2013 NFL mock draft: Cardinals select Tyler Eifert

With the 38th pick in Pride Of Detroit's 2013 NFL mock draft, the Arizona Cardinals select Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert. Reno09 is serving as the Cardinals' general manager, and his reasoning for the pick is below.

After getting Lane Johnson with the seventh overall pick, I feel like I have addressed the Cardinals' biggest need at OT. However, there are still a lot of spots that need to be patched up, like DE, OLB, TE and OG. I don't believe that Carson Palmer is going to be their savior at QB, but to me it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to draft a QB this early after going out and trading for him and signing Drew Stanton and Brian Hoyer. I felt like the Cardinals really needed some help at DE and OLB, and other than Calais Campbell at DE and Daryl Washington at ILB, there isn't a whole lot of talent at those positions. At OLB, I had my eye on guys like Arthur Brown and Alec Ogletree, but those guys are long gone now, and the next best guy I see out there is Khaseem Greene, but I feel like it would be a reach to grab him in the early second round. The guys I strongly considered for this pick were Damontre Moore, Alex Okafor, Margus Hunt, Larry Warford and Tyler Eifert.

This was a really tough decision and I like all of these guys. I think it's interesting how far Moore's draft stock fell this offseason after being regarded as one of the top prospects. But in the end, there were too many character issues. I just honestly never thought he was worthy of a first-round pick, and I think Okafor is the best of the bunch of the DEs that are left at this point. Warford could be a solid pick here and I was pretty close to taking him.

But after a lot of thought, I ultimately came to the conclusion that Eifert was the best player available here, and it was a blessing that he fell this far. In all of the recent mock drafts I've seen, Eifert hasn't fallen out of the first round. I feel like Eifert would be an instant upgrade over the guys the Cardinals have at TE right now. The Cardinals had six different guys line up at TE last year and none of them really got anything going for the offense. Rob Housler and Jeff King got the bulk of the snaps at TE, and Housler was the most effective in the passing game, tallying 45 receptions for 417 yards and 0 TDs. As a matter of fact, there was not a single TD reception by a TE for the Cardinals last year.

Having a 6'6", 250-pound TE with good hands like Eifert could change that for the Cardinals. Housler is very athletic and young and only has a few years in the league, but I think Eifert would be the go-to guy at TE. Eifert made a lot of tough catches for the Irish last year and was reliable in the red zone, while Housler only has 1 TD at the college and NFL level combined. Eifert showed that he could also line up at WR for the Irish last year, although I'm not so sure that versatility would be justified against NFL-caliber DBs, but you never know.

With Lane Johnson and Tyler Eifert as the first two picks for the Cardinals, I feel like they would have two instant starters that can make a great impact on offense and give the fans some excitement.

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Check out the 2013 Pride Of Detroit Community Mock Draft tracker for a look at all of the picks.