Four years later, we can judge how the 2021 NFL draft went and whether teams would have or should have made the player selections they did. The Arizona Cardinals drafted linebacker Zaven Collins 16th overall in 2021.
In a redraft of the first round of the 2021 draft by Pro Football Network, the Cardinals would not have taken Collins, but they would have gotten a linebacker still.
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The redraft has the Cardinals selecting linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramorah, who enters his fifth NFL season with the Cleveland Browns.
The Cardinals had the right idea taking a versatile Swiss army knife at off-ball linebacker in Round 1 of the 2021 NFL Draft. In this redraft, though, they take a player in Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah who fits that bill and has more than lived up to the hype.
When the Cardinals drafted Collins, they envisioned him as the Mike linebacker and able to do other things. He was okay, but when Jonathan Gannon became head coach, he was moved to the edge. The coaches love Collins. He does everything well an outside linebacker should do except for being a great pass rusher.
He had a career-high five sacks last season. But he is great against the run and good in coverage.
JOK was a Pro Bowler in 2023.
He would have perhaps kept the Cardinals from signing Mack Wilson, but that’s about it.
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Both Collins and JOK are more or less on the same level, albeit now at different positions.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: 2021 first-round redraft has Arizona Cardinals taking different LB