PFSN's 2025 Top 100 NFL Players Features 4 Cardinals
Here are their NFC West Top Players by Overall Rankings
9. Jared Verse, DE, LAR
38. Fred Warner, ILB, SFO
40. George Kittle, TE, SFO
43. Puka Nacua, WR, LAR
50. Kobie Turner, DT, LAR
55. Julian Love, S, SEA
59. Trent Williams, T, SFO
61. Deommodore Lenoir, CB, SFO
69. Nick Bosa, DE, SFO
76. Budda Baker, S, ARI
78. Devon Witherspoon, CB, SEA
87. Jonah Williams, T, ARI
88. Brock Purdy, QB, SFO
91. Trey McBride, TE, ARI
92. Kyler Murray, QB, ARI
Rams --- 3
49ers --- 6
Seahawks --- 2
Cardinals --- 4
Comments:
1. It's encouraging to see the Cardinals have 4 players selected. One more than the Rams. Two more than the Seahawks. Two fewer than the 49ers, which should be a motivation for the Cardinals to prove otherwise.
2. Jonah Williams comes as a surprise, especially choosing him over Paris Johnson Jr. But, if PFSN is correct, and Jonah Williams turns in a Top 100 worthy 2025 performance, then this could bode extremely well for the Cardinals.
3. Brock Purdy and Kyler Murray on the list and closely ranked, while Matthew Stafford and Sam Darnold did not make the cut. This is encouraging.
4. George Kittle deserves to be ranked ahead of Trey McBride, seeing as McBride has just emerged as a potential top 3 TE in the NFL, while Kittle has been one of the top 3 for several years.
5. Disappointing to see after three years that none of Monti Ossenfort's draft picks made this Top 100 list. Paris Johnson Jr. is ascending but not quite there yet --- while Garrett Williams, who excels in zone coverage, needs to show he can be consistently effective in man coverage before he can be considered a top 100 player.
6. Only 1 of Monti's UFAs, T Jonah Williams, is on this list and is a surprise selection at that, not for lack of talent, but for coming off an injury-riddled season in which he only played in 6 games.
Here are some of the players the Cardinals could have kept or drafted:
--- 12. Brian Branch, S. DET. Was part of my Will Anderson Jr. - Brian Branch hope for the Cardinals in the 2023 NFL Draft --- and the Cardinals could have drafted both. The argument that the Cardinals already had Garrett Williams as a slot corner is moot. Garrett is more of a hybrid zone coverage safety whom the coaches have not lined up in slot in man coverage very often. Branch is a stud in both man and zone.
--- 23. Byron Murphy, CB, MIN. Vance Joseph miscast of Byron Murphy as a slot CB was costly, as was Monti Ossenfort's decision to let him leave in free agency.
--- 24. Trent McDuffie, CB, KC. Was my #1 hope for Cardinals in the 2022 NFL Draft. Would have been the best slot CB the Cardinals have ever had.
--- 26. Zach Allen, DT, DEN. The Cardinals not only made the mistake of letting Zach go, they received absolutely nothing for him in return. Hard to imagine how a defensive minded head coach like Jonathan Gannon could watch this guy's tape and say "pass."
--- 58. Cooper DeJean, CB, PHI --- So many of us were hollering for Cooper DeJean when he was on the board for the Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Cardinals trade back in R2 and out of contention while the Eagles swoop in and take him away and this dude was an absolute star as a rookie in the Eagles' Super Bowl LIX win over the Chiefs.
--- 81. Malik Nabers, WR, NYG --- A thoroughly reliable source told me that there was a notable faction of Cardinals' coaches who were banging the drum for Nabers at pick #4 in the 2024 NFL Draft.
--- 85. Brian Thomas, WR, JAC --- Many Cardinals' fans predicted that Brian Thomas would be the best X receiver deep threat in the 2024 NFL Draft.
4. It's encouraging to see the Cardinals have 4 players selected. One more than the Rams. Two more than the Seahawks. Two fewer than the 49ers, which should be a motivation for the Cardinals to prove otherwise.
Speaking of the 49ers, they just signed former Cardinals' 2019 2nd-round pick, WR Andy Isabella --- interesting that it's the 49ers because Andy's most electric play as a Cardinal was versus the 49ers when he reeled in a 15-yard sideline pass from Kyler Murray and turned it into a scintillating 88-yard TD.
What do you think of PFSN's rankings?
"Disappointing to see after three years that none of Monti Ossenfort's draft picks made this Top 100 list"-reflects my thoughts. With respect to losing Byron Murphy and Zach Allen, 2 home grown players flourishing on better teams and franchises, is it MO not recognizing talent or is it SOS Bidwill Football and not paying the kids you draft and develop? Will we do the same and not sign W Hernandez who we coached up and let him play for and improve the Seahawk OL? Will we develop his replacement, I Adams, only to let him walk over $$?
ReplyDeleteGood luck Andy Isabella! Keep the dream alive!
Good thing, 61, that Isaiah Adams is having a great camp thus far. JG called him the standout of the week.
ReplyDeleteJG also has Mack Wilson playing the Mike. We'll see
DeleteSome surprises here, including Jonah. Feels like they picked the wrong tackle. Curious if the heavy investments in DL make the list next year.
ReplyDelete