Arizona Cardinals seven-round 2020 NFL mock draft

The Arizona Cardinals’ best interior defensive lineman Zach Kerr is a free agent after 2019. The team’s defensive line has been lackluster under Vance Joseph’s first season as the Defensive Coordinator. Maybe it had to do with switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 base defense. Maybe it has to do with how banged up the unit has been. The Arizona Cardinals have had thirteen different players on the defensive line this year and only five of them have played in every game.

Chandler Jones has been productive and Terrell Suggs has shown he can still play going into his 14th season. But the lack of consistent pass-rush and run blocking has been ruining this team’s defense all season. Every game this team loses on defense by a thousand little cuts.

The Cardinals may have dreams of the Air Raid putting up 30+ points every week like the 2018 Kansas City Chiefs. But those points won’t save you if your defense is giving up more points than that. Like the 2018 Kansas City Chiefs.

Rashard Lawrence is a unique option for the Arizona Cardinals in the third round. Coming into the season, many thought his stats would preclude him from going in the first three rounds. At 6-foot-2 308 pounds, Lawrence is built like a nose tackle. His build makes him an ideal candidate in the NFL to be a top-shelf defensive tackle.

Many skeptics think his overall production makes him a later round pick. But with LSU heading to the College playoffs, Lawrence will have at least one more game to show the entire country why he should be taken seriously at the next level.

What I particularly like about Lawrence is his potential as an A/B gap run defender. With the NFC West dominated by unique run schemes like those of the Seahawks, 49ers, and the Rams, this team will need someone who can protect the inside gaps against running backs. Lawrence has the build of a prototypical NFL defensive tackle. The fact that he doesn’t have gaudy sack numbers shouldn’t prevent him from being drafted in the third round.

One more caveat to his game: Several times this season, LSU switched Lawrence’s position up and had him pass-rush on the outside. He was able to get close to hitting the quarterback most of the time. Lawrence would be a unique option for the Arizona Cardinals to put over or outside the offensive tackle on third downs and let him rush the line.

His size is going to be a problem for offensive linemen at the next level. It wouldn’t make sense to put Lawrence as the outside rusher in Joseph’s 3-4 every down. But when a team runs a base 3-4 defense, the bigger the defensive lineman, the better. Defensive tackles are responsible for more of the line of scrimmage under the 3-4.

Lawrence has all the raw talent you could ask for in a defensive tackle. The biggest complaint about Lawrence has been his lack of sacks and tackles. But he was part of a unit that didn’t get a ton of either, and instead depended on Linebackers and Strong Safeties to get the job done. And considering how badly the Arizona Cardinals need defensive lineman, expect the team to take a shot on a player with a ton of upside in 2020.