Cardinals Trade Down, Pick QB in Mock Draft

What a surprise in Conor Orr's most recent mock draft.

ARIZONA -- The NFL Draft will forever remain one of the sports world's greatest mysteries, as each year leaves a handful of picks nobody in the public sphere thought possible.

According to Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr, that could be the Arizona Cardinals this year.

Possessing two first-round picks, Arizona nabs the talents of WR Marvin Harrison Jr. at No. 4 in Orr's new mock draft.

"Some teams fall into a handful of generational quarterback, offensive line or defensive back prospects. The Cardinals will have drafted both Larry Fitzgerald and Marvin Harrison Jr. over the last quarter-century, which is pretty fortuitous. Harrison is far and away the best player on the field whenever he lines up. This is a simple choice for a Cardinals team struggling with firepower," wrote Orr on the arrival of Harrison.

What Orr has the Cardinals doing with their other first-round pick would flat-out be shocking.

Arizona - currently slated to pick at No. 27 - is favored to move up from the pick if a worthy player falls.

Rather, Orr has Arizona trading down with the Kansas City Chiefs at 32 to take.... Washington QB Michael Penix.

"Six quarterbacks in the first round! And the Cardinals grab the last one. Shocking? Perhaps. Kyler Murray is going to be hard to remove contractually, but the Cardinals are building for the long term and give themselves an option to buttress the room and create a Jordan Love-type situation for the future if Murray doesn’t work out," wrote Orr.

"Allowing Penix to learn under Cardinals OC Drew Petzing will help Penix round out his game and possibly be the future distributor of many Marvin Harrison Jr. touchdowns."

If Murray was on the brink of retirement - or attempting to force his way out - or the Cardinals simply weren't head over heels for him, it would make sense.

But quite frankly, it doesn't.

Arizona hasn't been shy, in the slightest, on their infatuation with Murray and what he brings to the table. The new regime of Jonathan Gannon and Monti Ossenfort have done nothing but sing praises of the former No. 1 overall pick, and that's without a full year of his services since Murray was rehabbing his torn ACL when the new show arrived.

Why national media continues to drive this narrative of Arizona somehow looking to find a replacement for Murray is still odd. Murray rehabbed his way back into action and instantly upgraded Arizona's offense when healthy. He shed much of the maturity and character issues labeled on him while earning the trust of fellow teammates and his coaching staff, too.

But for a moment - let's pretend the Cardinals were indeed unhappy with Murray or simply wanted an insurance policy - why not take a better option at No. 4?

To call this pick puzzling would be an understatement, and quite frankly would be a wasted opportunity for Arizona to continue pushing their rebuild in the right direction.