B+
Arizona Cardinals
Nobody dealt better than the Cardinals this weekend: B+.
by andrewschoppe ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 15 picks
· 8 steals
· 6 reaches
The Cardinals clearly saw something nobody else did in J.J. Weaver, taking him 134 picks ahead of his grade. The board is not convinced. Good, not great, and the B+ says as much.
Getting Brooks where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class. Every deal seemed to tilt their way, which is not luck. They punted on tight end, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
Tyler Smith gives the group a proven body among the projects.
A tidy weekend of work that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 16 they get a wrecking ball inside at a price that makes it sweeter. A real need, handled.
They robbed the room for Jihaad Campbell here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They barely believed it either: Barrett Carter still on the board at the 127th overall pick. The roster fit checks out.
You do not let a wide receiver like Jack Bech reach No. 128 and blink. They did not. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Taking Kevin Winston Jr. in pick No. 135 is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
The board fumbled Smael Mondon Jr. all the way to the Round 5 slot, and they scooped it up. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A top-tier running back at a bargain, Nicholas Singleton in the 155th pick, plain and simple. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They reached into another round for Cobee Bryant, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Connor Colby at pick No. 170 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Seth McLaughlin at pick 171 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Donovan Smith. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Tonka Hemingway at No. 183 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They talked themselves into Barryn Sorrell at Round 6, Pick 9, and the board did not agree. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Tahj Brooks in the Round 6 slot should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A need, and now a little less of one.
Value said wait; J.J. Weaver in the Round 6 slot says they were not listening. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.