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There were many teams that got better in the 2020 NFL Draft and the Arizona Cardinals were one of them. The NFC West as a whole is stacked with talent. The Cardinals finished in the basement at 5-10-1 in 2019, and it landed them the eighth pick in the draft.
Even before the draft, Arizona improved. The Cardinals received DeAndre Hopkins in a trade with the Houston Texans for David Johnson, a 2020 second-round pick and a 2021 fourth-rounder. This was a steal. In the draft, they got two more.
The Cardinals were on the clock at No. 8 and three of the four top offensive lineman were available. This seemed like a given, but the Cardinals saw another huge name fall. They selected Isaiah Simmons out of Clemson with their Round 1 pick. They did not have a second round pick but the Cardinals saw Josh Jones, who many thought could go in the first, fall to the third round.
The first two picks for Arizona had incredible value. But with the current state of the NFC West, it is hard to see them being a playoff team.
Arizona is close, but a few years away
Arizona added a player in Simmons that could possibly cover George Kittle and slow down the All-Pro tight end. This could have been the Cardinals' mindset when drafting him. But the San Francisco 49ers will nevertheless still be the favorites in the division, and maybe the NFC.
San Francisco has an incredible defense and they added Javon Kinlaw to that side of the ball in the draft. On offense, the Niners added Brandon Aiyuk in the draft and got offensive tackle Trent Williams in a trade with the Washington Redskins. The team won 13 games in 2019, and that number is attainable again in 2020.
The Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams also finished above .500. It is hard to imagine that either team will take a huge step back this season. That makes three teams in the Cardinals' division that will be ahead of them in the playoff race. This is not even including the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Philadephia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys elsewhere in the NFC.
There will be many teams in the division fighting for two Wild Card spots. It is unlikely that the Cardinals get one. We are still waiting to see if the Kyler Murray-Kiff Kingsbury connection will work. If it does, they could build quickly and get to the top in a few years, but 2020 won't be the time. There is still some work that needs to be done and they need some teams to fall off before the Cardinals can be considered a top contender in the NFL.
