Arizona Cardinals 2021 mock draft after big free agency period

The 2021 offseason has been a fun one if you’re an Arizona Cardinals fan.

The Cardinals made one of the first big moves of the 2021 offseason when they signed veteran defensive end and future Hall of Famer JJ Watt after he was cut by the Houston Texans.

Arizona also made a huge splash when they signed one of Watt’s fellow 2011 NFL Draft classmates, wide receiver AJ Green, to join their talented crew of skill players in the passing game led by DeAndre Hopkins.

After signing Watt and Green, the Cardinals sent a third-round draft pick to the Las Vegas Raiders for Rodney Hudson, who is still arguably the best center in the entire NFL.

With some key needs shored up ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals are primed to compete for one of those seven NFC playoff spots and make some noise with head coach Kliff Kingsbury and quarterback Kyler Murray going into their third year together.

How will the Cardinals use their remaining draft capital after being aggressive in free agency?

Let’s try to predict what they might do with the five picks they have to use.

Although it’s tough to justify a first-round running back for really any NFL team, the Arizona Cardinals missed out on both Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain II in this mock draft scenario so a player like Najee Harris might make a lot of sense.

The Cardinals let Kenyan Drake walk in free agency, and he signed with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Arizona could very well still look to the free agent market for available running back help, but no one would be as impactful as Najee Harris.

Harris was absolutely outstanding throughout his years with the Crimson Tide program, but his growth over the last two seasons was really fun to watch.

He’s obviously impressive as a runner with his combination of tackle-breaking ability, vision, burst, and deceptively great long speed, but where he is really going to make an early impact in the NFL is on passing downs.

Harris is one of the best pass-catching backs I’ve scouted, and not just as a receiver out of the backfield but as a route runner when he’s asked to line up in the slot or out wide. He’s such an impressive athlete with natural ball skills and he can also pass protect.

I think he could be a rookie of the year candidate with the Cardinals.