By Matthew P. Hearn

I know if you listen to the regular draft gurus then this statement must be quite shocking but I firmly believe it to be true.  No I don’t have any insider contacts and no special knowledge of Arizona GM Steve Keim’s draft strategy. However looking at the history here this is the only conclusion.

For months the consensus top pick was Nick Bosa, that is until someone remembered that Kliff Kingsbury had casually said before a game against a Kyler Murray quarterbacked Oaklahoma team that Kingsbury would draft Murray with the first pick if he had it. Well now he has the first pick so the machine that is pre-draft coverage/artificially generated frenzy pounced all over that like a hungry tiger. Why you ask? Simple, having a quarterback drafted first overall creates way more “buzz” than any defensive player, no offense. It is simply marketing strategy to get people interested in the eleventy four mock drafts out there. The people who say it is Murray first are simply ignoring the fact that no GM in his right mind drops a QB they traded up to get after only one year. I have to imagine it would be a little like jumping in a shark tank wearing a meat vest.

For the team, facilitating this fantasy helps them drum up potential trade partners. Is this why they brought Kyler in for a private workout after they casually skipped his pro day? I mean seriously who does that? How many teams skip their franchise quarterback’s pro day?

So hey for kicks, I’ll try my hand at this. “With the first pick in the 2019 NFL draft the Arizona Cardinals select…” Josh Allen, outside linebacker, Kentucky. Why him you ask? How could this be when it is not being blasted at me by all the football talking heads? Well since you’ve read this far I’ll tell you. It is because Nick Bosa is defensive end in a 4-3 defense and Arizona is going back to 3-4 which I think Josh Allen fits better than any of the other top prospects. I think the Kyler Murray smoke is an attempt to get the 49ers to trade up for Bosa but didn’t Lynch pull that same move himself once?  If the Cards don’t take a Defensive lineman then they’ll trade back, which is truthfully the more likely scenario for a new head coach, but it sure don’t get too many clicks on your mock draft.