Arizona Cardinals Select UCLA OG Jon Gaines II in NFL Draft

Another Bruin is sticking around in the West.

The Arizona Cardinals selected UCLA football offensive guard Jon Gaines II with the No. 122 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft on Saturday. Gaines was the second Bruin to come off the board, with the Seattle Seahawks taking running back Zach Charbonnet in the second round on Friday night.

Gaines will be tasked with protecting quarterback Kyler Murray in Arizona, but the franchise signal-caller is injured and will likely miss a good chunk of the 2023 season.

The Cardinals had previously selected Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson in the first round, LSU edge rusher BJ Ojulari in the second round, Syracuse defensive back Garrett Williams in the third round and Stanford wide receiver Michael Wilson in the third round.

Gaines appeared in all 44 of the Bruins' games since the start of the 2019 season and started in each of their last 29 contests. He spent the past two seasons at right guard, but he also started games at left guard, center and right tackle over the years.

UCLA boasted one of the nation's most efficient ground attacks with Gaines holding down the fort up front, paving the way for Charbonnet to earn All-American honors in 2022. He was also a key factor in Joshua Kelley, Demetric Felton and Brittain Brown's success in Westwood before they made the leap to the NFL.

Gaines followed up his extended collegiate career with an impressive showing at the NFL Scouting Combine, putting up some of the best testing numbers of the weekend.

The Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, native ran a 5.01-second 40-yard dash with a 1.73-second 10-yard split, which ranked No. 2 and No. 1, respectively, among the 20 interior linemen who participated. Gaines also ranked first with a 32.5-inch vertical, a 7-foot-6 broad jump, a 7.31-second time in the three-cone drill and a 4.45-second 20-yard shuttle time.

The Cardinals must have liked what they saw, as Gaines is now officially on his way to Phoenix.

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