B
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals let Ponds fall and pounced. Final grade: B.
by ryknyse ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 2 steals
· 4 reaches
If you want a masterclass in dealing, watch the Cardinals, who turned every swap into a profit this weekend. Call it a sensible B, earned the boring way.
If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through quarterback. The Ponds pick alone nudges the whole weekend up a notch. The cost of the Mesidor reach is exactly the players who went right after him.
A workmanlike haul that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 12th overall pick they get a disruptive interior force, even if it was a touch early. A real need, handled.
Akheem Mesidor at pick 20 is a conviction pick that outran the value. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They paid up for Blake Miller at pick No. 34 when waiting would have done the job. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They robbed the room for D'Angelo Ponds here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Bryce Lance at the 104th pick is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jaeden Roberts at No. 143 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Pat Coogan in pick 183 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Keyshaun Elliott. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.