NFL Draft 2017: Top target for each team
By John Buhler
Most teams in the 2017 NFL Draft will have a first round pick. Regardless of where a team’s first selection comes, here is the top target for each team.
Only the Los Angeles Rams, the Minnesota Vikings and the New England Patriots will not have a first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. New England won’t be picking until the third round. For everybody else now that free agency has pretty much come and gone, it’s full steam ahead to the draft.
Fans of all 32 franchises know where their teams need to still get better in the draft. They probably have heard of a few guys their teams could take with their first round selections. Not everybody will have their chance to draft their favorite player, but here is the top target each NFL team should pursue heading into the 2017 NFL Draft.
Arizona Cardinals: Malik McDowell
The Arizona Cardinals lost a franchise cornerstone in defensive lineman Calais Campbell to the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency. Look for Arizona to draft his successor at No. 13 in the first round with Michigan State Spartans defensive lineman Malik McDowell.
Michigan State may have had a down year in 2016, but McDowell shined in the nine games he played for the Spartans. McDowell finished his career in East Lansing with 88 tackles, 24.5 of them went for a loss of yardage and 7.5 sacks playing on the defensive interior.
Replacing Campbell in the Valley of the Sun will be a big undertaking for McDowell, but he will have his opportunity to do so should he go to the Cardinals at No. 13. Keep in mind that he would play in the same defensive front with former Ole Miss standout Robert Nkemdiche.
Generating pressure from the defensive line in any capacity would be big for the Cardinals. Not that they are terrible at it, but they do tend to get a boost from having one of the best secondaries in the NFC playing behind them. Arizona did spend top-dollar on outside linebacker Chandler Jones to be their vaunted pass rusher.
Knowing that the Cardinals were going to get gutted in free agency, expect general manager Steve Keim to hit it out of the park in the 2017 NFL Draft. This is not a top-heavy defensive tackle draft, but McDowell might be the best player available and of need for the Cardinals at No. 13.