Mel Kiper releases mock draft 2.0, has Arizona Cardinals adding wide receiver and defensive lineman

The Arizona Cardinals consider moving down, but take Marvin Harrison Jr with first pick in round one.

For the Arizona Cardinals, it seems like there are a couple of choices they can make, and one of the biggest questions is what they do with the fourth overall pick.

Mel Kiper Jr. released his 2024 NFL Mock Draft 2.0 today on E$PN, and pondered the same a little bit:

But unlike in usual drafts, when most trades up into the top five are for quarterbacks, I wonder if teams might try to trade up for Harrison. Would Arizona be able to pass up, for instance, a 2025 first-round pick to move down nine spots with Las Vegas? I’m not saying it would be able to get that haul, but it’d have to consider a deal if it did, right? The looming question is: Are the Cardinals a wide receiver away from contending?

In the end, he goes chalk and takes Marvin Harrison Jr.:

4. Arizona Cardinals: Marvin Harrison Jr. – Wide Receiver, Ohio State

Luckily, this doesn’t have to be decided today. Harrison would slot in perfectly as Kyler Murray’s No. 1 target, and Arizona also has the Texans’ first-round pick at No. 27.

For 27, it seems like a much easier decision:

27. Darius Robinson – DL, Missouri

And when I went back to study his 2023 tape, you can see his performance was no fluke. Robinson put up 8.5 sacks and 35 total pressures. He’s a fit for teams that run a 4-3 base scheme.

Arizona’s defense had a rough 2023, ranking 32nd in QBR allowed (57.3) and rushing yards allowed per game (143.2) and 30th in sacks (33). The franchise should devote this second Round 1 pick — which was acquired from Houston’s trade up last April — to the front seven.

Getting Robinson, who has a high-end comp to Cameron Jordan, would be a massive win for a team that desperately needs talent along the defensive line.

What would you think of this first round haul?

Highest Ranked prospects per Daniel Jeremiah after round one:

21. Edgerrin Cooper, LB – Texas A&M
23. Ennis Rakestraw, CB – Missouri
26. Bo Nix, QB – Oregon
28. Jer’Zhan Newton, DT – Illinois
29. Jackson Powers-Johnson, C – Oregon
32. Zach Frazier, IOL – West Virginia
33. Adonai Mitchell, WR – Texas
35. Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB – Alabama

For me, it is either Rakestraw, Newton or even Cooper. I may consider Powers-Johnson or Frazier, but the need on defense is so great it seems like getting a top 30 player (according to DJ) would be too much to pass up.