Arizona Cardinals: Fans should pay little attention to most mock drafts
By Sion Fawkes
The Arizona Cardinals hold the third overall pick, and you can expect them to make a surefire selection on April 27th, contrary to what some mock drafts are saying.
It is finally mock draft season in the NFL, and you must be prepared for the mountains of different directions analysts and experts claim the Arizona Cardinals will go. But with the third overall pick and two outstanding defensive game-changers out there, expect the Cardinals to stay at number three for this one, barring a ransom of a deal from a team looking to trade up.
With the Chicago Bears picking first, they will either select Will Anderson Jr. or Jalen Carter unless they trade Justin Fields to a quarterback-needy team and instead select Bryce Young. The Houston Texans will also likely go with a quarterback, either Young if the Bears pass on him or Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, while Will Levis could also be in the mix.
This leaves the Cardinals to take either whoever the Bears pass on, or if the Bears move Fields and go with Young, then they will have their choice at either Anderson Jr. or Carter unless the Texans throw a massive curveball and go defense over quarterback.
Arizona Cardinals won't throw curveballs at their fans in the 2023 NFL Draft
The only way the Redbirds will go with someone like a Tyree Wilson, as Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com stated in his latest mock, is if Carter and Anderson Jr. are unavailable. While Wilson possesses more size than Anderson Jr., at 6'6, 275lb, and has accumulated 27.5 tackles for loss over the past two seasons, his modest 14.0 sacks in that span tells me he's not quite the game-changer that Anderson Jr. can be.
Selecting Wilson would make sense if the Cardinals were given such a lucrative offer that it would be foolish not to trade back for, taking him with the third overall pick just isn't going to happen unless either Carter's or Anderson Jr.'s stock falls, and Wilson's rises. There is going to be a lot of smoke going on between now and April 27th. But unless something changes dramatically, don't expect the Cardinals to pass on two of the NFL Draft's finest talents.
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Source:Daniel Jeremiah 2023 NFL mock draft 2.0: Tyree Wilson goes before Will Anderson Jr.; Lions take QB by Daniel Jeremiah, NFL.com.