B
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals checked most of the boxes and earned a B.
by BG23 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 7 picks
· 2 steals
· 1 reaches
Nobody had Cole Payton this high, and it is not close. The Cardinals reached 55 spots to get him at slot 143.
Cameron falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. For all the activity, edge rusher went untouched, which is hard to explain. Quarterback is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 3 they get a plug-and-play piece up front. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
They took Emmanuel Pregnon at par in the 34th pick, which is nothing to complain about. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Jacob Rodriguez at pick No. 65 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A offensive lineman of that caliber at Round 4, Pick 4 is the definition of value, full stop. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Cole Payton at the Round 5 slot is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Taylen Green at slot 183 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Josh Cameron at the 217th pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.