5 for 5 Draft Trade: ARI/JAC

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver D.J. Chark (17) reacts after catching a pass in the end zone for the two point conversion against the Tennessee Titans with Jaguars center Brandon Linder (65) during the second half at Nissan Stadium. (Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown)

Just suppose that the Jacksonville Jaguars’ new head coach, Urban Meyer, is so intent on overhauling the Jags’ roster that he would be eager and willing to trade 5 of the Jags’ current players for the Cardinals’ 5 picks in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Having read yesterday that the Cardinals’ draft efficiency from 2015-2020 is last in the NFL (#32), perhaps a trade of this magnitude is one way to start maximizing the Cardinals’ draft capital.

Thus, with this criteria in mind, I began to wonder if the team most likely to undergo Urban Renewal in the form of a roster overhaul would want to take advantage of a trade offer like this.

5 players for picks for the Cardinals’ 5 2021 draft picks:

1. WR D.J. Chark (6-4, 199, 24, 71.3)
2. CB C.J. Henderson (6-1, 191, 22, 57.9 2020 PFF grade)
3. DI Taven Bryan (6-4, 291, 24, 59.0)
4. C Brandon Linder (6-6, 315, 29, 80.0)
5. RB Ryquell Armstead (5-11, 220, 24, IR-COVID 2020)

2021 Cap Hits:

Henderson: $1.5M

Chark: $1.1M

Linder $8M

Bryan: $1.8M

Armstead: $850K

Total: $13,25M - $6M (draft allocation) = $7.25M

Notes:

WR D.J. Chark has very good size (6-4, 199) and speed (4.34, plus at his size he has a 40” vertical). Cards may have missed out on D.K., but could hit a home run with D.J. Here are his 3 year numbers:

2020: 53 catches, 706 yards, 13.7 ave., 5 TDs

2019: 73 catches, 1,008 yards, 13.8 ave., 8 TDs

2018: 14 catches, 174 yards, 12.4 ave., 0 TDs

C.J. Henderson struggled as a rookie. He gave up a passer rating of 111.0. Plus, he suffered shoulder hamstring and groin injures (the last of which landed him on the IR in November). However, Henderson was the #9 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Here is Daniel Jeremiah’s draft profile: NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah:

Henderson is an extremely explosive and athletic cornerback prospect out of Florida. He played outside and inside on the games I studied. He is very physical in press coverage, landing a two-hand jam consistently. He is extremely loose and fluid to open up and mirror all over the field. He is rarely out of position and possesses rare makeup speed when he is caught in a bind. You see that same burst when he’s in off coverage and the ball is thrown in front. He does need to improve on finding the ball down the field, as he’s often a little late to look back. The major concern with this player is tackling. He has way too many misses and that must be improved. Overall, Henderson has some elite traits and could emerge as the top cornerback in this class, but his tackling must be addressed.

The tackling issues for C.J. are a concern. However, in 8 games he made 35 solo tackles, 2 assists and 5 missed tackles. For a rookie, that’s not too bad.

Taven Bryan was the 29th pick of the 2018 draft. He hasn’t as yet lived up to his potential. Last year was a struggle (9 QB pressures, 1 sack, 18 tackles,59.0 PFF grade), following his best season (his 2nd in NFL) in 2019 where he had 25 QB pressures, 2 sacks, 15 QB hurries, 27 tackles and a PFF grade of 75.5.

Brandon Linder is one of the top centers in the NFL, The key for him is staying healthy. He missed 7 games this past season after going on the IR with an ankle injury. In 20119, however, he started all 16 games (75.3, 80.9 pass blocking grade, 72.2 run blocking, but 13 penalties). He cleaned the penalties up this year, only picking up 2 in 9 games. And he only had 9 penalties his first 5 years in the league.

Ryquell Armstead is an explosive RB from Temple who was a 5th round pick in 2019. He had a rough time battling COVID and was lost for the 2020 season. As a rookie in 2019, Armstead had 35 carries for 108 rushing yards and 14 receptions for 144 receiving yards and two receiving TDs.

PFF Draft Simulator

So, now I wondered what the Cardinals could do addressing these same 5 positions in the draft. Thus, I took to the PFF Draft Simulator and chose in each round the highest rated player in addressing the 5 positions. Here is the first mock I came up with (Mock A):

Here is the 2nd (Mock B):

Question:

if you had a choice between trading the draft for WR D.J. Chark, CB C.J. Henderson, DI Taven Bryan, C Brandon Linder and RB Ryquell Armstead —- or —- taking Mock A or Mock B above, which of the three do you think is the best haul?

Your Own Mock:

Using the PFF Mock Draft Simulator, what mock would you prefer (addressing WR, CB, DI, C and RB)?

https://www.pff.com/draft/nfl-mock-draft-simulator