What if the Arizona Cardinals had listened to Mike Mayock

How would the new Raiders GM done as the Arizona Cardinals GM?

The NFL Network is losing one of their gems, as Mike Mayock, their NFL Draft analyst, has taken a job with the Oakland Raiders to be their new general manager.

Now, with Mayock having to put his money where his mouth is, so to speak, the question becomes how would he have done within the first round of the draft with the Cardinals picks instead of Rod Graves and Steve Keim calling the shots?

The really interesting comparison portion is that there are four of the same picks in this, one great, one potentially good, and two who have never made it.

Mayock’s names on three of the other four picks are better, with a toss up on the final one.

Let’s take a look.

The reason Mayock’s names are better in some are because he just had better players fall to him.

Obviously the Cardinals could have drafted Riley Reiff and upgraded their offensive line, but both Mayock and Graves pissed away a chance at a true All-Pro and game changer in David DeCastro.

In 2014, Barr was not even an option, he is clearly the superior choice to anyone at 20 the Cardinals could have taken, this is even if Bucannon had carried his 2015 form through his entire career. The Cardinals traded down and got Deone Bucannon and John Brown. Brown is no longer with the team and Bucannon has struggled to stay on the field the last three years.

Artie Burns versus Robert Nkemdiche is a coin flip. Burns doesn’t play much because he is not good, while Nkemdiche has struggled, but is also injury prone.

The biggest one recently that would have been a positive towards Mayock is Humphrey, who is getting closer and closer to shutdown cornerback status. Haason Reddick is not a bad pick, but he has been flopped around to four positions in three years, his last year in college and first two years in the NFL and is a work in progress.

It is also amazing how accurate and astute Mayock is with his picks. Four of his picks are exactly the same as the Cardinals. Two haven’t been good in Cooper and Humphries, while Peterson is a future Hall of Famer. The jury is out on Rosen, but hopefully he can follow the footsteps of Peterson.

The only two calls that Mayock won over the Arizona Cardinals real GM’s were Reiff and Humphrey. The Humphrey/Reddick battle could flip, but right now Humphrey is the better player.

The Cardinals have no clear wins, since four were the same and Barr cannot be counted as a win since the Cardinals likely would have taken him, just never had the shot too.

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