2019 NFL Draft: Projected First Round after NFL Combine

Well, this is a big change.

There’s starting to be a lot of smoke surrounding the potential for the Cardinals to ship out last year’s first round pick Josh Rosen and select Oklahoma Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray with the No. 1 overall pick.

Arizona has so many needs, I really don’t think taking Murray No. 1 overall makes the most sense with the bevy of talented defensive players available. Then again, the Cardinals have a valuable second round pick (No. 33 overall) and there should be plenty of talented players still available with that selection due to teams reaching for needs in the first round instead of sticking with the best player available.

An interesting strategy for Arizona could be to scour the market for a team in desperate need of an impact defensive player (like Nick Bosa or Quinnen Williams) and trade down a little bit. They could conceivably still get Murray a little bit later while adding some much-needed draft capital.

Murray passed his biggest combine test by measuring over 5-foot-10 when many expected him to come in under that mark. He elected to not run the 40 or throw, saving both for his Oklahoma pro day, but the measurement locked him into the early part of the first round.

Giving up on Josh Rosen after just one season when he had very little in the way of a supporting cast might seem foolish, but the Cardinals have already elected to circumvent the traditional route by hiring former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury.

Murray comes with a lot of question marks, but it sure would be fun seeing what an offensive savant like Kingsbury could do with such a dynamic talent behind center. The experiment might ultimately fail spectacularly for all involved, but it will be fascinating to watch.