In his first mock of the 2015 NFL Draft season, Peter King of Sports Illustrated slots Georgia running back Todd Gurley to the Arizona Cardinals, then immediately points out why the pick is a questionable one, dropping a bevy of interesting nuggets as he fleshes out his reasoning.
"Problems with this pick: Gurley is only four months out from knee reconstruction; it's likely he won't be at full strength to start the 2015 season ... The Cards like Ameer Abdullah of Nebraska, and know they can get him down the line ... The Cards might be able to get-might-Adrian Peterson at a discount if the Vikings get desperate. So I wouldn't write this pick with a pen," writes King.
The fact that King, perhaps the most plugged in member of the NFL media, has not yet written off the purportedly dead and ridiculously impossible Adrian Peterson trade with the Minnesota Vikings is interesting.
The Cardinals and head coach Bruce Arians were rumored to be interested in acquiring Peterson via trade after it was revealed that the All Pro running back had no desire to return to the Vikings for the duration of his NFL career. Another report said that Peterson had indicated the Cardinals were on a short list of teams to which he would prefer to be traded.
Even future Hall of Fame wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald got in on the act, positing that it would be a "game changer" for the Cardinals franchise were they able to add the bruising back.
King, of course, adds the caveat that there will be no movement on the Peterson trade front unless and until the Vikings get "desperate" and considering they hold all the cards and Peterson has no recourse to get himself sent elsewhere other than continuing to throw a media tantrum, it's unlikely the Cardinals could get their hands on him without offering some major compensation.
There's also the fact that Peterson is slated to count $15.4 million against the cap in 2015 and Arizona, per OverTheCap.com, has just over $9 million in cap space at present, approximately $5 or $6 million of which will have to go to the incoming 2015 NFL Draft class.
While adding Gurley would be a huge pick up for the Cardinals - who currently boast the electric Andre Ellington, a guy who seems more suited to a rotational backfield role, and little else - it might not be the pick the Cardinals really want to make with their first-round selection due to his injury history and questionable current status, as King notes.
Abdullah, the former Cornhusker, has jockeyed with players like Boise State's Jay Ajayi and Indiana's Tevin Coleman for the third-best running back spot behind Gurley and Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon throughout the pre-draft process.
He's likely smaller - 5-foot-9, 205-pounds - than Arians would prefer - the hard-nosed Cardinals coach said at the NFL owners meetings last week that the team needed to bring in a "bigger back," per ESPN - but despite his diminutive stature, Abdullah plays the game with power and decisiveness.
NFL.com's Lance Zierlein notes in his draft profile that "Abdullah has explosive potential as a runner and ball-catcher" and while that may sound a bit too much like Ellington, Zierlein also adds that he has "good lower-body drive and a willingness to run behind his pads" and always finishes his runs.
Perhaps even more importantly, Abdullah is considered an incredibly high character player.
"He has the highest overall character grade I've ever given to a prospect, and includes both football character and off-the-field. Aside from (Melvin) Gordon and (Todd) Gurley, I think he's the third best running back in this draft," an AFC North Scout told Zierlein.
Whatever direction Arians and the Cardinals go at running back remains to be seen, but it seems all-but-certain that a brand new ballcarrier or two will take the field for Arizona come Week 1 of the 2015 NFL season.
