POD Community Mock Draft: Pick No. 31

Rd. # Player Pos. College 1 31 Chris Wells RB Ohio State General Manager: LVLionfan

With the 31st pick of the 2009 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, the Arizona Cardinals select Ohio State running back Chris Wells.

Here is LVLionfan's reasoning for the pick:

There are a couple of areas that needed to be addressed by the reigning NFC champs: OLB, interior OL and RB. This year is deep at LB, but most of the top prospects were already off the board, so I chose to look elsewhere rather than reach on a second-round talent. This left me looking at OL and RB. I looked hard at Alex Mack and Duke Robinson and probably would have selected one of those two if Beanie Wells was off the board. I had made up my mind long ago that if Wells fell to 31, he wouldn't last to 32.

The Cardinals had the worst running game in the NFL last year and have uncertainty heading into this year. Edge is past his prime and Hightower averaged 2.8 YPC last season. With Beanie Wells falling to the Cardinals, I had
to snap him up. Wells is a downhill, between-the-tackles runner and would instantly upgrade the Cardinals' backfield. The major knock on Wells is that he is too slow (ran a 4.59 40) and isn't a great multipurpose back (15 catches in 3 years at Ohio St.). In looking at the Cardinals' roster however, Wells is still the man for them. He would be called on to wear down defenses and help control the clock while the passing game would stretch the field, so the speed isn't that big an issue. As far as being a receiving threat, Hightower would be called on for third-down duties (had 34 receptions for a 7-yard avg. last season).

So overall, the pros for drafting Wells far outweigh the cons. I know Cardinals fans would be more than happy with him joining their team, and should he be available on April 25, I expect the Cardinals to be sprinting to the
podium to call his name.