Round 1 (8): LB Isaiah Simmons, Clemson
Round 3 (72): T Josh Jones, Houston
Round 4 (114): DI Leki Fotu, Utah
Round 4 (131): DI Rashard Lawrence, LSU
Round 6 (202): LB Evan Weaver, Cal
Round 7 (222): RB Eno Benjamin, Arizona State
Day 1: Simmons’ versatility has been well documented, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less impressive. He played 100 or more snaps in 2019 at linebacker, strong safety, free safety, slot cornerback and edge defender. On top of that, he did everything that you could want a defender to do well, earning grades of 80.0 or higher as a run defender, pass rusher, tackler and coverage defender. He will probably end up playing primarily at linebacker in the NFL and figures to become one of the top coverage players and athletes at the position.
“Simmons’ ability to blur the linebacker/safety positional designation is going to be a defensive coordinator’s best friend at the next level. Simmons is the definition of what you want in a modern linebacker.” —
PFF’s Mike Renner
Day 2: The Cardinals didn’t have a Round 2 selection, but we’ll give them a pass considering they used that pick to steal away
Deandre Hopkins from the
Houston Texans. Any time you can add the second-most-valuable wide receiver in the NFL per PFF WAR over the last five seasons for that kind of compensation, you pull the trigger. Hopkins adds an elite, do-it-all option for
Kyler Murray that Arizona otherwise lacked as
Larry Fitzgerald continues to get up there in age.
Josh Jones — PFF’s fourth-ranked offensive tackle and 14th ranked prospect overall — fell all the way to the Cardinals at 72nd overall, a high-end prospect at tremendous value who fills a need. Jones has plenty of starting experience stemming from his time at Houston, playing 600 or more offensive snaps and earning grades of 65.0 or higher in each of 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. He really elevated his game this past season, though, with an overall grade of 93.4 that ranked second to Penei Sewell among all qualifying FBS offensive tackles.
Day 3: The Cardinals made beefing up the interior of their defensive line a priority on Day 3 with selections of both Leki Fotu and Rashard Lawrence in Round 4. Fotu, in particular, has some intriguing qualities as a nose tackle, namely his massive size and long frame. His ability to move the line of scrimmage suits him well in the run game, where he picked up an 83.4 grade in 2019, but he’s extremely limited as a pass rusher at this point. There’s a good chance he continues to improve in the NFL.
Draft Grade: A+
sports.yahoo.com
