Arizona Cardinals: Looking at Every Expert's First-Round Draft Pick Projection

The Arizona Cardinals will have many options available to them when they are on the clock on the night of April 26.

Depending on who is still available, they could get an instant-impact player who will also fill a need. They could also be put in a difficult position if they decide what is there is unfit for the No. 13 pick.

Trading down is always an option, but finding a team willing to give up its first and presumably second-round pick to make that happen may be difficult.

Even before the final first-round draft order was set, NFL draft “experts” have been mocking the picks based on the most current “flavor of the day"—that is, the players who have been the most talked about and most hyped of the week get put higher than those not being discussed.

There was a massive shakeup in many of those experts’ draft boards following the combine, which caused all sorts of melee among fans.

We have taken the most recent first-round mock drafts and put them all under the microscope for a closer examination. The Cardinals will certainly have some good talent available to them in late April, and the next handful of slides will bring that talent to light.

Michael Floyd, WR, Notre Dame

Pick Made By: Mel Kiper & WalterFootball

I love this pick.

Larry Fitzgerald has done it all while in a Cardinals uniform, and for the past two seasons he has done so without much help from his fellow receivers. Floyd would come in as the likely No. 2 receiver from Day 1, bringing some much-needed stability to the position.

Floyd is nearly identical in size to Fitz (6’3”, 220 pounds), and even though he’s not the absolute burner Arizona would love to have on the outside, he does a fine job beating one-on-one coverage down the field. He would get a lot of that with No. 11 commanding a safety over the top on a regular basis.

He is also great over the middle, much like Fitz. The two would create that 2008 feeling for Arizona sports fans in a hurry. The only thing missing would be a quarterback in whom they can trust—for now.

The offseason may be able to fix that issue.

Melvin Ingram, OLB, South Carolina

Pick Made By: Todd McShay

I also love this pick.

Ingram is the definition of defensive versatility, and having him all over the field would be the perfect piece for defensive coordinator Ray Horton and his complex scheme.

Arizona’s defense finished No. 7 in the NFL in sacks with 42—a solid ranking considering how bad it was at the start of the 2011 campaign. Adding a premier pass rusher at No. 13 would immediately solidify the Cardinals as having one of the best defenses in the NFC, and possibly the entire NFL.

He would likely compete in rotation with O’Brien Schofield, and some believe he could play an inside linebacker role as well.

Riley Reiff, OT, Iowa

Pick Made By: DraftTek

If both Floyd and Ingram are off the board and Reiff is still there, this pick would be great for what Arizona needs and where Reiff is expected to be taken (most mocks have him anywhere from Nos. 7-10).

Reiff is expected to be an immediate impact player at the right tackle spot, which is the only uncertainty on the Cardinals’ offensive line for the time being.

Arizona signed former San Francisco guard Adam Snyder to play assumably the right guard position, and with the release of Rex Hadnot and the departure of Deuce Lutui to Seattle (pending a physical), Reiff would be the starter.

Reiff would be plugged in at right tackle from Day 1 and stay there for no less than a decade.

Cordy Glenn, OG/OT, Georgia

Pick Made By: SI.com & ProFootballWeekly

The only reason Glenn would be taken is if Arizona needed a starting guard.

They do not.

He started 13 games at the position in 2010 but moved to left tackle in 2011. He started all 14 games for the Bulldogs as Aaron Murray’s blind-side insurance plan last season.

SI has him being taken before David DeCastro, and even if the intent were for Glenn to play tackle and not guard, that will not happen.

If Arizona is set on taking Glenn to be a versatile lineman whom they could plug in at multiple spots, they would likely be able to trade down to do so. That would not be the worst idea if the top players on their draft board are all gone by the time they pick—and getting back into the second round would be advisable if they are able to do that, as well.

Luke Kuechly, ILB, Boston College

Pick Made By: azcentral.com

This pick is intriguing.

Arizona has one of the best young middle linebackers in the league with Daryl Washington, and Kuechly is expected to be right there as well.

He is another player expected to be able to make an immediate impact for the team that drafts him, and Arizona could be a great fit. Kuechly is a tackling machine, and though he was originally thought to be too small for the inside backer position, he added around 10 pounds of bulk for the combine. Size is no longer an issue.

Although this is not a “need” per se, having another young linebacker in the middle would help the defense become better at everything they do. The core of the 3-4 defense is the linebacking corps. Having two middle-men able to stop the run, rush the passer and cover tight ends and running backs is extremely valuable.

Just ask the 49ers.

Nick Perry, DE/OLB, Southern California

Pick Made By: Matt Miller

Perry is going to be a good player at outside linebacker. He is not an elite defender, however, and this pick was made while leaving the best defender—Melvin Ingram—on the board.

That would not happen unless Ingram’s character were an issue. It is not.

Also left on the board with this pick is Michael Floyd. If GM Rod Graves and head coach Ken Whisenhunt leave that much talent on the board to take Perry at No. 13, they would be instructed not to return to Arizona.

This is also another pick that can be made by trading down to get back into the second round, but only if their guys are not there. At No. 13 this would be the reach of the draft; one that—with Ingram and Floyd left on the board—would haunt them for years.

Perry is a late first-round talent, no more.