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Arizona Cardinals Select Missouri Tigers’ Evan Boehm in 4th Round of 2016 NFL Draft

By Patrick Karraker

Nov 22, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; Missouri Tigers offensive lineman Evan Boehm (77) celebrates after the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Missouri won 29 to 21. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 22, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; Missouri Tigers offensive lineman Evan Boehm (77) celebrates after the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Missouri won 29 to 21. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Arizona Cardinals have selected Mizzou center Evan Boehm in the 4th round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

After two frustrating days of waiting for a group of potential Missouri Tigers draftees that included two players once thought to be potential first-round candidates–center Evan Boehm and linebacker Kentrell Brothers–as well as lineman Connor McGovern, who some talked about as a possible second-rounder, the uneasiness finally ended on Saturday afternoon, as the Arizona Cardinals took Boehm in the fourth round (pick 128 overall). Boehm’s linemate, McGovern, would be taken just a short amount of time later by the Denver Broncos.

Boehm will have a good shot to start right off the bat for a Cardinals team that allowed Lyle Sendlein, their starting center for the past eight years, to walk this offseason, then traded his expected replacement, Jonathan Cooper, to the New England Patriots for pass rusher Chandler Jones. Journeyman A.Q. Shipley was the Cardinals’ projected starting center in advance of the Boehm selection. He’ll have the opportunity to reunite with former Mizzou teammate Markus Golden, a pass rusher who was selected in the second round last year, in Arizona.

Next: Denver Broncos Select Connor McGovern

Boehm is the first Mizzou center to be drafted since the New England Patriots took Curtis Wilson in the ninth round in 1989. (That’s if you don’t count Mitch Morse, who started off his Mizzou career as a center before moving to tackle, and has since moved back to the position with the Kansas City Chiefs.) He started every game of his collegiate career and holds the Mizzou record for consecutive starts with 52. While he was constantly lauded for his intellect and ability to command a line, which should make him a spectacular candidate to start at center in the NFL, he also has enough strength and athleticism to play guard, his original position at Mizzou, if called upon.

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