Cards head to combine with defensive options
INDIANAPOLIS – Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr? Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter? A surprise prospect who is soaring up the charts, perhaps? Maybe a trade to move down from the No.3 overall pick in this year’s NFL draft?
It’s all on the table – and on the line – for the Arizona Cardinals.
Whatever they end up deciding to do when the draft’s first round finally rolls around on April 27, it’s going to shape the direction the franchise goes from here on out under the new regime of General Manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon.
A lot can happen between now and the draft. But as the Cardinals and members of their coaching staff, scouting department and team owner Michael Bidwill arrive this week in Indianapolis for the NFL’s scouting combine, this is where the evaluations begin and the decisions really start to matter.
Though the free agent signing period begins in just two weeks and will occupy a great deal of their focus and energy, the Cardinals must decide what they want to do with the third overall pick.
Longtime NFL draft analyst Daniel
Jeremiah of the NFL Network was asked to pry into the minds of Ossenfort and Gannon as to which direction the Cardinals will go after they observe and interview prospects up close and personal this week at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“The way I have them stacked, I think Jalen Carter is the best player in the draft and I think Will Anderson is the second-best player,” Jeremiah said during a conference call with NFL writers.
Considering the Bears, with the No.1 overall pick, will probably either select