2023 NFL mock draft: College football is back with a loaded class

20. Arizona Cardinals: Clark Phillips, CB, Utah

It’s a little difficult to keep track of what draft picks the Arizona Cardinals still have in their possession these days. General manager Steve Keim has been wheeling and dealing, and the Cardinals have officially put every egg in the Kyler Murray basket after giving him a massive contract extension in the 2022 offseason. Defensively, this team has continually been adding pieces but they need to keep adding in the secondary, and it seems they recognize that.

They made a low-risk deal for Trayvon Mullen but in the 2023 NFL Draft, they might want to look into adding even more help. Clark Phillips could be a nice upgrade for the Cardinals with 15 total passes defended last year — 13 PBU and 2 INTs. He’s smaller, but twitchy and instinctive in coverage.

21. Seattle Seahawks: Arik Gilbert, TE, Georgia

Over the last two years, we’ve seen very little from Arik Gilbert. He was part of the LSU Tigers in 2020 where he caught a pair of touchdowns, but he didn’t play at all in the 2021 season due to injury. If anything prevents Gilbert from being a top 32 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, it will be exactly that — injuries.

Although there are five-star players littered throughout the Georgia roster, it’s possible that no player is as hyped among Bulldogs fans this year as this guy. At 6-foot-5, 248 pounds, Gilbert is a physical freak with the athleticism and ball skills to be a nightmare for opposing defenses. But why would the Seattle Seahawks take him? They have Will Dissly and Noah Fant, right?

Yes, the Seahawks did pick up Fant’s fifth-year option (which is only guaranteed for injury) and they did re-sign Dissly, but Gilbert might be too tantalizing to pass on at this juncture. When you land a top-tier quarterback prospect, you’ve got to do everything in your power to surround him with top-flight talent.