My mock draft #1

[Diamondback Jay]

I'm gonna start out with an outside the box idea and go from there.

As of this point, the Cards have the 13th pick. They also have needs at RT (possibly LT too if you aren't sold on Levi Brown's development at the end of the season) and ILB, and couldn't be hurt to upgrade at WR, QB and Guard.

The team also lacks a second round pick as a result of the Kolb trade.

On the flip side of this, New England has two first rounders and two second rounders. Their defense is horrid and as good as Brady and that offense are, Brady also isn't exactly a spring chicken and the offense gets older by the season. Sooner or later, they're going to have to work on that atrocious defense and are going to have to go back to their roots if they want to remain competitive once Brady inevidibly walks away or shows signs of mortality.

That said...

TRADE:
Cardinals trade the 13th pick to New England for picks 30 and 48.

Now to the picks.

1st
Kendal Wright
WR
Baylor

- While Robert Griffin III stole a majority of the headlines in Waco, Wright quietly had an extremely successful career as Griffin's go-to-threat at WR; putting up over 4,000 yards and 32 touchdowns in his four years as a starter. In those 4 years, he notched over 600 yards each season and really stepped forward as a potential big play WR this season.

While his size (5'11, 190 pounds) may scare some scouts off, his electric, big play speed would compliment Fitzgerald extremely well and could be the Mike Wallace impact player this offense needs.

2nd
Kevin Zeitler
G
Wisconsin

- Zeitler has been one of Wisconsin's most reliable offensive linemen over the last two seasons. He's extremely potent in both pass protection and run support, as proven this season with his efforts in opening holes for both Russell Wilson and Montee Ball.

Wisconsin has developed some pretty good offensive linemen in recent years, and Zeitler should be another who has success on the NFL level. He's not only stout against attack, he's got a nasty streak that this offensive line desperately needs.

3rd
Don Barclay
OT
West Virginia

- Barclay has been West Virginia's starting LT for the last three seasons, where he's excelled in protecting his QB's blindside. He has an ability to pull lanes to open up holes for the rush, and leaves enough time for the QB to throw in the pocket.

He tends to struggle a tad with the speed rushers and may be best suited for RT on the pro level, but that said, Arizona certainly NEEDS a RT and they would be well suited to bring Barclay, who Jabal Sheard (sic) last season called "hell on wheels" and got completely shut down by. Vinny Curry of Marshall also called Barclay "a pitbull blocker."

Definitely will take that on this offensive line.

4th
Tank Carder
ILB
TCU

- Carder is a gritty, hard nosed, nose to the ball ILB who would be an ideal fit for this defense. He was one of the vocal leaders on last season's Rose Bowl winner and a 2nd team All-American. He further cemented his play this year, really picking up steam in the second half of the season and helping the Frogs defense remain potent. Was voted the MWC Defensive Player of the Year.

Carder was mentored early by fellow Cardinal Darryl Washington, which is only an added plus.

Stewart Bradley has sucked for the Cardinals and likely won't be back. Carder could step in immediately and make this defense even better.

5th
Trevin Wade
CB
Arizona

- Arizona's defense was truly horrid this season, however Wade stood out from the pack and was one of the sole bright spots on it.

He's shown ability in the past of being a decent cover corner, and would provide at worst some quality depth.

I strongly considered Omar Bolden here too. Bolden has first round talent would if healthy give Arizona an electric 1-2 punch at CB, however two season ending knee injuries in less than 3 years is highly concerning.

6th
Austin Davis
QB
Southern Miss

- This pick is conditional on what the Cards elect to do with the QB position this off-season. If they decide to cut their losses with Kolb and agree to eat their second rounder and DRC, I fully forsee them getting a veteran (Jason Campbell?) to take over the reigns for a period of time, bumping John Skelton into the developmental role.

If they KEEP Kolb (which I think is more likely than people realize), I still think they get a veteran (again, Campbell's name pops up) for competition and incase Kolb proves he can't cut the mustard.

If Kolb is sent packing, I see them picking up a developmental QB here (Davis) to groom further and seeing if he or Skelton can be the future behind center.

As is, Davis is a real sleeper at QB. He's got good arm strength and decent accuracy. He played in a gimmicky offense, which is why I feel he won't go higher and put him into the developmental category, but working with the right coaches (Haley???) he could turn out to be a true diamond in the rough.

If Kolb is retained, I change this pick to DE Ethan Johnson of Notre Dame, who seems suited to be a 3-4 DE on the next level for depth.

7th
Jaye Howard
DT
Florida

- Howard is athletic as hell, and has some potential. He hasn't put it all together on the college ranks, but I feel could be coached up to live up to that upside. Worst case, he's depth at DT, which is never bad especially if Dan Williams misses time.

Thoughts?

 

[Broseph]

Don't like trading down. I doubt Wright would be there at 30 anyways. I say we stand pat and grab Martin or LB Luke Kuechly out of Boston College.

 

[GatorAZ]

I do like Wright because of his YAC ability. Some teams have him rated higher than Blackmon (believe it or not)... http://www.draftinsider.net/blog/?p=5968

 

[overseascardfan]

I'm gonna start out with an outside the box idea and go from there.

As of this point, the Cards have the 13th pick. They also have needs at RT (possibly LT too if you aren't sold on Levi Brown's development at the end of the season) and ILB, and couldn't be hurt to upgrade at WR, QB and Guard.

The team also lacks a second round pick as a result of the Kolb trade.

On the flip side of this, New England has two first rounders and two second rounders. Their defense is horrid and as good as Brady and that offense are, Brady also isn't exactly a spring chicken and the offense gets older by the season. Sooner or later, they're going to have to work on that atrocious defense and are going to have to go back to their roots if they want to remain competitive once Brady inevidibly walks away or shows signs of mortality.

That said...

TRADE:
Cardinals trade the 13th pick to New England for picks 30 and 48.

Now to the picks.

1st
Kendal Wright
WR
Baylor

- While Robert Griffin III stole a majority of the headlines in Waco, Wright quietly had an extremely successful career as Griffin's go-to-threat at WR; putting up over 4,000 yards and 32 touchdowns in his four years as a starter. In those 4 years, he notched over 600 yards each season and really stepped forward as a potential big play WR this season.

While his size (5'11, 190 pounds) may scare some scouts off, his electric, big play speed would compliment Fitzgerald extremely well and could be the Mike Wallace impact player this offense needs.

2nd
Kevin Zeitler
G
Wisconsin

- Zeitler has been one of Wisconsin's most reliable offensive linemen over the last two seasons. He's extremely potent in both pass protection and run support, as proven this season with his efforts in opening holes for both Russell Wilson and Montee Ball.

Wisconsin has developed some pretty good offensive linemen in recent years, and Zeitler should be another who has success on the NFL level. He's not only stout against attack, he's got a nasty streak that this offensive line desperately needs.

3rd
Don Barclay
OT
West Virginia

- Barclay has been West Virginia's starting LT for the last three seasons, where he's excelled in protecting his QB's blindside. He has an ability to pull lanes to open up holes for the rush, and leaves enough time for the QB to throw in the pocket.

He tends to struggle a tad with the speed rushers and may be best suited for RT on the pro level, but that said, Arizona certainly NEEDS a RT and they would be well suited to bring Barclay, who Jabal Sheard (sic) last season called "hell on wheels" and got completely shut down by. Vinny Curry of Marshall also called Barclay "a pitbull blocker."

Definitely will take that on this offensive line.

4th
Tank Carder
ILB
TCU

- Carder is a gritty, hard nosed, nose to the ball ILB who would be an ideal fit for this defense. He was one of the vocal leaders on last season's Rose Bowl winner and a 2nd team All-American. He further cemented his play this year, really picking up steam in the second half of the season and helping the Frogs defense remain potent. Was voted the MWC Defensive Player of the Year.

Carder was mentored early by fellow Cardinal Darryl Washington, which is only an added plus.

Stewart Bradley has sucked for the Cardinals and likely won't be back. Carder could step in immediately and make this defense even better.

5th
Trevin Wade
CB
Arizona

- Arizona's defense was truly horrid this season, however Wade stood out from the pack and was one of the sole bright spots on it.

He's shown ability in the past of being a decent cover corner, and would provide at worst some quality depth.

I strongly considered Omar Bolden here too. Bolden has first round talent would if healthy give Arizona an electric 1-2 punch at CB, however two season ending knee injuries in less than 3 years is highly concerning.

6th
Austin Davis
QB
Southern Miss

- This pick is conditional on what the Cards elect to do with the QB position this off-season. If they decide to cut their losses with Kolb and agree to eat their second rounder and DRC, I fully forsee them getting a veteran (Jason Campbell?) to take over the reigns for a period of time, bumping John Skelton into the developmental role.

If they KEEP Kolb (which I think is more likely than people realize), I still think they get a veteran (again, Campbell's name pops up) for competition and incase Kolb proves he can't cut the mustard.

If Kolb is sent packing, I see them picking up a developmental QB here (Davis) to groom further and seeing if he or Skelton can be the future behind center.

As is, Davis is a real sleeper at QB. He's got good arm strength and decent accuracy. He played in a gimmicky offense, which is why I feel he won't go higher and put him into the developmental category, but working with the right coaches (Haley???) he could turn out to be a true diamond in the rough.

If Kolb is retained, I change this pick to DE Ethan Johnson of Notre Dame, who seems suited to be a 3-4 DE on the next level for depth.

7th
Jaye Howard
DT
Florida

- Howard is athletic as hell, and has some potential. He hasn't put it all together on the college ranks, but I feel could be coached up to live up to that upside. Worst case, he's depth at DT, which is never bad especially if Dan Williams misses time.

Thoughts?

Trading down from #13 to #30 only to receive #48 seems like a bad move but I'll play along with the scenario.

I like Rounds 4, 6 & 7 but would switch up your 1 -3 & 5 with

#1 - OLB Vinny Curry - Would be a nice value guy here and fills a need

#2 - OT Mike Adams - Mountain of a man that would man LT position

#3 - OT Andrew Datko - Him and Adams form bookends for next 10 years

#5 - SS Eddie Pleasant - AW replacement in a couple of years

 

[Cardiac]

First of all nice effort.

The Patriots don't trade up in the draft, they just don't. Given your premise that they need to improve on D etc then they will keep their picks. The compensation for the Cards is light as overseesfan states.

The Cards do have 2 picks in Rd 6, so who else would you pick?

Knowing that BPA will impact what positions the Cards will draft I still doubt we take 2 DL. CC will be re-signed or Franchised and only Holiday is not re-signed at this point.

I do believe the Cards will take another RB in the mid to late rounds since Beanie and Williams are coming off knee injuries. Add in that Alfonso couldn't get on the field even when Beanie was able to play and the Old What's his Face shouldn't be back.

Kolb willl be back unless the Manning scenario plays out which means Kolb will be back.

 

[Vermont Maverick]

Trading down from #13 to #30 only to receive #48 seems like a bad move but I'll play along with the scenario.

Of course it's a bad deal, we are dealing with New England in that scenario. Actually, though, the trade value chart it's about 100 points off, but with a deep draft, could be reasonable. New England usually trades down away from high picks, but the one year they picked high, they got Jerod Mayo, who is very good. So this might actually be possible.

This is not a bad move, I would love to move down and pick up Wright as well as a 2nd. That said, I don't think he will be there. Maybe Zebrie Sanders or Mike Adams would be available. I do like the idea of Zeitler in the second.

 

[Cardiac]

Of course it's a bad deal, we are dealing with New England in that scenario. Actually, though, the trade value chart it's about 100 points off, but with a deep draft, could be reasonable. New England usually trades down away from high picks, but the one year they picked high, they got Jerod Mayo, who is very good. So this might actually be possible.

This is not a bad move, I would love to move down and pick up Wright as well as a 2nd. That said, I don't think he will be there. Maybe Zebrie Sanders or Mike Adams would be available. I do like the idea of Zeitler in the second.

That 120 points is a late 3rd early 4th round pick -which makes the deal lite. If the Cards do want the 2nd rd pick back badly enough then they might make the trade anyway but......see below.

The Mayo pick was from a trade back the prior year where they got the
49ers 1st rd pick and IIRC they even traded back to get Mayo with that pick.

 

[Vermont Maverick]

That 120 points is a late 3rd early 4th round pick -which makes the deal lite. If the Cards do want the 2nd rd pick back badly enough then they might make the trade anyway but......see below.

The Mayo pick was from a trade back the prior year where they got the
49ers 1st rd pick and IIRC they even traded back to get Mayo with that pick.

The pick was not initially theirs, you are right. I didn't remember it was the 49ers pick. I'm quite sure they did not trade back - though speculation was rampant because that's what they always do.

Also agree that the deal is a little light, and they could actually pick 31 or 32 instead of 30. But maybe with a deep draft, that sways the deal a little. For me, if Decastro is there, we pick him. End of story. He's not a Tackle, but having a legit interior lineman will go a long way.

UPDATE: I looked it up, and stand corrected. You were right. The pick they got from SF was #7, and they then swapped with New Orleans at #10. The Saints took Sedrick Ellis.

 

[Cardiac]

The pick was not initially theirs, you are right. I didn't remember it was the 49ers pick. I'm quite sure they did not trade back - though speculation was rampant because that's what they always do.

Also agree that the deal is a little light, and they could actually pick 31 or 32 instead of 30. But maybe with a deep draft, that sways the deal a little. For me, if Decastro is there, we pick him. End of story. He's not a Tackle, but having a legit interior lineman will go a long way.

UPDATE: I looked it up, and stand corrected. You were right. The pick they got from SF was #7, and they then swapped with New Orleans at #10. The Saints took Sedrick Ellis.

I was fairly confident I was right about that since I've had this debate with several posters. Every year the Pats are sitting on a bunch of extra picks so on the surface they appear to be a good trade partner (us trading back) but history shows that's not what they do.

The Pats do have the Saints 1st rd pick as well (yep they traded back again) so maybe the deal for that pick and their 2nd but.......The Pats just don't trade up in the early rounds - against their DNA.

I'm with you about Decastro, let's get a Pro Bowl quality player on the O-line even if it's not at OT.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

By nature, the Pats DON'T trade picks.. Yet, they also are in a rare position where they can afford to make a move and still have picks to spare. I also suppose it largely depends on who might fall and if he's someone Bellichick and the FO fall in love with. I think the kid from Illinois (DE/OLB) is a real possibility.

Regarding Wright, I think at this point Blackmon is 1, Jeffrey is 2, Floyd of Notre Dame is 3 and Wright/ Sanu of Rutgers at 4-4 A.

I am convinced the Rams are taking Blackmon. Their receiving core really sucks. They need to give Bradford some kind of target.

I also see Houston and Chicago snagging WR and it wouldn't stun me if Washington and maybe Carolina do too.

 

[WildBB]

Trading down from #13 to #30 only to receive #48 seems like a bad move but I'll play along with the scenario.

I like Rounds 4, 6 & 7 but would switch up your 1 -3 & 5 with

#1 - OLB Vinny Curry - Would be a nice value guy here and fills a need

#2 - OT Mike Adams - Mountain of a man that would man LT position

#3 - OT Andrew Datko - Him and Adams form bookends for next 10 years

#5 - SS Eddie Pleasant - AW replacement in a couple of years

You switch Adams and Curry and you might pull it off....MIGHT.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

If memory serves, trading down in the first round has not worked out well for the Cards. Unless someone comes shopping for the pick, I'd guess it will be BPA or BPA at position of need at #13.

 

[Chopper0080]

The Cards could trade with Cleveland and draft Burfict to play OLB (where I think he would be most effective) and Hightower at SILB.

It would give you a rotation of Haggens, Acho, Schofield and Burfict at OLB, and Washington, Lenon, and Hightower at ILB with Stewart Bradley as a swing player.

It wouldn't address our offensive line issues, but it would shore up our LBing corp.