B-
Arizona Cardinals
A respectable, level-headed haul for the Cardinals: B-.
by 716 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 5 picks
· 0 steals
· 3 reaches
The Donovan Smith pick is the one that will follow the Cardinals into the fall. They took him 100 spots ahead of his grade, and the board is not shy about saying so. The bottom line is a respectable B-.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up. They left with quarterback solved and the rest of the wish list mostly ticked off.
They reloaded the coverage unit in bulk.
A workmanlike haul that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 16 they get a sticky cover corner. Need was not the driver here.
A reasonable price with a little left over, Matthew Golden in the 47th pick. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Hollin Pierce. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They talked themselves into Donovan Smith at pick 113, and the board did not agree. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Nazir Stackhouse at the 151st overall pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.