Perhaps the craziest scenario for the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft has been revealed the day before the real selections happen.
In NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah’s fourth and final mock draft, he has the Cardinals making a trade and moving back from the No. 3 overall pick, but it is with a team never suspected previously.
While teams like the Indianapolis Colts, Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans have been targeted as the most likely teams to move up, Jeremiah predicts the Houston Texans will trade up from No. 12 overall to make two consecutive picks.
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The Texans take Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud second overall and then take Alabama pass rusher Will Anderson with the pick they acquired from the Cardinals.
The Cardinals move back to the 12th pick and acquire multiple selections.
On NFL Network, Jeremiah estimated the Cardinals would get picks No. 12, No. 33 (Round 2) and No. 73 (Round 3) as well as the Texans’ 2024 third-round pick in the deal.
With the 12th pick, the Cardinals take Ohio State tackle Paris Johnson, the player quarterback Kyler Murray wants.
Takeaways
- This seems like a perfect win-win scenario. The Cardinals want to trade back and acquire more picks. General manager Monti Ossenfort wants to strengthen the trenches of the team. Murray wants Johnson.
- The projected haul for the No. 3 pick seems light. It is heavy on picks in this draft, which is a priority for the Cardinals, but it does not involve any future first-round picks. Perhaps the focus on picks in the current draft waters down the future value.
- While all the talk has been about a team trading up for a quarterback, it is the Texans trading up for Anderson.
- After more than a week where it seemed like the Texans had no interest in Stroud, instead being willing to forgo the quarterback position or take Will Levis instead, they end up taking the most logical quarterback with the second pick.
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