A new head coach, and the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft have the Arizona Cardinals in the forefront of an interesting rebuild.
A year ago at this time the Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim had replaced “retired” head coach Bruce Arians with defensive minded Steve Wilks. Keim, and the Cardinals front office had truly overestimated the talent on their roster. How else do you explain paying Sam Bradford to be a stop-gap quarterback? They believed they had pieces in place to compete, despite little evidence to support that.
In another puzzling move they went out and traded up in the 2018 NFL draft to select UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen as the franchise quarterback. With Bradford in place it seemed Rosen could sit back for a year, learn the ropes and enter year two with an exciting future. Instead the season floundered, Bradford was again injured and Rosen was thrown the wolves. Yet another season where Rosen was thrust into a new system with inadequate weapons and a disaster of an offensive line in front of him.
The results speak for themselves and the Arizona Cardinals now hold the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Keim was disappointed enough in the season that Wilks was fired after only a single year. His replacement is now former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury. The inexperienced coach coming from college with a losing record is an interesting choice to lead the franchise.
Kingsbury, record aside, was an interesting choice for his on the field contributions to the team. People immediately pointed to how his offense would fit Rosen. Well that debate can effectively put to rest with the rumors and downright lock occuring at the top of the draft. Kingsbury and the Cardinals are enamored with Heisman trophy winning quarterback Kyler Murray. It looks like Rosen may follow his former coach and be dismissed from the Cardinals after only a season.
The rest of the offseason was quiet in Arizona. They brought in veteran pass rusher Terrell Suggs to play in his home state. They traded for tackle Marcus Gilbert and signed guard J.R. Sweezy in an effort to provide whoever is playing quarterback some protection. Jordan Hicks comes in to play middle linebacker and Robert Alford gives them an option opposite Patrick Peterson.
This is still a roster with plenty of holes. In this mock draft, done using The Draft Network’s mock draft machine and predictive board, they have the chance to fill those. There are no trades so each team is selecting in their respective slots.