Who the Arizona Cardinals will select with the…pick in the 2023 Draft

If the Arizona Cardinals hang onto the third pick tonight, expect them to make a different selection as opposed to if they traded down in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Will the Arizona Cardinals keep the third overall pick, or will they trade back and collect as many draft picks as they can and go the quantity route? This has been the raging question since owner Michael Bidwill hired and trusted general manager Monti Ossenfort to reshape his football team.

Regardless of what happens tonight, where the Cardinals pick will ultimately decide who they select. Therefore, if they surprisingly kept the third overall pick, expect to hear them call a different name as opposed to if they traded to eighth, tenth, or even further down the board. 

If the Arizona Cardinals picked at…

Third Overall: Will Anderson Jr., DE/Alabama 

If, by any chance, the Arizona Cardinals do the unthinkable and keep the third overall pick, Will Anderson Jr. is their guy and just about all of us in the fanbase will be more than okay with that. However, the odds are slim, given all the talk going on around the league over the past two months, that this will be the case. 

Eighth Overall: Paris Johnson Jr., OT/Ohio State

In my final mock, I went out on a limb and projected the Atlanta Falcons would land the third overall pick, bumping the Cardinals back to eighth. While there are a few teams looking to swap spots with the Cardinals, if they like Paris Johnson Jr. so much that they must take him over any other offensive lineman, they could realistically land him at eighth overall, as the only team ahead of them who could logistically take Johnson would be the Las Vegas Raiders. 

10th Overall: Peter Skoronski, OL/Northwestern

I initially didn’t think the Arizona Cardinals would trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, but NBC Sports put together an interesting mock projecting such a trade. If this is the case, I don’t foresee Johnson being there, but Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski could be hanging around, and he’s the perfect prospect Ossenfort can draft to be the team’s left guard for the foreseeable future. 

11th Overall: Christian Gonzalez, CB/Oregon

Of course, we’ve made a few mock drafts involving the Tennessee Titans swapping spots with the Cardinals. And in this case, the Redbirds waste no time in snagging Christian Gonzalez, as the likes of Tyree Wilson, Paris Johnson, and Peter Skoronski could all have already found a future home when the eleventh pick rolls around. 

17th Overall: O’Cyrus Torrence, OG/Florida

I also touched on the possibility the Cards could also trade down into the second half of the first round in what would be a blockbuster with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Once again, we’re looking at another lineman, this one the strict but intriguing guard in O’Cyrus Torrence, who, like Johnson and Skoronski, is someone Arizona could start immediately.