Earlier this month, Fantasy Football Fools got the chance to participate in a mock draft put together by Football Burrito with one blogger representing each NFL franchise.
Since the Dallas Cowboys, who I should have been representing, don’t actually have a pick in the first round — fingers crossed for Roy Williams — I had the honor of drafting for one of the unrepresented teams, the Super Bowl runner-up Arizona Cardinals.
Even after they almost won it all, the Cardinals still get picked last in gym class.
So, with the 31st pick of the NFL mock draft, I was going to pick the obvious solution to all the Cardinals’ problems, a highly touted but overrated USC quarterback…
Realizing they already had one of those, I went with this guy.
With the 31st pick, the Arizona Cardinals select Michael Johnson, DE, Georgia Tech.
While it would be nice to grab a shifty playmaker like LeSean McCoy to pair with Tim Hightower, Arizona’s greater need is on defense. Their linebackers aren’t getting any younger — three of the four are over 30 — and the Cardinals could use some more youth in their defensive rotation at OLB and DE.
Physically, Michael Johnson is one of the most gifted athletes in the draft. He has great size at 6’7”, and he’s drawn comparisons to Julius Peppers from the likes of Jon Gruden. Coming off his much-improved senior season and an impressive Combine, Johnson will have to overcome his motivational issues and grow into a dominant force for the Cardinals.
I was surprised to get Michael Johnson so late considering his nice showing at the Combine and the hype surrounding him, but the drafters in this mock had more of a liking for wide receivers and corners than I expected. I think we’ll see more offensive and defensive linemen come off the board in the first round unless Al Davis has anything to say about it.
The big shocker of this mock draft was Chris “Beanie” Wells falling out of the first round. I guess the blogosphere representatives for this one are not impressed by a bruising back with a stiff arm.
So what do you say? Should I have drafted Beanie Wells at the 31st pick for the Cardinals?
