C
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: C.
by Cashydemon ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 2 steals
· 13 reaches
The Cardinals treated their own grade as gospel and everyone else's as noise, spending the 153rd overall pick on Montrell Johnson Jr. a full 247 spots early. For now it grades a C, with the swing picks left to settle the rest.
The Kiser steal is the beam this whole class leans on. The phones were where this weekend was really won.
The bill for those future picks comes due whether the class hits or not.
A perfectly average weekend, for better and for worse.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 16 they get a green-dot type in the middle at fair value.
Jonah Savaiinaea at slot 47 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Riley Leonard at the 78th overall pick is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith in pick No. 94 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A wild overpay on Mitchell Evans in the 103rd pick, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Nohl Williams. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
A big swing on Montrell Johnson Jr. at the 153rd overall pick, well ahead of any board in the building. The roster fit checks out.
Value said wait; Howard Cross III in the Round 5 slot says they were not listening. A need, and now a little less of one.
A real head-scratcher, Tyler Loop in the 181st pick is miles ahead of his ranking. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Rivaldo Fairweather this early at pick No. 216. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They reached into another round for Bryan Felter, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Amari Kight in slot 219, miles early. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Beaux Collins in No. 227 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They will replay Jack Kiser at Round 7, Pick 22 for years; that is how good the value is. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
The board had Kitan Crawford higher than slot 246, and the safety fell to them anyway. A minor need, but a need all the same.
They talked themselves into Bryson Eason at pick 253, and the board did not agree. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, MJ Sherman well ahead of where he belonged. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.