Arizona Cardinals: One Week Till Number 20
By Scott Allen
November 3, 2012; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Ryan Shazier (10) tackles Illinois Fighting Illini running back Donovonn Young (5) after a short gain at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won the game 52-22. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Cardinals are now one week away from making their first-round draft pick at number 20. There still seems to be little consensus on what the Cards will or should do with the pick. Do they take a quarterback? Do they take a linebacker? How about a tight end or defensive end? There’s even talk about trading the pick.
As to the quarterback issue, a lot of that will depend on who is still there at 20. Mel Kiper Jr. seems to thin Derek Carr is the choice. I’m not even sure the Cards take him if he is still available at that point. There is defensive end Dee Ford. There is tight end Eric Ebron. Personally, other than the fact I think out of those players, only Carr may still be available, I think the Cards will look to the linebacker position.
The one linebacker I’m taking a look at and I hope the Cards are as well, is Ohio State’s Ryan Shazier. He’s a smaller than usual linebacker but he’s quick and strong. I think the Cards would benefit from him in year one. I also like Ebron but I don’t think it’s a priority position now after the signing of John Carlson.
So, clearly the Cards will probably draft a corner or offensive lineman after all of my best guesses. There is a good crop of players at both positions. The fact is, we still don’t know which way they are leaning and it will be fun to guess over the next seven days.