The 2025 NFL draft will begin on April 24 and the Arizona Cardinals will pick 16th overall. Who will the the player they select?
Mock drafts have them going a lot of different ways. While many focus on the defensive line or defensive edge, they could also go with an offensive lineman, and, in a writers mock draft for Pro Football Network, that is the direction I go with the Cardinals' pick.
The pick is Ohio State tackle Josh Simmons.
After months of projections that the Arizona Cardinals would take a defensive lineman or an edge rusher, they basically filled those rooms in free agency. Where could they get a player who could make a big impact early is on the offensive line.
The Cardinals’ new offensive line coach is Justin Frye, who was Ohio State’s O-line coach. Were it not for his knee injury, had he played the full season the way he did before he got hurt, he might have been OT1 in this draft. Assuming the medicals are clean, the Cardinals set themselves up to have bookend Buckeye tackles, paired with Paris Johnson Jr., for years to come protecting Kyler Murray.
Georgia EDGE Mykel Williams and Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell are both still on the board at that point.
Both Williams and Campbell have drawn the Cardinals' interest. Williams would have to work hard to crack the defensive rotation as a rookie, as they already have Zaven Collins, Baron Browning and Josh Sweat ahead of him, as well as BJ Ojulari, who missed all last season with a torn ACL.
But Simmons could play as a rookie, either at right tackle or even perhaps at right guard for a year.
Yes, he is coming off a patellar injury, but this assumes the medicals are clear. Frye's experience with Simmons and Simmons' improvement from 2023 to last season, in addition to his great traits for a tackle, could give the Cardinals a long-term answer at right tackle.
That was the logic of that pick.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: NFL mock draft: Arizona Cardinals projected to land OL Josh Simmons
