Arizona Cardinals Make a Move at Cornerback!

The Arizona Cardinals traded for cornerback Trayvon Mullen. What does he bring to the Cardinals?

After months of pondering and hoping, the Arizona Cardinals acquire cornerback Trayvon Mullen Jr. via trade with the Las Vegas Raiders. In return the Raiders receive a 7th round conditional pick. The conditional 7th can turn into a 6th round pick if Mullen plays enough games. What can we expect from Mullen? Let’s take a deep dive and find out.

Trayvon Mullen Jr. is 24 years old, 6’2” weighing in at 201 lbs. He hails from Clemson University where he played alongside linebacker Isaiah Simmons. It looks to be fate that they would eventually reunite to play for the Arizona Cardinals.

Mullen was drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2nd round of the 2019 Draft, 40th overall. He specializes in press man coverage, and was the Raiders highest-graded cornerback in the beginning of the 2020 season. According to PFF, Mullen recorded a 90.8 coverage grade which lead all cornerbacks. With such a good stat record in 2020, one can only wonder why the Raiders would agree to trade him for so little.

Mullen was on track to become a great cornerback but over his tenure with the Raiders, consistency became an issue. He ended the 2020 season with a PFF grade of 55.3. During the 2021 season, Mullen suffered a pedal toe fracture resulting in missing eight games in 2021, and underwent surgery in May of 2022.

When the trade was announced the fans of Raider Nation were split 50/50 on how they felt. One side felt because of his injury and inconsistencies, he would eventually get cut while the other side felt it was too soon to give up on a talent that is still in his rookie contract. The way I see it, Mullen’s talent is focused in press man coverage while the Raiders run more zone coverage. He doesn’t seem to be a good fit for their scheme. The Cardinals on the other hand run a very heavy man-coverage scheme, based on a Cover 1 and Cover 2 approach. Looking at this from an outside perspective, Mullen fits right in.

With the Arizona Cardinals newest acquisition, Mullen should add some much-needed talent to the secondary. Will he be the savior at cornerback Cardinals fans have been asking for? It really comes down to how quickly he can learn the defensive scheme Vance Joseph will be using and if can he maintain his health throughout the long season that is ahead.