Somebody has to go third. That’s the mantra with which the Cards are dealing. Simply put they have to decide if there’s a player in the draft worth the third pick. It’s clear there is no sure thing.
You can reduce the field to four players the Cards could select with the third pick. That’s assuming they wouldn’t choose a RB or WR with that pick. History says picking those positions that early is risky. It’s hard for them to impact games enough to justify such a selection, though there were exceptions. The four likely Cards’ picks if they sit still are Bain, Bailey, Reese and Simpson. I’ve covered all four in previous posts. Experience says there are issues with Bain and Simpson that can’t be corrected. They’d have to rewrite history to make themselves good choices. Reese badly tailed off late in the season and was generally inconsistent. That leaves Bailey. He’s certain to have at least limited value as a consistent, situational player. It seems fairly certain if that’s all he became, the pick would not be maximized. If the Cards stay put, he would seem to be the best option. Of course with the Combine, all star games and Pro Days to come, someone may surprise.
To trade down the Cards would need a partner willing to trade up. The first consideration becomes is there a player some team would trade up to get? Todd McShay and others have Love going third. While the Cards could use him, RB is not their primary need. The Saints would like him. They would have to give their second and third round picks to swap places. The situation is even more difficult to match with the Cowboys. They’ve traded away their second pick from this year. Would they give up next years first along with this year’s first? Maybe. The Saints could offer the same deal but might want a 2027 third back. Kansas city would have to add in their second and third picks or stretch into 2027. They do want a game breaking RB. These trades would assume the Cards are thinking RT. The Cards can’t drop below the Bengals and Dolphins or their RT options might diminish, though there would still be reasonable options in my view, but maybe not in their view.
Another possibility is someone desires Simpson. Assuming the Cards don’t fancy him; do the Browns? Their current options could not rank worse in EPA per drop back. If they want Simpson would they offer their 2 firsts from this draft. It fits on the trade chart, but with all their needs would they give up 2 early picks. I suppose it’s possible the Giants would offer their first and second to get ahead of the Titans to get their choice of WR, if they have a strong preference.
The value of this move would reflect the opinion this is a weak draft. That said, getting extra second and third pick would likely help the Cards. The draft is fairly decent in OLs. The thinking being there is no really worthy 3rd pick if the Cards were to stay in place, so work on the Oline. We need to get later into the offseason, but if the draft was tomorrow, these options would have to be considered.
You can reduce the field to four players the Cards could select with the third pick. That’s assuming they wouldn’t choose a RB or WR with that pick. History says picking those positions that early is risky. It’s hard for them to impact games enough to justify such a selection, though there were exceptions. The four likely Cards’ picks if they sit still are Bain, Bailey, Reese and Simpson. I’ve covered all four in previous posts. Experience says there are issues with Bain and Simpson that can’t be corrected. They’d have to rewrite history to make themselves good choices. Reese badly tailed off late in the season and was generally inconsistent. That leaves Bailey. He’s certain to have at least limited value as a consistent, situational player. It seems fairly certain if that’s all he became, the pick would not be maximized. If the Cards stay put, he would seem to be the best option. Of course with the Combine, all star games and Pro Days to come, someone may surprise.
To trade down the Cards would need a partner willing to trade up. The first consideration becomes is there a player some team would trade up to get? Todd McShay and others have Love going third. While the Cards could use him, RB is not their primary need. The Saints would like him. They would have to give their second and third round picks to swap places. The situation is even more difficult to match with the Cowboys. They’ve traded away their second pick from this year. Would they give up next years first along with this year’s first? Maybe. The Saints could offer the same deal but might want a 2027 third back. Kansas city would have to add in their second and third picks or stretch into 2027. They do want a game breaking RB. These trades would assume the Cards are thinking RT. The Cards can’t drop below the Bengals and Dolphins or their RT options might diminish, though there would still be reasonable options in my view, but maybe not in their view.
Another possibility is someone desires Simpson. Assuming the Cards don’t fancy him; do the Browns? Their current options could not rank worse in EPA per drop back. If they want Simpson would they offer their 2 firsts from this draft. It fits on the trade chart, but with all their needs would they give up 2 early picks. I suppose it’s possible the Giants would offer their first and second to get ahead of the Titans to get their choice of WR, if they have a strong preference.
The value of this move would reflect the opinion this is a weak draft. That said, getting extra second and third pick would likely help the Cards. The draft is fairly decent in OLs. The thinking being there is no really worthy 3rd pick if the Cards were to stay in place, so work on the Oline. We need to get later into the offseason, but if the draft was tomorrow, these options would have to be considered.
