D-
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals got the worse of every deal, and it shows in the D-.
by stm93 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 21 picks
· 8 steals
· 8 reaches
The rest of the league had time to spare on KJ Jefferson; the Cardinals did not wait, grabbing him 104 spots ahead at No. 201.
The Paul Jr. value carries more weight than any single miss elsewhere. Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. Job largely done: quarterback settled and 8 of 8 of the wish list covered.
Trading back for volume was the quiet throughline of their weekend.
It is a steep hill from here, and the grade knows it.
Pick-by-Pick
Nothing to complain about; Mike Green went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Aireontae Ersery in the 47th overall pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A straight-up fair deal on Alfred Collins at Round 2, Pick 22, value and slot in agreement. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Azareye'h Thomas in the Round 3 slot is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Fair-plus on Tate Ratledge, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Steal is underselling it; Andrew Mukuba at the 118th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They barely believed it either: Carson Schwesinger still on the board at the 123rd overall pick. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Tai Felton at pick No. 124 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A reach for Rylie Mills in Round 4, Pick 28; a little patience would have been rewarded. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Ty Robinson. It fills a real need, too.
Willie Lampkin at pick 153 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A top-tier running back at a bargain, Cam Skattebo in the Round 5 slot, plain and simple. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Nick Nash at the 162nd pick is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
You do not let a tight end like Oronde Gadsden II reach No. 166 and blink. They did not. The roster fit checks out.
They will replay Chris Paul Jr. at No. 169 for years; that is how good the value is. A need, and now a little less of one.
A wild overpay on Kyle Williams in the Round 5 slot, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Jahvaree Ritzie well ahead of where he belonged. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Brady Cook in slot 183, miles early. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Shaun Dolac at pick 195 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They reached into another round for KJ Jefferson, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
The board fumbled RJ Harvey all the way to the 212th overall pick, and they scooped it up. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.