Cardinals trade up for Budda Baker, who could be another Tyrann Mathieu

Budda Baker, the ball-hawking safety out of Washington, has been selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the 36th pick in the 2017 NFL draft. The Cardinals gave up a pretty big haul to get Baker, trading their 45th, 119th, 197th, and a 2018 fourth-rounder to the Chicago Bears. Arizona moved up nine spots in the second round as a result.

The former Husky has the range to serve as a centerfielder at the free safety position, as well as the versatility to line up as a nickel cornerback and match up with opposing tight ends.

Baker’s success in Washington was remarkable. In his three-year collegiate career, he totaled 199 tackles, 18 pass defenses, 13 tackles for loss, five interceptions, four sacks, and three forced fumbles. He was a two-time first-team all-Pac-12 player and was also a consensus All-American in his junior season when he led the Huskies in tackles and tackles for loss.

His abilities go further than the numbers that appear on box scores, however.

Explosiveness

As deep as this class is, Baker is truly one of the more explosive defensive backs in this year’s draft. At the combine, he ran the 20-yard shuttle in 4.08 seconds, ranking tops among all safeties and reminding the NFL how great he is at changing directions.

Baker has a knack for making plays and showed off terrific ball instincts in college:

Versatility

Over the years, undersized safeties like Baker have been able to find their place in the NFL. Standing at 5’10 and 195 pounds, Baker will likely be scrutinized for his size. But smaller safeties have carved out roles for themselves over the years. Seattle Seahawks All-Pro free safety Earl Thomas and Arizona Cardinals defensive back Tyrann Mathieu have helped prove that today’s safeties don’t need to be as big as the prototypical defensive backs of years past.

Baker even mentioned both of these two safeties by name at the combine.

“I love Earl Thomas, the way he plays the game,” Baker said. “Whatever he is doing he is always next to the ball, wreaking havoc.

“I watch Tyrann Mathieu because of his versatility; he can play corner, nickel, or safety and he has been playing that.”

During the combine drills, Baker impressed Thomas with his performance:

It’s all well and good to compare Baker to a couple of the NFL’s most dominant undersized safeties, but the lack of ideal size is still a concern with him. Taking a safety early in the draft is far from a sure thing, as evidenced with recent first-round misses like Calvin Pryor and Matt Elam.

The risk of taking an early-round safety is one thing, but with Baker, the lack of size leaves room for concern regarding durability and tackling ability.

Sort of! Although his birth name is “Bishard,” he’s gone by Budda since he was a baby because his mother — or was it his aunt? — thought he looked like a “little Buddha doll.”

“It’s my name now,” Baker told the Seattle Times when he was in high school. “I don’t really like being called Bishard.”