C-
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals lost the trade table, and the C- tells the story.
by Stan93 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 31 picks
· 13 steals
· 15 reaches
There was a run on nobody at that position, and the Cardinals started one anyway for Kevin Jennings, 127 picks ahead of schedule. A mixed bag that lands at C-.
The Schwesinger pick is the one they will point to when this weekend is judged. Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere.
If Jack Sawyer and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 24 they get a premier pass rusher. Exactly the need they had to hit.
JT Tuimoloau at the 33rd overall pick is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Fair-plus on Jihaad Campbell, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Deone Walker in pick 78. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They reached a country mile for Hollin Pierce at Round 3, Pick 17, and the board is aghast. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Dylan Fairchild in the Round 4 slot is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Aeneas Peebles at pick 117 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. The roster fit checks out.
Elijah Arroyo at the Round 4 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It fills a real need, too.
They talked themselves into Kevin Jennings at the 122nd overall pick, and the board did not agree. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
No edge and no loss on O'Donnell Fortune in slot 123; it is a wash and a sensible one. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They jumped the gun on Rylie Mills, taking him earlier than his grade liked. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They robbed the room for Luke Kandra here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Nick Nash at the 139th pick jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Ty Robinson at pick No. 141 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. at the Round 5 slot is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Taking Carson Schwesinger in slot 151 is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A running back of that caliber at the 152nd overall pick is the definition of value, full stop. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Willie Lampkin in pick No. 157, miles early. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Tonka Hemingway at No. 158 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Kevin Winston Jr. in the 159th pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Value said wait; Addison West in pick 161 says they were not listening. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Tosh Baker this early at Round 5, Pick 25. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Ricky White III in the 179th pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They barely believed it either: Jay Higgins still on the board at the Round 6 slot. A need, and now a little less of one.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Jahvaree Ritzie. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Jacob Parrish at No. 190 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Cody Simon in Round 6, Pick 16, plain and simple. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A wild overpay on Shaun Dolac in slot 192, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Oronde Gadsden II in the 196th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It fills a real need, too.
Circle this one: RJ Harvey at pick 197 is a fall that decides a draft. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
You do not let a linebacker like Jack Kiser reach the Round 7 slot and blink. They did not. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.