The Arizona Cardinals have 6 picks in the upcoming NFL Draft. The Cardinals traded away their second round pick to the Texans along with RB David Johnson for the Texan’s 4^th round pick and WR DE’ Andre Hopkins. Most people consider it a complete steal and I have to agree. Great move. But what does this do to the Cardinal’s draft scheme?

The Cardinals have the following picks: First Round #8 Overall. Second Round: None. Third Round #72 Overall. Fourth Round: #114 and #131 from Texans. 5^th Round: None. Sixth Round: #202 from Patriots and 7^th Round: #222

The Cardinals have many glaring needs. WR – addressed with WR Hopkins trade but I really would like to see them pick up a top wide receiver in this draft and let the opposition squirm! OL – Yes, every team probably needs upgrades here and the Cardinals are in a prime position to upgrade their Offensive Line in the draft this year. There are a ton of good Tackles this year so the Cardinals at #8 are primed to get one (maybe whichever one they want). I would never argue that this is a great draft pick. Finally, I have to say if Clemson LB Isaiah Simmons drops to #8 that’s the pick the Cardinals should make. Their defensive numbers were not good last year while the offense needs to get better and better. Similar idea for CB Jeff Okudah who could easily play opposite of CB Patrick Peterson.

So, enough of the dreaming. This week we will find out what the Cardinals expected to get out of this draft. They have a tendency to take risks on small school athletes and believe they can translate directly to the NFL.

Look for the Cardinals to come out of the draft with the following positions (not necessarily in this order):

OL, DL, LB, WR, RB, CB, S, TE. Some of these will be addressed in the free agent non-drafted players I would guess. The Cardinals need to go back to the Denny Green philosophy of taking players from the big schools who have experience playing against the really good players in college.

GM Steve Keim needs to follow up his good offseason so far with some good quality players that will stick on this roster. That seemed to work and find some very good quality players.

In the 2019 NFL Draft, the Cardinals drafted WR Andy Isabella over WR DK Metcalf who was drafted by Seattle. WR DK Metcalf had impact last year where WR Andy Isabella what a complete ghost last year other than pre-season.

This draft will be strange as no fans will be involved to boo the Commissioner (tacky by the way).

Let’s hope everyone stays healthy, all the equipment for the draft works well, and it is successful.

Go AZ Cardinals!

End.