B+
Arizona Cardinals
Lew should have been long gone. The Cardinals pounced, and earned a B+.
by JBHANCOCK94 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 6 steals
· 0 reaches
Somebody in No. 111 was going to get robbed, and it turned out to be the rest of the league. The Cardinals sat still while Connor Lew, the No. 62 name on the board, slid all the way to them, then sprinted to the podium.
The trade ledger is the best part of the whole weekend. They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. The veteran additions, Eric Kendricks chief among them, give the class a floor the rookies alone would not.
In sum, a sensible class that nudges the roster the right way.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 12 they get a long-term starter on the line. The biggest hole, addressed.
In pick No. 27 they get a lockdown presence outside, outstanding value to boot. More want than need.
A clean, defensible pick in the 34th pick with a little surplus value in Caleb Lomu. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Michael Taaffe slid further than he should have, and No. 80 is lovely value for the safety. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Kyle Louis at pick 92 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A quiet steal in the Round 4 slot: Brenen Thompson for less than the market said. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They barely believed it either: Connor Lew still on the board at the 111th overall pick. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A straight-up fair deal on Carson Beck at slot 112, value and slot in agreement. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
No drama and no debate, Gracen Halton went about where he belonged in Round 5, Pick 3. A need, and now a little less of one.
They took Kage Casey at par in No. 156, which is nothing to complain about. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Jalen Farmer at the Round 5 slot is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
By-the-book stuff, Kaleb Elarms-Orr at the 170th pick squarely in line with his ranking. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Domani Jackson at the 183rd overall pick. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
No edge and no loss on Jaren Kanak in pick No. 217; it is a wash and a sensible one. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Fa'alili Fa'amoe in slot 249 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Jack Kelly. It fills a real need, too.