Arizona Cardinals 2020 mock draft: Full 7 rounds
By Conor Dorney
The Arizona Cardinals finally have their franchise quarterback in Kyler Murray, but which talent will they choose to surround him with in the 2020 NFL Draft?
The Arizona Cardinals hit the ultimate reset button with the selection of Kyler Murray with the top pick in last year’s draft and so far, it’s looking like an awfully good decision.
General manager Steve Keim raided the Bill O’Brien Free Candy Fund last month to acquire DeAndre Hopkins and the Cardinals look poised to contend in a difficult NFC West.
How will the Fightin’ Kingsbury’s approach this year’s draft? Let’s have a look with this seven-round Cardinals mock draft.
1st round
As tempting as it is to give the Cardinals an offensive lineman here (Tristan Wirfs, perhaps?), I think they ultimately opt for defense and one player they could target if Derrick Brown is off the board is Iowa’s A.J. Epenesa.
Having parted with a second-round pick in the DeAndre Hopkins trade, I think it’s fairly likely Arizona ends up trading down (perhaps with Miami at 18) to recoup more draft capital. Epenesa, once considered strongly to be a top-10 pick, would give the Cards a building block for their defense and could be a great value if other teams get scared off by his poor testing numbers.
A former five-star recruit, Epenesa’s outstanding play strength and consistent history of production make him one of the safer EDGE players in the class. Sure, he isn’t the greatest athlete in the world, but it’s hard to ignore what Epenesa put on tape. Just ask likely first-round tackle Austin Jackson.
General manager Steve Keim could view Epenesa as a souped-up version of 2019 third-rounder Zach Allen and a player polished enough to make an immediate impact as the Cards look to contend in the NFC West.