The Arizona Cardinals have made a few moves in the first wave of free agency and that could affect how they approach the NFL draft. One obvious change is they no longer have a second-round pick, as they dealt that in the trade with the Houston Texans to acquire receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
Draft Wire managing editor Luke Easterling released a new mock draft that goes three rounds.
With the Cardinals’ first-round pick and third-round pick, they address both the offense and the defense.
Here are their picks.
First round: Louisville OT Mekhi Becton
After acquiring Hopkins to address their need at wide receiver, going with an offensive lineman makes sense. Tristan Wirfs is already off the board in this scenario, so the Cardinals can choose between Becton, Jedrick Wills and Andrew Thomas.
Becton is probably the biggest boom-or-bust player of the group. With his massive size and movement skills, he could be a great player. He could also end up being like Leonard Davis.
Third round: Florida EDGE Jonathan Greenard
Greenard would give the Cardinals another pass rusher behind Chandler Jones and newly-signed Devon Kennard. It would also make Haason Reddick expendable to trade. He had 10 sacks and 16 tackles for loss his only season with Florida after playing three for Louisville. His production improved each year. He dealt with ankle and wrist injuries but offers some upside as a pass rusher and run defender.
2020 NFL mock draft: Updated 3-round projections with trades
