Arizona Cardinals: 7-round 2021 NFL mock draft following J.J. Watt signing
The Arizona Cardinals made a major early free agency splash on Monday, adding superstar defensive lineman J.J. Watt on a two-year deal. Arizona locked Watt in with a contract reportedly worth $31 million over the next two years, including $23 million guaranteed. Watt is not quite the player that he once was, but he is still a tremendous defensive lineman who will undoubtedly make a massive impact in Arizona.
Led by Watt and Chandler Jones up front, the Arizona Cardinals’ defense is undoubtedly trending in the right direction. That being said, this team still has a lot of work to do in order to reach their full upside going forward. What can the Cardinals do to improve through the 2021 NFL Draft? Let’s look at one possible scenario with a complete seven-round 2021 NFL mock draft for the team.
Note: This 2021 NFL mock draft was completed using The Draft Network’s Mock Draft Machine.
The Cardinals’ most obvious positions of need do not necessarily fit well with where the board fell at No. 16. With this being the case, looking for trade-down options seemed to make the most sense. In this 2021 NFL mock draft scenario, the Kansas City Chiefs are the team getting aggressive, moving way up the board to land offensive lineman Christian Darrisaw at No. 16. The Cardinals get a haul of picks from the Chiefs to move down to No. 31.
Arizona Cardinals 2021 NFL mock draft: Round 1, 31st overall
Ifeatu Melifonwu. Scouting Report. CB. Syracuse. 1. player. 827. Pick Analysis
With Patrick Peterson hitting free agency this offseason and the Arizona Cardinals having limited options to replace him, cornerback stands out as the biggest need on their roster. With Caleb Farley and Patrick Surtain II both gone in this mock draft scenario, trading down to find better value at the position certainly makes sense. Here at No. 31, Ifeatu Melifonwu stands out as a strong choice for the team after the trade down.
Melifonwu is a big, long and powerful cornerback prospect who overwhelms opposing receivers with press coverage at the line of scrimmage. He has incredible length for the cornerback position and moves extremely well for a player of his size. Melifonwu shows impressive short-area quickness, good deep speed on the outside and attacks the ball in the air extremely well.
Taking Melifonwu in the first round may seem like a reach for some, but he is an incredibly gifted player at an extremely important position of need for this team. Melifonwu is a tremendous high-upside player who could quickly grow into a true shut-down cornerback on the outside. Trading down and adding him to their defensive mix feels like a strong plan of attack for Arizona.