TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – The Arizona Cardinals have traded three draft picks to the Cleveland Browns to move up seven picks in the fourth round of the NFL draft, selecting Delaware State defensive tackle Rodney Gunter.
The 6-foot-5, 305-pound player was the 17th selection in the fourth round on Saturday, the 116th overall.
To move up, the Cardinals gave Cleveland the 24th pick in the fourth round (123rd overall), the 22nd pick in the sixth round (198th overall) and the 24th pick in the seventh round (241st overall).
Thanks to a second-round trade with Baltimore, Arizona had consecutive picks in the fifth round. The Cardinals used the first to select defensive end/outside linebacker Shaq Riddick of West Virginia and the other to choose wide receiver J.J. Nelson of UAB.
Gunter, a cousin of former Cardinals tight end D.C. Jefferson, acknowledged that he was drafted sooner than he had expected to be.
”I’m just very surprised,” he said in a conference call. ”I was projected to go in later rounds, around five, six, seven, but God blessed me with the positions to go fourth round. It’s a dream come true.”
Others may have doubted him, but Gunter aimed high when comparing himself to another player.
”I’m very versatile,” he said. ”I’m a hard-working guy. I potentially can be the next J.J. Watt.”
While Gunter was forecast to go much lower, Arizona wasn’t going to risk not being able to select him.
”They really believe in me,” he said. ”I’m going to take that into consideration every time I step onto the field.”
He played only one year of high school football, saying he worked as a waiter and dishwasher to help ends meet at home, where he was one of three sons to a single mother.
Gunter said Delaware State was the only team that showed interest out of high school.
As a senior, Gunter had seven sacks and 13 tackles for loss.
Riddick, 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds, played one season at West Virginia after transferring from Gardner-Webb. He said he looked forward to playing an edge rusher rather than playing in a three-point stand.
”I’d be more of a bully standing up on the edge,” he said.
Nelson had the fastest 40-yard time at the NFL combine at 4.28 seconds and could be a leading candidate to return kicks for Arizona. He stands 5-foot-10 and weighs just 156 pounds. Nelson could be the last UAB player drafted in the NFL. The school disbanded its football program after last season.
Of their six selections, three were on defense and three on offense. The Cardinals selected defensive end/outside linebacker Markus Golden in the second round. The Cardinals chose offensive tackle D.J. Humphries in the first round and running back David Johnson in the third.
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