The Cardinals knew the player they wanted in the first round of last week’s draft and they were able to land offensive lineman Paris Johnson while also picking up a 2024 first-round pick in a trade with the Texans while positioning themselves to draft the Ohio State product.
That certainty does not extend to where they are going to play Johnson at the start of his NFL career, however. Johnson saw time at both guard and tackle while playing in college and head coach Jonathan Gannon said on Tuesday that the team will sort out where he fits into the line over the coming months.
“Yeah, we’ll figure that out. . . . He’s obviously played outside and inside,” Gannon said, via Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic. “We’ve just got to get him on the grass and see where he fits in with the other guys. I’m very comfortable with what he’s put on tape of playing a lot of different spots on that offensive line, so we’ll put the best guys out there, the best five, and see how we can make the gel together and hopefully move people in the run game and keep the quarterback upright in the passing game.”
Left guard may be the clearest path to the starting lineup for Johnson as a rookie as left tackle D.J. Humphries is still with the team and they re-signed right tackle Kelvin Beachum this offseason, but there’s a lot of time to work things out before any final decisions need to be made.
