Cardinals shake up draft with a pair of first-round trades

Rather than add an elite defender like Will Anderson to their roster, the Arizona Cardinals shuffled the deck of the 2023 NFL Draft with a pair of early first-round trades.

First they traded the third and 105th pick to Houston for the 12th and 33rd pick as well as a first-round and third-round pick in 2024. Then they traded the 12th and 34th picks to the Lions for the sixth overall selection.

With the sixth pick, Arizona took Ohio State left tackle Paris Johnson. ESPN’s Mel Kiper had Johnson ranked as the top offensive tackle in this year’s draft and the 11th-best prospect overall.

The 6-foot-6, 310-pound lineman was a unanimous All-American and All Big-Ten selection in 2022. Johnson played both sides of the line as a Buckeye but excelled after moving to the left side in 2022. According to Pro Football Focus, Johnson gave up only 14 pressures in 449 pass-blocking snaps.

After losing Kyler Murray to a knee injury last season, first-year GM Monti Ossenfort obviously wants to protect his franchise QB and understands the 4-13 Cardinals have holes all over the roster. They need all the help they can get.

Still, with a new defensive-minded head coach in Jonathan Gannon, it’s a bit surprising the team prioritized the offensive line. Only the Chicago Bears gave up more points per game in 2022, and Arizona had the ninth-fewest sacks in the regular season.

Johnson graduated from Ohio State with a degree in journalism and even worked for the school newspaper. Now he gets to write his own story in the Arizona desert.