Let me count the ways: 1-2-3-4 … There are still 15 days to the draft, and the opening round seldom goes just by the number, but there really does appear to be a growing sense around the league that QBs could indeed go 1-2-3-4 with the first four picks for the first time in history when the clock starts ticking on the 25th. On the one hand, its hard to find anyone in the NFL these days that does not believe that Chicago will be taking USC’s Caleb Williams with the first pick overall; that LSU’s Jayden Daniels is headed to Washington with the second pick; and that New England will be selecting North Carolina’s Drake Maye with the 3rd. And, as we have noted, that puts Arizona in the catbird seat with the 4th pick with Michigan’s JJ McCarthy still on the board and as many as four other teams believed to have at least some interest in moving up to get him. In fact, there are reports that the Cardinals have indeed spoken to ‘multiple’ teams about a possible trade. Arizona GM Monte Ossenfort has let it be known though that if Arizona is to drop a ‘significant amount’ in the opening round – and that means you Minnesota, Denver and Las Vegas, which have the 11th thru the 13th picks respectively – the asking price will be at least three first rounders. Sources also indicate that the Cardinals would prefer to get two of those #1s this year rather than accept two future first rounders which would appear to give the Vikings an edge as in addition to the 11th pick, they have the 23rd acquired earlier this year from Houston. At the same time, though, as we noted earlier, teams like the Vikings, Broncos and Raiders are musing whether there is enough of a difference between McCarthy and Michael Penix of Washington or Oregon’s Bo Nix to warrant giving up two extra #1 picks for. Meanwhile, Giants’ GM Joe Schoen, who reportedly had been hoping that one top 4 QBs would still be on the board at the 6th pick, sounded a little resigned that that likely isn’t going to be in the cards in an interview with Albert Breer of SI.com. Said Schoen: “If the quarterbacks go 1–4, then we’re getting the second-best position player, not quarterback, at six, which is O.K., too. That player will really help us.”
