison Jr.” Fair enough. But a redraft is about what we know now, and what we know is that the Murray bet collapsed.
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Host Cam Mellor scored the round for Gayle and called quarterback and left tackle the two scarcest commodities in football. He is right that Alt is the safer pick. He may be underrating how badly Arizona needed the other one.
The Cardinals can sign another bridge veteran and draft another developmental rookie every spring, and they have. None of it answers the question a young quarterback would have. Bo Nix is starting playoff games in Denver. Arizona is still holding auditions. That is the real cost of the No. 4 pick.
