Two quarterbacks figure to dominate discussion leading up to the 2024 NFL draft just like Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud did ahead of the 2023 one.
ESPN's Todd McShay wasted no time cooking up some trades for those quarterbacks—USC's Caleb Williams and North Carolina's Drake Maye—in his initial mock 2024 draft. He projected the Arizona Cardinals to land the No. 1 pick with the selection it owns from the Houston Texans and then to move it in a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay then selected Williams with that pick, while the Washington Commanders traded up to No. 3 with the Indianapolis Colts to land Maye.
It isn't unrealistic to expect the Cardinals to end up with the top two picks in the upcoming draft.
After all, they could struggle with quarterback Kyler Murray expected to miss some time as he recovers from a torn ACL. Things will get even more dire if they trade wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, and there figures to be an adjustment period for first-year head coach Jonathan Gannon.
In addition to its own pick that could be high in such a scenario, the pick it owns from the Texans should also be a favorable one. Houston traded the Cardinals its 2024 first-rounder as part of the deal to move up and select Alabama pass-rusher Will Anderson Jr. at No. 3 overall this year.
The Texans are in the early stages of a rebuild with Stroud as their rookie quarterback, so that pick should pay dividends for the Cardinals.
McShay envisioned such a scenario and projected Arizona to keep its own selection at No. 2 after trading No. 1. It used that pick to select Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who is talented enough to eventually develop into a No. 1 option in the NFL just like his father was on the Colts for many years.
Indianapolis then trading the No. 3 pick to a quarterback-needy team makes sense considering the Colts selected Florida's Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 overall pick of this year's draft and surely won't want to give up on him that quickly.
Other notable selections in McShay's mock draft include the Cardinals using the No. 5 pick they get from the Buccaneers to take Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry and the Colts using the No. 6 pick from the Commanders to land Georgia tight end Brock Bowers.
Yet it is Williams who figures to be the headliner of the 2024 draft after taking home the Heisman Trophy last season.
Teams will surely be maneuvering for the chance to draft him as a potential franchise quarterback, which will make the No. 1 pick all the more valuable if it belongs to a team that doesn't necessarily need a signal-caller.
That was the case this year when the Chicago Bears traded the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver D.J. Moore, the No. 9 overall pick this year, the No. 61 pick this year, a 2024 first-rounder and a 2025 second-rounder.
The Cardinals could get even more in return for Williams.
