If you’re an Arizona Cardinals fan and want to see your team make a big move on the day of the NFL Draft, it’s hard to imagine one bigger than what the NFL Network’s Peter Schrager has going down in his first mock draft.
The Good Morning Football host has the Cardinals giving up big-time draft capital to move up for Florida tight end Kyle Pitts, trading No. 16, a 2022 first-round pick and a 2022 third-rounder to the Detroit Lions for the seventh selection.
Pitts isn’t falling out of the top eight. Too many teams are intoxicated by him. I’ve got the Cardinals as aggressors — as they’ve been all offseason — with Steve Keim bringing in yet another weapon for Kyler Murray. Arizona gives up this year’s first-rounder, next year’s first and next year’s third to move up from No. 16.
Pitts is one of the 2021 class’ true difference-makers. The 6-foot-6 tight end had 12 touchdowns in just eight games for the Gators last season, catching 43 balls for a total of 770 yards, an average of nearly 18 yards a reception.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein compares Pitts to Hall of Fame wideout Calvin Johnson in terms of how much of a matchup problem Pitts could be, proposing that teams in Pitts’ division might have to build their defense a certain way to stop him. He’s simply too fast for most linebackers and too big for all cornerbacks.
It’s hard not to get giddy when picturing that type of weapon in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense alongside Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins. Arizona also lost Dan Arnold in free agency, its best receiving threat at tight end.
But the price is certainly a high one to pay for Pitts, and that’s even before considering the Cardinals not using their first-rounder on a cornerback after the way their offseason has played out.
As Schrager notes, though, Keim has been aggressive this offseason and he’s not one to show trepidation for a big-time move.
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