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When the Arizona Cardinals traded back from 20 to 27 in the 2014 NFL Draft, picking Deone Bucannon in round one and then nabbing John Brown in round three, the Arizona Cardinals had seemingly hit a homerun.
Now, fastforward five seasons and John Brown is on another team and the Cardinals are waiting to see if Deone Bucannon is worth an extension, although they did pick up his fifth year option.
That’s why when Luke Easterling of Draft Wire re-drafted the 2014 NFL Draft, I was curious who they had the Arizona Cardinals taking.
For the Cardinals, there was no change, from NFL Draft Wire:
27. Arizona Cardinals | Deone Bucannon | LB | Washington State
Original pick: Bucannon
A safety for the Cougars, Bucannon was morphed into a hybrid linebacker role in Arizona, where he has flourished. Bucannon has averaged 92 tackles per year over his four NFL seasons so far, adding 12 pass breakups, six forced fumbles, six sacks and a pair of interceptions. His perfect fit in a key role for this defense would make him a no-brainer to be the pick yet again, were the Cards given the chance to do this draft over.
I thought about this long and hard of keeping the pick as Bucannon and disagree.
Directly after, Easterling has Gabe Jackson going to the Carolina Panthers, who would have slotted in nicely along the Arizona Cardinals offensive line at right guard.
Bradley Roby is a dynamic cornerback and Jason Verrett is one of the best corners in the league when on the field.
However, outside of Jackson, the clear pick in this redraft is Blake Bortles.
Whatever you think of Bortles tenure in Jacksonville, it doesn’t matter, he was the gem of Bruce Arians and Steve Keim’s eye, he would have taken over for Carson Palmer in the awful 2014 season rife with injuries, and who knows what happens from there
Check out the redraft and let me know what you think.