Recent comments by Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians indicate the team may be looking to draft a running back early.
The Arizona Cardinals are just a couple pieces and better health away from being a legitimate Super Bowl contender in 2015. This year’s draft will be critical for Arizona to add some impact players who can improve the team in the next year or two.
Head coach Bruce Arians made it no secret which position he wanted to target in April’s draft in an interview with Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com.
"“In the draft, it’s still speed. Speed at running back, speed at receiver, speed at linebacker, another interior player… This might be the best group (of running backs) top to bottom that I’ve seen in about 10 years. There’s some teams in college running the ball and not just at the top two or four guys but all the way down. There are 15 really quality running backs in this draft.”"
Those comments seem to indicate that the Cardinals are looking hard at running backs to pair with Andre Ellington. If Arians wants speed and he wants to select a running back early, former Georgia star Todd Gurley would be a great fit.
Gurley rushed for 3,285 yards on a whopping 6.4 yards per carry and 36 touchdowns in his three years in Athens. There is some concern as Gurley is coming off of a torn ACL, but he expects to be ready for camp in late July.
While its rare in today’s NFL that a running back is worth a first round pick, Gurley and Melvin Gordon out of Wisconsin are the types of talents that are worth the value. It’s hard to tell which will come off the board first: Gurley likely has the higher ceiling, but Gordon has less injury history.
Gurley would be an excellent power back companion to Ellington and the Cardinals would have to seriously think about selecting him at No. 24. The only question is if Gurley will last that long.
The San Diego Chargers could very well take one of the running backs off the board at No. 17. While the Dallas Cowboys don’t pick until No. 27, they could be willing to trade up to grab a replacement for DeMarco Murray if necessary.
Arizona has also been rumored as a potential landing spot for Adrian Peterson, but adding a high-impact rookie like Gurley would make more sense given the Cardinals’ cap situation. Other needs for Arizona in the draft include edge rusher and cornerback.
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