/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69211822/1314863980.0.jpg)
Zaven Collins was to many, a surprise pick for the Arizona Cardinals given their needs.
He was essentially, a Steve Keim pick: a small school linebacker who checked all the boxes with his athleticism, his leadership and the fact that he’s a big dude who runs fast and is smart.
The best comp. I could think of was “Derrick Henry as a linebacker”...so what does Arizona do in round 2?
Let’s take a look at a few positions of need and some players who have Round 2 grades from Dane Brugler of The Athletic outside of some obvious ones: QB, LB, Specialists.
OFFENSIVE LINE:
-Teven Jenkins
-Samuel Cosmi
-Liam Eichenberg
-Quinn Meinerz
RUNNING BACK:
-Javante Williams
TIGHT END:
-Pat Friermuth
WIDE RECEIVER
-Elijah Moore
-Terrace Marshall Jr.
-Rondale Moore
-Dyami Brown
DEFENSIVE LINE:
-Azeez Olajuwari
-Carlos Basham Jr.
CORNERBACK/SAFETY:
-Trevon Moehrig
-Asante Samuel Jr.
-Elijah Molden
-Kelvin Joseph
-Tysom Campbell
-Ifeatu Melifonwu
All in all?
I think that there’s a good chance that Arizona ends up looking at trading down (for real) or finding a corner or a receiver.
Corner due to need, but when examining the team’s current starters...they have likely now 8 guys under contract on the defensive side who are starters coming back (not counting Collins taking over for Hicks, Jones/Butler/Alford) and only...5 returning starters on the offensive side under contract in Kyler, Hopkins, Humphries, Beachum and Hudson.
That’s quite a bit of positional need with two receivers, two tight ends, two guards and 1-2 running backs at this point overall.
To me, I’d lean toward a pick on offense to balance that out given the sheer investment into the defensive side via the draft and the offense through free agency.
One position that sticks out like a sore thumb is Tight End with one guy in Pat Friermuth who might replace a bit of Dan Arnold’s role with a bit more blocking upside.
As of right now, I’ll guess that he ends up the pick for Arizona given the value, the need (12 personnel is used a lot with Kugler’s run scheme) and fact that I think the earlier picks at corner and receiver go quickly.
What do you think?