ARIZONA CARDINALS
Cardinals nab CB Clark Phillips in McShay’s way-too-early mock draft
Although the 2022 NFL Draft just concluded for the Arizona Cardinals and the league’s 31 other teams, it’s never too early to look ahead at next year’s edition of the draft.
Looking ahead to next year’s draft, ESPN’s Todd McShay thinks the Cardinals will look to bolster the secondary with their first round pick.
In order to determine the draft order, McShay reversed the odds of the Super Bowl favorites from Caesars Sportsbook. As a result, the Cardinals were picking at No. 20.
With the pick, McShay has Arizona taking Utah cornerback Clark Phillips III. The cornerback has started in every game for the Utes since arriving to campus in 2020.
Phillips is already a two-year starter … Arizona’s cornerback room has holes, and that’s before factoring in that Byron Murphy Jr. is entering the final year of his contract.
The 5-foot-10, 184-pound cornerback emerged as one of the top defenders at his position in the Pac-12 in 2021 and was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference Second Team.
Phillips had two interceptions as a sophomore, including one against Ohio State and quarterback C.J. Stroud, who McShay has as the No. 1 overall pick in his mock.
He added 13 pass breakups and showed the ability to tackle in the open field, registering 63 total tackles including a nine-tackle performance against Southern California on Oct. 9.
As a high school prospect, Phillips was the No. 51 overall ranked player in the 2020 class, including being the No. 6 overall player from the talent-rich state of California.
The Cardinals made noise on the first day of this year’s draft, trading the 23rd overall pick to the Baltimore Ravens for the services of wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.
They followed that up by adding a versatile tight end in Colorado State’s Trey McBride in the second round before adding a pair of third-round outside linebackers in San Diego State’s Cam Thomas and Cincinnati’s Myjai Sanders.
In the sixth round, Arizona selected USC running back Keaontay Ingram and Virginia Tech guard Lecitus Smith.
A round later, the Cardinals picked a pair of defenders in Valdosta State CB Christian Matthew and OLB Jesse Luketa before nabbing Oklahoma OL Marquis Hayes.
Aside from Murphy and Matthew, the Cardinals cornerbacks room currently features Marco Wilson, Jeff Gladney, Antonio Hamilton, Jace Whittaker, Breon Borders and Nate Brooks.
