Mock draft season means playing out different scenarios that could happen next month. With the Minnesota Vikings trading up into the late first round, giving them two selections, they are a prime candidate to move up and take a quarterback.
While the Arizona Cardinals seem to be in a perfect spot with the fourth pick to land a perfect prospect in Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. but we know from last year’s draft that they are perfectly willing to make trades.
In the newest mock draft from NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah, the Cardinals make a trade. The Minnesota Vikings give the Cardinals their two first-round selections (No. 11 and No. 23) to move up to No. 4 overall.
The Cardinals then have three first-round picks to use.
Here are the picks they make in Jeremiah’s new mock draft.
Pick No. 11: Florida State EDGE Jared Verse
It was Alabama’s Dallas Turner that got GM Monti Ossenfort all excited but Verse is a great prospect.
In two seasons with the Seminoles, he totaled 18 sacks and 29.5 tackles for loss. He showed good athletic traits at the combine, running the 40 in 4.58 seconds.
And he fills an extreme need the Cardinals have, as they had only one sack over the final six games of the season.
Pick No. 23: LSU WR Brian Thomas
The Cardinals get their receiver. It isn’t Marvin Harrison Jr. but Thomas is a guy to get excited about. He averaged 17.3 yards per catch for LSU last season, catching 68 passes for 1,177 yards and scoring 17 touchdowns. He is 6-foot-3 and 209 pounds with big hands and top-end speed (4.33-second 40). If they land Thomas in the first round, Cardinals fans probably will accept this trade a little more.
Pick No. 27: Texas DL Byron Murphy II
If the Cardinals get a top pass rusher, an elite receiver and the top defensive tackle in the first round, this is a win of a draft.
Adding Murphy to a defensive line that has been remade with the return of L.J. Collier and the addition of Justin Jones, Bilal Nichols and Khyiris Tonga, plus the promise of Dante Stills after his rookie season, makes the D-line an area of strength for Arizona.
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