2022 NFL Draft: Arizona Cardinals add to the offense early, beef up interior of defense late

Happy Friday.

Listen to the words from the actual people, not from those speaking for others.

Onto the 2022 NFL Mock Draft.

In this iteration I opened up with a couple of trade offers after the board looked like this:

Chris Olave
Kenyon Green
Devonte Wyatt
Jermaine Johnson
Jordan Davis

The Colts and the Vikings were the teams making trade offers (44/76 and a 2 in 2023 from the Vikings, Colts are 48/80 and a 1 in 2023).

How do you justify moving that far down? I can’t make a pick for 2023 right now, although that Colts future one could be juicy.

So, instead I stay put and take the best player at a position of need, but at the thinnest group.

23. Kenyon Green, OL - Texas A&M

Green gives me a right guard immediately, and we move to round two.

One trade offer came in, 57 and 127 for 55 with the Buffalo Bills. Two spots and a couple of slam dunk picks on the board. Of course I accept the trade and the Bills take Travis Jones... How do I reverse my decision?

Okay, on the board at 57 now and the Buccaneers want the pick, offer 59 and 129 for 57. Done.

59. Trey McBride, TE - Colorado State

Physicality and an ability to make plays with the ball in his hands. This is an easy pick for me with no tight ends on the roster as of March 4, 2022.

Plenty of trade offers, but none that benefit me for now and there is another slam dunk pick.

87. Alec Pierce, WR - Cincinnati

Pierce put on a show at the NFL Combine and would give Kyler Murray another big, outside target to work with.

127. Neil Farrell Jr., DL - LSU
129. Noah Elliss, DL - Idaho

Went with two different types of defensive linemen here. Farrell is 6-4 325lbs and is more of a gap penetrating, create havoc type. Elliss is a smaller type at 6-4 360lbs. Kidding, he is a pile mover, gap stuffer.

This worked out better than I thought.

That trade with the Bills backfired a bit, but I like McBride there and then to come back and add Pierce is nice.

Only position we didn’t address was cornerback and edge, but that is tough in this class. Once you are out of the top 50, it is about drafting for traits. Hopefully they can address one or both of those key positions in free agency.