Arizona Cardinals seven-round 2020 NFL mock draft

The Arizona Cardinals finish their 2020 NFL draft focusing on where they started: the offensive line. While they got an elite right tackle out of this year’s mock draft, the interior still needs to be addressed. In the seventh round, teams typically don’t have their pick of the litter and must find talent where they can find it. Typically the seventh round is left for long shots or players who have high upside.

With Steven Gonzalez, an offensive guard out of Penn State, the Arizona Cardinals have found their high upside longshot. Gonzalez started all of 2017 and 2018 as a guard for Penn State. He played 12 games for the Nittany Lions this season and made PFF’s Big Ten Team of the Week after his performance against Pitt in September.

He also made the All-Big Ten Offensive team honors this December and was invited to the East-West Shrine Bowl according to the Penn State’s website.

The Draft Network said this about Gonzalez for his draft profile:

"He certainly looks the part of a gap/power blocker and has the functional strength to be an asset if you ask him to win real estate at the point of attack. -Crabbs (The Draft Network)"

After this season, the Arizona Cardinals will be losing guard Max Garcia in free agency, along with A.Q. Shipley at the center position. The team will need depth at the guard position if it hopes to round out the offensive line in free agency. Gonzalez has shown in three seasons with Penn State to be an athletic and experienced offensive guard.

Between 2016-2018 the Arizona Cardinals had a rash of injuries that plagued the offensive line and made the offensive side of the ball weakened. Considering the number of seasons that this team has had to suffer for an underperforming offensive line, it would behoove the scouting department to take a serious look at Gonzalez.

While GM Steve Keim prefers to find offensive linemen via free agency, it wouldn’t hurt to have a high upside, multi-year starter from one of the countries most successful college programs in the wings.

Developing players has never been one of the Arizona Cardinals’ strong points. But the NFL is lacking a surplus of even average offensive linemen. Having a guard like Gonzalez ready to protect the interior of the offensive line would help boost the Cardinals’ chances of success. At the end of the day, teams live or die by how good their offensive line is. Kyler Murray’s career may be defined by it as well.