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Arizona Cardinals April Scouting Report
David Vohs
4/24/2018
The Arizona Cardinals are prepping for the NFL draft for 2018. All the world believes the Cardinals will show desperation and move up for a QB in this draft and jeopardize next year’s draft and perhaps the draft beyond. IF they are so enamored with one of the QBs they COULD do that. Rumors abound and right now, there is NO way to understand what is going through the Cardinals’ minds right now. The other part of the equation is it depends on how the draft is going how the Cardinals can react and go get the player they want. In 2017, the Cardinals were jumped by Kansas City for QB Patrick Mahomes. K.C. traded the No. 27 overall pick, a third-round pick and their 2018 first-round selection to the Buffalo Bills to move up to No. 10 to select Mahomes. This left the AZ sitting at pick 13 with QB DeShaun Watson on the board and the Texans took him at pick 12. So the Cardinals took LB Hassan Reddick at pick 13. So, the popular opinion is the Cardinals will be desperate for a new signal caller this year.
The Cardinals have the following picks in the 2018 NFL Draft:
Round 1 #15 Guessing how this draft will go is futile, but if the Cardinals do not get a QB in the first round, you can bet they will look for a top CB to drop or take a top WR off the board. WR Calvin Ridley is currently thought of as the top WR in the draft, but I’d rather get a CB here and get a WR in the second round (if not a QB). The Cardinals have to bolster their wide receiving corps in this draft or continue to look in free agency. At CB, I would like to see the Cardinals get CB Jaire Alexander from Louisville or Central Florida’s CB Mike Hughes. They could also get deeper and younger on the Offensive Line. So many ways this pick could go.
The rest of the Cardinal picks are:
Round 2 #47
Round 3 #79
Round 3 #97
Round 4 #134
Round 5 # 152
Round 6 #182
Round 7 #254
The Cardinals have definite need at QB, CB, WR, OL, DL, and need depth everywhere including running back.
Arizona Sports 98.7 FM has a summary of mock drafts for the Cardinals:
QB Lamar Jackson mocked 56 times to Cardinals. I would be very happy with this pick and even MORE happy if they traded down and got additional picks and maybe even an additional #1 pick next year.
QB Josh Allen. I love this kid, but his inability to be accurate scares me.
T Connor Williams - I would love this pick. Great value at #15. Mocked 35 times to the Cardinals.
QB Baker Mayfield 28 mocks to Cardinals. I don’t see this happening.
WR Calvin Ridley 26 mocks to the Cardinals. I could definitely see this happening.
T Mike McGlinchey T Notre Dame 19 times mocked. Oh yeah, he would work too! RB David Johnson would be amazing following McGlinchey.
CB Josh Jackson 11 mocks to AZ. Might be a bit early, but trade down?
QB Josh Rosen 10 mocks to AZ. At #15, yes please!
CB Denzel Ward, won’t be there.
Well, Thursday Night will be an amazing night to watch how this unfolds. Will the Cardinals get aggressive and move up for the QB they want for the future? Will they trade down and add picks and move up in the second to grab a QB or even back into the first? Will they just pick the highest player on the board when their pick comes?
By the way, the Cardinal’s schedule came out obviously and it certainly has challenges. Most predictions are in the 6-10 range. I hope not. I think this team can go at least 8-8 and stay in the playoff hunt.
Let’s see how this draft goes! No clear #1 as of yet!
End.
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